New Testament in a Year

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

20 ^(A)And it happened that on one of the days while ^(B)He was teaching the people in the temple and ^(C)proclaiming the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders ^(D)came up to Him, ² and they spoke, saying to Him, “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?” ³ And Jesus answered and said to them, “I will also ask you a ^[a]question, and you tell Me: ⁴ Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?” ⁵ And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ ⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a ^(E)prophet.” ⁷ So they answered that they did not know where it came from. ⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Neither ^[b]will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Parable of the Vine-Growers

^9 (F)And He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to ^[c]vine-growers, and went on a journey for a long time. ¹⁰ And at the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the vine-growers sent him away empty-handed having beaten him. ¹¹ And he proceeded to send another slave; and when they beat him also and treated him shamefully, they sent him away empty-handed. ¹² And he proceeded to send a third; and this one also they wounded and cast out. ¹³ Now the ^[d]owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will ^(G)respect him.’ ¹⁴ But when the vine-growers saw him, they were reasoning with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’ ¹⁵ So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the ^[e]owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶ He will come and ^(H)destroy these vine-growers and will give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “^(I)May it never be!” ¹⁷ But when ^[f]Jesus looked at them, He said, “What then is this that is written:

^18 (L)Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”

Taxes to Caesar

¹⁹ And the scribes and the chief priests ^(M)tried to lay hands on Him that very hour, but they feared the people. For they understood that He spoke this parable against them. ^20 (N)So they watched Him, and sent spies who ^[g]pretended to be righteous, so ^(O)that they might ^[h]catch Him in some statement, in order to deliver Him to the rule and the authority of ^(P)the governor. ²¹ And they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and You ^[i]are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. ²² Is it ^[j]lawful for us ^(Q)to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” ²³ But He perceived their craftiness and said to them, ²⁴ “Show Me a ^[k]denarius. Whose ^[l]likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” ²⁵ And He said to them, “Then ^(R)render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ²⁶ And they were unable to ^[m](S)catch Him in a word in the presence of the people; and marveling at His answer, they became silent.