1One day when Jesus was teaching the people in the Temple and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the teachers of the Law came with the elders of the Jews, 2and said to him, “Tell us, what right have you to act like this? Who gives you authority to do all this?”
3Jesus said to them, “I also will ask you a question; tell me: 4Was John’s preaching and baptism a work of God, or was it merely something human?” 5And they argued among themselves, “If we answer that it was a work of God, he will say: ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 6But if we answer that it was merely some thing human, all the people will stone us, for they all regard John as a prophet.” 7So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know,” 8and Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you what right I have to act like this.”
The murderous tenants
9 ① Jesus went on to tell the people this parable, “A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants before going abroad for a long time. 10In due time he sent a servant to the tenants to get some fruit from the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him back empty-handed. 11Again the man sent another servant; they beat him as well and treated him shamefully and finally sent him away empty-handed. 12The owner then sent a third, but this one was wounded and thrown out.
13The owner then thought: ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; surely they will respect him.’ 14The tenants, however, as soon as they had seen him, said to one another: ‘This is the one who will inherit the vineyard; let us kill him and the property will be ours.’ 15So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 16Now, what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” On hearing this, some of the rulers said, “May it not be so!” 17Then Jesus looked directly at them and said, “What does this text of the Scriptures mean: The stone which the builders rejected has become the keystone. 18Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces and anyone the stone falls on will be crushed?”
19The teachers of the Law and the chief priests would have liked to arrest him right there, for they realized that Jesus meant this parable for them, but they were afraid of the crowd.
Paying taxes to Caesar
20So they left, looking for another opportunity. They sent spies who pretended to be honest, in order to trap him in his words and deliver him to the authority and power of the Roman governor. 21They asked him, “Master, we know that you are true in your words and your teaching, and your answers do not vary according to who is listening to you, for you truly teach the way of God. Tell us: 22are we allowed to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
23But Jesus saw through their cunning and said, 24“Show me a silver coin. Whose head is this and whose title does it bear?” They answered, “Caesar’s.” 25And Jesus said to them “Return to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
26So they were unable to trap him in what he said in public: they were surprised at his answer and kept silent.
Resurrection of the dead
27 ② Then some Sadducees arrived. These people claim that there is no resurrection 28and they asked Jesus this question, “Master, in the Scripture Moses told us: ‘If anyone dies leaving a wife but no children, his brother must take the wife, and the child to be born will be regarded as the child of the deceased man.’ 29Now, there were seven brothers; the first married a wife, but he died without children; 30and the second 31and the third took the wife; in fact all seven died leaving no children. 32Last of all the woman died. 33On the day of the resurrection, to which of them will the woman be wife? For the seven had her as wife.”
34And Jesus replied, “Taking husband or wife is proper to people of this world, 35but for those who are considered worthy of the world to come and of resurrection from the dead, there is no more marriage. 36Besides, they cannot die for they are like the angels. They too are sons and daughters of God because they are born of the resurrection.
37Yes, the dead will be raised, and even Moses implied it in the passage about the burning bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 38For he is God of the living and not of the dead, and for him all are alive.”
39Some teachers of the Law then agreed with Jesus, “Master, you have spoken well.” 40They didn’t dare to ask him anything else. 41Then Jesus said to them, “How can people say that the Messiah is the son of David? 42For David says in the book of Psalms: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right 43until I put your enemies under your feet. 44David here calls him Lord; how then can he be his son?”
45 ③ Jesus also said to his disciples before all the people, 46“Beware of these teachers of the Law who like to be seen in long robes and love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to take the reserved seats in the synagogues and places of honor at feasts. 47They even devour the property of widows while making a show of long prayers. They will receive a very severe sentence!”
- Lk 20,9 How many confrontations between Jesus and the leaders of Jerusalem. In 20:19, Luke says: They feared the people. Is it a fact that the Jews of that time, their tea-chers of the Law and their priests were any worse than we are today? Or are we mistaken when we dream of a Church without persecutions and controversies? Not all of us must experience the oppositions Jesus met. He chose for himself this crucifying way because it is the highway to God. Lk 20,27 See commentary on Mark 12:18. Luke has his own expressions in speaking of the resurrection in verses 34-36. It is because in those countries of Greek culture (Luke wrote for them) many people believed in the immortality of the soul as something natural. Luke clarified for them that the other life is not something natural; it is a gift of God for those who are considered worthy to enter it. They too are sons and daughters of God. Using a Hebrew expression, the text says: they too are sons of God (at that time the sons of God were the angels) because they are sons of the resurrection. This resurrection is not like coming back to the life we know, it is the work of the Holy Spirit, who transforms and sanctifies those he resurrects. Therefore the resurrected are sons and daughters of God in a much more authentic way than those of this world: delivered from sin, they are reborn of God. All live for him. They started to become alive when God knew them and called them, and they will not disappear, since God called them from this world to bring them into his own. Faith in the resurrection contrasts with the doctrine of transmigration which says that souls come back to life in a body and social condition that befits their merits. The cycle will continue as long as purification has not been completed. It is a powerful theory capable of enticing many people in the West. It could be said that it is convenient and leads to irresponsibility since all could be settled. Actually, however, this is not the case with the Hindus: their moral concern is often greater than ours, for they are keen to escape from these recurring beginnings. The difference is elsewhere. There are two conceptions of a human. In one, the soul is imprisoned in a body, in the second God saves the indivisible person. The body is not a clothing for the soul, which may pass from an old person to a newly-born. That is why Christian hope awaits a resurrection, that is to say, the possibility for each one to be reborn of God in God and express oneself fully in a glorified body. The Bible teaches us that this present life is our only opportunity. People die only once and are judged (Heb 9:27). Lk 20,45 They even devour the property of widows. This may refer to teachers of the law lodging in the home of some pious widow and then living at her expense.
