The Leaders Question Jesus

20 One day Jesus was in the Temple, teaching the people and telling them the Good News. The leading priests, teachers of the law, and Jewish elders came up to talk with him. ² They said, “Tell us! What authority do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”

³ Jesus answered, “I will ask you a question too. Tell me: ⁴ When John baptized people, did that come from God or from man?”

⁵ The priests, the teachers of the law, and the Jewish leaders all talked about this. They said to each other, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ then Jesus will say, ‘Then why did you not believe John?’ ⁶ But if we say, ‘John’s baptism was from man,’ then all the people will kill us with stones because they believe that John was a prophet.” ⁷ So they answered, “We don’t know the answer.”

⁸ So Jesus said to them, “Then I will not tell you by what authority I do these things!”

God Sends His Son

⁹ Then Jesus told the people this story: “A man planted a vineyard. The man leased the land to some farmers. Then he went away for a long time. ¹⁰ Later, it was time for the grapes to be picked. So the man sent a servant to those farmers to get his share of the grapes. But they beat the servant and sent him away with nothing. ¹¹ Then he sent another servant. They beat this servant too. They showed no respect for him and sent him away with nothing. ¹² So the man sent a third servant. The farmers hurt this servant badly and threw him out. ¹³ The owner of the vineyard said, ‘What will I do now? I will send my son whom I love very much. Maybe they will respect him!’ ¹⁴ When they saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the owner’s son. This vineyard will be his. If we kill him, then it will be ours!’ ¹⁵ So the farmers threw the son out of the vineyard and killed him.

“What will the owner of this vineyard do? ¹⁶ He will come and kill those farmers! Then he will give the vineyard to other farmers.”

The people heard this story. They said, “No! Let this never happen!”

¹⁷ But Jesus looked at them and said, “Then what does this verse mean:

¹⁸ Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken. If that stone falls on you, it will crush you!”

¹⁹ The teachers of the law and the priests heard this story that Jesus told. They knew the story was about them. So they wanted to arrest Jesus at once. But they were afraid of what the people would do.

The Leaders Try to Trap Jesus

²⁰ So they waited for the right time to get Jesus. They sent some spies who acted as if they were good men. They wanted to trap Jesus in what he said so they could hand him over to the authority and power of the governor. ²¹ So the spies asked Jesus, “Teacher, we know that what you say and teach is true. You teach the same to all people. You always teach the truth about God’s way. ²² Tell us, is it right that we pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

²³ But Jesus knew that these men were trying to trick him. He said, ²⁴ “Show me a coin. Whose name is on the coin? And whose picture is on it?”

They said, “Caesar’s.”

²⁵ Jesus said to them, “Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. And give to God the things that are God’s.”

²⁶ The men were amazed at his answer. They could say nothing. They were not able to trap Jesus in anything he said before the people.

Sadducees Try to Trick Jesus

²⁷ Some Sadducees came to Jesus. (Sadducees believe that people will not rise from death.) They asked, ²⁸ “Teacher, Moses wrote that a man’s brother might die. He leaves a wife but no children. Then that man must marry the widow and have children for his dead brother. ²⁹ One time there were seven brothers. The first brother married, but died. He had no children. ³⁰ Then the second brother married the widow, and he died. ³¹ And the third brother married the widow, and he died. The same thing happened with all the other brothers. They all died and had no children. ³² The woman was the last to die. ³³ But all seven brothers married her. So when people rise from death, whose wife will the woman be?”

³⁴ Jesus said to the Sadducees, “On earth, people marry each other. ³⁵ But those who will be worthy to be raised from death and live again will not marry. ³⁶ In that life they are like angels and cannot die. They are children of God, because they have been raised from death. ³⁷ Moses clearly showed that the dead are raised to life. When Moses wrote about the burning bush,^[a] he said that the Lord is ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’^{[b] 38} God is the God of living people, not dead people. All people are alive to God.”

³⁹ Some of the teachers of the law said, “Teacher, your answer was good.” ⁴⁰ No one was brave enough to ask him another question.

Is the Christ the Son of David?

⁴¹ Then Jesus said, “Why do people say that the Christ is the Son ofDavid? ⁴² In the book of Psalms, David himself says:

⁴⁴ David calls the Christ ‘Lord.’ But the Christ is also the son of David. How can both these things be true?”

Jesus Accuses the Leaders

⁴⁵ While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his followers, ⁴⁶ “Be careful of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around wearing clothes that look important. And they love for people to show respect to them in the marketplaces. They love to have the most important seats in the synagogues and at the feasts. ⁴⁷ But they cheat widows and steal their houses. Then they try to make themselves look good by saying long prayers. God will punish these men very much.”