Luke 20 · WEB
Authority Challenged in the Temple
Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.
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On one of those days, as he was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the Good News, the priests and scribes came to him with the elders.
2They asked him, "Tell us: by what authority do you do these things? Or who is giving you this authority?"
3He answered them, "I also will ask you one question. Tell me:
4the baptism of John, was it from heaven, or from men?"
5They reasoned with themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Why didn't you believe him?'
6But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet."
7They answered that they didn't know where it was from.
8Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."
9He 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.
10At 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.
11He sent yet another servant, and they also beat him and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty.
12He sent yet a third, and they also wounded him and threw him out.
13The 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.'
15They threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do to them?
16He will come and destroy these farmers, and will give the vineyard to others." When they heard that, they said, "May it never be!"
17But he looked at them and said, "Then what is this that is written, 'The stone which the builders rejected was made the chief cornerstone?'
18Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but it will crush whomever it falls on to dust."
19The 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.
20They 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.
21They asked him, "Teacher, we know that you say and teach what is right, and aren't partial to anyone, but truly teach the way of God.
22Is it lawful for us to pay taxes 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 are on it?" They answered, "Caesar's."
25He said to them, "Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."
26They weren't able to trap him in his words before the people. They marveled at his answer and were silent.
27Some of the Sadducees came to him, those who deny that there is a resurrection.
28They asked him, "Teacher, 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.
29There were therefore seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died childless.
30The second took her as wife, and he died childless.
31The third took her, and likewise the seven all left no children, and died.
32Afterward the woman also died.
33Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them will she be? For the seven had her as a wife."
34Jesus said to them, "The children of this age marry and are given in marriage.
35But those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.
36For they can't die any more, for they are like the angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.
37But 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.'
38Now he is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all are alive to him."
39Some of the scribes answered, "Teacher, you speak well."
40They didn't dare to ask him any more questions.
41He said to them, "Why do they say that the Christ is David's son?
42David himself says in the book of Psalms, 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand,
43until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet."'
44"David therefore calls him Lord, so how is he his son?"
45In the hearing of all the people, he said to his disciples,
46"Beware of those 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;
47who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation."
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Summary
In the temple courts, religious leaders confront Jesus about his authority, but he silences them with a counter-question about John's baptism. He tells the parable of the wicked tenants — a clear indictment of Israel's leaders — then handles trick questions about taxes to Caesar and the resurrection with masterful wisdom. Finally, Jesus presses them on Psalm 110, showing the Messiah is David's Lord, not merely his son, and warns the people against the showy pretense of the scribes who oppress widows.
Themes
- The authority of Jesus
- Israel's leaders held accountable
- Earthly government and ultimate allegiance to God
- The reality of resurrection
- The Messiah as both David's son and David's Lord
Key verses
- Luke 20:17-18 — “The stone which the builders rejected was made the chief cornerstone... it will crush whomever it falls on to dust.”
- Luke 20:25 — “Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.”
- Luke 20:38 — “Now he is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all are alive to him.”
- Luke 20:46-47 — “Beware of those scribes... who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.”
Context & background
Luke 20 takes place entirely in the Jerusalem temple courts (in modern Israel) during Passion Week. The chief priests, scribes, and elders made up the Sanhedrin, the ruling council that controlled both temple worship and much of Jewish civic life under Roman occupation. The denarius bore the image and inscription of Tiberius Caesar — for many Jews a daily reminder of pagan Roman rule headquartered in Caesarea (on Israel's Mediterranean coast) and ultimately in Rome (modern Italy). Sadducees were the priestly aristocracy who accepted only the Torah and rejected the resurrection, while Pharisees and most common Jews believed in it; Jesus answers the Sadducees on their own ground from Exodus 3 at the burning bush in Sinai (modern Egypt).
Cross-references
- Acts 4:11 / 1 Peter 2:6-8 — the apostles' use of the cornerstone image about Jesus
- Exodus 3:6 — God identifying himself to Moses as the God of the patriarchs
- Isaiah 5:1-7 — the Song of the Vineyard, the Old Testament image Jesus reworks
- Psalm 110:1 — David's "Lord" seated at the right hand of God
- Psalm 118:22 — the rejected stone becoming the chief cornerstone