Luke 20

1 – 2

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

The Jewish leaders were not really looking for an answer to their question. We do not have to answer every question that is thrown at us. It is a waste of time to talk with people who are mocking you with their questions.

3 – 8

Jesus answered, “I will ask you a question too. Tell me: When John baptized people, did that come from God or from man?”
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?’ 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.” So they answered, “We do not know the answer.”

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

The Jews did know that John was sent by God. People who do not trust God are also liars! If men are not able to answer a simple question without lying then they also are not able to be honest about who Jesus is.

9 – 16

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. 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.

Then he sent another servant. They beat this servant too. They showed no respect for him and sent him away with nothing.
So the man sent a third servant. The farmers hurt this servant badly and threw him out. 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!’ 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!’ So the farmers threw the son out of the vineyard and killed him.

“What will the owner of this vineyard do? 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!”

The Bible says that Israel was like a vineyard that God had planted in the world. Jesus was showing the Jews that they were doing the same things that their fathers had done to the prophets. The Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D. which is the end of this story.

The other farmers are the non-Jews who would be given the Gospel because the Jews did not want it.

17 – 18

But Jesus looked at them and said, “Then what does this verse mean:‘ The stone that the builders did not want became the cornerstone’? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken. If that stone falls on you, it will crush you!”

Because the Jews did not want Jesus then God built a new building on the foundation of faith in Jesus. Psalm 118:22-23

19 – 20

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.

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.

Their anger shows that they knew that Jesus was talking about them. If they were not guilty then there would be nothing to be angry about!

21 – 26

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. Tell us, is it right that we pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

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

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

The Roman coins said, “Caesar is god.” Jesus is saying that the coins belong to Caesar so give them back to him.

27 – 33

Some Sadducees came to Jesus. (Sadducees believe that people will not rise from death.) They asked, “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. One time there were seven brothers. The first brother married, but died. He had no children.

Then the second brother married the widow, and he died. 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. The woman was the last to die. But all seven brothers married her. So when people rise from death, whose wife will the woman be?”

Do not try to answer fake questions that come from someone’s imagination. If you try to answer then they will change their imagination to something else. The Sadducees do not even believe that someone could rise from the dead so this shows that they were making a joke out of this story.

34 – 38

Jesus said to the Sadducees, “On earth, people marry each other. But those who will be worthy to be raised from death and live again will not marry. In that life they are like angels and cannot die. They are children of God, because they have been raised from death.

Moses clearly showed that the dead are raised to life. When Moses wrote about the burning bush, he said that the Lord is ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ God is the God of living people, not dead people. All people are alive to God.”

Some teachers try to say that angels married women in the book of Genesis. There is no way for angels and humans to have children. That which is spirit is spirit. (John 3:6). Teaching people that angels can make women become pregnant only leads to confusion and fear. May God help you if you teach something from your imagination to God's little ones.

39 – 44

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

Then Jesus said, “Why do people say that the Christ is the Son of David? In the book of Psalms, David himself says: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit by me at my right side, until I put your enemies under your control.’

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

Some people like to listen but they are not planning to do anything about what they have heard. These same people were shouting for Jesus to be killed in a few days.

The answer to Jesus’ question is that the One David was calling Lord would have to become a man. Psalm 110:1

45 – 47

While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his followers, “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.
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.”

The Jews changed God’s laws about forgiving people who owed you money. They would think nothing of taking everything from poor people. This shows us how evil demonic spirits take away normal human feelings.