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Luke 20

KJV · Chapter 20/24

1And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders,

2And spake unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority?

3And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me:

4The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men?

5And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not?

6But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet.

7And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was.

8And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

9Then began he to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time.

10And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty.

11And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty.

12And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out.

13Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him.

14But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.

15So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them?

16He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid.

17And he beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner?

18Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

19And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them.

20And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor.

21And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly:

22Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Cesar, or no?

23But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt ye me?

24Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Cesar’s.

25And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Cesar the things which be Cesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s.

26And they could not take hold of his words before the people: and they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace.

27Then came to him certain of the Sadducees, which deny that there is any resurrection; and they asked him,

28Saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, If any man’s brother die, having a wife, and he die without children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.

29There were therefore seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died without children.

30And the second took her to wife, and he died childless.

31And the third took her; and in like manner the seven also: and they left no children, and died.

32Last of all the woman died also.

33Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them is she? for seven had her to wife.

34And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage:

35But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:

36Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.

37Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

38For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.

39Then certain of the scribes answering said, Master, thou hast well said.

40And after that they durst not ask him any question at all.

41And he said unto them, How say they that Christ is David’s son?

42And David himself saith in the book of Psalms, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,

43Till I make thine enemies thy footstool.

44David therefore calleth him Lord, how is he then his son?

45Then in the audience of all the people he said unto his disciples,

46Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts;

47Which devour widows’ houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Religious leaders question Jesus' authority, and he responds with the parable of the wicked tenants. They try to trap him with questions about paying tribute to Caesar and about the resurrection, but Jesus answers with wisdom and then questions them about the identity of the Messiah.

Explanation

The question about Jesus' authority is answered indirectly through the parable of the wicked tenants, which represents Israel's historical rejection of the prophets and, now, of the Son of God himself. The trap concerning tribute to Caesar ('render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things which are God's,' v.25) avoids both the accusation of political rebellion and that of idolatry. His answer about the resurrection to the Sadducees (who did not believe in it) shows that the future life transcends the categories of earthly life. The practical application today is to discern traps from genuine questions and to respond with wisdom and truth, without falling into forced polarization.

