Jesus spoke to them using parables again.“The Kingdom of Heaven is
like a king who arranged a wedding reception for his son,” Jesus explained.“He sent out his servants to call everyone who was invited to the wedding reception, but they refused to come.So he sent out other servants, with the
instructions, ‘Tell those who are invited, “I have arranged everything for the
wedding banquet. The bulls and fattened calves have been killed. Everything
is ready, so come to the banquet!”’But they paid no attention and went off
to do whatever they wanted — one to his fields, another to his business,and
the rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them.The king
became very angry, and sent his soldiers to kill those murderers and burn
down their town.Then the king said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. 9 So go out in
the streets and invite everyone you find to come to the wedding banquet.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and brought back everyone they
could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was full. 11 But when the
king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man who did not have wedding
clothes on. 12 He asked him, ‘My friend, how did you get in here without
wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless. 13 Then the king said to his
servants, ‘Tie his hands and feet, and throw him outside into the darkest
place, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.’
14 For many are
invited, but few choose to respond.” 15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they could trap him by what he
said. 16 They sent to him their disciples together with representatives of
Herod’s party. “Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man, and you teach
God’s way in truth,” they began. “You do not worry what people think of
you, and you are impartial. 17 So please tell us what you think. Is it right to
pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 18 Jesus sensed their evil intentions, and asked
them, “Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin used to
pay the tax.” They brought a denarius coin to him. 20 “Whose image and
whose inscription is this?” he asked them. 21 “Caesar’s,” they replied. “Then
give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s,” he said to them. 22 When they heard this they were astonished, and they left him and went
away. 23 The same day some Sadducees came to him. They say there is no
resurrection. 24 They asked him, “Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies
childless, his brother should marry his widow and raise up children on behalf
of his brother. 25 Once there were seven brothers among us. The first married,
and died, and being childless left his widow to his brother. 26 The same thing
happened to the second and third husband, right up to the seventh. 27 Later the
woman died too. 28 So then, when the resurrection comes, which of the seven
brothers will she be married to?” 29 Jesus replied, “You are much mistaken!
You do not know the Scriptures, or the power of God.[178] 30 For in the
resurrection people do not marry, and they are not given in marriage. They
are like the angels in heaven. 31 And about the resurrection of the dead, have
you not read what was said to you by God: 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” 33 When the crowds heard what he said, they were astonished at
his teaching. 34 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they
gathered themselves together. 35 One of them, an expert in the Law, asked him
a question to test him: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the
Law?” 37 Jesus replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole being, and your whole mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first
commandment. 39 The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The whole Law and the prophets hang on these two
commandments.” 41 While the Pharisees were gathered there, Jesus asked them a question. 42 “What do you think about the Messiah?” he asked. “Whose son is he?” They replied, “The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “So how is it that David by inspiration of the spirit calls him ‘lord’? David says, 44 ‘The Lord said to my lord:[179] Sit at My right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.’ 45 If David called him lord, how is he his son?” 46 Nobody could give him any
answer, and nobody from that time on dared to ask him any more questions.
Commentary
Matthew
[177]
The NT makes it clear that Christians must “walk worthy of the Kingdom” to which they are
invited to rule with Jesus on the renewed earth (1 Thess. 2:12; Rev. 2:26-27; Dan. 7:18, 22, 27). The
idea of “once saved always saved” is a fatal trap. We must persist to the end and bear fruit. Those who
refuse the invitation to salvation in the Kingdom are disqualified (Acts 13:46, where “the life of the age
to come” is the synonym for the Kingdom, as often). Some people “believe only for a while” and then
fall away (Lk. 8:13).
[178]
The real cause of all error, disagreement and fragmentation among would-be believers.
[179]
The second lord is not a title of Deity but always a title to designate a non-Deity superior. The
Hebrew word is adoni, not ADONAI and in all 195 occasions where it appears in the Hebrew Bible it
designates someone other than God. The idea of God speaking to God is utterly foreign to the
unitarianism of the Bible.
Matthew