³At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”^†

⁴Knowing their thoughts,^† Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? ⁵Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ⁶But so that you may know that the Son of Man^† has authority on earth to forgive sins …” Then he said to the paralytic, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” ⁷And the man got up and went home. ⁸When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God,^† who had given such authority to men.

The Calling of Matthew

⁹As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

¹⁰While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples. ¹¹When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”^†

¹²On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’^{[35] †} For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”^†

Jesus Questioned About Fasting

¹⁴Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast,^† but your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁵Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them?^† The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.^†

¹⁶“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. ¹⁷Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

A Dead Girl and a Sick Woman

¹⁸While he was saying this, a ruler came and knelt before him^† and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her,^† and she will live.” ¹⁹Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.

²⁰Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak.^{† 21}She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”

²²Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.”^† And the woman was healed from that moment.^†

²³When Jesus entered the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd,^{† 24}he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead^† but asleep.”^† But they laughed at him. ²⁵After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. ²⁶News of this spread through all that region.^†

Jesus Heals the Blind and Mute

²⁷As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”^†

²⁸When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

“Yes, Lord,” they replied.

²⁹Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith will it be done to you”;^{† 30}and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.”^{† 31}But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.^†

³²While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed^† and could not talk^† was brought to Jesus. ³³And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”^†

³⁴But the Pharisees said, “It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons.”^†

The Workers Are Few

³⁵Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.^{† 36}When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them,^† because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.^{† 37}Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest^† is plentiful but the workers are few.^{† 38}Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Matthew 10

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

¹He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil^[36] spirits^† and to heal every disease and sickness.

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The Zealots and the Essenes

Matthew 10 The Zealots were radical Jews who sought the violent overthrow of the Roman regime in Judea under the rallying cry “No king but God!” They came to prominence during the Jewish revolt against Rome in A.D. 66–73, but the roots of violent rebellion stretch back much further. While scholars debate whether there was a continuous, organized movement of insurrection throughout the first century A.D., it is at least interesting to note that some of the leaders of the uprising in A.D. 66 were direct descendants of men who had fought against Rome during the first century B.C.¹ When Jesus advocated nonviolent resistance to enemies, he may have been directly opposing this kind of armed revolution.²

The Essenes were another protest group in early Judaism. This faction most likely grew out of mid-second-century B.C. reform movements that arose during the Maccabean revolt. By the first century A.D. the Essenes were a significant force for renewal in Judaism. Like the Pharisees, they were concerned with purity and called for a strict adherence to the Law, although the two groups disagreed on particular points of interpretation and practice.³ The Essenes were noted for their ascetic tendencies, their nonparticipation in temple worship and their desire to isolate themselves in tight-knit communities. Some of the more radical Essenes who followed the so-called Teacher of Righteousness eventually gave up hope of renewal through normal channels and withdrew to the Judean wilderness to live together near the Dead Sea.

1. See “The Intertestamental Period.”

2. See “Messianic Conflicts and the Fall of Jerusalem.”

3. See “The Pharisees” and “Ritual Purity in Israel and the Ancient Near East.”

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²These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; ³Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ⁴Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.^†

⁵These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.^{† 6}Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.^{† 7}As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven^† is near.’ ⁸Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,^[37] drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. ⁹Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts;^{† 10}take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.^†

¹¹“Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. ¹²As you enter the home, give it your greeting.^{† 13}If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet^† when you leave that home or town. ¹⁵I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah^† on the day of judgment^† than for that town.^{† 16}I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.^† Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.^†

¹⁷“Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils^† and flog you in their synagogues.^{† 18}On my account you will be brought before governors and kings^† as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. ¹⁹But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it.^† At that time you will be given what to say, ²⁰for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father^† speaking through you.

²¹“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents^† and have them put to death. ²²All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.^{† 23}When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

²⁴“A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.^{† 25}It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub,^{[38] †} how much more the members of his household!

²⁶“So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.^{† 27}What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. ²⁸Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One^† who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹Are not two sparrows sold for a penny^[39]? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. ³⁰And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.^{† 31}So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.^†

³²“Whoever acknowledges me before men,^† I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. ³³But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.^†

³⁴“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵For I have come to turn

“ ‘a man against his father,

a daughter against her mother,

a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law^†—

³⁶a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’^{[40] †}

³⁷“Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;^{† 38}and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.^{† 39}Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.^†

⁴⁰“He who receives you receives me,^† and he who receives me receives the one who sent me.^{† 41}Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. ⁴²And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”^†

Matthew 11

Jesus and John the Baptist

¹After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples,^† he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.^[41]

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Korazin

Matthew 11 Early in his ministry Jesus left his hometown of Nazareth and settled in Capernaum, located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee.¹ He ministered in Capernaum and in the nearby towns of Korazin (often spelled Chorazin) and Bethsaida (see “Map 11” to locate all three towns). Korazin is mentioned in the Bible only in Matthew 11:21 and the parallel passage in Luke 10:13, where all three towns came under Jesus’ condemnation for their failure to repent. They were, after all, “the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed” (Mt 11:20).

