As Jesus comes to the final days of His ministry, He faces an onslaught of verbal attacks by the religious leaders. He is in the heart of their territory – Jerusalem – on the most important holy days of the year, and the sheer number of religious elite present in the city means the frequency and intensity of the confrontations escalate. They are desperate to make Him look bad in front of the people. What’s sobering is what their behavior exposes about the human heart. The Son of God – the promised Messiah – is in their city for the purpose of redeeming mankind and all they see is a dangerous rival to be eliminated. They are so blind in their sin that they completely miss the most important and wonderful event in world history.
As we study this text, it should reinforce for us the danger of sin in its ability to mislead and darken. It should also remind us of how much our Savior hates selfishness and hypocrisy.
9-18
Immediately after putting down the religious leaders’ challenge regarding His authority, Jesus tells the people a parable to illustrate the leaders’ unbelief. A man plants a vineyard and rents it to tenants, then goes away on a journey for a long while (representative of the time between Jesus’ ascension and His second coming – it’s encouraging that Jesus acknowledges that this will be a long time). At harvest time the owner sends a slave to receive his produce, but the tenants beat him and send him away with nothing. The landowner then sends another slave, but the tenants beat him also, treat him shamefully (this isn’t explained), and send him away with nothing. The landowner sends a third slave with the same results. Finally, the owner sends his beloved son (note the description – this is what God the Father called Jesus after His baptism – Lk 3:22) with the thought that the tenants will respect him too much to harm him. The plan backfires as the tenants decide that if they kill the son the vineyard will be theirs. They throw the son out and kill him.
Jesus finishes the parable by asking the religious leaders what the landowner will do to the tenants. Jesus answers His own question (in Matthew’s version of this parable, the religious leaders answer the question) by saying the landowner will destroy the tenants and rent the vineyard to other vine-growers.
Landowners and tenant farmers are common in Jesus’ time, so His listeners easily understand the story. The actions of both the tenants and the landowner, however, are outrageous. The landowner comes across as almost naïve and overly benevolent. No landowner allows three slaves to be beaten and his son killed before acting. All power legally and socially resides with the landowner, yet he’s amazingly slow to use it. Also, the assumption by the tenants that they will receive the son’s inheritance is most likely delusional; the owner will almost certainly stipulate that someone else inherit the vineyard at his death. The extreme behavior of the characters is obviously intentional; Jesus uses it to make a point about mercy and punishment.
The meaning of the parable is relatively transparent. The slow-acting landowner is God, the vineyard is Israel (or more generally, God’s people), the tenants are the religious leaders, the slaves are the prophets, and the son is Jesus. The leaders of Israel have refused to listen to God through the ages, even persecuting and killing the prophets God sent to warn them of judgment. Finally – and here Jesus predicts His own end – they will even kill the Son of God sent to them as a final messenger to usher in the new kingdom. As a result, God – though He has been amazingly patient and merciful as His servants the prophets were mistreated and the leaders of Israel were unfaithful – will remove the kingdom from them and give it to the gentiles.
Jesus has told His disciples several times that He will die at the hands of the religious leaders. Here He tells the leaders themselves. They realize the parable is directed at them (we know this by their answer in vs 16 – “May it never be!” – and because Luke tells us in vs. 19), but there is no way to know if they pick up on what Jesus says about their role in His death.
Jesus responds to their perceptive answer to His parable by quoting Psalm 118 (the same Psalm the people quoted when they shouted Hosanna to Him at the triumphal entry) and asking if the leaders have ever read it. He refers to Himself as the stone which the builders rejected and says that the stone will become the chief corner stone (either the stone that holds two rows of stones together in a corner or the wedge-shaped stone at the pinnacle of an arch that locks together the ascending stones).
By saying this Jesus predicts not only His death but His glorification after the resurrection. He will die at the hands of the religious leaders, but He will rise again and become the foundation of the kingdom of God. And that means the cornerstone is dangerous to those who reject it. It will either be a stumbling block that destroys (Isa 8:13-15) or a judgment that falls and crushes. Jesus is the dividing factor between those who enter the kingdom of God and those who are excluded. The very Man the religious leaders attempt to discredit will be the One who causes them to perish in their sin.
The parable and the Psalm are both clear denunciations of the religious leaders. Jesus has publicly called them out in front of the people and blatantly told them they’re damned.
