Matthew 22

http://www.esvbible.org/Matthew+22/

Jesus tells a story about a wedding procession. When it is time for the reception of a king's son, the guests have not arrived, so the king sends some servants to tell the wedding guests it's time. They refused to come. The king sent more servants to talk about how great the reception would be. They refused to come. This time, the guests even mistreated and murdered the servants. When the king heard about this, he sent his soldiers to kill the murderers and burn their city. Then, he told other servants to go into the next city and invite everyone they found. During the party, the king sees a man who is not properly dressed for the wedding, and he asks him how he got in. The man has no reply, so the king has him tied up and thrown outside where he says great suffering will occur. In the story, there are those who reject God and His invitation to Heaven, just like those who were originally invited to the party. They received their punishment. Next, there are those who are invited to the party, but don't dress the part. They do not truly live in faith. They will receive their punishment. Jesus says after the story that many are invited into the Kingdom of Heaven, but few are chosen to stay.

The scribes and Pharisees, now consumed in their despise of Jesus, come up with another plot of how to trap Him saying the wrong thing. They send some of their disciples to Him and Herod, and they ask Jesus if it is right to pay taxes to the emperor. Jesus, of course, saw through this trick. He asked them to show Him a coin used to pay taxes. He held it up for all to see and asked whose face was on the coin. They all replied that it is the emperor. Jesus told them to give the emperor what belongs to him and give God what belongs to Him.

The Sadducees, who doubted what Jesus said about the dead coming back to life, came to question Jesus. Moses said that if a married man dies childless, his brother should marry the wife. The Sadducees told a story of seven brothers, all of whom died childless after marrying the same woman. They asked Jesus who was married to her in Heaven. Jesus again with the question as an answer asks them if they've read the Word of God. People do not marry in Heaven because being in Heaven is all about being in the presence of God. Once you arrive there, all you will want to do is glorify Him, and nothing will bring you more pleasure or make you happier. That's what the angels have done since God created them, and they continue to do it. Jesus says that He is not the God of the dead but the living. Everyone who heard Him say this was amazed.

When the Pharisees heard what happened to the Sadducees, they convened and decided what they would do about Jesus next. One of the Pharisees was an expert in Moses' Commandments, so he went to Jesus and asked what the greatest commandment is. Jesus replied the greatest commandment is love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. The second is like it: love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus says these are the commandments that all of the prophets depended on. The number one thing you should do is love God with every fiber of your being. There is nothing greater or more important than that for you to do. Then, after you are right with God, you must love your neighbor. This is not your next door neighbor or the people in your subdivision but everyone in the entire world. To do what God has called us to do, we must love people. We must be people persons. Everything we as Christians do reflects back to God, so if we love with God's love, that's what people see of God.

Jesus turned the tables and asked the Pharisees whose son the Messiah would be. They replied that He would be David's son. So Jesus asked them how David could call his son Lord. He wrote about it in the Psalms, calling the Messiah Lord. No one could answer that question, so after that, no one dared to test Him with a question.