2 and spake unto him, saying, `Tell us by what authority thou dost these things? or who is he that gave to thee this authority?'
the Jews then answered and said to him, `What sign dost thou shew to us -- that thou dost these things?'
and he saith, `Who set thee for a head and a judge over us? to slay me art thou saying `it', as thou hast slain the Egyptian?' and Moses feareth, and saith, `Surely the thing hath been known.'
And he having come to the temple, there came to him when teaching the chief priests and the elders of the people, saying, `By what authority dost thou do these things? and who gave thee this authority?' And Jesus answering said to them, `I will ask you -- I also -- one word, which if ye may tell me, I also will tell you by what authority I do these things; the baptism of John, whence was it? -- from heaven, or from men?' And they were reasoning with themselves, saying, `If we should say, From heaven; he will say to us, Wherefore, then, did ye not believe him? and if we should say, From men, we fear the multitude, for all hold John as a prophet.' And answering Jesus they said, `We have not known.' He said to them -- he also -- `Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.
and they say to him, `By what authority dost thou these things? and who gave thee this authority that these things thou mayest do?' And Jesus answering said to them, `I will question you -- I also -- one word; and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things; the baptism of John -- from heaven was it? or from men? answer me.' And they were reasoning with themselves, saying, `If we may say, From heaven, he will say, Wherefore, then, did ye not believe him? But if we may say, From men,' -- they were fearing the people, for all were holding John that he was indeed a prophet; and answering they say to Jesus, `We have not known;' and Jesus answering saith to them, `Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.'
and he who is doing injustice to the neighbour, did thrust him away, saying, Who set thee a ruler and a judge over us?
for neither doth the Father judge any one, but all the judgment He hath given to the Son, that all may honour the Son according as they honour the Father; he who is not honouring the Son, doth not honour the Father who sent him. `Verily, verily, I say to you -- He who is hearing my word, and is believing Him who sent me, hath life age-during, and to judgment he doth not come, but hath passed out of the death to the life. `Verily, verily, I say to you -- There cometh an hour, and it now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those having heard shall live; for, as the Father hath life in himself, so He gave also to the Son to have life in himself, and authority He gave him also to do judgment, because he is Son of Man.
and having set them in the midst, they were inquiring, `In what power, or in what name did ye do this?' Then Peter, having been filled with the Holy Spirit, said unto them: `Rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, if we to-day are examined concerning the good deed to the ailing man, by whom he hath been saved, be it known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye did crucify, whom God did raise out of the dead, in him hath this one stood by before you whole.
`This Moses, whom they did refuse, saying, Who did set thee a ruler and a judge? this one God a ruler and a redeemer did send, in the hand of a messenger who appeared to him in the bush; this one did bring them forth, having done wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years; this is the Moses who did say to the sons of Israel: A prophet to you shall the Lord your God raise up out of your brethren, like to me, him shall ye hear. `This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the messenger who is speaking to him in the mount Sinai, and with our fathers who did receive the living oracles to give to us; to whom our fathers did not wish to become obedient, but did thrust away, and turned back in their hearts to Egypt,
and they brought it unto Jesus, and having cast their garments upon the colt, they did set Jesus upon it. And as he is going, they were spreading their garments in the way, and as he is coming nigh now, at the descent of the mount of the Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began rejoicing to praise God with a great voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying, `blessed `is' he who is coming, a king in the name of the Lord; peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.' And certain of the Pharisees from the multitude said unto him, `Teacher, rebuke thy disciples;' and he answering said to them, `I say to you, that, if these shall be silent, the stones will cry out!'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Luke 20
Commentary on Luke 20 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 20
Lu 20:1-19. The Authority of Jesus Questioned, and His Reply—Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen.
(See on Mt 21:23.)
2. these things—particularly the clearing of the temple.
4. baptism of John—his whole ministry and mission, of which baptism was the seal.
5. Why then believed ye him not?—that is, in his testimony to Jesus, the sum of his whole witness.
7. could not tell—crooked, cringing hypocrites! No wonder Jesus gave you no answer (Mt 7:6). But what dignity and composure does our Lord display as He turns their question upon themselves!
9-13. vineyard—(See on Lu 13:6). In Mt 21:33 additional points are given, taken literally from Isa 5:2, to fix down the application and sustain it by Old Testament authority.
husbandmen—the ordinary spiritual guides of the people, under whose care and culture the fruits of righteousness might be yielded.
went, &c.—leaving it to the laws of the spiritual husbandry during the whole length of the Jewish economy. (See on Mr 4:26.)
10. beat, &c.—(Mt 21:35); that is, the prophets, extraordinary messengers raised up from time to time. (See on Mt 23:37.)
