20Luke 20

The Question about Jesus' Authority

1One day when Jesus was in the Temple teaching the people and preaching the Good News, the chief priests and the teachers of the Law, together with the elders, cameSelect Luke 20:1

2and said to him, “Tell us, what right do you have to do these things? Who gave you such right?”Select Luke 20:2

3Jesus answered them, “Now let me ask you a question. Tell me,Select Luke 20:3

4did John's right to baptize come from God or from human beings?”Select Luke 20:4

5They started to argue among themselves, “What shall we say? If we say, ‘From God,’ he will say, ‘Why, then, did you not believe John?’Select Luke 20:5

6But if we say, ‘From human beings,’ this whole crowd here will stone us, because they are convinced that John was a prophet.”Select Luke 20:6

7So they answered, “We don't know where it came from.”Select Luke 20:7

8And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you, then, by what right I do these things.”Select Luke 20:8

The Parable of the Tenants in the Vineyard

9Then Jesus told the people this parable: “There was once a man who planted a vineyard, rented it out to tenants, and then left home for a long time.Select Luke 20:9

10When the time came to gather the grapes, he sent a slave to the tenants to receive from them his share of the harvest. But the tenants beat the slave and sent him back without a thing.Select Luke 20:10

11So he sent another slave; but the tenants beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him back without a thing.Select Luke 20:11

12Then he sent a third slave; the tenants wounded him, too, and threw him out.Select Luke 20:12

13Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my own dear son; surely they will respect him!’Select Luke 20:13

14But when the tenants saw him, they said to one another, ‘This is the owner's son. Let's kill him, and his property will be ours!’Select Luke 20:14

15So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. “What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do to the tenants?” Jesus asked.Select Luke 20:15

16“He will come and kill those men, and turn the vineyard over to other tenants.” When the people heard this, they said, “Surely not!”Select Luke 20:16

17Jesus looked at them and asked, “What, then, does this scripture mean? ‘The stone which the builders rejected as worthless turned out to be the most important of all.’Select Luke 20:17

18Everyone who falls on that stone will be cut to pieces; and if that stone falls on someone, that person will be crushed to dust.”Select Luke 20:18

The Question about Paying Taxes

19The teachers of the Law and the chief priests tried to arrest Jesus on the spot, because they knew that he had told this parable against them; but they were afraid of the people.Select Luke 20:19

20So they looked for an opportunity. They bribed some men to pretend they were sincere, and they sent them to trap Jesus with questions, so that they could hand him over to the authority and power of the Roman Governor.Select Luke 20:20

21These spies said to Jesus, “Teacher, we know that what you say and teach is right. We know that you pay no attention to anyone's status, but teach the truth about God's will for people.Select Luke 20:21

22Tell us, is it against our Law for us to pay taxes to the Roman Emperor, or not?”Select Luke 20:22

23But Jesus saw through their trick and said to them,Select Luke 20:23

24“Show me a silver coin. Whose face and name are these on it?” “The Emperor's,” they answered.Select Luke 20:24

25So Jesus said, “Well, then, pay to the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor, and pay to God what belongs to God.”Select Luke 20:25

26There before the people they could not catch him in a thing, so they kept quiet, amazed at his answer.Select Luke 20:26

The Question about Rising from Death

27Then some Sadducees, who say that people will not rise from death, came to Jesus and said,Select Luke 20:27

28“Teacher, Moses wrote this law for us: ‘If a man dies and leaves a wife but no children, that man's brother must marry the widow so that they can have children who will be considered the dead man's children.’Select Luke 20:28

29Once there were seven brothers; the oldest got married and died without having children.Select Luke 20:29

30Then the second one married the woman,Select Luke 20:30

31and then the third. The same thing happened to all seven—they died without having children.Select Luke 20:31

32Last of all, the woman died.Select Luke 20:32

33Now, on the day when the dead rise to life, whose wife will she be? All seven of them had married her.”Select Luke 20:33

34Jesus answered them, “The men and women of this age marry,Select Luke 20:34

35but the men and women who are worthy to rise from death and live in the age to come will not then marry.Select Luke 20:35

36They will be like angels and cannot die. They are the children of God, because they have risen from death.Select Luke 20:36

37And Moses clearly proves that the dead are raised to life. In the passage about the burning bush he speaks of the Lord as ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’Select Luke 20:37

38He is the God of the living, not of the dead, for to him all are alive.”Select Luke 20:38

39Some of the teachers of the Law spoke up, “A good answer, Teacher!”Select Luke 20:39

40For they did not dare ask him any more questions.Select Luke 20:40

The Question about the Messiah

41Jesus asked them, “How can it be said that the Messiah will be the descendant of David?Select Luke 20:41

42For David himself says in the book of Psalms, ‘The Lord said to my Lord: Sit here at my right sideSelect Luke 20:42

43until I put your enemies as a footstool under your feet.’Select Luke 20:43

44David called him ‘Lord’; how, then, can the Messiah be David's descendant?”Select Luke 20:44

Jesus Warns against the Teachers of the Law

45As all the people listened to him, Jesus said to his disciples,Select Luke 20:45

46“Be on your guard against the teachers of the Law, who like to walk around in their long robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplace; who choose the reserved seats in the synagogues and the best places at feasts;Select Luke 20:46

47who take advantage of widows and rob them of their homes, and then make a show of saying long prayers! Their punishment will be all the worse!”Select Luke 20:47