< Luke 20 >
1 One day [during that week, Jesus] was teaching the people in the Temple [courtyard] and telling them [God’s] good message. As he was doing that, the chief priests, the men who taught the [Jewish] laws, and [other Jewish] elders came to him.
2 They asked him, “Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who authorized you to do things [like you did here yesterday]?”
3 He replied, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me,
4 where did John [the Baptizer] get [his authority to] baptize [those who came to him]? [Did he get it] from God [MTY/EUP] or from people?”
5 They discussed this among themselves. They said, “[If we(inc) say], ‘[It was] from God [MTY/EUP],’ he will say to us, ‘[Then] (you should have believed John’s [message]!/why did you not believe what John preached?) [RHQ]’
6 But if we say, ‘It was [from] people,’ the people [here] will [kill us by] throwing stones at us, because they [all] believe that John was a prophet [from God].”
7 So they replied, “We [(exc)] do not know where [John got his authority].”
8 Then Jesus said to them, “[Because you did not answer my question], I will not tell you who authorized me to do those things [here yesterday].”
9 Then Jesus told the people this parable [to illustrate what God would do to the Jews who rejected the former prophets and himself]: “A [certain] man planted a vineyard. He rented the vineyard to some men [to care for it and to give him some of the grapes in return]. Then he went to another country and stayed there several years.
10 When [the vines started producing] grapes, he sent a servant to the men who were taking care of the vineyard. He expected that they would give him some of the grapes that the vineyard had produced. But [after the servant arrived], they beat him and they did not give him any grapes. They [just] sent him away.
11 [Later], [the owner] sent another servant. But they beat him and mistreated him [also]. They sent him away without giving him any grapes.
12 [Still later, the owner] sent another servant. That one they wounded and threw him out [of the vineyard].
13 So the owner of the vineyard thought to himself, ‘(I do not know what to do!/What shall I do?) [RHQ]’ [Then he had an idea. He thought to himself], ‘I will send my son, [whom I] love [very much]. Perhaps they will respect him [and give him my share of the grapes].’
14 [So he sent his son], but when the men who were caring for the vineyard saw him [coming], they said to each other, ‘Here [comes] the man who will [some day] inherit [the vineyard]. Let’s kill him so that this vineyard will be ours!’
15 So they dragged him outside the vineyard and they killed him. So (I will tell you what the owner of the vineyard will do to them!/do you know what the owner of the vineyard will do to them?) [RHQ]
16 He will come and kill those men who were taking care of the vineyard. Then he will arrange for other people to take care of it.” When the people listening to Jesus heard that, they said, “[We would] not do anything like those wicked men did!”
17 But Jesus looked directly at them and said, “You can say that, [but think about] the meaning of these words that are written {which [a prophet] wrote} [RHQ] [in the Scriptures], The men who were building a house rejected a certain stone. But others put that same stone in its proper place, and it has become the most important stone in the building [MET].
18 [That stone represents me, the Messiah], and those who reject me are [like people who fall on this stone]. Everyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces {This stone will break to pieces everyone who falls on it}, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”
19 The chief priests and the men who taught the [Jewish] laws realized that he was accusing them when he told the parable [about what those wicked men did]. So they immediately tried to find a way to seize [MTY] him, but [they did not seize him, because] they were afraid of [what] the people [there would do if they did that].
20 So they watched him carefully. They also hired (spies/secret agents) who pretended to be sincere. [But] they really wanted to get him to say something for [which they could accuse] him. They wanted to be able to turn him over to the authority of the governor [of the province. But they also knew that the Jews were disgusted with having to pay taxes to the government].
21 [So] one of them asked Jesus, “Teacher, we [(exc)] know that you [(sg)] speak and teach what is right. You tell the truth even if important people do not like it. You teach truthfully what God wants us to do.
22 [So tell us what you think about this matter]: Is it right that we pay taxes to the Roman government [MTY], or not?”
