Scholars Ganging Up on Jesus
1One day Jesus was teaching in the Temple and telling people the good news. Some Jewish leaders approached him. They were some of the top priests, along with elders and some scholars known as scribes. 2They asked him, “What makes you think you have a right to do this? Who gave you permission?”3Jesus answered them, “I have a question for you too. 4Where did John the Baptist get his permission to baptize? Did it come from God in heaven or from humans on earth?”
5The Jewish leaders talked about this among themselves. They said to each other, “If we say John got his permission from heaven, Jesus will ask us why we didn’t believe him. 6But if we say John got his permission from humans, this crowd of people will stone us to death because they are absolutely convinced John was a prophet.” 7So they simply told Jesus they didn’t know where John got the authority to baptize people.
8Jesus said, “Well, then I won’t tell you where I get my authority from either.”
Tale of Farmers Who Murdered Their Boss’s Son
9After that, Jesus launched into a parable. “A farmer planted a vineyard and then leased it to sharecroppers who would take care of the vineyard and share the crop with the landowner. The landowner left the area for a while.10“When it came time for the autumn harvest, the landowner sent one of his slaves to meet with the sharecroppers and collect his share of the grapes. The sharecroppers beat him up and chased him off without giving him any of the harvest. 11The landowner sent another slave. The sharecroppers beat him up too. They humiliated him as well and sent him back with nothing. 12The landowner sent a third slave. The sharecroppers hurt him and threw him out.
13“This man who owned the vineyard said to himself, ‘What am I going to do? I’m going to send my son. They’ll know I love him. So maybe they’ll show him the respect he deserves.’
14“When the sharecroppers saw him, they talked with each other about what to do. They said, ‘He’s the one who will inherit this vineyard. If we kill him, there’s no one to inherit it. So we’ll get to keep it.’
15“That’s what they did. They killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. What do you think the man who owns the vineyard will do to these people? 16He will come to them. And he will kill them. Then he will give the vineyard to other farmers.”
The people who heard this parable said, “No way. This could never happen.”
17But Jesus looked the people right in the eyes and said, “If this could never happen, then could you explain this scripture to me?
“‘The stone that the builders said wasn’t good enough to use
has now become the most important stone of all: the cornerstone.’ [1]
18“Anyone who trips and falls over that stone is going to get busted to pieces. And anyone it falls on is going to get crushed.”
19Jewish scholars and leading priests wanted to arrest him right there. That’s because they were sure the parable was about them. But they were afraid of what the crowd would do to them.
Trick Question about Taxes
20So they planted moles in the crowd—spies who pretended to be good souls, interested in what he had to say. But they were there only to catch him saying something illegal so they could arrest him and take him to the governor. 21They asked him a question: “Teacher, we know that you tell it like it is—true, fair, and balanced. You say what God wants you to say. 22Is it legal to pay taxes to Caesar? What does our law say about that?”23Jesus knew what they were up to. He told them, 24“Show me a coin. [2] Now tell me this. Whose picture and name are engraved on it?”
They said, “Caesar’s.”
25“Well, then,” Jesus answered, “give Caesar what belongs to Caesar. And give God what belongs to God.”
26The Jews couldn’t trap him as he taught the people. In fact, they marveled at his answer, which left them speechless.
Too Many Husbands in Heaven?
27Some Sadducees came up to ask him a question. They were Jews who taught there was no such thing as a resurrection.28“Teacher,” they asked, “Moses wrote that if a married man dies without leaving his wife any children, the dead man’s brother is supposed to marry the widow, give her children, and raise the kids as his brother’s. [3] 29There was a family of seven brothers. The first one got married, but died without giving his wife any children. 30The second brother married her. 31Then the third. Eventually, all seven married her. Every one of them died, without leaving her any children. 32Later, the woman died. 33So tell us this, in the life to come after the resurrection, which of the seven men will be the woman’s husband? After all, she had been married to all seven of them.”
34Jesus told them, “Folks in this world get married. 35But people judged worthy enough to make it into the next world don’t get married after they rise from the dead. 36They don’t die anymore, either. In that way, they’re like the angels. They’re the people of God, the people of the resurrection. 37There is a resurrection. Moses made that clear when he wrote about meeting God at the burning bush. He calls the Lord, ‘the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ [4] 38The Lord is not the God of the dead. He’s the God of the living. Everyone is alive to him.”
39Some Jewish scholars known as scribes said, “Teacher, you nailed that answer.” [5]
40After that, none of the people trying to trap him dared to match wits with him. They stopped asking questions.
Is the Messiah Really the Son of David?
41So Jesus asked the question. “Why do people say the Messiah will be a son of David, one of his descendants? 42After all, David says in the book of Psalms,“‘The Lord God told the lord king, [6]
“Sit here at my right side
into a footstool so you can kick back and relax.”’
44“David actually calls this Messiah king ‘lord.’ So how could the Messiah be his son if the Messiah is his lord and master?”
