Luke 20:1-8

Butler's Comments

SECTION 1

Revelation and God (Luke 20:1-8)

20 One day, as he was teaching the people in the temple and preaching 20 the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up 2and said to him, Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority. 3He answered them, I also will ask you a question; now tell me, 4Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men? 5And they discussed it with one another, saying, If we say, -From heaven,-' he will say, -Why did you not believe him?-' 6But if we say, -From men,-' all the people will stone us; for they are convinced that John was a prophet. 7So they answered that they did not know whence it was. sAnd Jesus said to them, Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

Luke 20:1-4 Summons: Luke's chapter 20 documents part of the longest day recorded in the entire ministry of Jesus. Matthew gives more of the details of this Tuesday in Jerusalem than any of the other evangelists; almost one-sixth of Matthew's whole Gospel is taken up in recording this day. It is in Matthew 26:1-2 we come to the end of Tuesday when Jesus says, ... after two days the Passover is coming, or, ... day after tomorrow the Passover is coming. Consider the following list of events which took place on this Tuesday:

a.

Jesus-' Authority Challenged (Matthew 21:23-27; Mark 11:27-33; Luke 20:1-8)

b.

The Parable of the Two Sons (Matthew 21:28-32; Mark 12:1 a)

c.

The Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen (Matthew 21:33-46; Mark 12:1 b - Mark 12:12; Luke 20:9-19)

d.

The Parable of the Marriage of the King's Son (Matthew 22:14)

e.

Catch Question About Giving Tribute to Caesar (Matthew 22:15-22; Mark 12:13-17; Luke 20:20-26)

f.

Catch Question About the Resurrection (Matthew 22:23-33; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-39)

g.

Catch Question About the Greatest Commandment (Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-34; Luke 20:40)

h.

Christ's Questions About David's Lord (Matthew 22:41-46; Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:41-44)

i.

Warning to His disciples (Matthew 23:1-12; Mark 12:38-40; Luke 20:45-47)

j.

Sevenfold warning to the Pharisees (Matthew 23:13-36)

k.

Lamenting over Jerusalem (Matthew 23:37-39)

l.

Commending a Poor Widow's Gift (Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:1-4)

m.

Reflecting About the Coming of the Greeks (John 12:20-36)

n.

The Sinful Unbelief of the Jews (John 12:37-43)

o.

Jesus Summarizes His Own Message and Mission (John 12:44-50)

p.

Discourse on the Destruction of Jerusalem (Matthew 24:1-34; Mark 13:1-30; Luke 21:5-32)

q.

Discourse on the End of the World (Matthew 24:35-51; Mark 13:31-37; Luke 21:33-36)

r.

More about the End of the World and Judgment (Matthew 25:1-46)

s.

General statements as to His death (Matthew 26:1-2; Mark 14:1; Luke 21:37-38; John 13:1)

The physical and, especially, the emotional stress of such a day was no doubt exhausting to even a strong person like Jesus. It was a day when the political and religious leadership of the nation threw at Him all the pressure and craftiness they could muster to trap Him in some mistake by which they might turn the multitudes against Him. It was a day when the weight of His knowledge of the terrible future of His people pressed heaviest upon His heart. It was a day when the exasperating ignorance of His own disciples had to be patiently dealt with again. It was a day when He was vividly reminded of His vicarious atonement for the sins of the whole world when the Greeks sought Him. It was an emotionally charged and intellectually exhausting day.
The day started with an official summons by the chief priests, scribes and elders that He should produce some credentials for the authority He had assumed the day before in driving money-changers and merchants out of the Temple! Furthermore, He is challenged to give reason why He should have acquired such a massive following of people praising Him as the Son of David, etc. This challenge of Jesus-' authority is not an honest one. As the religious leaders of the nation they were obligated to honestly challenge any desecration of the Temple or violation of the laws of Moses. But Jesus had done neither. The chief priests and scribes were the guilty ones. The timing of this challenge from the authorities betrays the fact that it was not an honest effort to protect the sanctity of God's house but a scheme to discredit Jesus motivated by envy and hatred. Jesus had cleansed the Temple three years earlier (John 2:13-22) and for three years had been demonstrating His authority (by miracles and fulfilling prophecies) to do so. There had been three full years of publicly demonstrated authority by which they should have accepted Him as Lord of the Templeif the authorities had been asking an honest question, they had the answer. There was, in fact, no need for the question to be asked!

The real reason for the challenge was the way in which Jesus-' righteous actions had intimidated and humiliated these so-called guardians of the faith in the eye of the public. They could not defend their exploitation of the house of God and to cover up they tried to turn the attack upon Jesus. Jesus put the onus right back upon them by recalling their ridicule and defiance of John the Baptist. They had rejected the baptism of John and thus rejected for themselves the counsel of God (Luke 7:30). In a master stroke Jesus exposed their dishonesty by answering, I also will ask you a question; Now tell me, was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?

Luke 20:5-8 Silenced: These rulers immediately recognized they were on the horns of a dilemma. That, in itself, betrayed them as hypocrites. They knew how they should answer, but were grasping for a way to hide their dishonesty. If they answered: John's baptism was from God.. they acknowledged the revelatory nature of John's message and condemned themselves as opposing God's testimony through John the Baptist that Jesus was the Messiah. If they answered John's baptism was not from God.. they alienated the populace which had acclaimed John a prophet of God. So, they said, We do not know. But that answer did not solve their dilemmait only exposed their guilt. Their answer was really a confession that they were in opposition to John's message and mission. If they could have proved John the Baptist was not from God they would have declared it. To stand there in the presence of the righteous Jesus, with all their knowledge (they had investigated the ministry of John the Baptist many times, John 1:19 ff; John 3:25 ff,; Matthew 3:7 ff.; Luke 7:24-35), and say they did not know showed them to be either the dumbest people in Israel or the most blatant liars!

