Luke 20

In the temple during the last week before the cross, Jesus faces a string of challenges from the religious leaders. He answers each one with wisdom, and tells a parable that exposes their own hearts. The chapter ends with His own question about who the Messiah is, and a warning against religious show.

Luke 20:1-2

While Jesus is teaching and telling the good news in the temple, the ruling leaders confront Him. They do not ask about His message. They ask who licensed Him to speak. Behind the question is a refusal to consider that God Himself might have sent Him.

BSA: gospel (“good news, the message of salvation”): Even while under attack, Jesus is giving people good news, not just arguing.

Greek: ἐξουσίᾳ (exousia, G1849) — “authority, right to act.” The word means more than raw power. It is the right to act, granted by someone higher. The leaders want to know who gave Him that right.

Luke 20:3-4

Jesus answers a question with a question. John’s baptism was a call to repent, and John had pointed to Jesus. So the question is not a trick. How they answer will show whether they ever listened to God’s messenger.

BSA: baptism (“ceremonial act of washing or immersion”): John’s washing stood for turning from sin, so rejecting it meant rejecting his call to repent.

Luke 20:5-6

The leaders argue only about what is safe for them. They do not ask what is true. If they admit John was from God, they must admit they should have believed him. If they deny it, the crowd will turn on them. Fear of people rules their thinking.

BSA: convinced (“fully persuaded, have been persuaded”): The ordinary people were settled in their belief about John, while the experts were stuck in calculation.

Luke 20:7-8

They say they do not know, which is not honest. They simply refuse to commit. Having dodged the question, they have no right to an answer. Jesus does not argue further, but He lets their silence stand as their reply.

See also: Matthew 21:25-27.

Luke 20:9

Jesus now turns to the people and tells a parable. A man plants a vineyard, leases it to farmers, and goes away for a long while. His listeners knew the picture from Isaiah, where Israel is God’s vineyard. The owner trusts the tenants with something precious.

BSA: tenants (“farmers, husbandmen”): They did not own the vineyard. They were caretakers working for the owner.

See also: Isaiah 5:1-7.

Luke 20:10-12

Three times the owner sends a servant to collect his share of the fruit. Three times the tenants beat him, shame him, or wound him. The servants stand for God’s prophets, whom Israel often mistreated. The owner’s patience shows how slow God is to give up.

BSA: empty-handed (“without anything, with nothing”): The tenants owed the owner a share of the fruit, and they sent his messengers away with none.

Luke 20:13

The owner has one more person to send, his own dear son. He hopes they will respect him. This is the heart of the parable: God does not send only a message, but gives His own Son. It is the last and greatest appeal.

BSA: beloved (“dearly loved”): The one sent is not a hired hand but the one the owner loves most.

Greek: ἀγαπητόν (agapēton, G27) — “beloved, dearly loved.” This is the word used of Jesus at His baptism, when the Father spoke from heaven. The listeners could hear the parable pointing straight at Him.

See also: Luke 3:22.

Luke 20:14-15

The tenants recognize the son as the heir and decide to kill him so they can seize the inheritance. They throw him out of the vineyard and kill him. Jesus is describing His own coming death, outside the city, at the hands of those who wanted to keep control.

BSA: heir (“the one who will receive the inheritance”): The son is no mere messenger. Everything belongs to him, and that is exactly why they want him gone.

See also: Hebrews 13:12.

Luke 20:16

Jesus says the owner will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others. The crowd hears the judgment in this and cries out against it. The message is sobering: God’s gifts are given in trust, and misusing them has consequences.

BSA: thing (“God forbid”): The people’s cry was a strong, almost horrified refusal, as if they sensed it was about them.

Luke 20:17

Jesus fixes His eyes on them and quotes Psalm 118. Builders threw away a stone, and God made it the cornerstone, the stone that holds the whole building together. The one they reject will become the foundation of what God builds.

BSA: rejected (“disapproved, refused”): The builders examined the stone and judged it unfit. God overruled their verdict.

Greek: γωνίας (gōnias, G1137) — “of a corner.” The phrase is literally the head of the corner. It is the key stone that sets the line for the whole structure.

See also: Psalm 118:22; Acts 4:11.

Luke 20:18

The stone is dangerous to anyone who opposes it. Those who stumble over Christ are broken, but if the stone falls on a person, the result is far worse. Jesus offers a way: fall on Him now in repentance, rather than meet Him later in judgment.

BSA: crushed (“ground to powder, scattered like dust”): The picture is of something completely ground up and blown away, with nothing left.

Greek: λικμήσει (likmēsei, G3039) — “will winnow, will scatter like chaff.” The word comes from separating grain from husks by tossing it in the wind. It pictures total scattering.

See also: Daniel 2:34-35; Isaiah 8:14-15.

Luke 20:19

The leaders know the parable is about them. They want to seize Jesus right then, but the crowd holds them back. Notice that they understand the warning clearly and answer it with anger instead of repentance.

Luke 20:20

Since they cannot arrest Him openly, they plant spies who act like honest men. They hope He will say something that gives them a charge to bring before the Roman governor. Their plan uses flattery and false sincerity as weapons.

