20:1 teaching the people in the temple See Luke 19:47.

20:3 I also will ask you a question Matthew’s account frames Jesus’ response as a condition: If the religious leaders answer Jesus’ question, then He will answer theirs. Although this condition is unstated in Luke, it is reflected in Jesus’ response in v. 8.

20:4 The baptism of John Described in ch. 3 as a baptism of repentance (3:3 and note).

20:6 stone us The Jewish law’s penalty for blasphemy (see Lev 24:11–16; compare John 8:59; 10:31–33).

20:8 Neither will I tell you The religious leaders evade the dilemma that Jesus’ question presented (Luke 20:5–6); in the same way, Jesus avoids their attempt to trap Him in a statement that they could use against Him.

Parables of Jesus Table

20:10 fruit of the vineyard Recalls Jesus’ parable of the Sower, in which bearing fruit represents the appropriate response to hearing God’s word (8:15).

20:14 let us kill him Echoes Joseph’s hostile brothers in Gen 37:19–20. Joseph, like Jesus, enjoyed the status of beloved son, though the connotations are very different—with Jesus’ status also representing His divinity (Gen 37:3).

20:17 this has become the cornerstone A quote from Psa 118:22. Jesus implies that He is the rejected stone.

20:18 broken to pieces Jesus seems to be using imagery from Isaiah or Daniel (see Isa 8:14–15; Dan 2:45 and note). These passages seems to envision the final judgment of those who reject the stone. All of those who reject Jesus’ place in God’s plan are acting in opposition to God’s purposes and will be judged accordingly.

20:19 scribes See note on Luke 5:21.

they were afraid of the people See 19:47 and note.

20:20 the jurisdiction of the governor If the religious leaders could produce witnesses of Jesus speaking against Caesar, then the Romans would arrest Him and perhaps execute Him as an enemy of the state.

20:21 you speak and teach rightly The spies flatter Jesus in an attempt to conceal their intention.

20:22 Is it permitted for us Their question is carefully crafted: A positive answer would alienate Jesus from the Jews, who opposed Roman taxation; a negative answer would incriminate Him against Rome.

pay taxes to Caesar Since Jesus’ central message was that the kingdom of God had arrived (e.g., Luke 4:43; 8:1), a question about paying taxes to another kingdom—the Roman Empire—was fully relevant.

20:24 a denarius A coin representing about a day’s wages.

Whose image and inscription The denarius bore the image and title of Tiberius Caesar.

image The Greek word used here, eikōn, is the same word used in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the ot) to describe people being made in the image of God (Gen 1:26–27).

20:25 to God the things of God The coin bore Caesar’s image and thus belongs to Him. By this same logic, that which bore the image of God—all of humanity—belongs to God. Jesus’ response, then, challenges His questioners and anyone else listening to show allegiance to God by devoting their lives to Him.

Major Groups in Jesus’ Time Table

20:28 his brother should take the wife A custom called levirate marriage (see Deut 25:5–10). The Sadducees’ hypothetical question applies this law to an absurd situation, apparently seeking to ridicule belief in a future resurrection of the dead and perhaps to mock Jesus.

20:34 this age The present age, before final judgment.

20:35 that age and to the resurrection Refers to the age that will follow final judgment—when God’s enemies are defeated and His kingdom is fully established (compare Rev 20–21).

20:36 not even able to die any longer They will be immortal. Jesus suggests that marriage is appropriate only for the period leading up to resurrection and immortality.

20:37 even Moses revealed Since the Sadducees appeal to Moses in Luke 20:28, Jesus does the same to correct their faulty understanding of resurrection.

in the passage about the bush Refers to God’s appearance to Moses in the burning bush (Exod 3:1–6).

20:38 He is not God of the dead Jesus points out that, although Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are dead, God describes His relationship with them using the present tense (Exod 3:6). This ongoing relationship must mean that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob experience life with God after their death—thus proving the truth of resurrection.

20:39 some of the scribes Although these legal experts were among those plotting against Jesus (Luke 19:47–20:1), some who believed in resurrection found themselves impressed by His answer to the Sadducees.

20:41 In what sense do they say Jesus is raising an apparent paradox: The Messiah is described as David’s son or descendant, but David also addresses Him as a superior.

20:42 in the book of Psalms Jesus quotes Psa 110:1.

The Lord said to my Lord In the ot, this phrase is “a saying of Yahweh to my Lord (a ruler)” (ne'um yhwh ladoni in Hebrew). Yahweh is addressing either David or David’s descendant. Since this is ascribed as a psalm of David, Jesus understands David as the speaker of the entire psalm, and thus is the person citing Yahweh Himself. This means that the “my Lord” who Yahweh is addressing must be someone other than David.

20:44 how is he his son Jesus understands “my lord” from Psa 110:1 as referring to David’s offspring. Unlike David, Jesus the Messiah sits at the right hand of Yahweh. While Jesus is the descendent of David, He is also David’s Lord.

20:46 scribes See note on Luke 5:21.

the places of honor at banquets Compare 14:7–10.

20:47 who devour the houses of widows This phrase sets up Jesus’ remarks about the widow’s offering in 21:1–4.