Chapter Overview Key ideas, context & where Christ is 1 One day , as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel , the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up
2 and said to him , “Tell us by what authority you do these things , or who it is that gave you this authority .”
3 He answered them , “I also will ask you a question . Now tell me ,
4 was the baptism of John from heaven or from man ?”
5 And they discussed it with one another , saying , “If we say , ‘From heaven ,’ he will say , ‘Why did you not believe him ?’
6 But if we say , ‘From man ,’ all the people will stone us to death , for they are convinced that John was a prophet .”
7 So they answered that they did not know where it came from .
8 And Jesus said to them , “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things .”
9 And he began to tell the people this parable : “A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while .
10 When the time came , he sent a servant to the tenants , so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard . But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed .
11 And he sent another servant . But they also beat and treated him shamefully , and sent him away empty-handed .
12 And he sent yet a third . This one also they wounded and cast out .
13 Then the owner of the vineyard said , ‘What shall I do ? I will send my beloved son ; perhaps they will respect him .’
14 But when the tenants saw him , they said to themselves , ‘This is the heir . Let us kill him , so that the inheritance may be ours .’
15 And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him . What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them ?
16 He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others .” When they heard this , they said , “Surely not !”
17 But he looked directly at them and said , “What then is this that is written : “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone ’?
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces , and when it falls on anyone , it will crush him .”
19 The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour , for they perceived that he had told this parable against them , but they feared the people .
20 So they watched him and sent spies , who pretended to be sincere , that they might catch him in something he said , so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor .
21 So they asked him , “Teacher , we know that you speak and teach rightly , and show no partiality , but truly teach the way of God .
22 Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar , or not ?”
23 But he perceived their craftiness , and said to them ,
24 “Show me a denarius . Whose likeness and inscription does it have ?” They said , “Caesar ’s .”
25 He said to them , “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar ’s , and to God the things that are God ’s .”
26 And they were not able in the presence of the people to catch him in what he said , but marveling at his answer they became silent .
27 There came to him some Sadducees , those who deny that there is a resurrection ,
28 and they asked him a question , saying , “Teacher , Moses wrote for us that if a man ’s brother dies , having a wife but no children , the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother .
29 Now there were seven brothers . The first took a wife , and died without children .
31 and the third took her , and likewise all seven left no children and died .
32 Afterward the woman also died .
33 In the resurrection , therefore , whose wife will the woman be ? For the seven had her as wife .”
34 And Jesus said to them , “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage ,
35 but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage ,
36 for they cannot die anymore , because they are equal to angels and are sons of God , being sons of the resurrection .
37 But that the dead are raised , even Moses showed , 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 .
38 Now he is not God of the dead , but of the living , for all live to him .”
39 Then some of the scribes answered , “Teacher , you have spoken well .”
40 For they no longer dared to ask him any question .
41 But he said to them , “How can they say that the Christ is David ’s son ?
42 For David himself says in the Book of Psalms , “‘The Lord said to my Lord , “Sit at my right hand ,
43 until I make your enemies your footstool .”’
44 David thus calls him Lord , so how is he his son ?”
45 And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples ,
46 “Beware of the scribes , who like to walk around in long robes , and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts ,
47 who devour widows ’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers . They will receive the greater condemnation .”
Scripture quotations marked “ESV” are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.