23 But Jesus knew that they were trying to trick him [to get him into trouble, either with the Jews, who hated to pay those taxes, or with the Roman government]. So he said to them,
24 “Show me a [Roman] coin. [Then tell me] whose picture is on it. And [tell me whose] name is on it.” They [showed him a coin and] said, “It has the picture and name of Caesar, [the head of the Roman government].”
25 He said to them, “In that case, give to the government [MTY] what they [require], and give to God what he [requires].”
26 While the people were there, the [spies] were unable to find fault with him for what he said. And they were amazed at his answer. So they said nothing.
27 Some Sadducees came to [Jesus]. They are a Jewish sect who do not believe that people will become alive again after they die.
28 They [wanted to] ask [Jesus] a question [in order to discredit the idea that dead people will live again]. One of them said [to Jesus], “Teacher, Moses wrote for us [Jews] about situations where a man who has a wife but no children. If the man dies, his brother should marry the [dead man’s] widow so that she can have a child by him. People [will consider] that the child is the descendant of the man [who died], [and in that way the dead man will have descendants].
29 Well, there were seven brothers in one family. The oldest one married, but he and his wife did not bear any children. Later he died.
30 The second [brother followed this law and married the widow, but the same thing happened to him].
31 Then the third [brother] married her, [but the same thing happened again]. All seven [brothers, one by one, married that woman], [but] they had no children, and [one by one] they died.
32 Afterwards, the woman died, too.
33 Therefore, [if it is true that there will be a time] when dead people will become alive again, whose wife [do you think that woman] will be [then]? ([Keep in mind that she was married to all seven brothers!/It will be impossible to decide because] she was married to all seven brothers!) [RHQ]”
34 Jesus replied to them, “Men who live here in this world take wives, or are given wives [by their parents] {their [parents] choose wives [for them]}. (aiōn )
35 But the men whom God considers worthy of [being in heaven after] they become alive again will not be married. (aiōn )
36 [You need to know also that] they cannot die any more, because they will be [immortal] [SIM] like angels. [The fact that God has caused] them to be alive again [will show] that they are God’s children.
37 But [as for people] becoming alive again after they die, Moses wrote something about that. In the place where [he wrote about] the [burning] bush, he mentions the Lord as being the God whom Abraham [worships] and the God whom Isaac [worships] and the God whom Jacob [worships].
38 It is not dead people who worship God. It is living people who worship him. [Abraham, Isaac and Jacob died long before Moses lived, but God said that they were still worshipping him, so we(inc) know their spirits were still alive]! All [people] whose [spirits] are alive [again after they die continue to live to honor God]!”
39 Some of the men who taught the [Jewish] laws replied, “Teacher, you [(sg)] have answered very well!”
40 After that, they no longer dared to ask him any more questions [like that to try to trap him].
41 Then Jesus said to them, “I will show you (OR, prove to you) that people [are wrong who] say that the Messiah is [merely] a descendant of [King] David! [RHQ]
42 Because David himself wrote [about the Messiah] in the book of Psalms, God said to my Lord, Sit [here beside me] on my right, [where I will highly honor you(sg)] [MTY].
43 [Sit here] while I completely defeat your enemies.
44 King David calls [the Messiah] ‘[my] Lord’! So ([the Messiah] cannot be [just someone] descended from [King] David!/how can the Messiah be [just] someone descended from [King] David?) [RHQ] [What I just said proves that he is much greater than David, isn’t that right]?”
45 While all the [other] people were listening, [Jesus] said to his disciples,
46 “Beware that [you do not act like] the men who teach our [Jewish] laws. They like to put on long robes and walk around [to make people think that they are very important]. [They] also like [people to] greet them [respectfully] in the marketplaces. They like [to sit in] the most important places in the Jewish meeting places. At dinner parties [they like to sit in] the seats where the most honored people sit.
47 They swindle [MET] the houses [and property] of widows. [Then] they pretend they are good, as they pray [long] prayers [publicly. God] will [certainly] punish them very severely.”