Korazin is located about an hour’s walk (2.5 mi or 4 km) north of Capernaum on a basalt plateau known as the Korazin Plateau, about 800 feet (244 m) above the Sea of Galilee. It is described in Jewish sources as a medium-sized town noted for its wheat production. The main road to Damascus passed by a little to the north, so commerce, as well as agriculture, played an important role in the economy of the community.

The ruins of Korazin cover an area of more than 80 acres. Excavations and literary sources indicate that the city was founded in the first century A.D. and thrived until the Arab conquest in the eighth century. A civic center and a number of domestic complexes, all made of local black basalt stone and dating from the third to eighth centuries A.D., have been uncovered. The civic center, arranged in an east-west direction on the gently sloping plateau, is comprised of a synagogue, ritual bath complex, cisterns and public buildings. After the Arab conquest Korazin declined and was eventually abandoned.

1. See “Capernaum.”

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²When John heard in prison^† what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples ³to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come,^† or should we expect someone else?”

⁴Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: ⁵The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy^[42] are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.^{† 6}Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.”^†

⁷As John’s^† disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? ⁸If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. ⁹Then what did you go out to see? A prophet?^† Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ¹⁰This is the one about whom it is written:

“ ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare your way before you.’^{[43] †}

¹¹I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ¹²From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. ¹³For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. ¹⁴And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.^{† 15}He who has ears, let him hear.^†

¹⁶“To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:

¹⁷“ ‘We played the flute for you,

and you did not dance;

we sang a dirge,

and you did not mourn.’

¹⁸For John came neither eating^† nor drinking,^† and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ ¹⁹The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.” ’^† But wisdom is proved right by her actions.”

Woe on Unrepentant Cities

²⁰Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. ²¹“Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!^† If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon,^† they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.^{† 22}But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.^{† 23}And you, Capernaum,^† will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths.^{[44] †} If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. ²⁴But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”^†

Rest for the Weary

²⁵At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father,^† Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.^{† 26}Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.

²⁷“All things have been committed to me^† by my Father.^† No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.^†

²⁸“Come to me,^† all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,^† for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.^{† 30}For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”^†

Matthew 12

Lord of the Sabbath

¹At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain^† and eat them. ²When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”^†

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The Family of Joseph, Mary and Jesus

Matthew 12 The Gospel accounts provide limited details about Jesus’ immediate family. We know, of course, that he was born to Mary and that his stepfather was Joseph. A carpenter by trade, Joseph is mentioned only in the narratives of Jesus’ birth and early childhood, leaving many to believe that he died prior to the time of Jesus’ public ministry. The Gospels record the names of four of Jesus’ brothers—James, Joseph, Simon and Judas (Mt 13:55)—and mention sisters without providing names.

Those who believe that Mary remained a virgin throughout her entire life suggest that these siblings were Joseph’s children from a previous marriage. Scripture itself, however, makes no claim that Mary maintained her virginity following Jesus’ birth, and it is more likely that the brothers and sisters of Jesus were simply the natural children born to Mary and Joseph after Jesus’ birth. In ancient Jewish culture it would have been unthinkable for a man and woman to live together in a permanently unconsummated marriage. Matthew 1:25 in fact implies that Mary and Joseph did have normal sexual relations after Jesus’ birth.

Although the relationship between Jesus and his family was characterized by tension and misunderstanding (e.g., Mk 3:31–34), at least two of his brothers later became his followers. James, a leader of the Jerusalem church (Ac 12:17), was martyred in the early sixties. Tradition ascribes the New Testament epistle of James to him. Similarly, the epistle of Jude is attributed to Jesus’ brother Judas.

A carpenter’s shop

Preserving Bible Times; © Dr. James C. Martin; permission of Eretz Israel Museum

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³He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?^{† 4}He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.^{† 5}Or haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day^† and yet are innocent? ⁶I tell you that one^[45] greater than the temple is here.^{† 7}If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’^{[46] †} you would not have condemned the innocent. ⁸For the Son of Man^† is Lord of the Sabbath.”

⁹Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, ¹⁰and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”^†

¹¹He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out?^{† 12}How much more valuable is a man than a sheep!^† Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

¹³Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. ¹⁴But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.^†

God’s Chosen Servant

¹⁵Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. Many followed him, and he healed all their sick,^{† 16}warning them not to tell who he was.^{† 17}This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁸“Here is my servant whom I have chosen,

the one I love, in whom I delight;^†

I will put my Spirit on him,

and he will proclaim justice to the nations.

¹⁹He will not quarrel or cry out;

no one will hear his voice in the streets.

²⁰A bruised reed he will not break,

and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,

till he leads justice to victory.

²¹In his name the nations will put their hope.”^{[47] †}

Jesus and Beelzebub

²²Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see.^{† 23}All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”^†

²⁴But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebub,^{[48] †} the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”^†

²⁵Jesus knew their thoughts^† and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. ²⁶If Satan^† drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? ²⁷And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people^† drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. ²⁸But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

²⁹“Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house.

