1And 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, came up 2and spoke to Him, saying, Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things? Or who is he who gave You this authority? 3But He answered and said to them, I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me: 4The immersion of John; was it from Heaven or from men? 5And they reasoned among themselves, saying, If we say, From Heaven, He will say, Why then did you not believe him? 6But if we say, From men, all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet. 7So they answered that they did not know where it was from. 8And Jesus said to them, Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. 9Then 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. 10Now at the right 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. 11And again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. 12And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out. 13Then the owner of the vineyard said, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Perhaps they will respect him when they see him. 14But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, so that the inheritance may become ours. 15So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16He will come and destroy these vinedressers and give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it they said, Let it not be! 17And He looked at them and said, What then is this that is written: The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner? 18Whoever falls on that stone will be broken in pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will crush him. 19And the chief priests and the scribes that same hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people; for they knew He had spoken this parable against them. 20So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on one of His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor. 21Then they asked Him, saying, Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal regard, but teach the way of God in truth: 22Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar or not? 23But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, Why do you test Me? 24Show Me a denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have? They answered and said, Caesar's. 25And He said to them, Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. 26And they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people. And they marveled at His answer and kept silent. 27Then some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, 28saying: 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 seed for his brother. 29Now there were seven brothers. And the first took a wife, and died without children. 30And the second took her as wife, and he died childless. 31Then the third took her, and in like manner the seven also; and they left no children, and died. 32Last of all the woman died also. 33Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife is she? For the seven had her as wife. 34And Jesus answered and said to them, The sons of this world marry and are given in marriage. 35But those who are counted worthy to attain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; 36nor is it possible for them to die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. 37But even Moses showed at the bush that the dead are raised, when he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 38For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him. 39Then some of the scribes answered and said, Teacher, You have well said. 40And after that they dared not question Him anymore. 41And He said to them, How do they say that the Christ is the Son of David? 42Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms: The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, 43till I make Your enemies Your footstool. 44Therefore David calls Him Lord; how is He then his Son? 45Then, in the hearing of all the people, He said to His disciples, 46Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the chief seats in the synagogues, and the chief places at feasts, 47who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 2 THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS QUESTIONED, AND HIS REPLY--PARABLE OF THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN. (Luke 20:1-19)
these things--particularly the clearing of the temple.
4 baptism of John--his whole ministry and mission, of which baptism was the seal.
5 Why then believed ye him not?--that is, in his testimony to Jesus, the sum of his whole witness.
7 could not tell--crooked, cringing hypocrites! No wonder Jesus gave you no answer (
Matt 7:6). But what dignity and composure does our Lord display as He turns their question upon themselves!
9 vineyard--(See on
Luke 13:6). In
Matt 21:33 additional points are given, taken literally from
Isa 5:2, to fix down the application and sustain it by Old Testament authority.
husbandmen--the ordinary spiritual guides of the people, under whose care and culture the fruits of righteousness might be yielded.
went, &c.--leaving it to the laws of the spiritual husbandry during the whole length of the Jewish economy. (See on
Mark 4:26.)
10 beat, &c.-- (
Matt 21:35); that is, the prophets, extraordinary messengers raised up from time to time. (See on
Matt 23:37.)
13 my beloved son--Mark (
Mark 12:6) still more affectingly, "Having yet therefore one son, his well-beloved"; our Lord thus severing Himself from all merely human messengers, and claiming Sonship in its loftiest sense. (Compare
Heb 3:3-
Heb 3:6.)
it may be--"surely"; implying the almost unimaginable guilt of not doing so.
14 reasoned among themselves--(Compare
Gen 37:18-
Gen 37:20;
John 11:47-
John 11:53).
the heir--sublime expression of the great truth, that God's inheritance was destined for, and in due time to come into the possession of, His Son in our nature (
Heb 1:2).
inheritance . . . ours--and so from mere servants we may become lords; the deep aim of the depraved heart, and literally "the root of all evil."
15 cast him out of the vineyard--(Compare
Heb 13:11-
Heb 13:13;
1Kgs 21:13;
John 19:17).
