THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS CHALLENGED

27 Theyt came again to Jerusalem.u As he was walking in the temple,v the chief priests, the scribes,w and the eldersx came 28 and asked him, “By what authorityy are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do these things?”

29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question;z then answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was John’s baptismaa from heaven or of human origin? Answer me.”

31 They discussed it among themselves: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believeab him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘Of human origin’ ”—they were afraid of the crowd, because everyone thought that John was truly a prophet.ac 33 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

THE PARABLE OF THE VINEYARD OWNER

12 He began to speak to them in parables:ad “A man planted a vineyard,ae put a fence around it, dug out a pit for a winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went away. 2 At harvest time he sentaf a servantag to the farmers to collect some of the fruitah of the vineyard from them. 3 But they took him, beatai him, and sent him away empty-handed.aj 4 Again he sent another servant to them, and theyA hit him on the head and treated him shamefully.B 5 Then he sent another, and they killed that one. He also sent many others; some they beat, and others they killed. 6 He still had one to send, a belovedak son. Finallyal he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenant farmers said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What then will the ownerC,am of the vineyard do? He will come and kill the farmers and give the vineyard to others. 10 Haven’t you read this Scripture:an

Theao stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone.ap

11 This came about from the Lordaq

and is wonderful in our eyes?”D

12 They were looking for a way to arrest him but feared the crowd because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. So they left him and went away.

GOD AND CAESAR

13 Thenar they sent some of the Phariseesas and the Herodiansat to Jesus to trap him in his words.au 14 When they came, they said to him, “Teacher, we know you are truthful and don’t care what anyone thinks, nor do you show partialityav but teach the way of God truthfully. Is it lawful to pay taxesaw to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”

15 But knowing their hypocrisy,ax he said to them, “Why are you testingay me? Bring me a denariusE,az to look at.” 16 They brought a coin. “Whose image ba and inscription bb is this?” he asked them.

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

17 Jesus told them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” bc And they were utterly amazed bd at him.

THE SADDUCEES AND THE RESURRECTION

18 Sadducees,be who say there is no resurrection,bf came to him and questioned him: 19 “Teacher,a Mosesb wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife behind but no child,c that man should take the wifed and raise up offspring for his brother.A,e 20 There were seven brothers. The first married a woman, and dying, left no offspring. 21 The second also took her, and he died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. 22 None of the sevenB left offspring. Last of all, the woman died too. 23 In the resurrection, when they rise,C whose wife will she be, since the seven had married her?”

24 Jesus spoke to them, “Isn’t this the reason why you’re mistaken: you don’t know the Scripturesf or the powerg of God?h 25 For when they risei from the dead,j they neither marry nor are given in marriagek but are like angelsl in heaven. 26 And as for the dead being raised—haven’t you read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God said to him: Im am the God of Abrahamn and the God of Isaaco and the God of Jacob?D,p 27 He is not the God of the dead but of the living. You are badly mistaken.”