The Good News by Luke 20

<< Luke 19

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The Authority of Isa

1 One day, while Isa was teaching the people in a courtyard of the Temple and proclaiming the good news,* the chief priests and the scholars came with the elders 2 and said to him, “Tell us: By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you the authority to do them?” 3 He answered them, “I too will ask you a question. Tell me: 4 Who gave Yahya the authority to immerse [people]? Allah, or people?”

5 They conferred among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘Allah,’ he will say to us, ‘Then why didn't you believe him?’ 6 And if we say, ‘People,’ then the common people will all stone us, because they are convinced that Yahua was a prophet.” 7 So they replied, saying, “We don't know.” 8 Isa said, “Then I will not tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The Parable of the Evil Farmers

9 Then he told this parable to the people, saying: “A man planted a vineyard and leased it to some farmers; then he traveled abroad for a long time. 10 During the [harvest] season, he sent a servant to the farmers so that they would give him his share of the vineyard's produce. But the farmers beat him and sent him back empty-handed. 11 So he sent another servant, and they beat him as well, insulted him, and sent him back empty-handed. 12 Then he sent a third servant, and they wounded him and threw him out. 13 So the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I'll send my son, my beloved. Undoubtedly, they will respect him.’

14 “But when the farmers saw him, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let's kill him so we can get the inheritance.’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Now, what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and kill those farmers and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this they said, “Allah forbid!” 17 Isa looked at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of the saying in the Scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the crowning stone of the building’?* 18 Everyone who falls on this stone will be shattered, and anyone on whom this stone falls will be crushed.”

19 At that moment, the scholars and the chief priests tried to arrest him, because they realized he had told this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.

Caesar's Tax

20 So they began to watch him. They sent spies to him who were pretending to be godly, in order to trip him up in something he might say, so they could hand him over to the governor's jurisdiction and authority. 21 They asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and the status of people does not concern you; rather, you teach the way of Allah in [accordance with] the truth. 22 [So,] is it lawful to pay tax to Caesar,* or not?” 23 He discerned their trickery and said to them, 24 “Show me a denarius. Whose picture and name are on it?” They said, “Caesar's.” 25 He said to them, “Then give what belongs to Caesar to Caesar, and what belongs to Allah to Allah.” 26 They were unable to trip him up in anything he said in front of the people. They were astonished at his answer and kept quiet.

No Marriage in the Hereafter

27 Then some Sadducees* came to him. They are ones who do not believe in the resurrection from death. They asked him: 28 “Teacher, Musa wrote this commandment for us: If a man dies, leaving behind a wife but no son, and if this man has a brother, the brother should take the widow and produce a line of descent for his brother's name.* 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first one took a wife and then died without having a son. 30 So the second took her, 31 and the third, and the rest of the seven, but they did not have any children, and they died. 32 Last of all, the woman died. 33 So in the resurrection, she will be the wife of which one of them? For [all] seven married her!”

34 Then Isa answered them, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 As for those who have a share in eternal life and the resurrection from death, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, 36 nor is it possible for them to die after that, because they are like the angels and are sons of Allah,* since they have risen from death. 37 And even Musa himself shows us that the dead will rise, and that is in the account about the bush, where he refers to Allah as ‘the Lord of Ibrahim, the Lord of Ishaq, and the Lord of Yaqub.’* 38 So he is the Lord of the living, not the dead, for all [of them] are alive to him.” 39 Some of the religious scholars said, “You have spoken well, Teacher!” 40 After that, no one dared to ask him any further questions.

The Messiah Is Dawud's Master

41 So then he said to them, “How is it that they say that the Messiah is the son of Dawud? 42 For Dawud himself says in the Book of Psalms, ‘Allah said to my Master, “Sit on my right, 43 until I put your enemies under your feet.”’* 44 Dawud calls the Messiah his Master, so how can the Messiah be his son?”

He Warns People About the Religious Scholars

45 Then he said to his disciples within the hearing of all the people, 46 “Beware of the scholars who love to walk around in long, fancy robes and [to have] people greet them in the public squares, and [who love] to be in the front row in the house of worship and to sit in the seats of honor at banquets. 47 They seize the property of widows and present long prayers [just] to draw people's attention to themselves. Therefore, they will receive the most severe punishment.”

<< Luke 19

Definitions

 *20:1 the good news: Or the message of the Injil. The good news is that Allah has sent the Messiah to offer people forgiveness of their sins and salvation in his Kingdom if they will repent and believe. For a definition of salvation see the first footnote at Luke 19:9.

 *20:17 crowning stone: Most translations say cornerstone. In either case, it refers to the most important stone in the building. See Psalms 118:22.

 *20:22 Caesar: Caesar Tiberius, the ruler of the Roman Empire from AD 14 to AD 37. The empire included all the lands bordering the Mediterranean Sea.

 *20:27 Sadducees: a sect within Judaism that followed the Taurat of Moses but did not believe in angels, the coming of the Messiah, the resurrection, the Day of Judgment, the afterlife, or the prophets and their books.

 *20:28 See the Taurat, Deuteronomy 25:5.

 *20:36 sons of Allah: In reference to people in this world, the term sons of Allah refers to those whom Allah loves and has approved for salvation in the world to come. This verse is describing these people after the Day of Resurrection, when they are like sons of Allah in the sense that they are like the angels, namely immortal (never sick or dying), close to Allah, and holy (never selfish or sinful). For the use of familial terms in the Bible, see family in the glossary.

 *20:37 See the Taurat, Exodus 3:6. This passage in Exodus implies that the souls of Ibrahim, Ishaq, and Yaqub are alive, even though their bodies died. Although the prophets Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel spoke more directly about the resurrection in their books, Isa cited the Taurat, which was the only book of Scripture that the Sadducees accepted.