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MAT T H EW 2 2
of his servants to collect for him, but the results were the same.
37 “Finally, the owner sent his son, thinking,
‘Surely they will respect my son.’
38 “But when the tenant farmers saw his son
coming, they said to one another, ‘Here comes
the heir to this estate. Come on, let’s kill him
and get the estate for ourselves!’ 39 So they
grabbed him, dragged him out of the vineyard,
and murdered him.
40 “When the owner of the vineyard returns,”
Jesus asked, “what do you think he will do to
those farmers?”
41 The religious leaders replied, “He will put
the wicked men to a horrible death and lease
the vineyard to others who will give him his
share of the crop after each harvest.”
42 Then Jesus asked them, “Didn’t you ever
read this in the Scriptures?
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing,
and it is wonderful to see.’*
— promises —
from God
“But those who exalt
themselves will be
humbled, and those
who humble themselves
will be exalted.”
M AT T H EW 2 3:1 2
43 I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken
away from you and given to a nation that
will produce the proper fruit. 44 Anyone who
stumbles over that stone will be broken to
pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.*”
45 When the leading priests and Pharisees
heard this parable, they realized he was telling
the story against them—they were the wicked
farmers. 46 They wanted to arrest him, but they
were afraid of the crowds, who considered Jesus
to be a prophet.
Parable of the Great Feast
Jesus also told them other parables. He
said, 2 “The Kingdom of Heaven can be
illustrated by the story of a king who prepared
a great wedding feast for his son. 3 When the
banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused
to come!
4 “So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The
feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened
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cattle have been killed, and everything is ready.
Come to the banquet!’ 5 But the guests he had
invited ignored them and went their own way,
one to his farm, another to his business. 6 Others
seized his messengers and insulted them and
killed them.
7 “The king was furious, and he sent out his
army to destroy the murderers and burn their
town. 8 And he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited
aren’t worthy of the honor. 9 Now go out to the
street corners and invite everyone you see.’ 10 So
the servants brought in everyone they could
find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall
was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to meet the
guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing
the proper clothes for a wedding. 12 ‘Friend,’ he
asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply. 13 Then
the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and
feet and throw him into the outer darkness,
where there will be weeping and gnashing
of teeth.’
14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Taxes for Caesar
15 Then the Pharisees met together to plot how
to trap Jesus into saying something for which
he could be arrested. 16 They sent some of their
disciples, along with the supporters of Herod, to
meet with him. “Teacher,” they said, “we know
how honest you are. You teach the way of God
truthfully. You are impartial and don’t play favorites. 17 Now tell us what you think about this:
Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
18 But Jesus knew their evil motives. “You hypocrites!” he said. “Why are you trying to trap me?
19 Here, show me the coin used for the tax.” When
they handed him a Roman coin,* 20 he asked,
“Whose picture and title are stamped on it?”
21 “Caesar’s,” they replied.
“Well, then,” he said, “give to Caesar what
belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs
to God.”
22 His reply amazed them, and they went
away.
Discussion about Resurrection
23 That same day Jesus was approached by some
Sadducees—religious leaders who say there is
no resurrection from the dead. They posed this
question: 24 “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies
without children, his brother should marry the
widow and have a child who will carry on the
brother’s name.’* 25 Well, suppose there were
seven brothers. The oldest one married and
then died without children, so his brother married the widow. 26 But the second brother also
21:42 Ps 118:22-23. 21:44 This verse is not included in some
early manuscripts. Compare Luke 20:18. 22:19 Greek a
denarius. 22:24 Deut 25:5-6.