Luke20

Jesus' authority is challenged by the chief priests and scribes, whom he silences with a counter-question about John's baptism. He then tells the parable of the wicked husbandmen, foretelling his rejection and the transfer of the kingdom. Jesus also deftly answers questions about paying tribute to Caesar and the resurrection, before warning against the hypocrisy of the scribes.

Jesus's Authority Challenged

1
On one of those days, as he was teaching the people in the temple and proclaiming the Good News, the priests and scribes came to him with the elders. ​
2
They asked him, “Tell us: by what authority do you do these things? Or who is giving you this authority?” ​
3
He answered them, “I also will ask you one question. Tell me:
4
the immersion of Yochanan, was it from heaven, or from men?” ​
5
They reasoned with themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ ​
6
But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that Yochanan was a prophet.”
7
They answered that they didn’t know where it was from.
8
Yeshua said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers

9
He began to tell the people this parable. “A man planted a vineyard, and rented it out to some farmers, and went into another country for a long time. ​
10
At the proper season, he sent a servant to the farmers to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard. But the farmers beat him, and sent him away empty.
11
He sent yet another servant, and they also beat him, and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty.
12
He sent yet a third, and they also wounded him, and threw him out.
13
The lord of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. It may be that seeing him, they will respect him.’ ​
14
“But when the farmers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.’ ​
15
They threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do to them?
16
He will come and destroy these farmers, and will give the vineyard to others.” When they heard it, they said, “May it never be!” ​
17
But he looked at them, and said, “Then what is this that is written, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the chief cornerstone?’ ​
18
Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but it will crush whomever it falls on to dust.” ​
19
The chief priests and the scribes sought to lay hands on him that very hour, but they feared the people—for they knew he had spoken this parable against them. ​

Tribute to Caesar

20
They watched him, and sent out spies, who pretended to be righteous, that they might trap him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the power and authority of the governor. ​
21
They asked him, “Rabbi, we know that you say and teach what is right, and aren’t partial to anyone, but truly teach the way of God.
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?
24
Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?” They answered, “Caesar’s.”
25
He said to them, “Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ​
26
They weren’t able to trap him in his words before the people. They marveled at his answer, and were silent.

The Sadducees and the Resurrection

27
Some of the Sadducees came to him, those who deny that there is a resurrection. ​
28
They asked him, “Rabbi, Moses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies having a wife, and he is childless, his brother should take the wife, and raise up children for his brother. ​
29
There were therefore seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died childless.
30
The second took her as wife, and he died childless.
31
The third took her, and likewise the seven all left no children, and died.
32
Afterward the woman also died.
33
Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them will she be? For the seven had her as a wife.”
34
Yeshua said to them, “The children of this age marry, and are given in marriage. ​
35
But those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage.
36
For they can’t die any more, for they are like the angels, and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. ​
37
But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he called the Lord ‘The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ ​
38
Now he is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all are alive to him.”
39
Some of the scribes answered, “Rabbi, you speak well.”
40
They didn’t dare to ask him any more questions.

Whose Son is the Christ?

41
He said to them, “Why do they say that the Messiah is David’s son? ​
42
David himself says in the scroll of Psalms, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, ​
43
until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet.”’
44
“David therefore calls him Lord, so how is he his son?” ​

Warning Against the Scribes

45
In the hearing of all the people, he said to his disciples, ​
46
“Beware of the scribes, who like to walk in long robes, and 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.” ​

Study Notes for Luke 20

Verse 1

This scene occurs during the final week of Jesus's ministry in Jerusalem. The chief priests and scribes confront Jesus because his public teaching and actions (like cleansing the Temple) usurped their established religious authority.

Verse 2

The core question is one of *exousia* (authority). The leaders sought a legal or political basis for Jesus’s actions, aiming to force him to claim either divine or revolutionary power, thereby providing grounds for arrest.

Verse 4

Jesus employs a brilliant counter-question, putting the leaders in an impossible dilemma. John the Baptist, whom the leaders rejected, directly testified to Jesus’s authority.