13. my beloved son—Mark (Mr 12:6) still more affectingly, "Having yet therefore one son, his well-beloved"; our Lord thus severing Himself from all merely human messengers, and claiming Sonship in its loftiest sense. (Compare Heb 3:3-6.)
it may be—"surely"; implying the almost unimaginable guilt of not doing so.
14. reasoned among themselves—(Compare Ge 37:18-20; Joh 11:47-53).
the heir—sublime expression of the great truth, that God's inheritance was destined for, and in due time to come into the possession of, His Son in our nature (Heb 1:2).
inheritance … ours—and so from mere servants we may become lords; the deep aim of the depraved heart, and literally "the root of all evil."
15. cast him out of the vineyard—(Compare Heb 13:11-13; 1Ki 21:13; Joh 19:17).
16. He shall come, &c.—This answer was given by the Pharisees themselves (Mt 21:41), thus pronouncing their own righteous doom. Matthew alone (Mt 21:43) gives the naked application, that "the kingdom of God should be taken from them, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof"—the great evangelical community of the faithful, chiefly Gentiles.
God forbid—His whole meaning now bursting upon them.
17-19. written—(in Ps 118:22, 23. See on Lu 19:38). The Kingdom of God is here a Temple, in the erection of which a certain stone, rejected as unsuitable by the spiritual builders, is, by the great Lord of the House, made the keystone of the whole. On that Stone the builders were now "falling" and being "broken" (Isa 8:15), "sustaining great spiritual hurt; but soon that Stone should fall upon them and grind them to powder" (Da 2:34, 35; Zec 12:3)—in their corporate capacity in the tremendous destruction of Jerusalem, but personally, as unbelievers, in a more awful sense still.
19. the same hour—hardly able to restrain their rage.
Lu 20:20-40. Entangling Questions about Tribute and the Resurrection—The Replies.
20-26. sent forth—after consulting (Mt 22:15) on the best plan.
spies—"of the Pharisees and Herodians" (Mr 12:13). See Mr 3:6.
21. we know, &c.—hoping by flattery to throw Him off His guard.
22. tribute—(See on Mt 17:24).
25. things which be Cæsar's—Putting it in this general form, it was impossible for sedition itself to dispute it, and yet it dissolved the snare.
and unto God—How much there is in this profound but to them startling addition to the maxim, and how incomparable is the whole for fulness, brevity, clearness, weight!
27-34. no resurrection—"nor angel nor spirit" (Ac 23:8); the materialists of the day.
34. said unto them—In Mt 22:29, the reply begins with this important statement:—"Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures," regarding the future state, "nor the power of God," before which a thousand such difficulties vanish (also Mr 12:24).
36. neither … die any more—Marriage is ordained to perpetuate the human family; but as there will be no breaches by death in the future state, this ordinance will cease.
equal—or "like."
unto the angels—that is, in the immortality of their nature.
children of God—not in respect of character but nature; "being the children of the resurrection" to an undecaying existence (Ro 8:21, 23). And thus the children of their Father's immortality (1Ti 6:16).
37, 38. even Moses—whom they had just quoted to entangle Him.
38. not … of the dead, … for all, &c.—To God, no human being is dead, or ever will be; but all sustain an abiding conscious relation to Him. But the "all" here meant "those who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world." These sustain a gracious covenant relation to God, which cannot be dissolved. In this sense our Lord affirms that for Moses to call the Lord the "God" of His patriarchal servants if at that moment they had no existence, would be unworthy of Him. He "would be ashamed to be called their God, if He had not prepared for them a city" (Heb 11:16). How precious are these glimpses of the resurrection state!
39. scribes … well said—enjoying His victory over the Sadducees.
they durst not—neither party, both for the time utterly foiled.
Lu 20:41-47. Christ Baffles the Pharisees by a Question about David and Messiah, and Denounces the Scribes.
41. said, &c.—"What think ye of Christ [the promised and expected Messiah]? Whose son is He [to be]? They say unto Him, The son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit [by the Holy Ghost, Mr 12:36] call Him Lord?" (Mt 22:42, 43). The difficulty can only be solved by the higher and lower—the divine and human natures of our Lord (Mt 1:23). Mark the testimony here given to the inspiration of the Old Testament (compare Lu 24:44).
46, 47. Beware, &c.—(See on Mt 23:5; and Lu 14:7).
47. devour, &c.—taking advantage of their helpless condition and confiding character, to obtain possession of their property, while by their "long prayers" they made them believe they were raised far above "filthy lucre." So much "the greater damnation" awaits them. What a lifelike description of the Romish clergy, the true successors of "the scribes!"