# Luke 20 📖: Authority Questioned in the Temple [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Luke Overview]] | [[Luke 19]] | [[Luke 21]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ## The Authority of Jesus Challenged **Principle**: Jesus answers to no one. [[#Verse 01.]] 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  [[#Verse 02.]] and said to him, “Tell us: By what authority are you doing these things? Or who is it who gave you this authority?”  [[#Verse 03.]] He answered them, “I will also ask you a question, and you tell me:  [[#Verse 04.]] John’s baptism—was it from heaven or from people?” [[#Verse 05.]] So they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’  [[#Verse 06.]] But if we say, ‘From people,’ all the people will stone us, because they are convinced that John was a prophet.”  [[#Verse 07.]] So they replied that they did not know where it came from.  [[#Verse 08.]] Then Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by whose authority I do these things.” [[#Verse 09.]] 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.  [[#Verse 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.  [[#Verse 11.]] So he sent another slave. They beat this one too, treated him outrageously, and sent him away empty-handed.  [[#Verse 12.]] So he sent still a third. They even wounded this one, and threw him out. [[#Verse 13.]] Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my one dear son; perhaps they will respect him.’  [[#Verse 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!’  [[#Verse 15.]] So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?  [[#Verse 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!”  [[#Verse 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_**’? [[Psalm 118]] [[#Verse 18.]] Everyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.”  [[#Verse 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. ## God and Caesar **Principle**: Honor local government, but always default to the Kingdom of God. [[#Verse 20.]] [^1] 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. [[#Verse 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.  [[#Verse 22.]] Is it right for us to pay the tribute tax to Caesar or not?”  [[#Verse 23.]] But Jesus perceived their deceit and said to them,  [[#Verse 24.]] “Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?” They said, “Caesar’s.”  [[#Verse 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.”  [[#Verse 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 Sadducees and the Resurrection **Principle**: Developing a biblical worldview opens all other doors. [[#Verse 27.]] Now some Sadducees (who contend that there is no resurrection) came to him.  [[#Verse 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_**. [[Deuteronomy 25]] [[#Verse 29.]] Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died without children.  [[#Verse 30.]] The second  [[#Verse 31.]] and then the third married her, and in this same way all seven died, leaving no children.  [[#Verse 32.]] Finally the woman died too. [[#Verse 33.]] In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For all seven had married her.” [[#Verse 34.]] So Jesus said to them, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage.  [[#Verse 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.  [[#Verse 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.  [[#Verse 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_**.  [[#Verse 38.]] Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live before him.” [[#Verse 39.]] Then some of the experts in the law answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well!”  [[#Verse 40.]] For they did not dare any longer to ask him anything. ## The Question About the Messiah **Principle**: The plan of God is not new, just hidden unless you seek it out. [[#Verse 41.]] But he said to them, “How is it that they say that the Christ is David’s son? [[#Verse 42.]] For David himself says in the book of Psalms, ‘**_The Lord said to my_** **_lord,_** “**_Sit at my right hand,_** [[#Verse 43.]] **_until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet_**.”’ [[Psalm 110]] [[#Verse 44.]] If David then calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” ## Warning Against the Scribes **Principle**: Stay away from "play-acting." (Hypocrisy) [[#Verse 45.]] As all the people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples,  [[#Verse 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.  [[#Verse 47.]] They devour widows’ property, and as a show make long prayers. They will receive a more severe punishment.” ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ###### Verse 24. ###### Verse 25. ###### Verse 26. ###### Verse 27. ###### Verse 28. ###### Verse 29. ###### Verse 30. ###### Verse 31. ###### Verse 32. ###### Verse 33. ###### Verse 34. ###### Verse 35. ###### Verse 36. ###### Verse 37. ###### Verse 38. ###### Verse 39. ###### Verse 40. ###### Verse 41. ###### Verse 42. ###### Verse 43. ###### Verse 44. ###### Verse 45. ###### Verse 46. ###### Verse 47. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. The chief priests, scribes, and elders (20:1) were the three groups that made up the Sanhedrin, the ruling Jewish council. 2. Jesus answered their question about His authority with a question about John's baptism (20:3-4), a common way of debating among Jewish teachers. 3. The vineyard parable (20:9) echoes Isaiah 5:1-7, where the vineyard is Israel. 4. The owner calls his son "beloved" (20:13), the same word the Father spoke at Jesus' baptism (3:22). 5. Jesus' image of a stone that crushes (20:18) draws on Isaiah 8:14-15 and Daniel 2:34-35. 6. Spies were sent to trap Jesus so they could hand Him over to the governor (20:20). Luke shows they were looking for a political charge. 7. The denarius of Tiberius (20:24) carried his portrait and an inscription honoring him as son of the divine Augustus. 8. The Sadducees (20:27) were a priestly aristocracy who denied the resurrection, angels, and spirits (Acts 23:8). 9. Jesus answered the Sadducees from the burning bush (20:37; Exodus 3:6), using the books of Moses they held in highest regard. 10. Jesus' question about Psalm 110 (20:41-44) silenced His opponents, and the early church used the same psalm to proclaim His exaltation (Acts 2:34-35). ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the beloved Son the vineyard owner sent (20:13) and the rejected stone who became the cornerstone (20:17). He is David's Lord as well as David's Son (20:41-44), now exalted at God's right hand (Acts 2:34-36). ## 🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. The leaders demanded to know by what authority Jesus acted (20:2). Why do people resist Jesus' authority, and where do you resist it? 2. Jesus said to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God (20:25). How do you live as a citizen of both your nation and God's kingdom? 3. Jesus said God is the God of the living, not the dead (20:38). How does the hope of resurrection change the way you face death and loss? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 17: The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. - 📖 verse 25: Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God. - 📖 verse 38: God is the God of the living, for all live to Him. - 📖 verses 46-47: Beware of religious leaders who love honor and take advantage of widows. ## 🔗 Related Passages - 🔗 [[Isaiah 05#Verse 01.|Isaiah 5:1-7]] - The Lord's vineyard. - 🔗 [[Psalm 118#Verse 22.|Psalm 118:22]] - The rejected stone. - 🔗 [[Daniel 02#Verse 34.|Daniel 2:34-35]] - The stone that crushes the kingdoms. - 🔗 [[Romans 13#Verse 07.|Romans 13:7]] - Pay what you owe. - 🔗 [[Deuteronomy 25#Verse 05.|Deuteronomy 25:5]] - Levirate marriage. - 🔗 [[Exodus 03#Verse 06.|Exodus 3:6]] - The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. - 🔗 [[Psalm 110#Verse 01.|Psalm 110:1]] - The Lord said to my lord. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Luke 20 - SOAP|Dual Citizens]] ## 📂 Internal Notes [^1]: [[Series_BAssurance_4_1Peter2.11-17]] aux