One day Jesus was in the Temple, teaching the people and telling them the Good News. The leading priests, teachers of the law, and elders came up to talk with him, saying, “Tell us what authority you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”
Jesus answered, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me: When John baptized people, was that authority from God or just from other people?”
They argued about this, saying, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ Jesus will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘It was from other people,’ all the people will stone us to death, because they believe John was a prophet.” So they answered that they didn’t know where it came from.
Jesus said to them, “Then I won’t tell you what authority I have to do these things.”
Then Jesus told the people this story: “A man planted a vineyard and leased it to some farmers. Then he went away for a long time. When it was time for the grapes to be picked, he sent a servant to the farmers to get some of the grapes. But they beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed. Then he sent another servant. They beat this servant also, and showed no respect for him, and sent him away empty-handed. So the man sent a third servant. The farmers wounded him and threw him out. The owner of the vineyard said, ‘What will I do now? I will send my son whom I love. Maybe they will respect him.’ But when the farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This son will inherit the vineyard. If we kill him, it will be ours.’ So the farmers threw the son out of the vineyard and killed him.
“What will the owner of this vineyard do to them? He will come and kill those farmers and will give the vineyard to other farmers.”
When the people heard this story, they said, “Let this never happen!”
But Jesus looked at them and said, “Then what does this verse mean:
‘The stone that the builders rejected
became the cornerstone’?
Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken, and the person on whom it falls, that person will be crushed!”
The teachers of the law and the leading priests wanted to arrest Jesus at once, because they knew the story was about them. But they were afraid of what the people would do.
So they watched Jesus and sent some spies who acted as if they were sincere. They wanted to trap Jesus in saying something wrong so they could hand him over to the authority and power of the governor. So the spies asked Jesus, “Teacher, we know that what you say and teach is true. You pay no attention to who people are, and you always teach the truth about God’s way. Tell us, is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
But Jesus, knowing they were trying to trick him, said, “Show me a coin. Whose image and name are on it?”
They said, “Caesar’s.”
Jesus said to them, “Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and give to God the things that are God’s.”
So they were not able to trap Jesus in anything he said in the presence of the people. And being amazed at his answer, they became silent.
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