Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: LUKE #36 - 20:1-26)
XI. 20:1-21:38 REJECTION OF JESUS AND WARNING FOR CHURCH
A. 20:1-26 OPPOSITION TO JESUS SUDDENLY INCREASES
1. 20:1-8 JESUS DEFEATS THE OPPOSERS TO HIS AUTHORITY
a. 20:1-2 JESUS CONFRONTED BY JEWISH LEADERS
Kai eGEne-to, en miA ton he-meRON,
And it came to pass, on one of the days,
diDAskon-tos auTOU ton laON en tohi-eRO, kai eu-ag-ge-li-zoMEnou,
as he was teaching the people in the temple, and preaching the gospel,
ePEste-san hoi ar-chi-eREIS kai hoi gram-maTEIS sun tois pres-buTErois; kai EIpan, LEgon-tes pros auTON,
the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came upon him; 2and they spoke, saying unto him,
EiPON heMIN: en POIa e-xouSIa [1849] TAUta poiEIS? e TIS es-tin ho DOUS soi ten e-xouSIan TAUten?
Tell us: By what authority do you these things? or who is he that gave you this authority?
b. 20:3-4 JESUS' QUESTION TO THEM
a-po-kriTHEIS de EIpen pros auTOUS, E-roTEsohuMAS ka' 'GOLOgon;
And he answered and said unto them, I also will ask you a word;
kai EIpaTE moi: To BAPtis-ma [908] IoAnou, ex ou-raNOU en, eex anTHROpon?
and tell me: 4The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or from men?
c. 20:5 ONE WAY OF REASONING
hoi de su-ne-loGIsan-to [4817] pros he-auTOUS, LEgon-tes [HOti], E-AN EIpo-men,
And they reasoned with themselves, saying [that], If we shall say,
Ex ou-raNOU; eREI, DiA ti ouk e-piSTEUsa-te auTO?
From heaven; he will say, Why did you not believe him?
d. 20:6 ANOTHER PATH TO REASON
eAN de EIpo-men, Ex anTHROpon; ho laOS HApas ka-ta-liTHAsei heMAS:
But if we shall say, From men; all the people will stone us:
pe-peisMEnos [3986] GAR es-tin IoAnen proPHEten EInai.
for it is persuaded John was a prophet.
e. 20:7 And they answered, they did not know from where.
kai a-peKRIthe-san, meeiDEnai POthen.
f. 20:8 And :Jesus said to them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these.
kai ho IeSOUS EIpen auTOIS, OuDE eGO LEgo huMIN en POIa e-xouSIa TAUta poiO.
2. 20:9-18 INHERITANCE OF JEWS TO GO TO ONE NEW MAN
a. 20:9 A VINEYARD PARABLE
ERxa-to de pros ton laON LEgein ten pa-ra-boLEN [3850]TAUten:
And he began to speak unto the people this parable:
ANthro-pos ePHUteu-sen [5452] am-peLOna [290], kai eXEde-to [1556] auTON ge-orGOIS [1092],
A man planted a vineyard, and let it out to husbandmen,
kai a-peDEme-sen CHROnous hi-kaNOUS [2425].
and went into another country for along time[s].
b. 20:10 MISTREATMENT OF OWNER'S SERVANT
kai kaiRO aPEstei-len pros tous ge-orGOUS DOUlon,
And at theseason he sent unto the husbandmen a bondman,
HIna aPO tou karPOU tou am-peLOnos DOsou-sin auTO:
that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard:
hoi de ge-orGOI e-xaPEstei-lan auTON, DEIran-tes keNON.
but the husbandmen beat him, andsent him away empty.
c. 20:11 MISTREATMENT REPEATED FOR SECOND SERVANT
kai proSEthe-to [4369] HEte-ron PEMpsai DOUlon: ho de ka' 'KEInon DEIran-tes [1194],
And he sent yet another bondman: and him also they beat,
kai a-tiMAsan-tes [818], e-xaPEstei-lan keNON [2756].
and handled shamefully, andsent away empty.
d. 20:12 And he sent yet a third: and him also they wounded, andcast forth.
kai proSEthe-to TRIton PEMpsai: hoi de kai TOUton trau-maTIsan-tes [5135], eXEba-lon [1544].
e. 20:13a And the lord of the vineyard said, What shall I do?
EIpen de ho KUri-os tou am-peLOnos, Ti poiEso?
f. 20:13b I will send my beloved :son; perhaps they will reverence this one.
PEMpsoton huiON mou ton a-ga-peTON [27]; Isos TOUton en-traPEson-tai [1788].
g. 20:14 THE EVIL REASONING OF THE TENANTS
iDON-tes de auTON hoi ge-orGOI, di-e-loGIzon-to pros alLElous, LEgon-tes,
But the husbandmen seeing him, reasoned one with another, saying,
HOU-TOS es-tin ho kle-roNOmos [2818]; a-pokTEIno-men auTON, HIna heMON GEne-tai he kle-ro-noMIa.
This is the heir; let us kill him, that the inheritance be ours.
h. 20:15a And they cast him forth out of the vineyard, andkilled him.
kai ek-baLONtes auTON Exotou am-peLOnos, aPEKtei-nan.
i. 20:15b What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do to them?
