# Luke 20 (New King James Version)
Jesus' Authority Questioned

##### Chapter 20
###### 1 Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, _that_ the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted _Him_  
###### 2 and spoke to Him, saying, "Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things? Or who is he who gave You this authority?"

###### 3 But He answered and said to them, **"I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me:**  
###### 4 **The** **baptism of John--was it from heaven or from men?"**

###### 5 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  
###### 6 But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet."  
###### 7 So they answered that they did not know where _it was_ from.

###### 8 And Jesus said to them, **"Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."**The Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers

###### 9 Then He began to tell the people this parable: **"A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to** **vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time.**  
###### 10 **Now at** **vintage-time he** **sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the vinedressers beat him and sent _him_ away empty-handed.**  
###### 11 **Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated _him_ shamefully, and sent _him_ away empty-handed.**  
###### 12 **And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast _him_ out.**

###### 13 **"Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Probably they will respect _him_ when they see him.'**  
###### 14 **But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'This is the** **heir. Come,** **let us kill him, that the inheritance may be** **ours.'**  
###### 15 **So they cast him out of the vineyard and** **killed _him._ Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them?**  
###### 16 **He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to** **others."**
And when they heard _it_ they said, "Certainly not!"

###### 17 Then He looked at them and said, **"What then is this that is written:**
**'The stone which the builders rejected**  
**Has become the chief cornerstone'?**

###### 18 **Whoever falls on that stone will be** **broken; but** **on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."**

###### 19 And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people--for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.The Pharisees: Is It Lawful to Pay Taxes to Caesar?

###### 20 So they watched _Him,_ and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor.

###### 21 Then they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth:  
###### 22 Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"

###### 23 But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, **"Why do you test Me?**  
###### 24 **Show Me a denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have?"**
They answered and said, "Caesar's."

###### 25 And He said to them, **"Render** **therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."**

###### 26 But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people. And they marveled at His answer and kept silent.The Sadducees: What About the Resurrection?

###### 27 Then some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to _Him_ and asked Him,  
###### 28 saying: "Teacher, Moses wrote to us _that_ if a man's brother dies, having a wife, and he dies without children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  
###### 29 Now there were seven brothers. And the first took a wife, and died without children.  
###### 30 And the second took her as wife, and he died childless.  
###### 31 Then the third took her, and in like manner the seven also; and they left no children, and died.  
###### 32 Last of all the woman died also.  
###### 33 Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife does she become? For all seven had her as wife."

###### 34 Jesus answered and said to them, **"The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage.**  
###### 35 **But those who are** **counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage;**  
###### 36 **nor can they die anymore, for** **they are equal to the angels and are sons of God,** **being sons of the resurrection.**  
###### 37 **But even Moses showed in the _burning_ bush _passage_ that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord** **'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'**  
###### 38 **For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for** **all live to Him."**

###### 39 Then some of the scribes answered and said, "Teacher, You have spoken well."  
###### 40 But after that they dared not question Him anymore.Jesus: How Can David Call His Descendant Lord?

###### 41 And He said to them, **"How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David?**  
###### 42 **Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms:**
**'The Lord** said to my Lord,  
**"Sit at My right hand,**  

###### 43 **Till I make Your enemies Your footstool." '**

###### 44 **Therefore David calls Him 'Lord';** **how is He then his Son?"**Beware of the Scribes

###### 45 Then, in the hearing of all the people, He said to His disciples,  
###### 46 **"Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes,** **love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts,**  
###### 47 **who devour widows' houses, and for a** **pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation."**