Luke 20:9-12

Rachel Workman: No comments today.

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John Burnett:  ⁵ They reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ ⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” ⁷ So they answered that they did not know where it came from. ⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Nor ^[a]will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” He is perfect and His response was perfect but in my sinful nature, I would have loved to see the look on their face if He incorporated their thoughts in His response.

Parable of the Vine-growers

⁹ And He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to ^[b]vine-growers, and went on a journey for a long time. ¹⁰ At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, so that they would give him some of the produce of the vineyard; but the vine-growers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹ And he proceeded to send another slave; and they beat him also and treated him shamefully and sent him away empty-handed. ¹² And he proceeded to send a third; and this one also they wounded and cast out.  God is the man who planted the vineyard, we are the vine growers, the ones beaten are the prophets.  The vineyard is God’s creation that He has given to us rent-free.  We are to love Him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and love our neighbors as our self.  Instead, we disrespect him by not giving him the praise and glory that only he deserves.

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Tomorrow’s reading for Luke 20:13-16

¹³ “‘What will I do?’ the owner asked himself. ‘I know! I’ll send my cherished son. Surely they will respect him.’

¹⁴ “But when the tenant farmers saw his son, they said to each other, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’ ¹⁵ So they dragged him out of the vineyard and murdered him.

“What do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do to them?” Jesus asked. ¹⁶ “I’ll tell you—he will come and kill those farmers and lease the vineyard to others.”

“How terrible that such a thing should ever happen,” his listeners protested.

Luke 20:1-4

Rachel Workman: One day as Jesus was teaching the people and preaching the Good News in the Temple, the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders came up to him. ² They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?”

³ “Let me ask you a question first,” he replied. ⁴ “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?”

The question was meant to force Jesus to admit that his authority came from God. And then they would have more ground to have him killed.

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John Burnett:  On one of the days while He was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders confronted Him, ² and they spoke, saying to Him, “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?” ³ Jesus answered and said to them, “I will also ask you a ^[a]question, and you tell Me: ⁴ Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?”  It is hard for me to tell if the chief priests knew whom they were talking.  You would think that Jesus performing the miracles He did in front of them would give them pause to question who gave Him the authority to do these miracles.  He told them that He was God.  Not very smart to question the judge, who already knows the motives behind the questions.

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Pat Bell:  This is a fearful thought for people you know that don't recognize God.

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Tomorrow’s reading for Luke 20:5-8

⁵ They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why we didn’t believe John. ⁶ But if we say it was merely human, the people will stone us because they are convinced John was a prophet.” ⁷ So they finally replied that they didn’t know.

⁸ And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Luke 19:45-48

Rachel Workman: No comments today.

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John Burnett:  ⁴⁵ Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling, ⁴⁶ saying to them, “It is written, ‘And My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a robbers’ ^[a]den.”

⁴⁷ And He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people were trying to destroy Him, ⁴⁸ and they could not find ^[b]anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging on to ^[c]every word He said.  Verse 45 is so matter of fact.  I suspect he was doing more than “saying to them”.

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Tomorrow’s reading for Luke 20:1-4

20 One day as Jesus was teaching the people and preaching the Good News in the Temple, the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders came up to him. ² They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?”

³ “Let me ask you a question first,” he replied. ⁴ “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?”