³⁰“He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.^{† 31}And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.^{† 32}Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age^† or in the age to come.^†

³³“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.^{† 34}You brood of vipers,^† how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.^{† 35}The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. ³⁶But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. ³⁷For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

The Sign of Jonah

³⁸Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you.”^†

³⁹He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.^{† 40}For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish,^† so the Son of Man^† will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.^{† 41}The men of Nineveh^† will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah,^† and now one^[49] greater than Jonah is here. ⁴²The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came^† from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.

⁴³“When an evil^[50] spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. ⁴⁴Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. ⁴⁵Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.^† That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

⁴⁶While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother^† and brothers^† stood outside, wanting to speak to him. ⁴⁷Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”^[51]

⁴⁸He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” ⁴⁹Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. ⁵⁰For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven^† is my brother and sister and mother.”

Matthew 13

The Parable of the Sower

¹That same day Jesus went out of the house^† and sat by the lake. ²Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat^† and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. ³Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. ⁸Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred,^† sixty or thirty times what was sown. ⁹He who has ears, let him hear.”^†

¹⁰The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”

¹¹He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you,^† but not to them. ¹²Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.^{† 13}This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though seeing, they do not see;

though hearing, they do not hear or understand.^†

¹⁴In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:

“ ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;

you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.

¹⁵For this people’s heart has become calloused;

they hardly hear with their ears,

and they have closed their eyes.

Otherwise they might see with their eyes,

hear with their ears,

understand with their hearts

and turn, and I would heal them.’^{[52] †}

¹⁶But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.^{† 17}For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see^† but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

¹⁸“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: ¹⁹When anyone hears the message about the kingdom^† and does not understand it, the evil one^† comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. ²⁰The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. ²¹But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.^{† 22}The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth^† choke it, making it unfruitful. ²³But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”^†

The Parable of the Weeds

²⁴Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like^† a man who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. ²⁶When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

²⁷“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

²⁸“ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

²⁹“ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. ³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ ”^†

The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast

³¹He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like^† a mustard seed,^† which a man took and planted in his field. ³²Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches.”^†

³³He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like^† yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount^[53] of flour^† until it worked all through the dough.”^†

³⁴Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable.^{† 35}So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet:

“I will open my mouth in parables,

I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.”^{[54] †}

The Parable of the Weeds Explained

³⁶Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable^† of the weeds in the field.”

³⁷He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man.^{† 38}The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one,^{† 39}and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest^† is the end of the age,^† and the harvesters are angels.^†

⁴⁰“As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. ⁴¹The Son of Man^† will send out his angels,^† and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. ⁴²They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.^{† 43}Then the righteous will shine like the sun^† in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.^†

The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl

⁴⁴“The kingdom of heaven is like^† treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.^†

⁴⁵“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like^† a merchant looking for fine pearls. ⁴⁶When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

The Parable of the Net

⁴⁷“Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like^† a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds^† of fish. ⁴⁸When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. ⁴⁹This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous^{† 50}and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.^†

⁵¹“Have you understood all these things?” Jesus asked.

“Yes,” they replied.

⁵²He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

A Prophet Without Honor

⁵³When Jesus had finished these parables,^† he moved on from there. ⁵⁴Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue,^† and they were amazed.^† “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. ⁵⁵“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?^† Isn’t his mother’s^† name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? ⁵⁶Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” ⁵⁷And they took offense^† at him.

But Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.”^†

⁵⁸And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

Matthew 14

John the Baptist Beheaded

¹At that time Herod^† the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus,^{† 2}and he said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist;^† he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

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Houses in the Holy Land of the First Century A.D.: Peter’s House in Capernaum; Insulae

Matthew 14 Housing conditions in the first-century Holy Land varied dramatically according to people’s financial situations. The best preserved homes are those that were built for the upper classes and constructed with obvious craftsmanship from lasting materials. Of these, the most splendid examples are the remains of Herod the Great’s lavish palaces in Jerusalem, Masada and Jericho.¹

These structures, along with other luxurious houses discovered in Jerusalem’s upper city, reflect the stylistic conventions of contemporary Roman villas. The villa was structured around an open, colonnaded courtyard and contained a large reception room and dining area to accommodate large gatherings. Floors were covered with detailed stone mosaics, and walls were painted with frescoes. These upper-class houses and palaces in Judea also contained distinctively Jewish features, such as ritual baths alongside ordinary bathrooms,² the absence of human or animal representation in mosaics and frescoes and the presence of Jewish symbols (e.g., the menorah).

Since relatively few people lived in palatial homes, many more examples of middle-class dwellings have been revealed through archaeology. An important example, discovered in Jerusalem in 1970, is known as the “burnt house.” This home was completely buried with soot and ash from the destruction of the city in A.D. 70 and, therefore, has been well preserved. The floor plan reflects a common pattern of three medium-sized rooms, a small storage room, a small kitchen and a stepped, ritual bath built around a paved courtyard. The walls were covered with a thin layer of limestone plaster, and the floors consisted of pressed earth. Furnishings within the house included rectangular stone tables, bowls, plates, cups and cylindrical weights, one of which identifies the owner as Bar Karos.

