²⁹ People will come from east and west^(A) and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.

The Parable of the Great Banquet^(A)

¹⁵ When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast^(B) in the kingdom of God.”^(C)

Additional Teachings

¹⁶ “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John.^(A) Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached,^(B) and everyone is forcing their way into it.

The Coming of the Kingdom of God^(A)

²⁰ Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come,^(B) Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed,

²¹ nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’^(A) because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”^[a]

¹⁶ But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

¹⁷ Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child^(A) will never enter it.”

²⁴ Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!^(A)

²⁵ Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁹ “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God