Shared Word Translation
Luke 20
The Authority of Jesus Questioned
And it happened on one of the days, as he was teaching the people in the temple and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up, and spoke, saying to him, “Tell us, by what authority you are doing these things, or who is the one who gave you this authority?”
And answering, he said to them, “I also will ask you a question, and you tell me: The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from people?” And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From people,’ all the people will stone us, for they are convinced that John is a prophet.”
And they answered that they did not know where it was from. And Jesus said to them, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
The Parable of the Wicked Tenants
And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and leased it to tenants and went away for a long time. And at the season he sent a servant to the tenants so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard; but the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
And again he sent another servant, but they also beat and dishonored him and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent yet a third, and this one also they wounded and cast out.
And the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ But when the tenants saw him, they reasoned with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance may become ours.’ And casting him out of the vineyard, they killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?
He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” And hearing it, they said, “May it never be!”
But looking at them, he said, “What then is this that is written:
‘The stone which the builders rejected,
this has become the cornerstone’?
Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”
And the scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him in that hour, and they feared the people, for they knew that he had spoken this parable against them.
Paying Taxes to Caesar
And watching him closely, they sent spies, who pretended to be righteous, so that they might catch him in a word, in order to hand him over to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. And they asked him, saying, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly and show no partiality, but truly teach the way of God: Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?”
But perceiving their craftiness, he said to them, “Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have?” And they said, “Caesar’s.” And he said to them, “Then render the things of Caesar to Caesar, and the things of God to God.”
And they were not able to catch him in his words before the people, and marveling at his answer, they became silent.
Sadducees Ask about the Resurrection
And some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came up and questioned him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies having a wife and he is childless, his brother should take the wife and raise up offspring for his brother.
Now there were seven brothers, and the first, taking a wife, died childless; and the second, and the third took her, and likewise also the seven left no children and died. Afterward the woman also died.
In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife does she become? For the seven had her as wife.”
And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those considered worthy to attain that age and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage; for neither are they able to die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.
But that the dead are raised—even Moses showed at the bush, where he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham and God of Isaac and God of Jacob.’ Now he is not God of the dead but of the living, for all live to him.”
And answering, some of the scribes said, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” For they no longer dared to question him about anything.
Whose Son Is the Christ?
But he said to them, “How do they say that the Christ is David’s son?
For David himself says in the book of Psalms:
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’
Therefore David calls him Lord, and how is he his son?”
Beware of the Scribes
And in the hearing of all the people he said to the disciples, “Beware of the scribes, who desire to walk around in long robes and love greetings in the marketplaces and the first seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour the houses of widows and for appearance make long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation.”