Luke 20
The Authority of Jesus
20:1 Now one day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the gospel, the chief priests and the experts in the law with the elders came up 20:2 and said to him, “Tell us: By what authority are you doing these things? Or who it is who gave you this authority?”
Jesus turned over the money tables, making the Jewish religious leaders look like crooks. The religious leaders claimed to have received their authority from Moses. They asked Jesus from whom He received His authority.
20:3 He answered them, “I will also ask you a question, and you tell me: 20:4 John’s baptism – was it from heaven or from people?”
John proclaimed that Jesus was the Son of God.
20:5 So they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’
If John was a prophet, then the authority of Jesus came not from Moses, but from God Himself.
20:6 But if we say, ‘From people,’ all the people will stone us, because they are convinced that John was a prophet.”
The religious leaders were in a lose-lose situation. If they declared that John’s authority was not from God, then they would lose the support of the people.
20:7 So they replied that they did not know where it came from.
The Pharisees learned not to answer Jesus, because their answers made them look foolish.
20:8 Then Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by whose authority I do these things.”
The Pharisees would not believe Jesus anyway. The man who is totally depraved and evil would not even believe Jesus if He appeared in front of them and blinked the universe out of existence.
The Parable of the Tenants
20:9 Then he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and went on a journey for a long time.
After Jesus was rejected by the people, He began to speak in parables. Parables tell a theological story that teaches divine viewpoint. The man who planted the vineyard was God the Father. The tenant farmers were Israel. God stayed away from Israel for a long time and left Israel to run the farm.
20:10 When harvest time came, he sent a slave to the tenants so that they would give him his portion of the crop. However, the tenants beat his slave and sent him away empty-handed.
God sent prophets to receive fruit from the crops. However, Israel beat the prophets and gave them no fruit.
20:11 So he sent another slave. They beat this one too, treated him outrageously, and sent him away empty-handed.
God the Father sent more prophets, but they were beaten and sent away.
20:12 So he sent still a third. They even wounded this one, and threw him out.
God the Father sent more prophets, but they were beaten as well.
20:13 Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my one dear son; perhaps they will respect him.’
God the Father sent God the Son.
20:14 But when the tenants saw him, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir; let’s kill him so the inheritance will be ours!’
The Jewish leaders wanted to keep their power and authority. Therefore, they planned to murder the Son of God.
20:15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?
Israel killed the Son of God. Jesus asked the religious leaders about the response of the owner of the vineyard.
20:16 He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When the people heard this, they said, “May this never happen!”
The Pharisees pronounced their own death sentence.
20:17 But Jesus looked straight at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’?
Jesus quoted from Psalm 118:22. When the Jews built the temple, they could not find the cornerstone. When the temple was finished, there was one more stone left that was rejected. This rejected stone was the original cornerstone. Jesus was the cornerstone, but the Pharisees rejected him.
20:18 Everyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.”
The cornerstone can either hold the temple together, or it can fall and crush those underneath it. Jesus is the cornerstone who will support the believers or crush the unbelievers.
20:19 Then the experts in the law and the chief priests wanted to arrest him that very hour, because they realized he had told this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.
Jesus was not a seeker-friendly teacher. His teachings angered the Jewish religious leaders so much that they desired to arrest Him immediately. However, they could not arrest Jesus in front of the crowds, because it would cause a riot.
Paying Taxes to Caesar
20:20 Then they watched him carefully and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They wanted to take advantage of what he might say so that they could deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor.
The religious leaders attempted to trick the Son of God into making traitorous comments against the Roman government.
20:21 Thus they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach correctly, and show no partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.
Notice that the Herodians called Jesus “teacher” and not “Lord.” They opened their trap with flattery.
20:22 Is it right for us to pay the tribute tax to Caesar or not?”
If Jesus answered “no”, then He could be arrested for treason by the Roman government. If He answered “yes,” then the people would turn against Him.
20:23 But Jesus perceived their deceit and said to them,
Jesus is omniscient. He could read their minds.
