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Christianity

Matthew 22The Greatest Commandment

Summary

Matthew 22 opens with the parable of a king's wedding feast whose invited guests refuse to come, so the hall is filled from the roads. Then a series of challenges follows in the temple. Asked whether to pay tax to Caesar, Jesus answers with the coin. To the Sadducees he defends resurrection from the words of God to Moses. A lawyer asks for the greatest commandment, and Jesus names love of God and love of neighbor.

Key verse

“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”

Matthew 22:37

Themes

  • Invitation and Response
  • God and Caesar
  • Resurrection
  • Love of God and Neighbor

Text

1

And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,

2

The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,

3

And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.

4

Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.

5

But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:

6

And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.

7

But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

8

Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.

9

Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.

10

So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.

11

And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:

12

And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.

13

Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

14

For many are called, but few are chosen.

15

Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk.

16

And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men.

17

Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?

18

But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?

19

Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.

20

And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?

21

They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.

22

When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.

23

The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him,

24

Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.

25

Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother:

26

Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.

27

And last of all the woman died also.

28

Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.

29

Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.

30

For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

31

But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto 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.

33

And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine.

34

But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.

35

Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,

36

Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38

This is the first and great commandment.

39

And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

41

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,

42

Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of David.

43

He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,

44

The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?

45

If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?

46

And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.

Text: King James Version (1611/1769), public domain.

Across traditions

  • Judaism

    Deuteronomy 6: The Shema

    Jesus's first commandment comes from Deuteronomy 6:5, part of the Shema that observant Jews recite morning and evening. In Matthew the heart, soul and mind wording differs slightly from the Hebrew heart, soul and might.

  • Judaism

    Psalm 110: The LORD Said unto My Lord

    Jesus closes by asking how David can call the Messiah his Lord, citing Psalm 110:1. Christian interpreters read the psalm as messianic, while Jewish readings often apply it to Abraham or to a Davidic king.

  • Islam

    Surah Al-Baqara (2): True Righteousness

    Quran 2:177 defines righteousness as believing in God and giving wealth for love of Him to kin, orphans, the needy and travelers. Like the two great commandments, it joins devotion to God with care for others.

Questions about Matthew 22

What did Jesus mean by Render unto Caesar?

Shown a coin bearing Caesar's image, Jesus says to give Caesar what is Caesar's and God what is God's (Matthew 22:21). Interpreters debate whether it endorses paying taxes, limits political authority, or implies that people, bearing God's image, belong wholly to God.

What are the two greatest commandments?

Jesus names loving God with all one's heart, soul and mind, from Deuteronomy 6:5, and loving one's neighbor as oneself, from Leviticus 19:18. He says all the law and the prophets hang on these two (Matthew 22:40).

What does many are called, but few are chosen mean?

It closes the wedding feast parable (Matthew 22:14), after a guest without a wedding garment is cast out. It is usually read as a warning that accepting the invitation requires a changed life.