Luke 20:19-47

Applebury's Comments

The Search For An Excuse
Scripture

Luke 20:19-47 And the scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him in that very hour; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he spake this parable against them. 20 And they watched him, and sent forth spies, who feigned themselves to be righteous, that they might take hold of his speech, so as to deliver him up to the rule and to the authority of the governor. 21 And they asked him, saying, Teacher, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, and acceptest not the person of any, but of a truth teachest the way of God: 22 Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? 23 But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, 24 Show me a denarius. Whose image and superscription hath it? And they said, Caesar'S. 25 And he said unto them, Then render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar'S, and unto God the things that are God'S. 26 And they were not able to take hold of the saying before the people: and they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace.

27 And there came to him certain of the Sadducees, they that say that there is no resurrection; 28 and they asked him, saying, Teacher, Moses wrote unto us, that if a man's brother die, having a wife, and he be childless, his brother should take the wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. 29 There were therefore seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and died childless; 30 and the second: 31 and the third took her; and likewise the seven also left no children, and died. 32 Afterward the woman also died. 33 In the resurrection therefore whose wife of them shall she be? for the seven had her to wife. 34 And Jesus said unto them, The sons of this world marry, and are given in marriage: 35 but they that are accounted worthy to attain to that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: 36 for neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. 37 But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the place concerning the Bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 38 Now he is not the God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him. 39 And certain of the scribes answering said, Teacher, thou hast well said. 40 For they durst not any more ask him any question.
41 And he said unto them, How say they that the Christ is David's son? 42 For David himself saith in the books of Psalms,

The Lord said unto my Lord,
Sit thou on my right hand,

43 Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet.
44 David therefore calleth him Lord, and how is he his son?

45 And in the hearing of all the people he said unto his disciples, 46 Beware of the scribes, who desire to walk in long robes, and love salutations in the marketplaces, and chief seats in the synagogues, and chief places at feasts; 47 who devour widows-' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers: these shall receive greater condemnation.

Comments

sought to lay hands on him.The scribes and priests knew that Jesus had been speaking of them in the parable of The Husbandmen, but they completely rejected His warning. They were ready at that very hour to arrest Him. All that kept them from it was their fear of the people who were still glorifying God for all that He had done for them. But they kept close watch on Him and sent spies to listen to Him as He taught the people, hoping that He might say something that would give them the excuse to turn Him over to the governor. They even attempted to flatter Him, hoping to throw Him off guard.

Teacher, we know.According to Matthew, it was the Pharisees who sent the Herodians to set a trap for Jesus. The Herodians were a party of the Jews that supported the rule of the Herods whose power was derived from Rome. The Pharisees were, in their way, upholding the Law of Moses and submitting to the authority of Rome only because they had to. But these two opposing parties joined forces in an attempt to find an excuse to destroy Jesus.

What the Herodians said to Jesus was true: What He taught was right; He taught the way of God; He was impartial in dealing with men. They asked, Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar or not? This could have been a real problem to conscientious Jews, but the hypocrisy of the Herodians was poorly disguised.

But he perceived their craftiness.They expected Him to answer Yes or No. They were prepared to pounce on Him for whichever answer He would give. If He should say yes, they were prepared to accuse Him of disloyalty to His people, the Jews. One of the favorite accusations against the early church was their supposed opposition to the Law of Moses (Acts 6:11; Acts 26:22-23). If He should say no, they were ready to report Him to the Roman authorities for disloyalty to the government under which He lived.

Show me a denarius.It was a small coin with the image of Caesar on it. The superscription was Caesar's too. They had planned for two possible answers to their question, but there was only one possible answer to His question, Whose image and superscription are on the denarius? But He had two things to say to them that were unexpected: Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar'S, and to God the things that are God'S.

They had intended to catch Him on one or the other of the two issues involved in their question. He, however, caught them on both issues involved in His answer. Had they paid their taxes honestly? Were they giving to God the lives they owed Him?

not able to take hold of the saying.He was more than a match for them; they couldn-'t twist His answer so as to use it against Him. They knew that the people were with Him. They marvelled at His answer, but kept still.

And there came unto him certain Sadducees.Jesus had so completely routed the enemy in the first encounter that one wonders how the Sadducees found the courage to try their favorite question on Him. But people who hold to views like theirs usually keep on trying them out on everyone who will listen. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection or in angels or spirits (Acts 23:8). While the Herodians had been silenced, these Sadducees seemed confident that their question could not be answered by anyone holding to the doctrine of the resurrection.

Teacher, Moses wrote unto us.Jesus frequently appealed to the Scriptures as He taught. They must have felt that they were on safe ground when they referred to Moses. They did quote accurately from Deuteronomy 25:5 which said that if a man's brother died leaving a childless wife, he was to take the wife and raise up children for his brother. Their hypothetical case: One woman was married to seven brothers before she died. All this was perfectly legal according to Moses! Then the question: In the resurrectionsupposing there is such a thingwhose wife will she be, for they all had her for a wife?

As things like this usually go, it is not too much to suppose that the Sadducees broke out laughing at their clever question, being certain that He couldn-'t answer it. Undoubtedly, they had tried it on many a man, and no one had ever been able to give a satisfactory answer. They had the only solution: There simply couldn-'t be such a thing as a resurrection!

