Matthew
Chapter 22
Parable of the Wedding Banquet
Jesus kept talking to them in parables:
“This story sheds light on the kingdom of heaven: A king hosted a wedding banquet for his son.
He sent his servants to summon the invited guests to the banquet, but they refused to come.
Once again, he sent out other servants, telling them to say to the invited guests, ‘I have prepared a banquet, slaughtered my fattened calves and other animals, and now everything is ready. Come to the wedding!’
But they paid no attention and walked away, some heading to their farms and others to their work.
Others captured the king’s servants, insulted them, and killed them.
The king was furious. He sent his troops to wipe out those murderers and burn their city.
Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but the invited guests were not worthy.
Instead, go to the main streets and invite everyone you meet to the wedding feast.
The servants went out into the streets and gathered everyone they found, both bad and good, so that the hall was filled with guests.
The king entered to see the wedding guests, and he noticed a man not wearing a wedding garment.
So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in without the wedding clothes?’ But the man stayed silent.
So the king told his servants, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
For many are called, but few are chosen.”
On the Tribute to Caesar
The Pharisees left, thinking about how they could trap Jesus with his own words.
They sent their disciples to him, along with members of Herod’s party, saying:
“Master, we know that you are an honest man and truly teach God’s way. You are not influenced by others, nor are you afraid of anyone.
So tell us what you think: is paying taxes to Caesar against the law or not?”
But Jesus understood their evil intentions and said to them:
“Hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me?
Show me the coin you use to pay taxes.”
They showed him a silver coin.
Jesus asked them:
“Whose head is this, and whose name?”
They answered:
“Caesar’s.”
Then Jesus replied:
“Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.”
They were astonished by his answer, so they left him and went away.
On the Resurrection
Later that day, some Sadducees approached Jesus. Since they deny the resurrection, they questioned him in this manner:
“Master, Moses said that if a man dies without children, his brother must marry the widow and have a child, who will be considered the child of the deceased man.
Now, there were seven brothers. The first married a woman, but he died; since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother.
The same thing happened to the second brother, then to the third, all the way up to the seventh.
Then, finally, the woman died.
Now, in the resurrection of the dead, to which of the seven will she be a wife, since they all had her as a wife?”
Jesus replied:
“You are completely mistaken because you don’t understand either the Scriptures or the power of God.
First of all, in the resurrection of the dead, neither men nor women will marry, but they will be like the angels in heaven.
Regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you ever thought about what God told you:
I am the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob?
He is God, not of the dead but of the living.”
The people who heard him were astonished at his teaching.
On the Most Important Precept
When the Pharisees heard how Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.
One of them, a lawyer, questioned him to test him:
“Teacher, which commandment of the law is the greatest?”
Jesus answered:
“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the first and most important commandment.
The second is similar:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The entire law and the prophets are built upon these two commandments.”
About the Messiah and David
While the Pharisees were gathered, Jesus asked them:
“What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?”
They replied:
“David’s.”
Jesus then asked them:
“Why did David, inspired by God, call the Messiah LORD? For David says in a psalm:
The LORD said to my LORD:
Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your feet.
If David calls him Lord, how can he be his son?”
No one responded to him, not even with a word. From that day forward, no one dared to question him again.
Commentaries
Parable of the Wedding Banquet.
The parable has two parts: the guests at the banquet (1-10) and the guest without proper attire (11-14). It shows the relationship between the Lord and the kingdom’s guests. The guests gathered along the streets and squares are people from all over the world. It is no coincidence that, in the original text, it is not “the good and the bad” (v. 10) but “the bad and the good,” without distinction. It emphasizes those without merit. It’s a subtle way of alluding to the complete gratuitousness of God’s love and the fact that “Christ died for us: when we were still helpless and unable to do anything” (Rom 5:6). In the second part (11-14), to enter the kingdom’s banquet, one must live a lifestyle that reflects Jesus’ teachings. Not all guests will be chosen (14). What determines whether guests are chosen is the practice of love and mercy in their lives (25:31-46).
On the Tribute to Caesar.
From here to the end of the chapter, we see four questions and four answers that reveal the increasing tension between Jesus and the Jewish authorities. The first question asked by the Pharisees concerns the tribute to Caesar. The question aims to trap Jesus in a difficult situation. Jesus’ response is very clever: if they acknowledge the coin’s legal status (20), they are part of the system and must accept its rules. However, above all human authority, there is God. Jesus avoids the trap they set and raises his teaching to a higher, more universal level. The coin with Caesar’s image belongs to him as tribute, but people, who bear the image of God, belong to their Creator.
On the Resurrection.
It is now the Sadducees’ turn, who deny the resurrection and base their argument on the law of levirate marriage, which states that a brother-in-law must marry his brother’s widow if she is childless to produce an heir and preserve his family name (Dt 25:5-10; Rut 4). Their presentation is clearly mocking. Jesus responds straightforwardly. Their approach is flawed because it assumes the afterlife is simply a repetition and extension of this life. The life of the resurrected is a work of God’s power, and it is He who creates the new human condition (cf. 1 Cor 15:35-53). He then quotes a text from the Pentateuch (the only sacred text recognized by the Sadducees) in which God Himself presents and defines Himself (Ex 3:6): the God of Scripture is a living God, the God of life and the living.
On the Most Important Precept.
The question is clarified because the Pharisees counted 613 precepts in the Law. It was necessary to know and follow them all. Jesus responds by combining Deuteronomy 6:5 with Leviticus 19:18. For him, the foundation of the relationship with God and with one’s neighbor is loving solidarity. The integration of the two loves, of God and of one’s neighbor, is his core teaching. From a Christian point of view, without love of neighbor, there is no love of God, no true fulfillment of God’s will, nor is that higher justice achieved which the Sermon on the Mount advocates (5:20). Love of neighbor does not replace love of God nor is it the same as it. Still, it is as important as loving God (cf. 1 Jn 4:20).
About the Messiah and David.
Now it is Jesus who begins the discussion. The answer to the first question (42) was well-known and simple. However, the second (45) concerns the relationship between the Messiah and the Son of God. It comes from Scripture (Ps 110:1), where David, to whom the Psalms are credited, calls the Messiah “Lord.” David is calling his descendant “Lord,” which is unusual because usually, it is the son who calls his father “Lord,” not the other way around. This shows that the Messiah is more than just a descendant of David. The last sentence shows Jesus’ greater understanding of Scripture. His opponents, who claimed to be very knowledgeable, are silenced, exposing their ignorance (46).