The Life of Jesus

The immersion of Yochanan -- was it from Heaven or from a human source? Answer me."

They discussed it among themselves: "If we say, `From Heaven,' he will say, `Then why didn't you believe him?'

But if we say, `From a human source, . . . '" -- they were afraid of the people, for they all regarded Yochanan as a genuine prophet.

So they answered Yeshua, "We don't know." "Then," he replied, "I won't tell you by what s'mikhah I do these things."

Yeshua began speaking to them in parables. "A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the wine press and built a tower; then he rented it to tenant-farmers and left.

When harvest-time came, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect his share of the crop from the vineyard.

But they took him, beat him up and sent him away empty-handed.

So he sent another servant; this one they punched in the head and insulted.

He sent another one, and him they killed; and so with many others -- some they beat up, others they killed.

He had still one person left, a son whom he loved; in the end, he sent him to them, saying, `My son they will respect.'

But the tenants said to each other, `This is the heir. Come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!'

So they seized him, killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.

What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come, destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others!

Haven't you read the passage in the Tanakh that says, `The very rock which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone!

This has come from ADONAI, and in our eyes it is amazing'?"

They set about to arrest him, for they recognized that he had told the parable with reference to themselves. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.

Next they sent some P'rushim and some members of Herod's party to him in order to trap him with a sh'eilah.

They came and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you tell the truth and are not concerned with what people think about you, since you pay no attention to a person's status but really teach what God's way is. Does Torah say that taxes are to be paid to the Roman Emperor, or not?"

But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a denarius so I can look at it."

They brought one; and he asked them, "Whose name and picture are these?" "The Emperor's," they replied.

Yeshua said, "Give the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor. And give to God what belongs to God!" And they were amazed at him.

Then some Tz'dukim came to him. They are the ones who say there is no such thing as resurrection, so they put to him a sh'eilah:

"Rabbi, Moshe wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and have children to preserve the man's family line.

There were seven brothers. The first one took a wife, and when he died, he left no children.

Then the second one took her and died without leaving children, and the third likewise,