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Matthew 22:14-16
New Catholic Bible
Matthew 22:14-16
New Catholic Bible
14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”[a]
15 God or Caesar.[b] Then the Pharisees went off and made plans to trap him in what he said. 16 They sent some of their disciples to him, along with the Herodians,[c] and said, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Nor are you concerned with anyone’s opinion for you do not care about people’s opinions.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Matthew 22:14 Many . . . chosen: this does not seem to allude to the number of the elect, since that is a secret that the Father had reserved to himself. It means that all the Israelites have been invited, but only a few of them have accepted the Gospel.
- Matthew 22:15 Here the series of controversies between Jesus and the religious authorities is resumed, beginning with the question of paying taxes to the Roman emperor. For over twenty years, the Roman emperor had been levying a tax on Palestine; the Jewish people regarded it as a sign of unjust oppression. To pay it was regarded as a denial of Jewish hopes; to challenge it meant taking the side of revolutionary agitators. Only the elderly and children were exempt; the Zealots forbade their members to pay it.
- Matthew 22:16 Herodians: partisans and courtiers of the reigning dynasty of the Herods. Though they were Jews in religion, their spirit was Gentile. They conspired with their enemies the Pharisees against Christ.
