1On one of those days, Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel. The chief priests and the scribes came up to him, along with the elders,
2and they said to him, "Tell us, by what authority do you do these things? Who is it that gave you this authority?"
3He answered them, "I will also ask you one thing. Answer me:"
4"The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or from men?"
5They talked it over among themselves and said, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'"
6"But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us, for they are sure that John was a prophet."
7So they answered that they could not tell where it came from.
8And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."
9Then he began to tell the people this parable: "A man planted a vineyard. He rented it out to farmers and went away to a far country for a long time."
10"At the right season he sent a servant to the farmers, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the farmers beat him and sent him away with nothing."
11"Again he sent another servant. They beat him too, and treated him shamefully, and sent him away with nothing."
12"Again he sent a third. They wounded him too, and threw him out."
13"Then the lord of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. It may be that they will respect him when they see him.'"
14"But when the farmers saw him, they talked it over among themselves and said, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, so that the inheritance will be ours.'"
15"So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the lord of the vineyard do to them?"
16"He will come and destroy those farmers, and will give the vineyard to others." When they heard this, they said, "May it never be."
17He looked at them and said, "What then does this mean that is written: 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner'?"
18"Whoever falls on that stone will be broken to pieces. But anyone it falls on, it will grind him to powder."
19That same hour the chief priests and the scribes tried to lay hands on him, but they were afraid of the people. For they knew that he had told this parable against them.
20So they watched him and sent out spies, who pretended to be honest men, so that they could catch him in his words and hand him over to the power and authority of the governor.
21They asked him, "Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly. You do not favour anyone, but you teach the way of God truly."
22"Is it lawful for us to pay tribute to Caesar, or not?"
23But he saw how cunning they were, and said to them, "Why do you test me?"
24"Show me a penny. Whose image and writing does it have?" They answered, "Caesar's."
25And he said to them, "Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."
26They could not catch him in his words in front of the people. They were amazed at his answer, and said nothing.
27Then some of the Sadducees came to him. They say there is no resurrection. They asked him,
28"Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, his brother should take the wife and have children for his brother."
29"Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children."
30"The second married her, and he died childless."
31"The third took her, and in the same way all seven. They left no children, and died."
32"Last of all the woman died too."
33"So in the resurrection, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife."
34Jesus answered them, "The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage."
35"But those who are counted worthy to have a share in that world, and in the resurrection from the dead, do not marry and are not given in marriage."
36"They cannot die any more, for they are equal to the angels. They are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection."
37"Even Moses showed that the dead are raised, in the passage about the bush, when he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."
38"For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living. For to him all are alive."
39Then some of the scribes answered, "Teacher, you have spoken well."
40And after that they did not dare ask him any question at all.
41And he said to them, "How can they say that Christ is David's son?"
43"'till I make your enemies your footstool.'"
44"So David calls him Lord. How then is he his son?"
45Then, while all the people were listening, he said to his disciples,
46"Beware of the scribes. They like to walk about in long robes, and they love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts."
47"They eat up widows' houses, and for a show they make long prayers. These will receive the greater condemnation."