A key found from Bar Kokhba era

Preserving Bible Times; © Dr. James C. Martin; permission of The Israel Museum/Shrine of the Book

Other significant examples of first-century houses have been unearthed in Capernaum (“Map 9”).³ Excavations near the ruins of the ancient synagogue there revealed a group of approximately 12 homes constructed of black basalt rocks and small pebbles and arranged around a central courtyard containing ovens and grinding stones. These single-story dwellings had floors of beaten black earth and stairways leading to flat roofs. The less-substantial roofs were probably built with tree branches covered with mud and straw (cf. Mk 2:4).

The largest of these homes attracted particular attention in that it featured a crushed limestone floor and had plastered walls filled with decorations (including flowers, pomegranates and numerous crosses) and inscriptions, which were fragmentary and in many languages: 124 in Greek, 18 in Syriac, 15 in Hebrew and 1 in Latin. Most of the inscriptions were short prayers, such as “Christ have mercy” or “Lord Jesus Christ help.” Others contained the name of Peter, suggesting that this home was venerated in antiquity as a place of Christian pilgrimage and associated with the memory of Peter. Thus, this dwelling has become known as the house of Peter in Capernaum (Mt 8:14; Mk 1:29; Lk 4:38).

The lowest urban classes inhabited crowded tenement buildings called insulae—multistoried buildings divided into numerous apartments called cenaculi. The lowest floor generally contained a shop in which the proprietor also lived. The upper floors were accessed through outside staircases. The insulae usually lacked any system of heating, running water or sewage. Eutychus most likely fell from the third floor window of an insula while listening to Paul preach Christ in Troas (Ac 20:7–12).

1. See “Herod the Great”, “Masada” and “New Testament Jericho.”

2. See “Baptism in the Ancient World.”

3. See “Capernaum” and “The Capernaum Synagogue.”

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³Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison^† because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,^{† 4}for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.”^{† 5}Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered him a prophet.^†

⁶On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for them and pleased Herod so much ⁷that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” ⁹The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted ¹⁰and had John beheaded^† in the prison. ¹¹His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. ¹²John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it.^† Then they went and told Jesus.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

¹³When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them^† and healed their sick.^†

¹⁵As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

¹⁶Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

¹⁷“We have here only five loaves^† of bread and two fish,” they answered.

¹⁸“Bring them here to me,” he said. ¹⁹And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves.^† Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. ²⁰They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ²¹The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Water

²²Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.^† When evening came, he was there alone, ²⁴but the boat was already a considerable distance^[55] from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

²⁵During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,”^† they said, and cried out in fear.

²⁷But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage!^† It is I. Don’t be afraid.”^†

²⁸“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

²⁹“Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

³¹Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,”^† he said, “why did you doubt?”

³²And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ³³Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”^†

³⁴When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. ³⁵And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him ³⁶and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak,^† and all who touched him were healed.

Matthew 15

Clean and Unclean

¹Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, ²“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”^†

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Galilee in Jesus’ Time

Matthew 15 Jesus grew up in Nazareth (“Map 9”), about 15 miles (24 km) from the Sea of Galilee.¹ This region had been settled by Jews since ancient times and had remained a bastion of Judaism down through the centuries. Certain aspects of this area help to define the cultural environment in which Jesus lived, spoke and acted:

• Economically, the region benefited from the fish of the Sea of Galilee, trade with the Phoenician² coastal cities and reasonably productive agricultural yields, including wheat, grapes, figs and olives.³

• In terms of religion, although cut off from Judea by Samaria, Galilean Jews appear to have been as orthodox as their Judean counterparts. Galilee did experience upheaval in the Jewish revolt of A.D. 66–70, but the region was not necessarily marked by revolutionary sentiment before that time.

• Politically, Galilee lay within the territory of Herod Antipas. While the Gospels say little about Antipas, the incidents surrounding the death of John the Baptist profoundly distressed the common people. Certainly Jesus realized that preaching would be unsettling to worldly monarchs like Antipas.

• Galilee is thought to have had a strong Gentile presence. The city of Sepphoris, just a few miles from Nazareth, is believed by many to have been largely Hellenized.⁴ However, it is doubtful that Gentile customs had any major influence on Jesus’ preaching; the cultural separation between a city like Sepphoris and a Galilean village was much greater than the physical distance. Furthermore, we have no suggestion in the Gospels or other records that Jesus frequented urban centers like Sepphoris or Tiberias.⁵

1. See “Nazareth.”

2. See Glossary for definitions of bolded words.

3. See “Phoenicia.”

4. See “Sepphoris.”

5. See “Tiberias.”

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³Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’^{[56] †} and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’^{[57] † 5}But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’ ⁶he is not to ‘honor his father^[58] ’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

⁸“ ‘These people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

⁹They worship me in vain;

their teachings are but rules taught by men.^†’^{[59] †}”

¹⁰Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. ¹¹What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’^† but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean.’ ”^†

¹²Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

¹³He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted^† will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴Leave them; they are blind guides.^{[60] †} If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”^†

¹⁵Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”^†

¹⁶“Are you still so dull?”^† Jesus asked them. ¹⁷“Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? ¹⁸But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart,^† and these make a man ‘unclean.’ ¹⁹For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.^{† 20}These are what make a man ‘unclean’;^† but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.’ ”

The Faith of the Canaanite Woman

²¹Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.^{† 22}A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David,^† have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.”^†

²³Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

²⁴He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”^†

²⁵The woman came and knelt before him.^† “Lord, help me!” she said.

