Matthew 21:23 – 23:39

I will tell you a story about a man who had two sons. Then you can tell me what you think. The father went to the older son and said, “Go work in the vineyard today!” ²⁹ His son told him that he would not do it, but later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰ The man then told his younger son to go work in the vineyard. The boy said he would, but he didn’t go. ³¹ Which one of the sons obeyed his father?

You can be sure that tax collectors^[f] and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you ever will! ³² When John the Baptist showed you how to do right, you would not believe him. But these evil people did believe. And even when you saw what they did, you still would not change your minds and believe.

A land owner once planted a vineyard. He built a wall around it and dug a pit to crush the grapes in. He also built a lookout tower. Then he rented out his vineyard and left the country.

³⁴ When it was harvest time, the owner sent some servants to get his share of the grapes. ³⁵ But the renters grabbed those servants. They beat up one, killed one, and stoned one of them to death. ³⁶ He then sent more servants than he did the first time. But the renters treated them in the same way.

³⁷ Finally, the owner sent his own son to the renters, because he thought they would respect him. ³⁸ But when they saw the man’s son, they said, “Someday he will own the vineyard. Let’s kill him! Then we can have it all for ourselves.” ³⁹ So they grabbed him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

² The kingdom of heaven is like what happened when a king gave a wedding banquet for his son. ³ The king sent some servants to tell the invited guests to come to the banquet, but the guests refused. ⁴ He sent other servants to say to the guests, “The banquet is ready! My cattle and prize calves have all been prepared. Everything is ready. Come to the banquet!”

⁵ But the guests did not pay any attention. Some of them left for their farms, and some went to their places of business. ⁶ Others grabbed the servants, then beat them up and killed them.

⁷ This made the king so furious that he sent an army to kill those murderers and burn down their city. ⁸ Then he said to the servants, “It is time for the wedding banquet, and the invited guests don’t deserve to come. ⁹ Go out to the street corners and tell everyone you meet to come to the banquet.” ¹⁰ They went out on the streets and brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike. And the banquet room was filled with guests.

¹¹ When the king went in to meet the guests, he found that one of them wasn’t wearing the right kind of clothes for the wedding. ¹² The king asked, “Friend, why didn’t you wear proper clothes for the wedding?” But the guest had no excuse. ¹³ So the king gave orders for that person to be tied hand and foot and to be thrown outside into the dark. That’s where people will cry and grit their teeth in pain. ¹⁴ Many are invited, but only a few are chosen.

²⁴ Teacher, Moses wrote that if a married man dies and has no children, his brother should marry the widow. Their first son would then be thought of as the son of the dead brother.

²⁵ Once there were seven brothers who lived here. The first one married, but died without having any children. So his wife was left to his brother. ²⁶ The same thing happened to the second and third brothers and finally to all seven of them. ²⁷ At last the woman died. ²⁸ When God raises people from death, whose wife will this woman be? She had been married to all seven brothers.

You are completely wrong! You don’t know what the Scriptures teach. And you don’t know anything about the power of God. ³⁰ When God raises people to life, they won’t marry. They will be like the angels in heaven. ³¹ And as for people being raised to life, God was speaking to you when he said, ³² “I am the God worshiped by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”^[i] He isn’t the God of the dead, but of the living.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. ³⁸ This is the first and most important commandment. ³⁹ The second most important commandment is like this one. And it is, “Love others as much as you love yourself.” ⁴⁰ All the Law of Moses and the Books of the Prophets^[j] are based on these two commandments.

² The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law are experts in the Law of Moses. ³ So obey everything they teach you, but don’t do as they do. After all, they say one thing and do something else.

⁴ They pile heavy burdens on people’s shoulders and won’t lift a finger to help. ⁵ Everything they do is just to show off in front of others. They even make a big show of wearing Scripture verses on their foreheads and arms, and they wear big tassels^[m] for everyone to see. ⁶ They love the best seats at banquets and the front seats in the meeting places. ⁷ And when they are in the market, they like to have people greet them as their teachers.

⁸ But none of you should be called a teacher. You have only one teacher, and all of you are like brothers and sisters. ⁹ Don’t call anyone on earth your father. All of you have the same Father in heaven. ¹⁰ None of you should be called the leader. The Messiah is your only leader. ¹¹ Whoever is the greatest should be the servant of the others. ¹² If you put yourself above others, you will be put down. But if you humble yourself, you will be honored.

^13-14 You Pharisees and teachers of the Law of Moses are in for trouble! You’re nothing but show-offs. You lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. You won’t go in yourselves, and you keep others from going in.^[n]

¹⁵ You Pharisees and teachers of the Law of Moses are in for trouble! You’re nothing but show-offs. You travel over land and sea to win one follower. And when you have done so, you make that person twice as fit for hell as you are.

¹⁶ You are in for trouble! You are supposed to lead others, but you are blind. You teach that it doesn’t matter if a person swears by the temple. But you say that it does matter if someone swears by the gold in the temple. ¹⁷ You blind fools! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred?

¹⁸ You also teach that it doesn’t matter if a person swears by the altar. But you say that it does matter if someone swears by the gift on the altar. ¹⁹ Are you blind? Which is more important, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? ²⁰ Anyone who swears by the altar also swears by everything on it. ²¹ And anyone who swears by the temple also swears by God, who lives there. ²² To swear by heaven is the same as swearing by God’s throne and by the one who sits on that throne.

²³ You Pharisees and teachers are show-offs, and you’re in for trouble! You give God a tenth of the spices from your garden, such as mint, dill, and cumin. Yet you neglect the more important matters of the Law, such as justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These are the important things you should have done, though you should not have left the others undone either. ²⁴ You blind leaders! You strain out a small fly but swallow a camel.

²⁵ You Pharisees and teachers are show-offs, and you’re in for trouble! You wash the outside of your cups and dishes, while inside there is nothing but greed and selfishness. ²⁶ You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of a cup, and then the outside will also be clean.

²⁷ You Pharisees and teachers are in for trouble! You’re nothing but show-offs. You’re like tombs that have been whitewashed.^[o] On the outside they are beautiful, but inside they are full of bones and filth. ²⁸ That’s what you are like. Outside you look good, but inside you are evil and only pretend to be good.

²⁹ You Pharisees and teachers are nothing but show-offs, and you’re in for trouble! You build monuments for the prophets and decorate the tombs of good people. ³⁰ And you claim that you would not have taken part with your ancestors in killing the prophets. ³¹ But you prove that you really are the relatives of the ones who killed the prophets. ³² So keep on doing everything they did. ³³ You are nothing but snakes and the children of snakes! How can you escape going to hell?

³⁴ I will send prophets and wise people and experts in the Law of Moses to you. But you will kill them or nail them to a cross or beat them in your meeting places or chase them from town to town. ³⁵ That’s why you will be held guilty for the murder of every good person, beginning with the good man Abel. This also includes Barachiah’s son Zechariah,^[p] the man you murdered between the temple and the altar. ³⁶ I can promise that you people living today will be punished for all these things!

³⁷ Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Your people have killed the prophets and have stoned the messengers who were sent to you. I have often wanted to gather your people, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you wouldn’t let me. ³⁸ And now your temple will be deserted. ³⁹ You won’t see me again until you say,