19-26
The scribes and chief priests realize Jesus speaks about them (He hasn’t exactly tried to hide that). They decide to seize Him right there but think better of it because of the multitudes who are still very much on His side. This is the ultimate and incredibly sad irony; the men who have just listened to Jesus give amazing warnings about the ramifications of their killing Him immediately attempt to kill Him. Instead of repenting or fearing, they try to bring on the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy sooner rather than later.
Isn’t it amazing what the human heart is capable of? Is there anything it can’t rationalize? The scribes and priests hear the parable and the Psalm that clearly call them out for their behavior and warn them about their coming destruction, yet all they can think about is destroying the One who has the audacity to question their righteousness and threaten their authority. They are not moved to fear or repentance; they are moved to vengeance and wrath. Their sinful minds can no longer hear and accept the truth. These are the most religious men in Israel who know the scriptures better than anyone else, and they are completely blind and completely deaf and completely lost.
Since they can’t seize and kill Jesus, they decide to bait Him into saying something that would allow them to deliver Him up to the rule and authority of the governor (Pontius Pilate). They send spies to listen to Jesus in the temple. The plan is for the spies to act like followers (pretended to be sincere) and then innocently ask Him a question that gets Him in trouble. [Matthew says the spies are made up of two groups – Pharisees and Herodians. The need for both is that the Pharisees are nationalistic while the Herodians are supportive of Herod and his pro-Roman sympathies. While the two groups naturally oppose each other, their common fear and hatred of Jesus bring them together. By representing both sides of conflicting interests, their goal is to force Jesus to take a side and be hurt by one group or the other. The Pharisees can stir up the crowd against Jesus if He sides with Rome, the Herodians can stir up the Romans if He sides with the Jews who chafe against Rome.]
After they flatter Jesus with insincere compliments (“that’s a nice tunic, Rabbi”), the spies ask Him if it is lawful for us (Jews) to pay taxes to Caesar (in Matthew’s account, they specifically ask about the poll tax – ‘poll’ meaning ‘head’ – a tax levied on each person regardless of income or property – it is simply a tax on existing). It’s a loaded question. The poll tax is hated by the Jews who see it as a sign of their subservience to Rome. This is where the two groups come in. They hope to force Jesus either to support the tax and lose His following among the Jews or reject the tax and open Himself to a charge of treason and subsequent arrest by the Herodians.
Jesus responds to their question and shows that He knows exactly what they’re trying to do. Jesus asks for a denarius – the coin used to pay the poll tax. The denarius bears an image of Caesar (Tiberius) and the words “Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus” on one side and the words “Pontifex Maximus” (which effectively means ‘high priest’ referring to the ancient Roman religion) on the other. Jews despise the coin not only as a sign of Rome but as a pagan and blasphemous symbol (yet another reason to hate the tax). Jesus shows them the coin and asks them whose likeness is on it. They respond that the likeness is Caesar’s.
Jesus tells them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.” Jesus does not take the bait. In one simple sentence He tells His listeners that He is not here to lead a revolt against Rome. However, He also gives proper emphasis to God’s role over all things (including Rome). He effectively tells His followers that His kingdom is not of this world and they are to operate in this world under the world’s laws, with the caveat that since ALL things ultimately belong to God, the world’s laws are in submission to God. Where the laws of the world violate the laws of God, the laws of God take precedent (Acts 5:29). Jesus’ disciples are to render to Caesar except where it precludes them from rendering to God. This does not mean that the life of the believer is compartmentalized so that his obligations to the state are separate from his obligations to heaven. All things – including Caesar’s authority – ultimately come from God, so Jesus’ followers serve God by serving Caesar.
This teaching is later echoed by Paul and Peter. Paul tells us that authority is from God and he who resists that authority opposes the ordinance of God. He also says that we are to pay taxes and render to all what is due them (Rom 13:1-7). Peter instructs us to submit for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, be it king or governor. We are to act as free men – free from sin, free from trying to earn our salvation, free from men – and yet submit to God by submitting to the authority He places in our lives. We’re to fear God and honor the king (I Pet 2:13-17).
Jesus’ answer leaves the spies dumbfounded. They thought they had Him trapped in a no-win conundrum and He totally blew it away. When faced with an either/or question, Jesus answered “yes.” He did not alienate the nationalistic Jews and did not commit treason against Rome. If He had said, “Render unto Caesar” and stopped, it would’ve angered the Jews and discredited His Messiahship. If He only said, “Render unto God”, it would’ve invited rebellion. But He said both; and thus in one simple and brilliant statement He makes it clear that His followers have responsibility to both.