BSA: spies (“secret agents, pretending to be righteous”): These men put on a show of goodness to hide their real purpose. sincere (“just, fair, and innocent”): They acted as honest seekers, though their hearts were set on a trap.

Greek: ἐγκαθέτους (enkathetous, G1455) — “men planted in secret, lying in wait.” The word describes people placed in position to ambush, like hidden watchers.

Luke 20:21-22

The spies begin with compliments that are true, though not meant sincerely. Then comes the trap. If Jesus says to pay the Roman tax, the people who hate Rome will turn against Him. If He says not to, Rome can arrest Him as a rebel.

BSA: partiality (“favoritism, prejudice”): They praise Him for not favoring anyone, hoping He will feel bound to give a bold answer that sinks Him.

Luke 20:23-24

Jesus sees through the scheme and asks for a coin. The denarius carried the emperor’s face and name. By asking them to say whose image it bears, He makes them answer their own question.

BSA: duplicity (“craftiness, cunning”): Their cleverness could not hide anything from Him. image (“likeness”): The coin carries the emperor’s likeness, a quiet hint that something else bears God’s likeness.

Greek: πανουργίαν (panourgian, G3834) — “cunning, readiness to do anything.” The word describes a person who will use any trick to get what he wants. Jesus names their craftiness for what it is.

Luke 20:25

The coin carries Caesar’s image, so it belongs to him, and paying taxes is fair. But people carry God’s image, and what belongs to God must be given to Him. Jesus affirms both duties without making Caesar equal to God.

BSA: Give (“render, pay back”): The idea is repaying what is owed, not making a gift.

Greek: ἀπόδοτε (apodote, G591) — “give back, pay what is owed.” It is a word for paying a debt. Both Caesar and God are owed something, and Jesus says to pay each.

See also: Romans 13:7; Genesis 1:27.

Luke 20:26

They could find nothing to use against Him before the crowd. His answer was so wise that they went quiet. The trap meant to catch Jesus only displayed His wisdom.

Luke 20:27-28

Now the Sadducees come. They were a priestly group who accepted only the books of Moses and denied the resurrection. They quote the law that a man must marry his brother’s childless widow to carry on the family name.

See also: Deuteronomy 25:5-6.

Luke 20:29-33

They describe a made-up case of seven brothers who each marry the same woman and die childless. They then ask whose wife she will be at the resurrection. The story is meant to make the idea of resurrection look silly.

Luke 20:34-36

Jesus says the age to come is not simply this life continued. Marriage serves a world in which people die and need new generations. Those raised will not die again. They will be like the angels and will be God’s children, fully alive in Him.

BSA: considered (“deemed entirely deserving”): Sharing in that age is described as a gift of God’s gracious verdict, not something earned. angels (“messengers of God”): The comparison is about being deathless and close to God, not about becoming angels.

Greek: ἰσάγγελοι (isangeloi, G2465) — “equal to angels.” The single word means being on the same level as angels in this respect: they no longer die.

Luke 20:37-38

Jesus goes to Moses, the very writer the Sadducees trusted. At the burning bush God calls Himself the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, long after they died. A God who keeps such a bond with them is not the God of the dead. They still live to Him.

BSA: burning bush (“thorn bush, miraculous flame”): The scene is where Moses first heard God declare who He is. alive (“living, having life”): In God’s sight, His people’s life does not end at death.

See also: Exodus 3:6.

Luke 20:39-40

Some scribes, who believed in the resurrection, are pleased with the answer. After this, nobody dares to ask Him more questions. His wisdom has quieted every challenger.

Luke 20:41-44

Now Jesus asks a question. Everyone said the Messiah would be David’s son. Yet David, speaking by the Spirit in Psalm 110, calls him Lord. How can he be both? The answer points to One who is David’s descendant and also far above him.

BSA: Christ (“the Messiah, Anointed One”): The title means the chosen King whom God anoints, which is who Jesus claims to be. footstool (“a rest for the feet, a symbol of subjection”): It pictures enemies fully defeated and put under the Messiah’s authority.

See also: Psalm 110:1; Acts 2:34-36.

Luke 20:45-46

In front of everyone, Jesus warns His disciples about the scribes. Those teachers loved looking important: fine robes, respectful greetings, front seats. Their religion had become a way to be admired.

BSA: chief seats (“positions of honor, seats of prominence”): These were the best seats, which showed everyone who ranked highest.

See also: Matthew 23:5-7.

Luke 20:47

Worse than their pride was their greed. They took advantage of widows, the very people God commands His people to protect, and hid it behind long prayers. Jesus says they will face a heavier judgment. God is not fooled by religious appearance.

BSA: defraud (“cheat, swindle”): The wrong was real theft from the helpless, not a small fault. for a show (“pretense, outward appearance”): Their prayers were meant to be seen by people, not heard by God.

Greek: κατεσθίουσιν (katesthiousin, G2719) — “they devour, eat up.” The word is literally to eat up or consume. It pictures them swallowing the widows’ houses.