Jesus specifically asked these rulers about John's authority for immersing (baptizing) people rather than John's teaching because of the uniqueness of the act of immersing people in water unto repentance for the forgiveness of sin (Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3). There could be no quibbling or hedging with this question. Baptism was a concrete, vivid impressive act. No one could say, What teaching? Immersion of the entire individual in water for the remission of sins was doctrinally innovative. The law of Moses proscribed animal sacrifices for atonement. The issue was crucialwhat right had John the Baptist to add to the Old Testament law such a commandment for the remission of sins? He had the right only if his commission came directly by revelation from God! The Jews knew nothing of the practice of baptism as John initiated it (see our discussion in Luke 3:1-6). The only logical and honest conclusion was either to accept John's ministry and message as a divine revelation from God or prove John to be an imposter. These rulers refused to take a stand either way and thus proved themselves to be imposters.

They were dishonest about John; they were dishonest with Jesus. Jesus refused to declare Himself to men incapable of honesty. What good would it have done? Jesus refused to declare Himself to these men because:

a.

This approach (letting the logic of His challenge about John speak for itself) lets the crowds see more clearly the hypocrisy and dis honesty of their leaders. The multitudes could not hope to save themselves until the stranglehold of these rulers over their thinking was broken.

b.

Jesus had already forced them to answer their own question. John the Baptist had testified Jesus was the Messiah. They would not dis credit John (could not), so they actually were forced to admit Jesus had authority to cleanse the Temple and teach what He taught.

c.

They were not asking for information, but for evil purposesthey did not deserve to have the truth just to pervert it and use it for wickedness. If they were blind to the evidence of John's credentials, they would be blind to Jesus-' credentials. It was wilfull blindness and dishonestyJesus treated it as suchit was useless for Him to do otherwise.

Jesus proceeds to teach three parables in which He condemns their methods and their motives. These parables focus on the disobedience of the Jewish religious leaders. Only one of the parables is recorded by Lukethe parable of the wicked husbandmen, Luke 20:9-19. The other two, the parable of the two sons and the parable of the king's marriage feast for his son are recorded in Matthew's account only (Matthew 21:28-32 and Matthew 22:1-14).

Applebury's Comments

The Authority of Jesus Challenged
Scripture

Luke 20:1-8 And it came to pass, on one of the days, as he was teaching the people in the temple, and preaching the gospel, there came upon him the chief priests and the scribes with the elders; 2 and they spake, saying unto him, Tell us: By what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority? 3 And he answered and said unto them, I also will ask you a question; and tell me: 4 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or from men? 5 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why did ye not believe him? 6 But if we shall say, From men; all the people will stone us: for they are persuaded that John was a prophet. 7 And they answered, that they knew not whence it was. 8 And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

Comments

as He was teaching the people.Jesus-' authority was challenged on one of those days when He was teaching in the temple. His whole ministry consisted in teaching, preaching, and performing signs to prove that He spoke the message of the heavenly Father. Jesus taught the people. It is one thing to teach a lesson where the concern is primarily with the content, but another thing to teach a lesson to people. People were always in the mind of the Master as He taught them the lessons about repentance and righteous living. He taught them how to escape from Satan's clutches and how to serve Godlessons that also need to be taught today.

and preaching the gospel.It is probably wrong to make too great a distinction between teaching and preaching. Jesus was a Preacher who taught the people. He taught crowds and He taught small groups; when He had the opportunity, He took time to teach one person, Teaching was the process by which He sought to get people to turn back to God.

The expression preaching the gospelone word in Greekgives us our word Evangelize. It was the process of making people aware of the good news of salvation through Christ. It takes the whole story of the Bible to do this, not just a part of it.

The term proclaim or preach is used many times in the New Testament. It had to do with the spreading of the good news (Luke 4:18). It does not suggest a difference in content, but the manner in which the good news was heralded by the gospel preacher.

All of these terms are brought together in one verse (Matthew 9:35) which tells of Jesus teaching in the synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing all manner of disease.

there came unto him the chief priests.The enemy was always present, seeking to find an excuse to condemn Jesus. Priests, scribes, eldersall these should have been helping Jesus in His mission of teaching the peoplewere doing everything within their power to destroy Him.

By what authority.They had two questions: (1) By what right are you doing these things and (2) Who gave you this right? Matthew says that He had just been cleansing the temple and healing a blind man (Matthew 21:4). It was difficult to condemn Him before the people for such work as that. Once before they had tried to discredit His miracles by saying that He performed them by the power of Beelzebub, but their effort was a miserable failure. Now they ask about these things, vaguely suggesting that He had done something wrong. They couldn-'t bring themselves to join the people who praised God for the glorious things He was doing for them.

I also will ask you a question.They had expected Him to answer as He had done on many occasions that God had given Him the right to perform miracles and teach the people. They could have twisted such an answer and -brought the charge of blasphemy as they had so often done (John 5:17-18). But He saw through their hypocrisy. He asked them a question that forced them to answer their own.

The baptism of John.Was John's authority to baptize from heaven or from men? They discussed it and saw that if they should say from heaven, He would say, Why, then, didn-'t you believe him? John had declared that Jesus was the Lamb of God; that He was the Son of God; and that He was the one to baptize in the Holy Spirit (John 1:19-34). Why didn-'t they believe him? For a possible answer, see John 11:48.

On the other hand, if they should say that John baptized on human authority, they would have to answer to the people who believed that John was a prophet. They were not willing to risk being stoned by the people. No, they couldn-'t say about John's authority.

And Jesus said to them.Neither am I telling you by what right I am doing these things. There was no need to, for they had been forced by their own reasoning to admit that His authority was from God, just as John's was.