²⁶He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.”

²⁷“Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

²⁸Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith!^† Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

²⁹Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. ³⁰Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them.^{† 31}The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.^†

³²Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people;^† they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”

³³His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”

³⁴“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.

“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”

³⁵He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. ³⁶Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them^† and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. ³⁷They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.^{† 38}The number of those who ate was four thousand, besides women and children. ³⁹After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.

Matthew 16

The Demand for a Sign

¹The Pharisees and Sadducees^† came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.^†

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Caesarea Philippi

Matthew 16 The area of Caesarea Philippi (“Map 9”) was first known (c. 200 B.C.) by the name Panion, meaning “sanctuary of Pan,” a pagan god associated with fields and herds. In 23 B.C. Augustus assigned the area to Herod I to rule for the Romans,¹ and Herod’s son, Philip, took control of the region after his father’s death. Philip constructed an administrative capitol building at Panion and changed the name to Caesarea Philippi, honoring both Caesar and himself. (Caesarea Philippi is not to be confused with Caesarea Maritima, a city on the Mediterranean coast.)

There is no record of any civilian habitation at the time, so Caesarea Philippi was an administrative center and not yet a city during Jesus’ lifetime. The Gospel accounts carefully observe this fact, recording that Jesus and the disciples frequented the villages (Mk 8:27) or the region (Mt 16:13) of Caesarea Philippi.

In the year A.D. 53 or 54 Agrippa II became king of the principality and transformed Caesarea Philippi into a Greco-Roman city. The magnificent administrative palace was converted into a public bath house, and a long colonnaded street was constructed through the middle of the city. Fresh water was supplied through underground pipes and a new aqueduct. In A.D. 70 the city was the scene of notorious savagery.² The Roman general Titus, after destroying Jerusalem, brought a large number of Jewish prisoners to Caesarea Philippi, where they were massacred in games as a public spectacle. The city reached its peak in the second and third centuries A.D. but appears to have undergone a sharp decline from the fourth century on.

Roman period glass drinking horn

Preserving Bible Times; © Dr. James C. Martin; permission of Eretz Israel Museum

Although the site has been a popular tourist destination since the nineteenth century, systematic excavations did not begin until 1988. Work has focused on the sanctuary of Pan and the central area of the city. Much of the Roman-period architecture was destroyed during the Middle Ages, when the location was used as a military outpost by both Muslims and crusaders. Stone blocks were mined from the ancient buildings to be reused in later structures, making the work of reconstructing the ancient city more difficult. Archaeologists have uncovered numerous medieval pieces of pottery, metal and glass and are confident that further exploration will reveal remains from the Biblical era. The city’s athletic facilities and a temple built for Augustus by Herod I are among the important edifices yet to be excavated.

Cave sacred to the god Pan at Caesarea Philippi

Preserving Bible Times; © Dr. James C. Martin

1. See “Herod the Great.”

2. See also “Josephus and the Fall of Jerusalem” and “The Early Persecution of the Church.”

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²He replied,^[61] “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ ³and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.^{† 4}A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.”^† Jesus then left them and went away.

The Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees

⁵When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. ⁶“Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”^†

⁷They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread.”

⁸Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith,^† why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? ⁹Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?^{† 10}Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?^{† 11}How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ¹²Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.^†

Peter’s Confession of Christ

¹³When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴They replied, “Some say John the Baptist;^† others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”^†

¹⁵“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

¹⁶Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ,^[62] the Son of the living God.”^†

¹⁷Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man,^† but by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸And I tell you that you are Peter,^{[63] †} and on this rock I will build my church,^† and the gates of Hades^[64] will not overcome it.^{[65] 19}I will give you the keys^† of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be^[66] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be^[67] loosed in heaven.”^{† 20}Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone^† that he was the Christ.

Jesus Predicts His Death

²¹From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things^† at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day^† be raised to life.^†

²²Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

²³Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!^† You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

²⁴Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.^{† 25}For whoever wants to save his life^[68] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.^{† 26}What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? ²⁷For the Son of Man^† is going to come^† in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.^{† 28}I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Matthew 17

The Transfiguration

¹After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. ²There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. ³Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.

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The Capernaum Synagogue

The Capernaum Synagogue

Photograph courtesy of © Dr. Gary Pratico

Matthew 17 The city of Capernaum (“Map 9”) features prominently in the Gospel narratives as a location from which Jesus conducted much of his public ministry (Mt 4:13; Mk 2:1).¹ He performed many miracles there and is reported to have frequently entered the Capernaum synagogue in order to teach (Mk 1:21; 3:1–5; Lk 4:31; Jn 6:59). According to Luke 7:5 the synagogue of Capernaum was constructed under the auspices of a Roman centurion who felt great love for the people of Israel.

