Jesus answered with another parable. Of course. The kingdom of heaven is like a king who has arranged a marriage for his son. He send his servant to call the guests to the wedding, but they wouldn’t come. He sent other servants to tell the guest that the food was ready, and really yummy, come to the wedding! But the guests joked about it and they went their way one going to his farm, another to his merchandise. And the other took his servants and murdered them in cold blood!
When the king heard that, he was pissed, and he sent his armies to destroy those murderers and burn their city! He told his servants, the wedding is ready but those guests were not worthy to come. So hit the road and find some new guests. So the servants went out on the highways and brought as many people as they could both good and bad, to the wedding. When the king looked at his guest, he notices one wasn’t in wedding garb. So he asks him, friend, why aren’t you dressed properly? The guest was speechless. So the king told the servants to bind him and cast him in the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Many are called few are chosen
.
Seriously, what the heck was that? What the heck was that? Okay, yeah maybe I am sick of parables, maybe I even have some sympathy for JC’s dark mood. But what the heck was that? Okay, the king is god, and the Pharisees, are the murderous guests… but what the heck with the random insulting a guest who isn’t dressed right. He did pull him off of a road! And casting him out into outer darkness? Is that really part of the parable? It’s like the parable broke there. I don’t get it.
So the Pharisees got together and tried to figure out how they could entangle him with his talk.
They sent out their disciples with the Herodians asking JC, Master, we know you are true and teach God’s true way, and you don’t care for any man, because you don’t care about men. So do think it’s okay to give tribute to Caeser? Or is that a no?
JC was wise to their shenanigans, and asked them why do tempt me you hypocrites?
Show me the tribute money. So they gave him a penny. He asked them, who’s image is on that penny? They answer Caesar. Then he tells them give Caesar , Caesar’s things and God, Gods things. Wow, that blew their minds, so they went on their way.
That same day the Saducees, who say there is no resurrection asked him, Master if a man dies without having children, his brother should marry his wife and have kids right? Okay, so there are seven brothers and the first had a wife, he died, so he left his wife to his second brother, well he dies, and she goes to the third brother, and on it goes till the seventh brother dies, and then the woman dies too. This is a sad story. In the resurrection, whose wife would she be, because she was wife to all of those boys.
JC tells says to them, you don’t know anything about the scriptures, or the power of God. In the resurrection, there is no marriage but are as the angels of God in heaven. Wow. JC just gave me another reason to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh on earth.
But now that mention the resurrection, haven’t you read what God said? 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. Well multitude was astonished by his doctrine. Okay so there will be a resurrection, and we’ll all be like the angels, assuming we get into heaven, but God isn’t the god of the dead? Dude. I kind of thought he was supposed to be the lord of everything.
When the Pharisees heard that JC has silenced the Sadducees, they decide to join forces. One of them, a lawyer, asked JC a question. Master, which is the greatest of the ten commandments?
JC answers, The first commandment, you should love the Lord your God, with all of your hear, soul and mind. And the second is like it, you should love your neighbor as you would yourself. Wait is that one of the ten commandments? These two commandments hold all of the law and the prophets.
JC asks them? What do you think of Christ, whose son is he? They answer, the son of David. JC asks them, why does David call him Lord, saying “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?” If David called Christ lord how is he his son?
Um…..
*crickets*
No one could answer him, so from that day on they all stopped asking questions.
I believe I already expressed by incredulous feelings when I translated this same story in Mark. They are strikingly similar. Wow, must be because they're true.
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