Jesus’ Authority Questioned

20 ^(A)On one of the days while ^(B)He was teaching the people in the temple and ^(C)preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders ^(D)confronted Him, ² and they declared, saying to Him, “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?” ³ But He replied to them, “I will also ask you a ^[a]question, and you tell Me: ⁴ Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?” ⁵ They discussed among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ ⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, since they are convinced that John was a ^(E)prophet.” ⁷ And so they answered that they did not know where it came from. ⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.”

Parable of the Vine-growers

^9 (F)But He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and leased it to ^[b]vine-growers, and went on a journey for a long time. ¹⁰ At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, so that they would give him his share of the produce of the vineyard; but the vine-growers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹ And he proceeded to send another slave; but they beat him also and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. ¹² And he proceeded to send a third; but this one too they wounded and threw out. ¹³ Now the ^[c]owner of the vineyard said, ‘What am I to do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will ^(G)respect him.’ ¹⁴ But when the vine-growers saw him, they discussed with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir; let’s kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’ ¹⁵ And so they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the ^[d]owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶ He will come and ^(H)put these vine-growers to death, and will give the vineyard to others.” However, when they heard this, they said, “^(I)May it never happen!” ¹⁷ But ^[e]Jesus looked at them and said, “Then what is this statement that has been written:

^18 (L)Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”

Paying Taxes to Caesar

¹⁹ The scribes and the chief priests ^(M)tried to lay hands on Him that very hour, and yet they feared the people; for they were aware that He had spoken this parable against them. ^20 (N)And so they watched Him ^[g]closely, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, in order ^(O)that they might catch Him in some statement, so that they could hand Him over to the jurisdiction and authority of ^(P)the governor. ²¹ And the spies questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and You ^[h]are not partial to anyone, but You teach the way of God on the basis of truth. ²² Is it ^[i]permissible for us ^(Q)to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” ²³ But He saw through their trickery and said to them, ²⁴ “Show Me a ^[j]denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” ²⁵ And He said to them, “Then ^(R)pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ²⁶ And they were unable to ^(S)catch Him in a statement in the presence of the people; and they were amazed at His answer, and said nothing.

Is There a Resurrection?

^27 (T)Now some of the ^(U)Sadducees (who maintain that there is no resurrection) came to Him, ²⁸ and they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ^(V)if ^[k]a man’s brother dies, ^[l]leaving a wife, and he is childless, that his brother is to ^[m]marry the wife and raise up children ^[n]for his brother. ²⁹ So then, there were seven brothers; and the first took a wife and died childless; ³⁰ and the second ³¹ and the third ^[o]married her; and in the same way ^[p]all seven ^[q]died, leaving no children. ³² Finally the woman also died. ³³ Therefore, in the resurrection, ^[r]which one’s wife does the woman become? For ^[s]all seven ^[t]married her.”

³⁴ Jesus said to them, “The sons of ^(W)this age marry and the women are given in marriage, ³⁵ but those who are considered worthy to attain to ^(X)that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; ³⁶ for they cannot even die anymore, for they are like angels, and are ^(Y)sons of God, being ^[u]sons of the resurrection. ³⁷ But as for the fact that the dead are raised, even Moses revealed this in ^(Z)the passage about the burning bush, where he calls the Lord ^(AA)the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. ^38 (AB)Now He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for ^(AC)all live to Him.” ³⁹ Some of the scribes answered and said, “Teacher, You have spoken well.” ⁴⁰ For ^(AD)they did not have the courage to question Him any longer about anything.

^41 (AE)But He said to them, “How is it that they say the ^[v]Christ is ^(AF)David’s son? ⁴² For David himself says in the book of Psalms,

⁴⁴ Therefore David calls Him ‘Lord,’ and so how is He his son?”

^45 (AI)And while all the people were listening, He said to the disciples, ⁴⁶ “Beware of the scribes, ^(AJ)who like to walk around in long robes, and love personal greetings in the marketplaces, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, ⁴⁷ who ^[w]devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive all the more condemnation.”