The ruins of a synagogue were recognized by Edward Robinson in 1852 at the site of Tell Hum. Charles Wilson conducted the first excavation there in 1865–1866. In 1894 the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land acquired the site from the Turks, built a monastery, covered the ruins and planted crops over them in order to keep them safe until the political situation would permit careful excavation. During the years 1905–1926 the ancient synagogue was excavated and partially restored by German and Franciscan teams.

The wait had been worthwhile. The teams discovered a large, ornate, limestone synagogue planned as a rectangular basilica approximately 60 feet (18 m) wide by 80 feet (24.5 m) long. The floor plan consisted of a central nave flanked by aisles. Stone benches lined the eastern and western walls. The focal point of the structure faced south, toward Jerusalem. For a number of years scholars believed that these visible ruins represented the actual structure in which Jesus had taught. However, continuing excavations begun in 1968 have revealed the remains of an earlier structure, built of black basalt stone, with a similar floor plan. The 4-foot-thick (1.2 m) basalt walls are slightly out of line with the limestone walls and, therefore, could not have served as their foundation. In 1981 a basalt cobblestone floor was discovered, together with pottery from the first century A.D. Thus, it is no doubt this earlier structure from which Jesus declared, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever” (Jn 6:51).²

Architectural motifs from the synagogue

Photographs courtesy of © Dr. Gary Pratico

1. See “Capernaum.”

2. See also “Ancient Synagogues.”

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⁴Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

⁵While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.^† Listen to him!”^†

⁶When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. ⁷But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.”^{† 8}When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.

⁹As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone^† what you have seen, until the Son of Man^† has been raised from the dead.”^†

¹⁰The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”

¹¹Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things.^{† 12}But I tell you, Elijah has already come,^† and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished.^† In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer^† at their hands.” ¹³Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

The Healing of a Boy With a Demon

¹⁴When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. ¹⁵“Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures^† and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. ¹⁶I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”

¹⁷“O unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” ¹⁸Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.

¹⁹Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

²⁰He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith^† as small as a mustard seed,^† you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move.^† Nothing will be impossible for you.^[69] ”

²²When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man^† is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. ²³They will kill him,^† and on the third day^† he will be raised to life.”^† And the disciples were filled with grief.

The Temple Tax

²⁴After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax^† came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax^[70]? ”

²⁵“Yes, he does,” he replied.

When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you think, Simon?” he asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes^†—from their own sons or from others?”

²⁶“From others,” Peter answered.

“Then the sons are exempt,” Jesus said to him. ²⁷“But so that we may not offend^† them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”

Matthew 18

The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven

¹At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

²He called a little child and had him stand among them. ³And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children,^† you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.^{† 4}Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.^†

⁵“And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.^{† 6}But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,^† it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.^†

⁷“Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!^{† 8}If your hand or your foot causes you to sin,^† cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. ⁹And if your eye causes you to sin,^† gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.^†

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

¹⁰“See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels^† in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.^[71]

¹²“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? ¹³And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. ¹⁴In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.

A Brother Who Sins Against You

¹⁵“If your brother sins against you,^[72] go and show him his fault,^† just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. ¹⁶But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’^{[73] † 17}If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church;^† and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.^†

¹⁸“I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be^[74] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be^[75] loosed in heaven.^†

¹⁹“Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you^† by my Father in heaven. ²⁰For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

²¹Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me?^† Up to seven times?”^†

²²Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.^{[76] †}

²³“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like^† a king who wanted to settle accounts^† with his servants. ²⁴As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents^[77] was brought to him. ²⁵Since he was not able to pay,^† the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold^† to repay the debt.

²⁶“The servant fell on his knees before him.^† ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ ²⁷The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

²⁸“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii.^[78] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

²⁹“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’

³⁰“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. ³¹When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.

³²“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. ³³Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ ³⁴In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

³⁵“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”^†

Matthew 19

Divorce

¹When Jesus had finished saying these things,^† he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. ²Large crowds followed him, and he healed them^† there.

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The Legend of the Needle’s Eye Gate

Matthew 19 Since the Middle Ages commentators have considered the possibility that Jesus’ statement concerning the “eye of a needle” (Mt 19:24) may have been a reference to certain doors or gates that actually existed in his day. Some homes did in fact have large doors that would allow a fully loaded camel to enter into the courtyard. Since such doors were cumbersome and required great effort to open, there were often smaller doors cut within them, permitting easy passage of people and smaller animals into the house. Some interpreters have argued that this smaller door was the “needle’s eye gate,” while others have suggested that the needle’s eye referred to smaller doors within larger city gates, such as those at Jaffa and Hebron.¹ Passage through the smaller gate, it was said, would have forced a camel to its knees. Thus, the point of Jesus’ teaching in verse 24 is supposedly that a rich man can enter the kingdom of heaven only if he falls down to his knees.

The Greek text of the Gospel of Matthew; Egypt, fourth century A.D.

