# Matthew 22 📖: The Greatest Commandment [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Matthew Overview]] | [[Matthew 21]] | [[Matthew 23]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### The Parable of the Wedding Banquet **Principle**: Ultimately, all hearts are revealed [[#Verse 01]] Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying:  [[#Verse 02]] “The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.  [[#Verse 03]] He sent his slaves to summon those who had been invited to the banquet, but they would not come.  [[#Verse 04]] Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Look! The feast I have prepared for you is ready. My oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.”’  [[#Verse 05]] But they were indifferent and went away, one to his farm, another to his business.  [[#Verse 06]] The rest seized his slaves, insolently mistreated them, and killed them.  [[#Verse 07]] The king was furious! He sent his soldiers, and they put those murderers to death and set their city on fire.  [[#Verse 08]] Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but the ones who had been invited were not worthy.  [[#Verse 09]] So go into the main streets and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’  [[#Verse 10]] And those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all they found, both bad and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.  [[#Verse 11]] But when the king came in to see the wedding guests, he saw a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.  [[# Verse12]] And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But he had nothing to say.  [[# Verse13]] Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’  [[# Verse14]] For many are called, but few are chosen.” ### Paying Taxes to Caesar **Principle**: Give honor to authority, but worship God alone. [[# Verse15]] Then the Pharisees went out and planned together to entrap him with his own words.  [[# Verse16]] They sent to him their disciples along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful, and teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You do not court anyone’s favor because you show no partiality.  [[# Verse17]] Tell us then, what do you think? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” [[# Verse18]] But Jesus realized their evil intentions and said, “Hypocrites! Why are you testing me?  [[# Verse19]] Show me the coin used for the tax.” So they brought him a denarius.  [[# Verse20]] Jesus said to them, “Whose image is this, and whose inscription?”  [[# Verse21]] They replied, “Caesar’s.” He said to them, “Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” [[#Verse 22]] Now when they heard this they were stunned, and they left him and went away. ### Marriage and the Resurrection **Principle**: Knowing God’s Word + God’s Power = Open Eyes [[# Verse23]] The same day Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to him and asked him,  [[# Verse24]] “Teacher, Moses said, ‘**_If a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and father children_** **_for his brother_**.’ [[Deuteronomy 25]] [[# Verse25]] Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children he left his wife to his brother.  [[#Verse 26]] The second did the same, and the third, down to the seventh.  [[#Verse 27]] Last of all, the woman died.  [[#Verse 28]] In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.”  [[#Verse 29]] Jesus answered them, “You are deceived, because you don’t know the scriptures or the power of God.  [[#Verse 30]] For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angel sin heaven.  [[#Verse 31]] Now as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God,  [[#Verse 32]] ‘**_I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob_**’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living!” [[Exodus 03]] [[#Verse 33]] When the crowds heard this, they were amazed at his teaching. ### The Greatest Commandment **Principle**: First Command (First 5 commandments). Second Command (Second 5 commandments) [[#Verse 34]] Now when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they assembled together.  [[#Verse 35]] And one of them, an expert in religious law, asked him a question to test him:  [[#Verse 36]] “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”  [[#Verse 37]] Jesus said to him, “‘**_Love_** **_the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind_**.’  [[#Verse 38]] This is the first and greatest commandment.  [[#Verse 39]] The second is like it: ‘**_Love your neighbor as yourself_**.’  [[#Verse 40]] All the law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” ### The Messiah: David’s Son and Lord **Principle**: The Wisdom of God confounds the Wise [[#Verse 41]] While the Pharisees were assembled, Jesus asked them a question: [[#Verse 42]] “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said, “The son of David.”  [[#Verse 43]] He said to them, “How then does David by the Spirit call him ‘Lord,’ saying, [[#Verse 44]] ‘**_The Lord said to my lord,_** “**_Sit at my right hand,_** **_until I put your enemies under your feet_**”’? [[Psalm 110]] [[#Verse 45]] If David then calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?”  [[#Verse 46]] No one was able to answer him a word, and from that day on no one dared to question him any longer. # ==📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary== ##### Verse 01 ##### Verse 02 ##### Verse 03 ##### Verse 04 ##### Verse 05 ##### Verse 06 ##### Verse 07 ##### Verse 08 ##### Verse 09 ##### Verse 10 ##### Verse 11 ##### Verse 12 ##### Verse 13 ##### Verse 14 ##### Verse 15 ##### Verse 16 ##### Verse 17 ##### Verse 18 ##### Verse 19 ##### Verse 20 ##### Verse 21 ##### Verse 22 ##### Verse 23 ##### Verse 24 ##### Verse 25 ##### Verse 26 ##### Verse 27 ##### Verse 28 ##### Verse 29 ##### Verse 30 ##### Verse 31 ##### Verse 32 ##### Verse 33 ##### Verse 34 ##### Verse 35 ##### Verse 36 ##### Verse 37 ##### Verse 38 ##### Verse 39 ##### Verse 40 ##### Verse 41 ##### Verse 42 ##### Verse 43 ##### Verse 44 ##### Verse 45 ##### Verse 46 ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. Wedding feasts could last for days, and guests were often invited ahead of time and then called again when the feast was ready (22:3-4). 2. The Pharisees and the Herodians (22:16) were normally opponents, but they joined forces to trap Jesus. 3. Paying taxes to Rome was a hot issue. Saying yes would anger the people, and saying no could be reported to Rome as rebellion. 4. The denarius of Emperor Tiberius bore his image and an inscription calling him the son of the divine Augustus. 5. The coin bore Caesar's image, while people bear God's image (Genesis 1:27), so Jesus' answer reaches deeper than taxes. 6. The Sadducees placed special weight on the five books of Moses, so Jesus answered them from Exodus 3:6 (22:32). 7. Levirate marriage (22:24) required a man to marry his brother's widow to carry on his brother's name (Deuteronomy 25:5-6). 8. Jewish teachers counted 613 commandments in the Law of Moses and often debated which were the weightiest. 9. Jesus joined Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 (22:37-39). The first is part of the Shema, recited daily by devout Jews. 10. Psalm 110:1, quoted in 22:44, is the Old Testament verse most often quoted or alluded to in the New Testament. ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the Son for whom the King prepares a wedding feast (22:2) and David's Lord who sits at God's right hand (22:43-45; Psalm 110:1). He is both the Son of David and the Lord of David (Romans 1:3-4). ## 🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. The invited guests made excuses and ignored the king's invitation (22:3-5). What excuses keep people from responding to God's invitation today? 2. Jesus said to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God (22:21). What belongs to God in your life? 3. Jesus summarized the Law as loving God with everything and loving your neighbor as yourself (22:37-40). How do these two commands work together? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 14: Many are called, but few are chosen. - 📖 verse 21: Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. - 📖 verses 37-39: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. - 📖 verse 40: All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments. ## 🔗 Related Passages - 🔗 [[Revelation 19#Verse 07.|Revelation 19:7-9]] - The wedding feast of the Lamb. - 🔗 [[Isaiah 61#Verse 10.|Isaiah 61:10]] - Clothed in garments of salvation. - 🔗 [[Romans 13#Verse 01.|Romans 13:1-7]] - Give everyone what you owe them. - 🔗 [[Deuteronomy 25#Verse 05.|Deuteronomy 25:5-6]] - The law of levirate marriage. - 🔗 [[Luke 20#Verse 35.|Luke 20:35-36]] - Like the angels in the resurrection. - 🔗 [[Exodus 03#Verse 06.|Exodus 3:6]] - I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. - 🔗 [[Deuteronomy 06#Verse 05.|Deuteronomy 6:5]] - Love the Lord your God with all your heart. - 🔗 [[Leviticus 19#Verse 18.|Leviticus 19:18]] - Love your neighbor as yourself. - 🔗 [[Psalm 110#Verse 01.|Psalm 110:1]] and [[Acts 02#Verse 34.|Acts 2:34-35]] - The Lord said to my Lord, sit at My right hand. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Matthew 22 - SOAP|Who Is My Neighbor?]] ## 📂 Internal Notes