- Lk 20,9 How many confrontations between Jesus and the leaders of Jerusalem. In 20:19, Luke says: They feared the people. Is it a fact that the Jews of that time, their tea-chers of the Law and their priests were any worse than we are today? Or are we mistaken when we dream of a Church without persecutions and controversies? Not all of us must experience the oppositions Jesus met. He chose for himself this crucifying way because it is the highway to God. Lk 20,27 See commentary on Mark 12:18. Luke has his own expressions in speaking of the resurrection in verses 34-36. It is because in those countries of Greek culture (Luke wrote for them) many people believed in the immortality of the soul as something natural. Luke clarified for them that the other life is not something natural; it is a gift of God for those who are considered worthy to enter it. They too are sons and daughters of God. Using a Hebrew expression, the text says: they too are sons of God (at that time the sons of God were the angels) because they are sons of the resurrection. This resurrection is not like coming back to the life we know, it is the work of the Holy Spirit, who transforms and sanctifies those he resurrects. Therefore the resurrected are sons and daughters of God in a much more authentic way than those of this world: delivered from sin, they are reborn of God. All live for him. They started to become alive when God knew them and called them, and they will not disappear, since God called them from this world to bring them into his own. Faith in the resurrection contrasts with the doctrine of transmigration which says that souls come back to life in a body and social condition that befits their merits. The cycle will continue as long as purification has not been completed. It is a powerful theory capable of enticing many people in the West. It could be said that it is convenient and leads to irresponsibility since all could be settled. Actually, however, this is not the case with the Hindus: their moral concern is often greater than ours, for they are keen to escape from these recurring beginnings. The difference is elsewhere. There are two conceptions of a human. In one, the soul is imprisoned in a body, in the second God saves the indivisible person. The body is not a clothing for the soul, which may pass from an old person to a newly-born. That is why Christian hope awaits a resurrection, that is to say, the possibility for each one to be reborn of God in God and express oneself fully in a glorified body. The Bible teaches us that this present life is our only opportunity. People die only once and are judged (Heb 9:27). Lk 20,45 They even devour the property of widows. This may refer to teachers of the law lodging in the home of some pious widow and then living at her expense.
- Lk 20,9 How many confrontations between Jesus and the leaders of Jerusalem. In 20:19, Luke says: They feared the people. Is it a fact that the Jews of that time, their tea-chers of the Law and their priests were any worse than we are today? Or are we mistaken when we dream of a Church without persecutions and controversies? Not all of us must experience the oppositions Jesus met. He chose for himself this crucifying way because it is the highway to God. Lk 20,27 See commentary on Mark 12:18. Luke has his own expressions in speaking of the resurrection in verses 34-36. It is because in those countries of Greek culture (Luke wrote for them) many people believed in the immortality of the soul as something natural. Luke clarified for them that the other life is not something natural; it is a gift of God for those who are considered worthy to enter it. They too are sons and daughters of God. Using a Hebrew expression, the text says: they too are sons of God (at that time the sons of God were the angels) because they are sons of the resurrection. This resurrection is not like coming back to the life we know, it is the work of the Holy Spirit, who transforms and sanctifies those he resurrects. Therefore the resurrected are sons and daughters of God in a much more authentic way than those of this world: delivered from sin, they are reborn of God. All live for him. They started to become alive when God knew them and called them, and they will not disappear, since God called them from this world to bring them into his own. Faith in the resurrection contrasts with the doctrine of transmigration which says that souls come back to life in a body and social condition that befits their merits. The cycle will continue as long as purification has not been completed. It is a powerful theory capable of enticing many people in the West. It could be said that it is convenient and leads to irresponsibility since all could be settled. Actually, however, this is not the case with the Hindus: their moral concern is often greater than ours, for they are keen to escape from these recurring beginnings. The difference is elsewhere. There are two conceptions of a human. In one, the soul is imprisoned in a body, in the second God saves the indivisible person. The body is not a clothing for the soul, which may pass from an old person to a newly-born. That is why Christian hope awaits a resurrection, that is to say, the possibility for each one to be reborn of God in God and express oneself fully in a glorified body. The Bible teaches us that this present life is our only opportunity. People die only once and are judged (Heb 9:27). Lk 20,45 They even devour the property of widows. This may refer to teachers of the law lodging in the home of some pious widow and then living at her expense.