20:24 “Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?” They said, “Caesar’s.” 20:25 So he said to them, “Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
Those who work in secular jobs are to give to their employers the service that they are paid to do. They are to give God everything else.
20:26 Thus they were unable in the presence of the people to trap him with his own words. And stunned by his answer, they fell silent.
The Jewish religious leaders could not stump the Son of God.
Marriage and the Resurrection
20:27 Now some Sadducees (who contend that there is no resurrection) came to him.
The Sadducees only believed in the first five books of the Bible. The Pharisees were guilty of adding to the Word of God. The Sadducees were the liberals of the day. They were guilty of taking away from the Word of God.
20:28 They asked him, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies leaving a wife but no children, that man must marry the widow and father children for his brother.
Notice that the Sadducees called Jesus “teacher” and not “Lord”.
20:29 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died without children. 20:30 The second 20:31 and then the third married her, and in this same way all seven died, leaving no children. 20:32 Finally the woman died too. 20:33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For all seven had married her.”
The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection. They were epicurean in their beliefs, teaching that one should “eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” They used this question often against the Pharisees with great success.
20:34 So Jesus said to them, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage.
During the Mosaic Law and during the church age, males are allowed to marry other females.
20:35 But those who are regarded as worthy to share in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.
Those who die as believers will enter into heaven. Believers in heaven will not participate in the sacrament of marriage.
20:36 In fact, they can no longer die, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, since they are sons of the resurrection.
Those who enter heaven will never die. Their eternal life span is equal to that of angels and demons. The reason is because God will raise them from the dead with eternal bodies which cannot die.
20:37 But even Moses revealed that the dead are raised in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.
The Sadducees only believed in the first five books of the Bible. Notice that Jesus quoted from Exodus, the second book of the Bible.
20:38 Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live before him.”
When God talked to Moses about being the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, these three patriarchs had been physically dead for over 400 years. Yet when God made this statement to Moses, the three patriarchs were alive. God is the God of the living, not of the dead. He raises believers back to life to live eternally with Him. He raises unbelievers back to life to live forever in the Lake of Fire.
20:39 Then some of the experts in the law answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well!”
The Pharisees liked this answer, but they still called Jesus “teacher” instead of “Lord.”
20:40 For they did not dare any longer to ask him anything.
The religious leaders were learning not to ask Jesus questions. A sinful man cannot question the God of Creation.
The Messiah: David’s Son and Lord
20:41 But he said to them, “How is it that they say that the Christ is David’s son?
Like a good rabbi, Jesus asked the religious leaders a question. Why is the Messiah called the Son of David”
20:42 For David himself says in the book of Psalms,
‘The Lord said to my lord, “Sit at my right hand, 20:43 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’
Jesus quoted from Psalm 110:1. In this song, God the Father is talking to God the Son, asking Him to sit at Hs right hand until He makes the enemies of Jesus a footstool. Notice that in this song, David called his own future human son as “Lord.” David recognized that his future son would be God in human flesh.
20:44 If David then calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?”
This question points out that the human son of David would also be God in the flesh. Jesus was from the line of David. The Pharisees never challenged Jesus about His genealogy.
Jesus Warns the Disciples against Pride
20:45 As all the people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples,
Large crowds were listening to Jesus. They were turning to Jesus and away from the Pharisees and Sadducees.
20:46 “Beware of the experts in the law. They like walking around in long robes, and they love elaborate greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.
Jesus was not a seeker-friendly teacher. Jesus exposed evil from the pulpit, even though it was inside Judaism. Jesus warned the people to beware of their teachers. They were more interested in pomp and power than they were in teaching the Word of God.
20:47 They devour widows’ property, and as a show make long prayers. They will receive a more severe punishment.”
The Pharisees like to perform large prayers for show, but then they use their man-made Oral Law to take away property from widows. The Pharisees think that they will be the first into heaven, but they will actually end up in hell with a more severe punishment. The Pharisees were given an abundance of light and responsibility, but they misused their authority for the gain of fame and wealth.