© The Schøyen Collection; photography courtesy of Mr. Martin Schøyen

As illustrative as these theories are, they in fact diminish the force of Jesus’ words. The point is not that salvation is difficult without God but that it is impossible without him. Jesus’ contrast of the largest animal known in Palestine with the smallest of holes created a vivid and memorable illustration. The fact that modern-day gates have been so named can most likely be attributed to the influence of this and similar statements within the Talmud and the Koran. In other words, the term “needle’s eye gate” most likely did not precede the teaching; rather, the popularity of the term evidently came about because of the teaching. But in Jesus’ original setting, it is very likely that a needle’s eye was simply a needle’s eye and not a gate at all.

Bible readers do well to beware of legendary, pseudo-archaeological interpretations, which can be quite misleading and even distort or undermine the true meaning of a Biblical text.

1. See “The City Gate.”

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³Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife^† for any and every reason?”

⁴“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’^{[79] † 5}and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’^[80]? ^{† 6}So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

⁷“Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”^†

⁸Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. ⁹I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery.”^†

¹⁰The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”

¹¹Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given.^{† 12}For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage^[81] because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”

The Little Children and Jesus

¹³Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them^† and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them.

¹⁴Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs^† to such as these.”^{† 15}When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.

The Rich Young Man

¹⁶Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life^†?”^†

¹⁷“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.”^†

¹⁸“Which ones?” the man inquired.

Jesus replied, “ ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery,^† do not steal, do not give false testimony, ¹⁹honor your father and mother,’^{[82] †} and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’^[83] ”^†

²⁰“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

²¹Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect,^† go, sell your possessions and give to the poor,^† and you will have treasure in heaven.^† Then come, follow me.”

²²When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

²³Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man^† to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁵When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”

²⁶Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”^†

²⁷Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you!^† What then will there be for us?”

²⁸Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne,^† you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.^{† 29}And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother^[84] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.^{† 30}But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.^†

Matthew 20

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

¹“For the kingdom of heaven is like^† a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard.^{† 2}He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

³“About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. ⁴He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ ⁵So they went.

“He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. ⁶About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

⁷“ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

⁸“When evening came,^† the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

⁹“The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. ¹⁰So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. ¹¹When they received it, they began to grumble^† against the landowner. ¹²‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat^† of the day.’

¹³“But he answered one of them, ‘Friend,^† I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? ¹⁴Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. ¹⁵Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’^†

¹⁶“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”^†

Jesus Again Predicts His Death

¹⁷Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, ¹⁸“We are going up to Jerusalem,^† and the Son of Man^† will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law.^† They will condemn him to death ¹⁹and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged^† and crucified.^† On the third day^† he will be raised to life!”^†

A Mother’s Request

²⁰Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons^† came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down,^† asked a favor of him.

²¹“What is it you want?” he asked.

She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”^†

²²“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup^† I am going to drink?”

“We can,” they answered.

²³Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup,^† but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”

²⁴When the ten heard about this, they were indignant^† with the two brothers. ²⁵Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ²⁶Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,^{† 27}and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— ²⁸just as the Son of Man^† did not come to be served, but to serve,^† and to give his life as a ransom^† for many.”

Two Blind Men Receive Sight

²⁹As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. ³⁰Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David,^† have mercy on us!”

³¹The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

³²Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.

³³“Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.”

³⁴Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.

Matthew 21

The Triumphal Entry

¹As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives,^† Jesus sent two disciples, ²saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

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A King Riding on a Donkey: Cultural/Political Significance in the Ancient Near East

Matthew 21 Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday represents one of the most significant public events of his ministry. Each of the four Gospels records this incident, though with distinctive details (Mt 21:1–11; Mk 11:1–10; Lk 19:29–38; Jn 12:12–15). Central to each report is Jesus’ deliberate choice to enter the city riding upon a donkey. Scholars have noted three significant points regarding this chosen mount. These aspects are not mutually exclusive, and each contributes to a more complete appreciation of the meaning of Jesus’ symbolic action and its decisive consequences:

• The donkey was a traditional mount for kings and rulers in the ancient Near East (Jdg 10:4; 12:14; 2Sa 16:2); Jesus was therefore making an implicit claim to be the king of his people.¹

• The act of riding into Jerusalem on a donkey near the time of the Passover celebration invoked a central image of Messianic expectation, linked to key Biblical texts such as Genesis 49:10, Isaiah 62:11 and Zechariah 9:9. Two of the four Evangelists explained the significance of Jesus’ entrance explicitly as the fulfillment of Scripture (Mt 21:5; Jn 12:15). In Jewish literature and teaching, moreover, the image of a king on a donkey approaching Jerusalem was consistently understood to signify the arrival of the Messianic King. Thus, Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah and proclaiming that the age of restoration was dawning through his own person.²

• In light of the frequent Old Testament association of horses with war and human pride, the donkey may have presented an image of peaceful humility. Jesus, in this interpretation, was making a statement regarding the nature of his kingship (cf. Dt 17:16; 2Sa 15:1; Ps 20:6–9; 33:16–18; 147:10–11; Pr 21:31; Zec 9:9–10).

