Luke 20
Summary for Luke 20:1-47: 20:1-47 a In this series of controversies between Jesus and the religious leaders of Jerusalem, they repeatedly questioned and challenged him, and he repeatedly outmatched them with his spiritual wisdom, insight, and authority. 20:1 b the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders: The most influential Jewish leaders in Jerusalem converged against Jesus, who threatened their authority.20:2 c By what authority are you doing all these things? Since these groups were the recognized Jewish authorities in Jerusalem, they wanted to know how Jesus could claim authority to enter Jerusalem as a king and drive the merchants from the Temple.
Summary for Luke 20:4-6: 20:4-6 d Jesus’ question put the religious leaders in a double bind (see 20:5-6 e), as either answer would indict them.
20:6 f the people will stone us: Stoning was the penalty for blasphemy (Lev 24:14-15 g), idolatry (Lev 20:2 h; Deut 13:10 i), and other sins of defiance against God. The people might have regarded rejection of an authentic prophet as blasphemy deserving of stoning.
Summary for Luke 20:7-8: 20:7-8 j The Jewish authorities refused to answer Jesus’ question, so Jesus had no obligation to answer their question. Both their question and their refusal were guided by self-interest rather than integrity.
Summary for Luke 20:9-19: 20:9-19 k This story adapts Isaiah’s Song of the Fruitful Vineyard (Isa 5:1-7 l) to allegorize Jesus’ rejection by Israel’s leaders. In Isaiah’s allegory, the vineyard owner is God and Israel is the unfruitful vineyard that will be judged. Jesus added new characters—the tenant farmers were Israel’s unrighteous leaders, the servants were the Old Testament prophets (repeatedly rejected by Israel), and the son was Jesus. God would judge Israel’s leaders for rejecting and murdering his son. 20:9 m leased it to tenant farmers: This was a common practice in first-century Palestine, especially in Galilee, where peasants would lease the right to raise crops from wealthy landowners.
20:10 n the farmers attacked the servant: God’s prophets were often mistreated and opposed (1 Kgs 19:10 o, 14 p; 2 Chr 24:21 q; 36:16 r; Neh 9:26 s; Jer 2:30 t; 26:20-24 u; 37:15 v).
20:13 w my cherished son: The Messiah was predicted to have a unique father-son relationship with God (see 2 Sam 7:14 x; Pss 2:7 y; 89:26-29 z).
20:14 aa Let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves! They believed that killing the heir would give them power over the estate. They foolishly failed to realize that the owner was still alive and would demand justice. Similarly, the religious leaders thought that they could keep their authority over the people of Israel by killing Jesus.
20:17 ab The stone ... cornerstone: Jesus cited Ps 118:22 ac to predict his rejection and restoration. The cornerstone was the key part of a building, used to support and align adjoining walls. Jesus was rejected by the builders (the religious leaders), but he would become the foundation of a new building (the church).
20:18 ad Jesus expanded the stone metaphor (20:17 ae) with allusions to Isa 8:14-15 af and Dan 2:34 ag, 44-45 ah. Although Israel rejected him, Jesus was the foundation for the new people of God, and he inaugurated a Kingdom that would last forever.
20:19 ai they realized he was telling the story against them: The story provoked the religious leaders to act it out by arresting and killing Jesus.
Summary for Luke 20:20-26: 20:20-26 aj The religious leaders’ question was meant to trap Jesus, but he once again outwitted them.
20:21 ak we know that you speak and teach what is right: This flattery was meant to throw Jesus off guard (see Pss 5:9 al; 12:2-3 am; 78:36 an; Prov 26:28 ao; 28:23 ap; 29:5 aq; Ezek 12:24 ar).
20:22 as is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not? If Jesus said yes, he would make the people angry, because they hated the burden of Roman taxation. If he said no, he would be accused of rebellion against the Roman authorities.
20:24 at a Roman coin: This coin had the picture and title of the emperor Tiberius Caesar (see 3:1 au) stamped on it.
20:25 av give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar: Jesus’ brilliant answer could be taken in two ways. On the face of it, he said that this was Caesar’s money that should properly be paid to Caesar. Jesus’ Jewish listeners also knew that what belongs to Caesar was actually nothing, since everything in the universe belongs to God.
20:27 aw Sadducees ... who say there is no resurrection from the dead: See profile for The Sadducees at end of chapter.
20:28 ax Moses gave us a law: A dead man’s brother would marry the widow to produce children who would maintain the dead man’s name and property (Deut 25:5-6 ay; see also Gen 38:8-10 az; Ruth 4:1-12 ba).
Summary for Luke 20:29-33: 20:29-33 bb Well, suppose there were seven brothers: A similar story of a woman married to seven husbands appears in the Old Testament Apocrypha (Tobit 3:7-17; 6:10–8:18 bc).
20:33 bd whose wife will she be in the resurrection? The Sadducees used this hypothetical situation in an attempt to show that the idea of resurrection was absurd. This was probably a stock polemic that the Sadducees used in debating the Pharisees.