The questioners have nothing to reply and so quietly go away. Their failure, however, does not keep their masters from lying about this incident a few days later when they tell Pilate that Jesus advocated not paying taxes to Rome (Lk 23:2).
27-40
The spies sent from the Pharisees failed in their mission to trip up Jesus, so now the Sadducees decide to take their shot.
The Sadducees are the elite religious leaders in Jewish society. They are, in most respects, much more liberal and secular than the Pharisees. They are more political party than priesthood. They represent the nobility and wealth of the nation; they are its aristocracy while the Pharisees represent the common man. The Sadducees are the sect that runs the temple and from whom the High Priest (as much a political as religious leader and the de facto head of the nation – also, the leader of the Sanhedrin) is chosen. The current High Priest, Caiaphas, is a Sadducee along with his father-in-law, Annas, who preceded him. When the gospels refer to chief priests in the narrative, they typically refer to the Sadducees. Because of the Sadducees’ connection to the temple, they are located primarily in Jerusalem; Jesus did not have much exposure to them during his Galilean ministry. They do not believe in the verbal law (Oral Torah) – later called the Mishnah – that the Pharisees hold to and which Jesus has questioned from time to time (especially in relation to the Sabbath). They believe in the very literal interpretation of the Torah and nothing else. They do not believe in resurrection or in angels and demons (Acts 23:8). The Sadducees as a sect largely cease to exist after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
Interestingly, Jesus has much more in common with the Pharisees than with the Sadducees. It is the Pharisees, however, that bear the brunt of His rebukes. The Pharisees, with their commitment to the scriptures but hearts that are often far from God, pose a much greater danger to the kingdom Jesus instigates than the Sadducees with their secular ways. Jesus is ruthless with the hypocrisy of the Pharisees while dealing much less frequently with the Sadducees. That said, He has no patience for their worldly beliefs.
The Sadducees may have enjoyed watching the Pharisees get their comeuppance regarding the poll tax. However, like the Herodians, they see Jesus as a threat to the status quo which has brought them wealth and power. They decide to test Jesus to discredit Him in front of the multitudes in the temple. Their choice of questions stems from their longstanding debate with the Pharisees over resurrection. The impression is that they are about to use their best stumper – the question the Pharisees can’t answer and which shows the fallacy of their belief.
They approach Jesus with insincere respect (just like the spies did), calling Him Teacher. They ask about the levirate marriage law and its effect in the resurrection. According to the law (Deut 25:5), if a man dies with no children, his brother is to marry the widow and their firstborn son is considered the heir of the dead brother. In this way a man’s name does not die out (the law is no longer strictly practiced in Jesus’ time). The Sadducees tell a story about a man who dies with no children and leaves a widow who is then married to the dead man’s brother. The second brother also dies, and his widow ends up marrying and burying a total of seven brothers (one would have to assume that if this were a true story, brothers #5 or #6 would have said, “I’m fine with the name dying out – let’s get her a husband from another family.”). Eventually the woman herself dies. The Sadducees end the story with a question – “In the resurrection therefore, whose wife of the seven shall she be?” Like the Pharisees who thought they had Jesus trapped with their question about the poll tax, the Sadducees are likely confident they have left Jesus with no choice other than to admit that belief in the resurrection is absurd.
Jesus answers them with a rebuke. He tells them they are mistaken about the resurrection because they do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God. They do not acknowledge passages like Daniel 12:2, Job 19:25-27, and II Samuel 12:23 that teach the resurrection. They also do not understand that God can raise people from the dead to a different existence than their life on earth. He tells the Sadducees there is no marriage in the resurrection because humans will be like angels (another rebuke of the Sadducees who do not believe angels exist).
It’s easy to miss a small phrase Jesus slips in as He answers the Sadducees. Notice that He says, “…those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead…” He makes it clear that He speaks of the redeemed. The resurrection is true for everyone, but only those who are Christ-followers will live with Him on the new earth and have relationships with each other. This teaching has nothing to do with those who are resurrected to be damned.
The full implications of Jesus’ answer are hard to grasp, but one point is clear: like angels, the resurrected will neither marry nor procreate. This fits with the idea of individual rewards in eternity, since differing rewards between spouses could make marriage untenable. And with death gone, there is no need for procreation and no importance placed on lineage (vs 36); the resurrected will be sons of God, sons of the resurrection. This doesn’t necessarily mean that earthly relationships will be forgotten, only transformed. Perhaps the woman in the Sadducees’ story will share a special bond with all seven husbands.
