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Matthew 22

Jesus exposes resistance to God’s kingdom, answers challenges to his teaching, and places love for God and neighbor at the law’s center.

Jesus tells a parable about a king’s wedding feast: invited guests refuse to come, some kill his servants, and one replacement guest arrives without wedding clothing. Judgment follows. The Pharisees then try to trap Jesus over taxes, while the Sadducees challenge him about resurrection. A lawyer tests him on the greatest commandment. Jesus answers each challenge, then asks how the Christ can be both David’s son and David’s Lord. His question leaves his opponents silent.

sermon or Bible study notesdeath and what comes after
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1Jesus answered and spoke to them again in parables, saying,
2“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who made a wedding feast for his son,
3and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.
4Again he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner. My cattle and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding feast!”’
5But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise;
6and the rest grabbed his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.
7When the king heard that, he was angry, and sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
8“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited weren’t worthy.
9Go therefore to the intersections of the highways, and as many as you may find, invite to the wedding feast.’
10Those servants went out into the highways and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good. The wedding was filled with guests.
11“But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who didn’t have on wedding clothing,
12and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here not wearing wedding clothing?’ He was speechless.
13Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness. That is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.’
14For many are called, but few chosen.”
15Then the Pharisees went and took counsel how they might entrap him in his talk.
16They sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are honest, and teach the way of God in truth, no matter whom you teach; for you aren’t partial to anyone.
17Tell us therefore, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
18But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test me, you hypocrites?
19Show me the tax money.” They brought to him a denarius.
21They said to him, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
22When they heard it, they marveled, and left him and went away.
23On that day Sadducees (those who say that there is no resurrection) came to him. They asked him,
24saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.’
25Now there were with us seven brothers. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother.
29But Jesus answered them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.
30For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like God’s angels in heaven.
31But concerning the resurrection of the dead, haven’t you read that which was spoken to you by God, saying,
32‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
33When the multitudes heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.
34But the Pharisees, when they heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, gathered themselves together.
35One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him.
36“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?”
37Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
39A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
40The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
41Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question,
42saying, “What do you think of the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “Of David.”
43He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying,
44‘The Lord said to my Lord, sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet’?
45“If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”
46No one was able to answer him a word, neither did any man dare ask him any more questions from that day forward.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Matthew 22:37Jesus names wholehearted love for God as the greatest commandment, establishing the foundation for his answer about the law.
Matthew 22:39Love for the neighbor stands beside love for God; Jesus says the whole law and prophets depend on both.
Matthew 22:16The questioners praise Jesus’ truthfulness while planning a trap, exposing the gap between their words and their purpose.
Where this chapter reaches

Luke and Mark recount the disputes over taxes and resurrection, along with Jesus’ question about David calling the Christ Lord. Deuteronomy supplies the command to love God, while Romans shares the command to love one’s neighbor and its connection to fulfilling the law.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What does the wedding feast parable show you about the king’s welcome and his judgment?

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How do Jesus’ answers about taxes and the greatest commandment shape your understanding of what belongs to God?

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Questions people ask about Matthew 22

What does the wedding garment mean in Matthew 22?

The garment marks a response the king requires from those attending his son’s feast. The parable does not explain the clothing’s precise symbolic meaning. Its contrast is clear: the servants gather both bad and good, yet each guest remains accountable to the king. Being among the guests does not remove judgment.

Does Matthew 22 say people become angels after death?

Jesus says those raised from the dead are like God’s angels in heaven with respect to marriage: they neither marry nor are given in marriage. He does not say humans become angels. His answer rejects the Sadducees’ assumption that resurrection must reproduce the marriage arrangements of their present life.

Why does Jesus ask how the Christ can be David’s son?

The Pharisees identify the Christ as David’s son. Jesus then cites David speaking in the Spirit and calling the Christ Lord. His question exposes the limits of their answer: descent from David does not exhaust the Christ’s identity or authority. The chapter closes with no opponent able to answer him.

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What the Bible says about death →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).