The sons of the world.Jesus-' answer begins with a contrast between this world and the heavenly state of righteousness. Those who belong to this world marry and are given in marriage, but those who attain to that world and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are they given in marriage. Marriage is for this age, but in the resurrection they are equalin this respectto the angels. They are called sons of God because they have been raised from the dead.

they that are accounted worthy to attain unto that world.Jesus does not imply that some will not be raised. He plainly stated that all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment (John 5:28-29).

Paul also speaks of the resurrection both of the just and unjust (Acts 24:15; 1 Corinthians 15:22).

But that the dead are raised.Jesus then proceeded to showand from the Scriptures, toothat there is a life beyond the grave. Moses spoke of God, when he told of His appearing in the burning Bush, as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. But these men had long since been dead. Jesus explained: He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all live unto Him. That is, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were living in the world beyond the grave where the eternal living Godthe Lordwas their God.

Teacher, thou hast well said.Some of the scribes were willing to admit that He had given the correct answer, a more gracious attitude than that of the Herodians who chose to remain silent. But there were no more questions of this kind for the Teacher!

And he said unto them.It was His turn; they had asked Him two questionsaccording to Matthew, threeand now He had one for them: How can they say that Christ is David's son? The question seemed elementary, for all the Jews who knew anything about the Scriptures knew that Messiah was to be from the line of David. But the problem was greater than that. Jesus quoted Psalm 110:8, a Psalm of David, which said, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet. Then Jesus asked the hard one: Since David calls him Lord, how is he his son?

The answer is perfectly clear to those who know and believe the Word of God. Paul gives it in Romans 1:3-4. Luke had already explained it to Theophilus in his account of the conception and birth of Jesus. Jesus was the son of David according to flesh, but He was demonstrated to be the Son of God according to the spirit of holinessa reference to the eternal One whom John calls The Wordby the resurrection from the dead.

And in the hearing of all the people.They could have answered the question about David's son being Lord, but that would have compelled them to confess that Jesus was the Christ.

Now before all the people, He warned His disciples against these hypocrites. They walked in long robes and publically received the adulation of the people; they sought out the chief seats in the synagogues and at the feasts; they devoured widows-' houses and for a pretense at being righteous, made long prayers, These were they who had sought to discredit the Lord Jesus Christ.

Summary

It seems strange that the One to whom all authority in heaven and on earth had been should be challenged by men. But the chief priests and the scribes with the elders had the audacity in Jesus-' day to say, By what authority do you do these things? Who gave you this authority? Their vague reference to these things that He was doing included not only the cleansing of the temple but also the healing of a blind man. What authority, indeed?
But Jesus asked them a question that forced them to answer their own, although they were not big enough to admit that His authority was from God, just as John the Baptist's was.
The parable of The Husbandmen shows just what the attitude of the Jews toward Jesus was. They were waiting for their opportunity to kill Him and take over the kingdom of God. They did put Him to death, but the kingdom was given to those who produce the fruit of righteousnessthe believers in Christ, whether Jews or Gentiles.
Those who rejected their Messiah have already suffered one devastating blowthe destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A. D. Another act of judgment awaits all who persist in rejecting Him as King. Like the stone that grinds to powder the one on whom it falls, the judgment of Christ will scatter those who oppose Him.
But the Jews persisted in their search for an excuse to destroy Him. They sent spies to listen in as He was teaching. They hoped to hear something on which to condemn Him; but He answered their questions and silenced them before the multitudes. They refused to answer His question about David's calling Christ Lord since He is David's son. Their hypocrisy was so evident that Jesus took occasion to warn the disciples against them.

Questions

1.

What was Jesus doing when His authority was challenged by the chief priests and scribes?

2.

Why were they not more specific in their charge?

3.

What, if any, is the difference between preaching and teaching?

4.

How did Jesus force the priests to answer their own question about His authority?

5.

Why didn-'t Jesus tell them that He had all authority in heaven and on earth?

6.

Why did He tell the parable of The Husbandmen?

7.

How did He show that He was aware of the thing the Jews were planning to do to Him?

8.

What did the sending of the various servants suggest as to the treatment the Jews had given the prophets?

9.

Who is represented by the son in the parable?

10.

What did they intend to do after killing the son?

11.

What is suggested by the fact that the Lord of the vineyard was to destroy those wicked men?

12.

To whom was the kingdom to be given?

13.

Is the church as the kingdom of Christ producing the fruits of it?

14.

Why did Jesus quote the prophecy about the rejected stone?

15.

What was to happen to those on whom the stone fell?

16.

Why were the scribes and priests searching for an excuse to kill Jesus?

17.

What question did the Herodians ask?

18.

What answer did they evidently expect Him to give?

19.

How did His answer prevent them from accusing Him of wrongdoing?

20.

Who had joined the Herodians in this attempt to trap Jesus?

21.

How did the Herodians react to His answer?

22.

Why did the Sadducees take up the issue?

23.

What was their peculiar belief and how did it differ from that of the Pharisees?

24.

What was the foundation of the story they told?

25.

Wherein had they erred in applying the Law of Moses to the issue of the resurrection?

26.

How did Jesus show them their mistake?

27.

How did He describe the state of those in the resurrection?

28.

What did Jesus mean by saying that God is not the God of the dead, but the living?

29.

What question did Jesus ask them about David's son?

30.

Why couldn-'t they answer it?