For they knew He had spoken this parable against them

The chief priests and scribes at the temple where Jesus taught, tried to discredit Him. They knew Jesus' teaching had substance and power and they also knew He was not a priest nor a formally trained Rabbi. So they asked whose authority was Jesus preaching with? Jesus challenged them with a question on the authority of John the Baptist and well-known and respected, but unlikely to be an educated religious leader. They could not answer Jesus.

Jesus spoke of the parable of the wicked vinedressers which is directed at the chief priests and they knew it. The parable was about a owner (God) of the vineyard who let the vinedressers (mankind) take care of his vineyard while he was away (in heaven). The owner send his servants (the prophets) to the vineyard when the fruits were ready but the vinedressers beat them up (rejecting the prophets). Finally the owner send his beloved son (Y'shua) but they killed (crucified) him. The owner will come to destroy the vineyard (Judgment). To make this even clearer, then Jesus spoke about the cornerstone of the building being rejected. Then chief priests started to look for ways to destroy Jesus.

The Pharisees tried to trap Jesus into saying something that could get Him arrested by Roman Law. They asked whether people should pay taxes, thinking that if Jesus answered yes, that would not be popular with the audience but if He answered no, that would get Him arrested. Jesus knew their plot and answered that they should pay the Roman government as well as God what belongs to either of them respectively.

The Sadducees tried to trap Jesus with a theological question on the Law about a woman who married many times on earth and when she goes to heaven, whose wife will she be. Jesus responded with new information about heaven that people are not married in heaven, so all the listeners were amazed at His knowledge. Then Jesus asked them a paradoxical question about how King David can call his descendant Lord. After this, Jesus warned the people to beware of scribes who act religiously, but will be condemned.




Luke 20
Jesus’ Authority Questioned

1 Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him 2 and spoke to Him, saying, “Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things? Or who is he who gave You this authority?”

3 But He answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me: 4 The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men?”

5 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then[a] did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.” 7 So they answered that they did not know where it was from.

8 And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers

9 Then He began to tell the people this parable: “A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time. 10 Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. 12 And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out.

13 “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Probably they will respect him when they see him.’ 14 But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.’ 15 So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others.”

And when they heard it they said, “Certainly not!”

17 Then He looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written:

‘The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone’?[b]
18 Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”

19 And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people[c] —for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.

The Pharisees: Is It Lawful to Pay Taxes to Caesar?

20 So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor.

21 Then they asked Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth: 22 Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

23 But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, “Why do you test Me?[d] 24 Show Me a denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have?”

They answered and said, “Caesar’s.”

25 And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

26 But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people. And they marveled at His answer and kept silent.

The Sadducees: What About the Resurrection?

27 Then some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, 28 saying: “Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife, and he dies without children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. And the first took a wife, and died without children. 30 And the second[e] took her as wife, and he died childless. 31 Then the third took her, and in like manner the seven also; and they left no children,[f] and died. 32 Last of all the woman died also. 33 Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife does she become? For all seven had her as wife.”

34 Jesus answered and said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; 36 nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. 37 But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’[g] 38 For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him.”

39 Then some of the scribes answered and said, “Teacher, You have spoken well.” 40 But after that they dared not question Him anymore.

Jesus: How Can David Call His Descendant Lord?

41 And He said to them, “How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David? 42 Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms:

‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
43 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”’[h]
44 Therefore David calls Him ‘Lord’; how is He then his Son?”

Beware of the Scribes

45 Then, in the hearing of all the people, He said to His disciples, 46 “Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, 47 who devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”