Luke 20
Jesus implies that his authority came from God
One day while Jesus was teaching in the temple and proclaiming exciting things, the lead priests, religious writers, and elders approached him asking,
“Who gave you authority to do these things?”
Jesus replied,
“Let me ask you a question, and you tell me: Was John’s baptism from heaven or from mankind?”
They processed his question together saying,
“If we say it was from heaven then he’ll ask why we didn’t believe John… but if we say it was from mankind then everyone will stone us to death because they’re convinced that John was a prophet.”
So they answered that they didn’t know where the baptism came from. To that Jesus replied,
“Then I’m not gonna tell you who gave me authority to do these things.”
God will destroy Israel & give their inheritance to others
Then he made this illustration for everyone:
“A man planted a vineyard, rented it out to grape farmers, and then traveled abroad for a long time. When harvest season came he sent a servant to the farmers so they could give him some of the produce from the vineyard. But when the servant got there, the farmers beat him up and sent him away empty-handed. The owner sent another servant, but they beat him up, insulted him, and sent him away empty-handed too. The owner sent a third, but the renters injured him and kicked him out too.
The owner thought to himself,
‘What should I do? I know: I’ll send my cherished son, because they will show him some respect.’
But when the farmers saw him, they conspired together saying,
‘This is the heir of the property! Let’s kill him so that his inheritance will belong to us.’
So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
What do you think the owner will do to those guys? He will come and utterly destroy them and give the vineyard to others.”
When everyone heard that, they said, “I hope that never happens!”
Jesus is vital despite being rejected
But Jesus looked at them and said,
“Then what do you think scripture is talking about when it says:
‘The brick that builders rejected has become the brick that is of utmost structural importance’?
Everyone who trips on that brick will be crushed, and whoever it falls on will get smashed, but whoever it falls on will be shattered.”
The religious writers and lead priests tried to seize him that very hour while also being afraid of the people, because they realized that this illustration was pointed at them.
Anything with God’s image should be given to God
So they kept a close eye on him sending spies who pretended to be upright hoping to catch him saying something that they could use to hand him over to the governor. They questioned him, saying,
“Teacher, we recognize your philosophy & teachings as good, you don’t suck up to anyone, and you teach God’s ways truthfully. Now tell us: does the law permit us to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
Detecting their trickery, Jesus said,
“Show me a coin. Whose image and inscription does it have?”
They said, “Caesar’s,” then he told them,
“Then give back to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar, and give back to God the things that belong to God.”
They were unable to catch him in anything he said in public, and they were so amazed at his answer that they didn’t say anything else.
There’s an afterlife because God is life
Then some religious leaders who don’t believe in a resurrection came and asked him,
“Teacher, Moses wrote that if a married man who doesn’t have any kids dies, then that man’s brother should marry the wife and have kid on behalf of his brother.
Now suppose that there is a family of 7 brothers. The first one marries and dies childless, so the second and third marry her, and in the same way, all 7 die without ever giving her children. Eventually the woman dies too.
So then in the resurrection, whose wife will she be? Since all 7 had married her.”
Jesus told them,
“Children of this realm get married, but anyone who’s considered worthy to receive that realm and the awakening from the dead won’t get married. They won’t even be able to die either, because they’ll be like angels. They are God’s children which means that they are also the resurrection’s children.
But even Moses showed that the dead are awakened in the passage about the burning bush where he calls the Master: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s God.
He isn’t the God of the dead, but of the living, because everything lives to him.”
Some of the religious writers told Jesus that he did a good job of explaining it, because they didn’t dare to further question him about anything.
Religious leaders will be punished for stressing details while ignoring the big picture
Then he asked them,
“Why do they say that the Chosen One is David’s offspring? Because even David himself says in Psalms:
‘The Master said to my Master:
“Sit right next to me until I turn your opponents into a stool for you to put your feet on.”’
If David calls him ‘Master,’ then how can he be his offspring?”
Then he told his students in front of everyone,
“Beware of the religious writers who enjoy walking around in their religious clothes, love being greeted respectfully in public, love sitting in the seats of honor at church and at banquets. They gobble up widows’ households and offer long prayers for the sake of appearance. When they are on trial, they will receive a hefty sentence.”