Ti oun poiEsei auTOIS ho KUri-os tou am-peLOnos?
j. 20:16a He will come and destroy these :husbandmen, and will give the vineyard to others.
eLEUse-tai kai a-poLEsei [622] tous ge-orGOUS TOUtous, kai DOsei ton ampeLOna ALlois.
k. 20:16b And on hearing it, they said, Be it not so!
aKOUsan-tes de, EIpon, MeGEnoi-to!
l. 20:17 THE REJECTED CORNER-STONE
ho de emBLEpsas auTOIS, EIpen, Ti OUN es-tin to ge-gramMEnon TOUto,
But he looked upon them, and said, What then is this that iswritten,
LIthon hon a-pe-doKIma-san [593] hoi oi-ko-doMOUNtes [3668], HOUtos e-geNEthe eis ke-phaLEN goNIas?
Thestone which the builders rejected, The same was made head of thecorner?
m. 20:18 JUDGMENT BY THE REJECTED SON
pas ho peSON ep' eKEInon ton LIthon sun-thlasTHEse-tai [4917];
Every one that falls on that :stone shall be broken to pieces;
eph' hon de' 'AN PEse, likMEsei [3039] auTON.
but on whomever it shall fall, it will scatter him as dust.
3. 20:19-26 QUESTION OF TRIBUTE MONEY
a. 20:19 THE DEPRAVED REACTION OF THE JEWISH LEADERS
Kai eZEte-san hoi gram-maTEIS kai hoi ar-chi-eREIS e-pi-baLEIN [1911] ep' auTON
And the scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him
tas CHEIras en auTE te HOra; kai e-phoBEthe-san ton laON:
in that very hour; and they feared the people:
EGno-san [1097] gar HOti pros auTOUS EIpen ten pa-ra-boLEN TAUten.
for they perceived that he spoke this :parable against them.
b. 20:20 SPIES SENT OUT AGAINST JESUS
Kai pa-ra-teREsan-tes [3906], aPEstei-lan en-kaTHEtous [1455],
And they watched him, andsent forth spies,
hu-po-kri-noMEnous [5271] he-auTOUS diKAIous EInai, HIna e-piLAbon-tai [1949] auTOU LOgou,
who pretended themselves to be righteous, that they might take hold of his speech,
HOste pa-raDOUnai [3860] auTON te arCHE kai te e-xouSIa tou he-geMOnos [2232].
so as to deliver him up to the rule and the authority of the governor.
c. 10:21-22 THEIR TESTING QUESTION
kai e-peROte-san [1905] auTON, LEgon-tes, DiDAska-le, OIda-men HOti orTHOS [3723] LEgeis,
And they asked him, saying, Teacher, we know that you say rightly,
kai diDAskeis, kai ou lamBAneis PROso-pon, all' ep' a-leTHEIas ten hoDON tou TheOU diDAskeis:
and teach, and accept not man'sface, but of a truth teaches the way of :God:
Exe-stin [1832] heMAS KAIsa-ri PHOron [5411] DOUnai, e ou?
22Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?
d. 20:23 But he perceived their :craftiness andsaid unto them, Show me a shilling.
ka-ta-noEsas [2657]de auTON ten pa-nourGIan [3834]EIpen pros auTOUS, DEIxaTE moi deNAri-on.
e. 20:24a Whose image and superscription does it have?
TInos Echei eiKOna kai e-pi-graPHEN [1923]?
f. 20:24b And they said, Caesar's. hoi de EIpan, KAIsa-ros.
g. 20:25 And he said unto them, Then render to Caesar Caesar's things: and to :God, :God's.
ho de EIpen pros auTOUS, TOInun aPOdo-te [591]ta KAIsa-ros KAIsa-ri: kai ta tou TheOU, toTheO.
h. 20:26 ENEMIES PUT TO SILENCE
kai ouk Ischu-san e-pi-laBESthai [1949] tou 'REma-tos e-nanTIon tou laOU:
And they were not able to take hold of the saying before the people:
kai thauMAson-tes [2296] ePI te a-poKRIsei auTOU, eSIge-san [4601].
and they marveled at his :answer, andwere silent.
NOTE: (2010-12-28) - 20:1-8 - We in our Western Culture say, “Don't answer a question with a question.” Not so in Hebrew Biblical Culture. There it is entirely appropriate to do what Jesus has just done with the chief priests, scribes and elders. And - the question Jesus replied with and posed to them was so wise - that these Jewish leaders were unable to answer Him! So - Jesus in turn refused in the light of this - to answer theirquestion. They would not have received His answer in any case.
20:9-18 - But in response to the question of the Jewish leaders - Jesus now poses to them the parable of the vineyard. It is a picture of God's dealings with Israel in the large portion of their history. Their leaders then mistreated prophet after prophet that God sent to them: beating, imprisoning and killing many of them. Jesus Himself is the Father's Son - and what the present day leaders are planning to do to Jesus, is exactly what the husbandmen in the lord's vineyard had done to his servants and son. And the leaders of Jesus' day perceived that He spoke the parable against them. They also heard the judgment Jesus proclaimed would come upon them - but in their pride and depravity and blindness - they entirely rejected His words.
20:19-26 - So next these wicked leaders sought to entrap Jesus by pretending to be on His side in righteousness, and posed the problem of paying tribute to Caesar. But Jesus perceived their perfidy - and turned the tables on them by an answer from heaven so wise, that they in turn marveled at His wisdom; for they could not lay hold of it to bring accusation against Him to the governor.
Do any of us have any doubt concerning the true calling of Jesus as God's Son and Messiah? As the opposition of His enemies grows in intensity as His time draws to a close - yet at no timedid these wicked Jewish leaders every righteously make a case against Him! How terrible the fate they contrive for themselves! Like Judas! J.A.W.