The Authority of Jesus Challenged

1Onea dayb as He was teachingc the people in the •temple complex and proclaiming the good news,d the •chief priests and the •scribes, with the elders,e came up 2and said to Him: “Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things? Who is it who gave You this authority? ”

3He answered them, “I will also ask you a question. Tell Me, 4was the baptism of John from heaven or from men? ”

5They discussed it among themselves: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why didn’t you believe him? ’ 6But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the peoplef will stone us, because they are convinced that John was a prophet.”g

7So they answered that they did not know its origin.h

8And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The Parable of the Vineyard Owner

9Theni He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard,j leased it to tenant farmers, and went away for a long time. 10At harvest time he sent a •slave to the farmers so that they might give him some fruit from the vineyard. But the farmers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11He sent yet another slave, but they beat that one too, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. 12And he sent yet a third, but they wounded this one too and threw him out.

13“Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my belovedk son. Perhapsl they will respect him.’

14“But when the tenant farmers saw him, they discussed it among themselves and said, ‘This is the heir. Let’s kill him, so the inheritance will be ours! ’m 15So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

“Therefore, what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16He will come and destroyn those farmers and give the vineyard to others.”

But when they heard this they said, “No — never! ”o

17But He looked at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of this Scripture:p,q

The stone that the builders rejected —

this has become the cornerstone?r,s,t

18Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and if it falls on anyone, it will grind him to powder! ”u

19Then the scribes and the chief priestsv looked for a way to get their hands on Himw that very hour, because they knew He had told this parable against them, but they feared the people.x

God and Caesar

20Theyy, z watched closelyaa and sent spiesab who pretended to be righteous,ac so they could catch Him in what He said,ad, ae to hand Himaf over to the governor’sag rule and authority. 21They questioned Him, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly,ah and You don’t show partiality,ai, aj but teach truthfully the way of God.ak 22Is it lawfulal for us to pay taxesam to Caesaran or not? ”

23But detecting their craftiness, He said to them,ao 24“Show Me a •denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have? ”

“Caesar’s,” they said.

25“Well then,” He told them, “give back to Caesarap the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.”

26They were not able to catch Him in what He saidaq in public,ar and being amazed at His answer, they became silent.as

The Sadducees and the Resurrection

27Someat of the •Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection,au came up and questioned Him: 28“Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother has a wife, and dies childless, his brother should take the wife and produce •offspring for his brother.av, aw 29Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife and died without children. 30Also the secondax 31and the third took her. In the same way, all seven died and left no children. 32Finally, the woman died too. 33In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For all seven had married her.”ay

34Jesus told them, “The sons of this ageaz marry and are given in marriage.ba 35But those who are counted worthybb to take part in that agebc and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36For they cannot die anymore,bd because they are like angels and are sons of God,be since they are sons of the resurrection. 37Moses even indicated in the passage about the burning bush that the dead are raised, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.bf,bg 38He is not God of the dead but of the living, because all are living tobh Him.”bi

39Some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, You have spoken well.” 40And they no longer dared to ask Him anything.

The Question about the Messiah

41Thenbj He said to them, “How can they say that the •Messiah is the Son of David?bk 42For David himself says in the Book of Psalms:bl

The Lord declared to my Lord,

‘Sit at My right hand

43until I make Your enemies Your footstool.’bm,bn

44David calls Him ‘Lord’; how then can the Messiah be his Son? ”bo

Warning against the Scribes

45Whilebp all the people were listening, He said to His disciples, 46“Bewarebq of the scribes, who want to go around in long robes and who love greetings in the marketplaces, the front seats in the •synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets.br 47They devour widows’ houses and say long prayers just for show. These will receive greater punishment.”bs