The big picture
Jesus, the teacher and healer, teaches openly in Jerusalem's temple, the worship centre of God's people. Its leaders challenge his right to act. He answers with a question they refuse to settle and an account that exposes their rejection of God's messengers. Further tests concern tax and life after death. Jesus then raises his own question about the promised king's greater standing. He ends by warning his followers against teachers who seek public honour while harming people with little protection.
In this chapter
- A Question They Will Not Answer Luke 20:1-8
Chief priests, scribes who teach God's law, and elders approach Jesus while he proclaims good news.
- Tenants Reject Every Claim on the Vineyard Luke 20:9-19
Jesus tells the people about an owner who rents out a vineyard.
- A Coin Does Not Settle God’s Claim Luke 20:20-26
The leaders send spies posing as sincere people.
- Risen Life Is Not Bound by Death Luke 20:27-40
Sadducees, a group denying resurrection, ask about a widow married in turn to seven brothers who all die childless.
- David’s Lord and Leaders Who Seek Honour Luke 20:41-47
Jesus asks how the Christ, God's promised king, can be described only as David's son.
Central truth
Jesus exposes leaders who resist God's claim while defending truth about earthly duties, risen life, and the promised king.
Scripture beside the summary
Luke · King James Version · 47Luke 20:1-8
A Question They Will Not Answer
Chief priests, scribes who teach God's law, and elders approach Jesus while he proclaims good news. They ask who gave him authority. He first asks them about the baptism of John, the preacher who called people to turn from sin. Did it come from God or from human choice? The leaders privately weigh the consequences. If they name God, their refusal to believe John is exposed. If they call it human, they fear the crowd, who regard John as a prophet, might stone them. They claim ignorance. Jesus then refuses to answer their challenge. Their calculation prevents an honest response to the question before them.
In everyday life
A building foreman asks a critic whether the agreed safety standard applies to every crew. The critic knows his complaint depends on excusing his own team, so he avoids answering and repeats his demand. The foreman leaves the demand unanswered. Jesus asks about recognition of God's messenger, not consistency under a construction rule.
Notice
Luke 20:5 The leaders discuss what each answer will expose rather than whether it is true. Their stated uncertainty hides a choice not to face the question.
Luke 20:1-8
King James Version1And 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.
Luke 20:9-19
Tenants Reject Every Claim on the Vineyard
Jesus tells the people about an owner who rents out a vineyard. Three servants sent for his share are beaten, shamed, or wounded. He then sends his loved son, hoping for respect. The tenants kill him outside the vineyard to seize his inheritance. Jesus says the owner will destroy them and give the land to others. The hearers recoil, but he recalls Scripture about a rejected stone becoming the chief stone. That stone also brings ruin to those who resist it. The religious leaders know the account is against them and want to arrest Jesus, yet fear of the crowd holds them back.
In everyday life
A bereaved advocate lays out a sequence of ignored appeals at a public review. Each appeal gave those in control another chance to respect the people harmed by their decisions. Their repeated refusal makes the final loss part of a pattern. Jesus describes murdered messengers and God's Son, with divine judgement rather than a human review's findings.
Notice
Luke 20:19 The leaders recognise themselves in the account and respond by seeking arrest. Their reaction continues the rejection that the vineyard tenants have displayed.
Luke 20:9-19
King James Version9Then 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.
Luke 20:20-26
A Coin Does Not Settle God’s Claim
The leaders send spies posing as sincere people. They hope Jesus will say something that brings him before the governor. After praising his fairness, they ask whether paying tax to Cæsar, the Roman emperor, is lawful. Jesus sees their deceit and asks for a coin. Its face and writing identify Cæsar. He tells them to give the emperor what is his and God what is God's. The answer refuses the trap without making the emperor's claim absolute. In front of the people, they find no words they can use against him. Amazement and silence replace the charge they intended to secure.
In everyday life
A bike hirer returns the marked helmet and bicycle to the shop but refuses the owner's demand to control where she spends her next holiday. One valid claim does not create a right to everything. The label identifies what belongs to the owner. Jesus distinguishes duties to an emperor and God, not only the limits of a rental.
Notice
Luke 20:25 God's claim enters an answer to a question about the emperor. Jesus does not allow the political choice set by the spies to define every obligation.
Luke 20:20-26
King James Version20And 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 Cæsar, 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, Cæsar’s.
25And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which be Cæsar’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.
Luke 20:27-40
Risen Life Is Not Bound by Death
Sadducees, a group denying resurrection, ask about a widow married in turn to seven brothers who all die childless. They cite Moses, the lawgiver, whose rule preserved a dead man's family line. Whose wife will she be after rising? Jesus says people in that age neither marry nor die. Like angels, they live as God's children in resurrection. Moses himself spoke of God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the people's forefathers. They live to him; he is God of the living. Their puzzle assumes death-bound arrangements will continue unchanged. Some scribes approve Jesus' answer, and the challengers stop questioning him.
In everyday life
A retired ship designer studies plans for a fixed observatory and keeps asking how it will stay afloat. The engineer explains that a building on rock does not face the same conditions as a vessel at sea. The old question no longer fits. Jesus speaks of a deathless life God gives, not two kinds of human construction.
Notice
Luke 20:36 Jesus links the absence of marriage with the absence of death in that age. The answer describes a changed order of life rather than rearranging the seven marriages.
Luke 20:27-40
King James Version27Then 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.
Luke 20:41-47
David’s Lord and Leaders Who Seek Honour
Jesus asks how the Christ, God's promised king, can be described only as David's son. David, the earlier king, calls him Lord in the Psalms, sacred songs of worship. God gives this Lord the place at his right hand until enemies submit. Family descent alone cannot explain that greater standing. Jesus then warns his followers, within everyone's hearing, about scribes who love impressive robes, public greetings, and the best seats at worship and feasts. They take widows' homes while using long prayers as a cover. Their visible honour hides exploitation, and they face more severe judgement for it.
In everyday life
A guild chair wears his ceremonial chain while a widow waits outside to recover tools he took from her late husband's shop. Members admire the badge. They fail to ask whose loss supports his comfort. The display does not make the taking right. Jesus warns of divine judgement and asks about David's greater Lord, not merely abuse of guild office.
Notice
Luke 20:47 The long prayers serve as a cover for taking widows' homes. Religious display increases the wrong because it helps hide harm under an appearance of devotion.
Luke 20:41-47
King James Version41And 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.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Luke 20:1 begins with “And 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…”
Where the chapter turns
Luke 20:24 forms a natural hinge: “Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Cæsar’s.”
The final note
Luke 20:47 leaves the reader with “Which devour widows’ houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words children, LORD, people, vineyard, wife, husbandmen help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- husbandmen
- Tenant farmers who cultivate land and owe a share to its owner.
- superscription
- Words stamped on a coin around or above its image.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
