1 And it came about on one of those days, when he was teaching the people in the Temple and preaching the good news,
2 That the chief priests and the scribes and the rulers of the people came to him and said, Make clear to us by what authority you do these things and who gave you this authority.
3 And in answer he said to them, I will put a question to you, and do you give me an answer:
4 The baptism of John, was it from heaven or of men?
5 And they said among themselves, If we say, From heaven; he will say, Why did you not have faith in him?
6 But if we say, Of men; we will be stoned by the people, for they are certain that John was a prophet.
7 And they made answer that they had no idea where it came from.
8 And Jesus said, And I will not make clear to you by what authority I do these things.
9 And he gave the people this story: A man made a vine-garden and gave the use of it to some field-workers and went into another country for a long time.
10 And at the right time he sent a servant to the workers to get part of the fruit from the vines; but the workmen gave him blows and sent him away with nothing.
11 And he sent another servant, and they gave blows to him in the same way, and put shame on him, and sent him away with nothing.
12 And he sent a third, and they gave him wounds and put him out.
13 And the lord of the garden said, What am I to do? I will send my dearly loved son; they may give respect to him.
14 But when the workmen saw him, they said to one another, This is he who will one day be the owner of the property: let us put him to death and the heritage will be ours.
15 And driving him out of the garden they put him to death. Now what will the lord do to these workmen?
16 He will come and put them to destruction and give the garden to others. And when he said this, they said, May it not be so.
17 But he, looking on them, said, Is it not in the Writings, The stone which the builders put on one side, the same has become the chief stone of the building?
18 Everyone falling on that stone will be broken, but the man on whom the stone comes down will be crushed to dust.
19 And the chief priests and the scribes made attempts to get their hands on him in that very hour; and they were in fear of the people, for they saw that he had made up this story against them.
20 And they kept watch on him, and sent out secret representatives, who were acting the part of good men, in order that they might get something from his words, on account of which they might give him up to the government and into the power of the ruler.
21 And they put a question to him, saying, Master, we are certain that your teaching and your words are right, and that you have no respect for a man's position, but you are teaching the true way of God:
22 Is it right for us to make payment of taxes to Caesar or not?
23 But he saw through their trick and said to them,
24 Let me see a penny. Whose image and name are on it? And they said, Caesar's.
25 And he said, Then give to Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and to God the things which are God's.
26 And they were not able to get anything from these words before the people: but they were full of wonder at his answer, and said nothing.
27 And some of the Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no coming back from the dead; and they said to him,
28 Master, Moses said that if a man's brother comes to his end, having a wife, but no children, his brother is to take the wife, and get a family for his brother.
29 Now there were seven brothers, and the first had a wife and came to his end, having no children;
30 And the second;
31 And the third took her; and in the same way, all the seven, without having any children, came to their end.
32 And last of all, the woman came to her end.
33 When they come back from the dead, whose wife will she be? for all the seven had her.
34 And Jesus said to them, The sons of this world are married and have wives;
35 But those to whom is given the reward of the world to come, and to come back from the dead, have no wives, and are not married;
36 And death has no more power over them, for they are equal to the angels, and are sons of God, being of those who will come back from the dead.
37 But even Moses made it clear that the dead come back to life, saying, in the story of the burning thorn-tree, The Lord, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
38 Now he is not the God of the dead but of the living: for all men are living to him.
39 And some of the scribes, in answer to this, said, Master, you have said well.
40 And they had fear of putting any more questions to him.
41 And he said to them, Why do they say that the Christ is the son of David?
42 For David himself says in the book of Psalms, The Lord said to my Lord, Take your seat at my right hand,
43 Till I put under your feet all those who are against you.
44 David then gives him the name of Lord, so how is it possible for him to be his son?
45 And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples,
46 Keep away from the scribes, whose pleasure it is to go about in long robes, and to have words of respect said to them in the market-places, and to take the chief seats in the Synagogues and the first places at feasts;
47 Who take the property of widows and before the eyes of men make long prayers; they will get a greater punishment.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Luke 20
Commentary on Luke 20 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 20
Lu 20:1-19. The Authority of Jesus Questioned, and His Reply—Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen.
(See on Mt 21:23.)
2. these things—particularly the clearing of the temple.
4. baptism of John—his whole ministry and mission, of which baptism was the seal.
5. Why then believed ye him not?—that is, in his testimony to Jesus, the sum of his whole witness.
7. could not tell—crooked, cringing hypocrites! No wonder Jesus gave you no answer (Mt 7:6). But what dignity and composure does our Lord display as He turns their question upon themselves!
9-13. vineyard—(See on Lu 13:6). In Mt 21:33 additional points are given, taken literally from Isa 5:2, to fix down the application and sustain it by Old Testament authority.
husbandmen—the ordinary spiritual guides of the people, under whose care and culture the fruits of righteousness might be yielded.
went, &c.—leaving it to the laws of the spiritual husbandry during the whole length of the Jewish economy. (See on Mr 4:26.)