20:35 be will neither marry nor be given in marriage: Jesus emphasized that marriage is an institution for this life, not for the resurrection.
20:36 bf In this respect they will be like angels: Angels are not married, and they are immortal. The Bible never teaches that people become angels (cp. Heb 1:5–2:18 bg), but that we will be like them.
20:37 bh Having refuted the Sadducees’ argument about marriage, Jesus turned to the larger question concerning the resurrection.
• even Moses proved this: Jesus used the books of Moses (Genesis—Deuteronomy)—the only Scripture the Sadducees recognized as authoritative—to prove the resurrection.
• the God of Abraham ... Jacob: God identified himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob long after these patriarchs had died. Since he was still their God, they must have had a continuing existence after death.
20:39 bi Well said, Teacher! Most teachers of religious law were Pharisees, so they agreed with Jesus on the resurrection and were pleased that he refuted the Sadducees.
20:40 bj Jesus’ wise answers confounded his opponents, thwarting their attempts to trap him.
Summary for Luke 20:41-44: 20:41-44 bk Having silenced his opponents, Jesus took the offensive in challenging the religious leaders’ concept of the Messiah. 20:41 bl The Old Testament predicted that the Messiah would be a descendant of David (see study note on 18:38).
Summary for Luke 20:42-43: 20:42-43 bm Jesus quotes Ps 110:1 bn, which indicates that the Messiah is David’s Lord.
20:44 bo Jesus asked why David addressed his son (i.e., his descendant) as his Lord. The implied answer was that the Messiah was more than just a human king descended from David. He is Lord of all (see 2:11 bp; Acts 10:36 bq). Psalm 110:1 br became an important text for the apostles, confirming Jesus’ identity as the Son of God (see Mark 14:62 bs; Acts 2:34 bt; 7:56 bu; Rom 8:34 bv; 1 Cor 15:25 bw; Eph 1:20 bx; Col 3:1 by; Heb 1:3 bz, 13 ca; 8:1 cb; 10:12-13 cc; 1 Pet 3:22 cd; Rev 3:21 ce).
Summary for Luke 20:46-47: 20:46-47 cf Jesus continued on the offensive, warning against the hypocrisy and exploitation of the teachers of religious law.
• respectful greetings ... seats of honor: See study note on 11:43.
• head table at banquets: See study notes on 5:30; 14:7.
20:47 cg Yet they shamelessly cheat widows: This might mean exploiting widows’ property over which they were appointed guardians; it could also mean coercing widows to give money beyond their means. Widows were the most vulnerable members of society, and God had special concern for them. He would judge those who exploited them (Exod 22:22 ch; Deut 10:18 ci; 27:19 cj).
Profile: The Sadducees
The Sadducees were made up of the priestly class (in contrast to the lay movement of the Pharisees). The Sadducees probably lived in the vicinity of Jerusalem and controlled the Temple system (Acts 4:1-2 ck; 5:17 cl). They were powerful aristocrats and mediators between Rome and Israel (see Josephus, Antiquities 13.10.6; War 2.10.5). They did not have great favor or influence with the people (Josephus, Antiquities 18.1.4). The term Sadducee probably derives from Zadok, the high priest during the reigns of David (2 Sam 8:17 cm; 15:24 cn; 1 Kgs 1:8 co) and Solomon (1 Kgs 1:32-48 cp); both words have the same Hebrew root. The earliest historical reference to the Sadducees occurs during the reign of John Hyrcanus (135–104 BC), a descendant of the Maccabees (Josephus, Antiquities 13.10.6), but it is clear from this account that they had already existed for some time.
Their theological views are often contrasted with those of the Pharisees (Acts 23:8 cq; see also Acts 4:1-2 cr). The Pentateuch had primary authority for the Sadducees. They rejected the oral tradition so cherished by the Pharisees. Also in contrast with the Pharisees, the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead (see Matt 22:23-33 cs), angelic beings (see Acts 23:8 ct), or the concept of final judgment. The Pharisees, by contrast, were so committed to belief in the resurrection that they sided with Paul against the Sadducees when he was on trial for disturbing the Temple (Acts 23:6-10 cu).
Despite their differences, the Pharisees and Sadducees united with a single front against Jesus. If the Pharisees opposed Jesus because he made light of their oral traditions, the Sadducees opposed Jesus because he affirmed the supernatural world of angels and demons and appealed to a final judgment and resurrection.
With the destruction of the Temple in AD 70, the Sadducees disappeared from the scene. They left no written records. Since all our information about the Sadducees comes from their opponents, we have a limited idea of what they were really like.
Passages for Further Study
Matt 3:7 cv; 16:1-12 cw; 22:23-33 cx; Mark 12:18-27 cy; Luke 20:27-40 cz; Acts 4:1-2 da; 5:17-18 db; 23:6-10 dc
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