Verse 5

The leaders’ internal debate reveals their motivation: they are not seeking truth, but calculating the political and social risks of their answer.

Verse 9

This parable is a clear allegory drawn from Isaiah 5:1–7, where the vineyard represents Israel. Jesus is speaking directly to the crowd, but the message is aimed squarely at the chief priests and scribes.

Verse 13

The term 'beloved son' distinguishes Jesus from the previous messengers (the prophets). It asserts his unique, divine identity as the heir, whose arrival should have commanded reverence.

Verse 14

The vinedressers' motivation is greed and usurpation of the inheritance. This represents the Jewish leaders’ desire to maintain control over Israel, even if it meant rejecting the Son of God.

Verse 16

The destruction of the tenants and the granting of the vineyard to 'others' is a prophecy of judgment against the unfaithful leaders and the eventual transfer of covenant privileges to the Church (including believing Gentiles).

Verse 17

Jesus quotes Psalm 118:22, identifying himself as the 'stone which the builders rejected.' This emphasizes that his rejection and subsequent exaltation were foretold in Scripture.

Verse 18

This verse warns of two levels of judgment: stumbling over the stone (rejecting Christ) results in brokenness, while the stone falling on someone (final judgment) results in complete destruction.

Verse 19

The religious authorities understood the parable perfectly, recognizing that Jesus accused them of rejecting God’s messengers and planning to murder the Son.

Verse 20

The leaders sent spies who pretended to be morally upright or unbiased. Their goal was to force Jesus into making a treasonous statement against Rome that could be used by the Governor (Pilate).

Verse 22

The question concerns the *tributum capitis* (poll tax), a deeply resented tax paid directly to Rome. A 'yes' answer would alienate the Jewish populace; a 'no' answer was sedition.

Verse 25

Jesus resolves the dilemma by establishing two distinct realms of obligation. Since the coin bears Caesar’s image, it belongs to him; since humanity bears God’s image (Genesis 1:27), ultimate loyalty belongs to God.

Verse 27

The Sadducees were an aristocratic sect who accepted only the Pentateuch (the Law of Moses) and denied doctrines like the resurrection, angels, and spirits.

Verse 28

Their question is based on the law of levirate marriage (Deuteronomy 25:5), which required a brother to marry his deceased brother’s widow to maintain the family line. They use this extreme hypothetical case to ridicule the idea of resurrection.

Verse 34

Jesus corrects their fundamental error: they projected the conditions of the temporary, physical world onto the eternal, resurrected world.

Verse 36

In the resurrection, believers will share an immortal, non-procreative existence, likened to the angels. The purpose of marriage (procreation and continuity) ceases when death is overcome.

Verse 37

Jesus proves the resurrection using the Sadducees’ own accepted text (Exodus 3:6). By referring to the patriarchs in the present tense ('God of Abraham...'), Moses shows that they are not annihilated but are presently alive with God.

Verse 41

Jesus now shifts from defense to offense, challenging the leaders’ understanding of the Messiah's identity, which they typically limited to a political descendant of David.

Verse 42

Jesus quotes Psalm 110:1, a highly recognized Messianic psalm. The question hinges on how David could call his own descendant 'Lord' (Gr. *Kyrios*).

Verse 44

The question forces the leaders to confront the dual nature of the Messiah: he must be both a human descendant of David ('son') and a divine sovereign ('Lord').

Verse 45

Having silenced his antagonists, Jesus gives a public warning to the disciples and the crowd regarding the hypocrisy of the religious elites.

Verse 46

Jesus condemns the scribes for seeking outward status (long robes, greetings) and honorific titles, prioritizing public recognition over genuine humility and service.

Verse 47

To 'devour widows’ houses' means exploiting the vulnerable through legal or financial manipulation, while masking this injustice with ostentatious displays of 'long prayers.' This hypocrisy merits 'greater damnation' (severer judgment).

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