10. beat, &c.—(Mt 21:35); that is, the prophets, extraordinary messengers raised up from time to time. (See on Mt 23:37.)
13. my beloved son—Mark (Mr 12:6) still more affectingly, "Having yet therefore one son, his well-beloved"; our Lord thus severing Himself from all merely human messengers, and claiming Sonship in its loftiest sense. (Compare Heb 3:3-6.)
it may be—"surely"; implying the almost unimaginable guilt of not doing so.
14. reasoned among themselves—(Compare Ge 37:18-20; Joh 11:47-53).
the heir—sublime expression of the great truth, that God's inheritance was destined for, and in due time to come into the possession of, His Son in our nature (Heb 1:2).
inheritance … ours—and so from mere servants we may become lords; the deep aim of the depraved heart, and literally "the root of all evil."
15. cast him out of the vineyard—(Compare Heb 13:11-13; 1Ki 21:13; Joh 19:17).
16. He shall come, &c.—This answer was given by the Pharisees themselves (Mt 21:41), thus pronouncing their own righteous doom. Matthew alone (Mt 21:43) gives the naked application, that "the kingdom of God should be taken from them, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof"—the great evangelical community of the faithful, chiefly Gentiles.
God forbid—His whole meaning now bursting upon them.
17-19. written—(in Ps 118:22, 23. See on Lu 19:38). The Kingdom of God is here a Temple, in the erection of which a certain stone, rejected as unsuitable by the spiritual builders, is, by the great Lord of the House, made the keystone of the whole. On that Stone the builders were now "falling" and being "broken" (Isa 8:15), "sustaining great spiritual hurt; but soon that Stone should fall upon them and grind them to powder" (Da 2:34, 35; Zec 12:3)—in their corporate capacity in the tremendous destruction of Jerusalem, but personally, as unbelievers, in a more awful sense still.
19. the same hour—hardly able to restrain their rage.
Lu 20:20-40. Entangling Questions about Tribute and the Resurrection—The Replies.
20-26. sent forth—after consulting (Mt 22:15) on the best plan.
spies—"of the Pharisees and Herodians" (Mr 12:13). See Mr 3:6.
21. we know, &c.—hoping by flattery to throw Him off His guard.
22. tribute—(See on Mt 17:24).
25. things which be Cæsar's—Putting it in this general form, it was impossible for sedition itself to dispute it, and yet it dissolved the snare.
and unto God—How much there is in this profound but to them startling addition to the maxim, and how incomparable is the whole for fulness, brevity, clearness, weight!
27-34. no resurrection—"nor angel nor spirit" (Ac 23:8); the materialists of the day.
34. said unto them—In Mt 22:29, the reply begins with this important statement:—"Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures," regarding the future state, "nor the power of God," before which a thousand such difficulties vanish (also Mr 12:24).
36. neither … die any more—Marriage is ordained to perpetuate the human family; but as there will be no breaches by death in the future state, this ordinance will cease.
equal—or "like."
unto the angels—that is, in the immortality of their nature.
children of God—not in respect of character but nature; "being the children of the resurrection" to an undecaying existence (Ro 8:21, 23). And thus the children of their Father's immortality (1Ti 6:16).
37, 38. even Moses—whom they had just quoted to entangle Him.
38. not … of the dead, … for all, &c.—To God, no human being is dead, or ever will be; but all sustain an abiding conscious relation to Him. But the "all" here meant "those who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world." These sustain a gracious covenant relation to God, which cannot be dissolved. In this sense our Lord affirms that for Moses to call the Lord the "God" of His patriarchal servants if at that moment they had no existence, would be unworthy of Him. He "would be ashamed to be called their God, if He had not prepared for them a city" (Heb 11:16). How precious are these glimpses of the resurrection state!
39. scribes … well said—enjoying His victory over the Sadducees.
they durst not—neither party, both for the time utterly foiled.
Lu 20:41-47. Christ Baffles the Pharisees by a Question about David and Messiah, and Denounces the Scribes.
41. said, &c.—"What think ye of Christ [the promised and expected Messiah]? Whose son is He [to be]? They say unto Him, The son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit [by the Holy Ghost, Mr 12:36] call Him Lord?" (Mt 22:42, 43). The difficulty can only be solved by the higher and lower—the divine and human natures of our Lord (Mt 1:23). Mark the testimony here given to the inspiration of the Old Testament (compare Lu 24:44).
46, 47. Beware, &c.—(See on Mt 23:5; and Lu 14:7).
47. devour, &c.—taking advantage of their helpless condition and confiding character, to obtain possession of their property, while by their "long prayers" they made them believe they were raised far above "filthy lucre." So much "the greater damnation" awaits them. What a lifelike description of the Romish clergy, the true successors of "the scribes!"