Jesus now asks the Sadducees a question that shows the absurdity of their unbelief in the resurrection given their extensive knowledge of the Scriptures. He asks them if they have ever read – a rebuke in and of itself to men who pride themselves on their literal interpretation of the Pentateuch – the passage that says I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (Ex 3:6). This was a statement by God to Moses at the burning bush – hundreds of years after Abraham and Isaac and Jacob died. Jesus notes the present tense in the statement and tells the Sadducees that God is the God of the living, not the dead (something for all believers to rejoice in – were we there hopefully we would have slipped in an “Amen!”).
The passage Jesus quotes actually proves immortality rather than resurrection, but the Sadducees deny both (which goes along with their station in life – it’s often the most well-off and comfortable in this world who deny there’s a next one). They teach that death is final and nothing exists beyond the grave (convenient for a sect that lives for wealth and power with no thought of ultimate judgment). By showing them that all are alive to God (for all live to Him – vs 38) Jesus shows their entire belief system relating to death and afterlife to be wrong.
The Sadducees, like the spies of the Pharisees and the Herodians before them – are silenced. They give no response. Not everyone is quiet, however. Some scribes – likely Pharisees – say to Jesus, “Teacher, You have spoken well.” They didn’t like looking bad before, but they enjoy seeing the Sadducees lose with their best conundrum. Matthew says the multitudes who witness the verbal battles are astonished by Jesus’ words (Matt 22:33). They’re amazed that someone can best the brightest religious minds in the country and deftly handle the unanswerable questions of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
41-44
Jesus now asks the religious leaders a question. He asks, “How is it that they say the Christ is David’s son?” He means by this that everyone knows the Messiah will be in the lineage of David. This is scriptural truth that the religious leaders agree with.
He goes on though. He says that if the Messiah is David’s son, then why does David call Him Lord in Psalm 110? He quotes the opening verse of the Psalm where David says, “The Lord said to my Lord (God the Father says to the Messiah), sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet.” Jesus finally says, “If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?”
Jesus points out to the religious leaders:
- While the Messiah is in the human lineage of David, He is truly the Son of God who will sit down at God’s right hand. The Messiah transcends even great David because of His divinity.
- The leaders have misinterpreted Scripture in not understanding the identity of the Messiah (they apparently think He would be only human). Though they are the authorities on the Old Testament, they have missed the full ramifications of what it says about the single most important issue it deals with. David himself told them the Messiah will be divine, yet they did not see it.
- If they have missed it, they have NO right to question Jesus about His authority or by what right He does anything He does.
Luke doesn’t record a response, but we know from Mattew’s account that the leaders are unable to answer Him (Matt 22:46). They likely decide a different strategy is in order if they want to silence Him and end His influence. Debating Him in public is certainly not a productive exercise. As a matter of fact, Mark says (12:37) the crowd enjoys listening to Jesus – meaning the religious leaders have apparently increased Jesus’ popularity by trying to discredit Him.
Summary Thoughts
And so ends the verbal sparring between Jesus and the Jewish leaders. They have opposed Him throughout His ministry and have tried every trick they know to confuse, discredit, embarrass, and harass Him. Unfortunately for them, nothing has worked. They haven’t been successful even once in trying to make Him look bad or get Him into trouble. Every confrontation has ended with them being angry, exasperated, or publicly humiliated.
Sadly, the confrontations have not caused them to change. They’ve never – at least as a group – accepted Jesus or truly grasped His message. They’ve heard Him teach, watched Him perform miracles, witnessed His compassion and love for the people, and come away determined only to destroy Him. They know the scriptures better than anyone, claim to be watching for the Messiah, and completely miss His appearing. Their entire IDENTITY is wrapped up in their religious devotion to God’s Law, but their hearts are so blinded by sin that all they can focus on is the need to destroy God’s Son.
The religious leaders show the dangers of selfish living. Their actions and words come from a self-absorbed heart. When they look at Jesus they don’t see truth, they don’t see mercy, they don’t see love, they don’t see divinity, they don’t see the Messiah. They see a threat. They blind themselves to grace and turn deaf ears to truth because grace and truth threaten their status, authority, and wealth. They end up committing the worst crime in history because they live only for themselves.
In that way they act as a warning. An unrenewed mind focused on itself can rationalize the worst sins. That’s why we must pray every day for a Spirit-filled mind set on God and His word. We must ask for protection from our natural selfishness. It is only when our minds are renewed by the Spirit that we truly see sin for what it is and appreciate God’s mercy, love, and grace.