16 He shall come, &c.--This answer was given by the Pharisees themselves (
Matt 21:41), thus pronouncing their own righteous doom. Matthew alone (
Matt 21:43) gives the naked application, that "the kingdom of God should be taken from them, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof"--the great evangelical community of the faithful, chiefly Gentiles.
God forbid--His whole meaning now bursting upon them.
17 written--(in
Ps 118:22-
Ps 118:23. See on
Luke 19:38). The Kingdom of God is here a Temple, in the erection of which a certain stone, rejected as unsuitable by the spiritual builders, is, by the great Lord of the House, made the keystone of the whole. On that Stone the builders were now "falling" and being "broken" (
Isa 8:15), "sustaining great spiritual hurt; but soon that Stone should fall upon them and grind them to powder" (
Dan 2:34-
Dan 2:35;
Zech 12:3) --in their corporate capacity in the tremendous destruction of Jerusalem, but personally, as unbelievers, in a more awful sense still.
19 the same hour--hardly able to restrain their rage.
20 ENTANGLING QUESTIONS ABOUT TRIBUTE AND THE RESURRECTION--THE REPLIES. (Luke 20:20-40)
sent forth--after consulting (
Matt 22:15) on the best plan.
spies--"of the Pharisees and Herodians" (
Mark 12:13). See
Mark 3:6.
21 we know, &c.--hoping by flattery to throw Him off His guard.
22 tribute--(See on
Matt 17:24).
25 things which be Cćsar's--Putting it in this general form, it was impossible for sedition itself to dispute it, and yet it dissolved the snare.
and unto God--How much there is in this profound but to them startling addition to the maxim, and how incomparable is the whole for fulness, brevity, clearness, weight!
27 no resurrection--"nor angel nor spirit" (
Acts 23:8); the materialists of the day.
34 said unto them--In
Matt 22:29, the reply begins with this important statement:--"Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures," regarding the future state, "nor the power of God," before which a thousand such difficulties vanish (also
Mark 12:24).
36 neither . . . die any more--Marriage is ordained to perpetuate the human family; but as there will be no breaches by death in the future state, this ordinance will cease.
equal--or "like."
unto the angels--that is, in the immortality of their nature.
children of God--not in respect of character but nature; "being the children of the resurrection" to an undecaying existence (
Rom 8:21,
Rom 8:23). And thus the children of their Father's immortality (
1Tim 6:16).
37 even Moses--whom they had just quoted to entangle Him.
38 not . . . of the dead, . . . for all, &c.--To God, no human being is dead, or ever will be; but all sustain an abiding conscious relation to Him. But the "all" here meant "those who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world." These sustain a gracious covenant relation to God, which cannot be dissolved. In this sense our Lord affirms that for Moses to call the Lord the "God" of His patriarchal servants if at that moment they had no existence, would be unworthy of Him. He "would be ashamed to be called their God, if He had not prepared for them a city" (
Heb 11:16). How precious are these glimpses of the resurrection state!
39 scribes . . . well said--enjoying His victory over the Sadducees.
they durst not--neither party, both for the time utterly foiled.
41 CHRIST BAFFLES THE PHARISEES BY A QUESTION ABOUT DAVID AND MESSIAH, AND DENOUNCES THE SCRIBES. (
Luke 20:41-
Luke 20:47)
said, &c.--"What think ye of Christ [the promised and expected Messiah]? Whose son is He [to be]? They say unto Him, The son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit [by the Holy Ghost,
Mark 12:36] call Him Lord?" (
Matt 22:42-
Matt 22:43). The difficulty can only be solved by the higher and lower--the divine and human natures of our Lord (
Matt 1:23). Mark the testimony here given to the inspiration of the Old Testament (compare
Luke 24:44).
46 Beware, &c.--(See on
Matt 23:5; and
Luke 14:7).
47 devour, &c.--taking advantage of their helpless condition and confiding character, to obtain possession of their property, while by their "long prayers" they made them believe they were raised far above "filthy lucre." So much "the greater damnation" awaits them. What a lifelike description of the Romish clergy, the true successors of "the scribes!"