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The Authority of Jesus Questioned

20 One day as he was teaching the people in the temple and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the scribes came with the elders(A) and said to him, “Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who is it who gave you this authority?”(B) He answered them, “I will also ask you a question, and you tell me: Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” They discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.”(C) So they answered that they did not know where it came from. Then Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

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.(D) 10 When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants in order that they might give him his share of the produce of the vineyard, but the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 Next he sent another slave; that one also they beat and insulted and sent away empty-handed. 12 And he sent still a third; this one also they wounded and threw out. 13 Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ 14 But when the tenants saw him, they discussed it among themselves and said, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance may be ours.’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Heaven forbid!”(E) 17 But he looked at them and said, “What then does this text mean:

‘The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone’?[a](F)

18 “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”(G)

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Footnotes

  1. 20.17 Or keystone (in an arch)