1. See “The Ancient Near Eastern King.”

2. See “Jewish Eschatology in the First Century A.D..”

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⁴This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

⁵“Say to the Daughter of Zion,

‘See, your king comes to you,

gentle and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”^{[85] †}

⁶The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. ⁷They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. ⁸A very large crowd spread their cloaks^† on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

“Hosanna^[86] to the Son of David!”^†

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”^{[87] †}

“Hosanna^[88] in the highest!”^†

¹⁰When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”

¹¹The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet^† from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Jesus at the Temple

¹²Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying^† and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers^† and the benches of those selling doves.^{† 13}“It is written,” he said to them, “ ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’^{[89] †} but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.’^[90] ”^†

¹⁴The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them.^{† 15}But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,”^† they were indignant.^†

¹⁶“Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.

“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,

“ ‘From the lips of children and infants

you have ordained praise’^[91]? ”^†

¹⁷And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany,^† where he spent the night.

The Fig Tree Withers

¹⁸Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. ¹⁹Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.^†

²⁰When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.

²¹Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt,^† not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. ²²If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for^† in prayer.”

The Authority of Jesus Questioned

²³Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority^† are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”

²⁴Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ²⁵John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or from men?”

They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ ²⁶But if we say, ‘From men’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”^†

²⁷So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

²⁸“What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’^†

²⁹“ ‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

³⁰“Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.

³¹“Which of the two did what his father wanted?”

“The first,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors^† and the prostitutes^† are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. ³²For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness,^† and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors^† and the prostitutes^† did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent^† and believe him.

The Parable of the Tenants

³³“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted^† a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower.^† Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey.^{† 34}When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants^† to the tenants to collect his fruit.

³⁵“The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.^{† 36}Then he sent other servants^† to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. ³⁷Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

³⁸“But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir.^† Come, let’s kill him^† and take his inheritance.’^{† 39}So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

⁴⁰“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

⁴¹“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,”^† they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants,^† who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

⁴²Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“ ‘The stone the builders rejected

has become the capstone^[92];

the Lord has done this,

and it is marvelous in our eyes’^[93]? ^†

⁴³“Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you^† and given to a people who will produce its fruit. ⁴⁴He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”^{[94] †}

⁴⁵When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. ⁴⁶They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.^†

Matthew 22

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

¹Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: ²“The kingdom of heaven is like^† a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. ³He sent his servants^† to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

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The Sadducees

Matthew 22 The Sadducees were a religious and political sect during the Second Temple period,¹ drawn primarily from the ruling priestly and aristocratic elements in Jewish society.² This party controlled the temple worship, and many of its adherents were also members of the supreme Jewish legal council, called the Sanhedrin (Ac 23:6). Two separate accounts of the Sadducees’ origin link the name of the sect to two different historical figures, both named Zadok.

• The name Sadducee may be derived from Zadok, the high priest in the days of David and Solomon (2Sa 8:17; 1Ki 1:34). In Ezekiel’s vision of restoration, the descendants of this Zadok are entrusted with oversight of the temple worship (Eze 40:46; 43:19; 44:15). Zadok’s descendants did in fact constitute the temple hierarchy down to the second century B.C.

• According to rabbinic tradition, however, the sect of the Sadducees was founded by a disciple of Antigonus of Sokho (c. 200 B.C.), also named Zadok.

The Sadducees’ major opponents were the Pharisees.³ Contrary to this rival faction, the Sadducees denied the resurrection of the dead (Mt 22:23–33; Ac 4:1–2; 23:6–8), the immortality of the soul, the doctrine of reward and punishment and the validity of the oral law (regulations passed down by rabbinic tradition). They accepted as binding only those laws based directly upon the written text of the Pentateuch. It is for this reason that Jesus defended the doctrine of the resurrection to them from the standpoint of Exodus 3:6 rather than from the prophets (Mt 22:32). The influence of the Sadducees virtually ceased with the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70,⁴ leaving postbiblical Judaism to develop along Pharisaic lines. Later rabbinic teaching contains numerous examples and anti-Sadducee propaganda.

1. See Glossary for definitions of bolded words.

2. See “The Jewish Priesthood and Religious Life in the First Century A.D..”

3. See “The Pharisees.”

4. See “Josephus and the Fall of Jerusalem.”

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⁴“Then he sent some more servants^† and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

⁵“But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. ⁶The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. ⁷The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers^† and burned their city.

⁸“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. ⁹Go to the street corners^† and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ ¹⁰So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad,^† and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

¹¹“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ¹²‘Friend,’^† he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.

¹³“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’^†

¹⁴“For many are invited, but few are chosen.”^†

Paying Taxes to Caesar

¹⁵Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. ¹⁶They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians.^† “Teacher,” they said, “we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are. ¹⁷Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes^† to Caesar or not?”

¹⁸But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? ¹⁹Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, ²⁰and he asked them, “Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?”

²¹“Caesar’s,” they replied.

Then he said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s,^† and to God what is God’s.”

²²When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.^†

Marriage at the Resurrection

²³That same day the Sadducees,^† who say there is no resurrection,^† came to him with a question. ²⁴“Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and have children for him.^{† 25}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. ²⁶The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. ²⁷Finally, the woman died. ²⁸Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?”

²⁹Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures^† or the power of God. ³⁰At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage;^† they will be like the angels in heaven. ³¹But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ³²‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’^[95]? ^† He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”