Fun facts

  • The Sadducees, who denied the resurrection (v.27), were the aristocratic priestly elite who accepted only the five books of Moses as full authority, unlike the Pharisees, who also accepted oral tradition.
  • The coin mentioned in the tribute episode (v.24) was probably the Roman denarius, which bore the emperor's image along with inscriptions treating him as divine — something offensive to Jewish monotheistic sensibilities.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Luke 20:1The chief priests, scribes, and elders together form a kind of alliance of Jewish authorities — the three groups of religious and social leadership unite against Jesus.
  2. Luke 20:2The question about authority takes direct aim at Jesus’s lack of official credentials for acting as He did, especially after driving the sellers out of the temple in the previous chapter.
  3. Luke 20:3Jesus answers with a counter-question, a common technique in the rabbinic debate of the day, avoiding a direct answer before they give theirs.
  4. Luke 20:4His question — whether John’s baptism was from heaven, or of men — is a calculated dilemma designed to trap them whichever way they answer.
  5. Luke 20:5They see the trap: if they say “From heaven,” they will be asked why then they did not believe John.
  6. Luke 20:6If they say “Of men,” they risk being stoned by the people, who considered John a true prophet — fear of the crowd’s reaction, not any search for truth, guides their answer.
  7. Luke 20:7They escape by claiming they do not know — an exit that avoids committing to either side of the dilemma.
  8. Luke 20:8Jesus answers them in kind: since they will not answer His question, He will not answer theirs either.
  9. Luke 20:9Leasing a vineyard to tenants who paid the owner a share of the harvest was a common economic arrangement everyone there would recognize. The parable starts from an everyday business situation, not some strange scenario removed from the hearers’ real lives.
  10. Luke 20:10The first servant sent to collect the fruit is beaten and sent away with nothing — the start of an escalating pattern of violence against the owner’s messengers.
  11. Luke 20:11A second servant is beaten and shamefully treated, also sent away empty-handed — the violence increases.
  12. Luke 20:12A third servant is wounded and cast out — one more step up the escalating aggression against the vineyard owner’s messengers.
  13. Luke 20:13The owner decides to risk sending his own beloved son, hoping that, out of respect for his standing, the tenants will change their attitude.
  14. Luke 20:14The tenants recognize him as the heir and plot to kill him so the inheritance will be theirs — an irrational plan, since killing the heir would not legally transfer the property to them.
  15. Luke 20:15They cast the son out of the vineyard and kill him — the peak of the escalating violence, a direct parallel to the fate awaiting Jesus Himself.
  16. Luke 20:16Faced with the rhetorical question of what the owner will do, the hearers react in horror, realizing the parable is a direct accusation against themselves.
  17. Luke 20:17Jesus quotes Psalm 118 about the stone the builders rejected becoming the head of the corner — reinterpreting the parable’s rejected son as the figure who, despite rejection, becomes central and exalted.
  18. Luke 20:18The image of the stone is completed with a double danger: falling on it results in being broken, and it falling on someone results in being ground to powder — either way, a wrong relationship with this stone brings serious consequence.
  19. Luke 20:19The religious leaders want to seize Him on the spot, but fear the people, because they understood clearly that the parable was spoken against themselves.
  20. Luke 20:20They begin using spies posing as sincere questioners to try to catch Him in His words and hand Him over to Roman jurisdiction — a calculated strategy to secure a political, not merely religious, accusation.
  21. Luke 20:21The spies begin by praising Jesus for teaching rightly and showing no favoritism — a trap disguised as sincere flattery before the loaded question.
  22. Luke 20:22The question about paying tribute to Caesar is a dangerous political dilemma: answering yes could anger nationalist Jews, answering no could become a charge of sedition against Rome.
  23. Luke 20:23Jesus perceives the craftiness behind the question immediately, showing that He recognizes the trap set against Him.
  24. Luke 20:24The coin used to pay this tax bore the emperor’s image and an inscription that typically attributed near-divine titles to him — simply carrying that coin already amounted, in practice, to recognizing Roman authority. That is what makes Jesus’s answer so sharp: He turns the question back on them using the very coin they were carrying.
  25. Luke 20:25The famous answer — render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s — neither directly endorses nor rejects the Roman tribute, shifting the question toward a deeper distinction of loyalties.
  26. Luke 20:26They cannot catch Him in a single word before the people, and marvel at His answer, and hold their peace — a public defeat of the scheme set against Him.
  27. Luke 20:27The Sadducees, who denied the resurrection unlike the Pharisees, bring their own challenge, with a theological aim different from the previous groups.
  28. Luke 20:28This is the law of levirate marriage, which required a man to marry his dead brother’s childless widow, to raise up an heir who would carry on the deceased’s name and property. The Sadducees build an extreme case, with seven brothers, trying to make the idea of resurrection look absurd in practice.
  29. Luke 20:29Their hypothetical scenario rests on the levirate law: seven brothers, the first marries and dies without children.
  30. Luke 20:30The second brother also marries her and dies leaving no children — the sequence keeps repeating.
  31. Luke 20:31The pattern repeats all the way to the seventh brother, all dying without children — a deliberate exaggeration meant to make the idea of resurrection look absurd in practice.
  32. Luke 20:32Finally, the woman herself also dies, completing this elaborate hypothetical scenario.
  33. Luke 20:33The final question exposes the supposed absurdity: in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven would she be, since all of them had her?
  34. Luke 20:34Jesus begins by drawing a distinction: marriage belongs to this present age, marked by mortality, where people marry and are given in marriage.
  35. Luke 20:35But those accounted worthy of the age to come and of the resurrection will no longer need to marry — marriage’s function, tied in part to carrying a family line forward, no longer makes sense where there is no more death.
  36. Luke 20:36Jesus’s answer strikes at the very foundation of the Sadducees’ trap question: marriage existed, among other things, to produce heirs who would carry on the line of someone who could die. In the resurrected life that specific need no longer exists, because death is no longer a problem.
  37. Luke 20:37Since the Sadducees accepted only the books of Moses as authoritative, Jesus deliberately picks the burning-bush passage to make His case: Moses calls the Lord “the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” long after they had died.
  38. Luke 20:38The logical conclusion is that God is not a God of the dead, but of the living — if He presents Himself in present relationship with the patriarchs, they must in some way still be alive to Him, implying the resurrection.
  39. Luke 20:39Some of the scribes, likely Pharisees who also believed in the resurrection, praise Jesus’s answer — pleased to see Him win this point against the Sadducees.
  40. Luke 20:40After this sequence of confrontations — tribute and resurrection — no one dares ask Him any more questions, closing out this stage of direct challenges.
  41. Luke 20:41Jesus now turns the tables and asks His own question: how can the Christ be called David’s son?
  42. Luke 20:42He quotes Psalm 110, where David himself calls the coming Messiah “my Lord” — a psalm traditionally attributed to David, used to suggest something beyond mere physical descent.
  43. Luke 20:43The quotation continues with the promise that His enemies would be made His footstool — completing Psalm 110’s image of victory and exaltation.
  44. Luke 20:44The logical puzzle is left hanging: if David calls this Messiah “Lord,” how can He be merely a subordinate descendant of David? A clue pointing to an identity beyond mere genealogy.
  45. Luke 20:45With all the people listening, Jesus shifts the target of His speech and turns specifically to His disciples — a final warning aimed at a closer audience.
  46. Luke 20:46Long robes and the best seats in the synagogues and at banquets were visible markers of religious and social status, which the scribes deliberately cultivated. Jesus criticizes this pursuit of public recognition through outward signs of importance, the same kind of jockeying for place already seen earlier, in chapter 14.
  47. Luke 20:47The final charge is serious: the scribes devour widows’ houses while hiding it behind long prayers — linking religious hypocrisy to a real, concrete exploitation of vulnerable people.

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