Luke 20

Luke 20:1

On one of the days while He was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders confronted Him,

(a) Teaching. Jesus often taught and preached the gospel in the temple (Matt. 26:55). He did this because that’s where people congregated (Luke 21:38) and to fulfill the words of the prophet Malachi: “the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple” (Mal. 3:1).

(b) Preaching. Announcing the good news. The original word for preaching (euaggelizo) is closely related to the word for gospel (euaggelion). This is one of three words that are commonly translated as “preaching” in the New Testament. See entry for Acts 5:42.

(c) The gospel refers to the gospel of Christ or the gospel of God or the gospel of the kingdom. These are all different labels for the gospel of grace. See entry for The Gospel.

(d) The chief priests; see entry for Matt. 2:4.

(e) Scribes; see entry for Matt. 5:20.

(f) Elders; see entry for Matt. 16:21.

Luke 20:9

And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to vine-growers, and went on a journey for a long time.

(a) The people. Jesus is speaking to two audiences; the religious leaders who have come out to challenge his authority, and the temple crowds who are listening to him teach (Luke 20:1–2). The religious leaders hated Jesus and wanted to kill him (Mark 14:1, John 11:53); the crowds revered him as a prophet and listened to him gladly (Matt. 21:11, Mark 12:37).

(b) Parable. A parable is a short story or word picture with a hidden or parabolic meaning. See entry for Matt. 13:3.

(c) A man. The man or landowner is God. This would have been obvious to any Jewish listener. The Jews had been raised on the teachings of prophets and rabbis who frequently spoke of Israel as being God’s vineyard (e.g., Is. 5:1–7).

(d) The vineyard represents the people of God, which in Old Testament times meant Israel. “The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel” (Isa. 5:7; see also Ps. 80: 8–9, Jer. 2:21).

The Jews were God’s chosen people, called to shine a heavenly light in a dark and depraved world. They were tenants or stewards of God’s favor, earthly representatives of his kingdom. But the sons of the kingdom rebelled and lost their favored position at Abraham’s table (Matt. 8:12). As a result, God gave the vineyard to others (Matt. 21:43).

In Matthew’s version of the parable, the vineyard has a wall, a winepress, and a tower (Matt. 21:33). The Lord gave the Jews divine protection (the wall), divine inspiration (the wine press), and prophetic watchmen (the watchtower).

This good landowner provides his tenants with many good things. He digs a pit, builds a wall, and erects a tower. The tenants don’t have to do a thing except tend the vines and reap the harvests. In the same way, God showed great favor to Abraham and his offspring. “What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it?” (Is. 5:4).

(e) The vine-growers or tenants were sharecroppers who tended the vineyard and paid an annual rent in crops. If the vineyard represents Israel, the tenants were Israel’s leaders, namely the chief priests, the elders, Pharisees and the other members of the ruling Sanhedrin who are standing in front of Jesus (see Matt. 21:23, 45).

The Lord entrusted the care of the nation to the priestly caste. The priests’ job was to elevate the word of God and cultivate the fruit of faith. If they had done their job, the nation would have been ready to receive the Messiah when he came. But they disobeyed God, mistreated his prophetic messengers, and then killed the Son he sent.

(f) Journey. There is no special significance to the journey other than to indicate the owner’s absence. At the foot of Mt. Sinai, the Jews had an encounter with the Lord (Ex. 19:17–20). But since then he had been hardly sighted. It was as though he had gone on a journey. In their minds he had been gone a long time.

(g) A long time. God was patient with Israel. Even though they disobeyed and rebelled, God did not descend in judgment. For fourteen long centuries he sent messengers (prophets) to warn them, and when they did not listen, he sent his only Son.

Luke 20:10

“At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, so that they would give him some of the produce of the vineyard; but the vine-growers beat him and sent him away empty-handed.

(a) Harvest time was when the landowner sent slaves to collect the annual rent from the vine-growers.

(b) Slave. The three slaves mentioned here and in verses 11 and 12 represent the Old Testament prophets, wise men and scribes (Matt. 23:34) who regularly challenged Israel’s leaders and encouraged the Jews to turn to God in faith.

(c) His produce. The fruit that God seeks is faith. Jesus said, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).

For three years Jesus had been encouraging people to repent and believe the good news of the kingdom. A few believed, but many didn’t because the religious leaders hindered them (Matt. 23:13, Luke 11:52). Instead of proclaiming, “Jesus is the Messiah we’ve been waiting for,” they opposed him at every turn and persecuted those who followed him.

A few hours earlier, Jesus had cursed a fruitless fig tree (Matt. 21:18–19). It was a symbolic act done in response to Israel’s faithlessness. The withered fig tree and the wicked vine-growers represent the unbelieving Jews and their fruitless leaders.

(d) The vine-growers; see previous verse.

(e) Beat him; see entry for Luke 20:12.

Luke 20:11

“And he proceeded to send another slave; and they beat him also and treated him shamefully and sent him away empty-handed.

(a) Slave; see entry for Luke 20:10.

(b) Beat him; see next verse.

(c) Shamefully. The original word (atimazo) is used to describe how the religious Jews dishonored Jesus (John 8:49) and the apostles (Acts 5:41).

Luke 20:12

“And he proceeded to send a third; and this one also they wounded and cast out.

(a) A third. Although Israel mistreated the prophets, God did not stop trying to warn them.

(b) Wounded. God’s prophets were often mistreated by the rulers of Israel (Heb. 11:37). The Old Testament records occasions when the Lord’s prophets were rejected (2 Chr. 24:19, Jer. 7:25–27, 25:4), beaten (1 Kgs. 22:24, Jer. 20:2), killed (Neh. 9:26, Jer. 26:20–23; see also Matt. 23:34–35, Luke 13:34), and stoned (2 Chr. 24:20–21).

Luke 20:13

“The owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’

(a) What shall I do? The landowner faces a dilemma. He could send in the officers and have these wicked tenants run off his land. But he doesn’t do that because he is a good landowner who cares for his tenants. He hopes for them and believes they will turn around. Instead of punishing them for their transgressions, he makes his boldest move yet.

(b) I will send. For the landowner to send his son to these thugs seems madness. What was he thinking? Yet it is an act of stunning vulnerability, meant to shame the tenants out of their wickedness. The landowner hopes to inspire a change of heart.

In sending his son the landowner risks everything. He does this not merely to save his vineyard, but to save their tenants from themselves. It is an astounding act of good faith.

(c) My beloved son. This is a direct reference to Jesus, the beloved Son of God. See entry for Matthew 3:17.

(d) Respect. The original word (entrepo) means to invert or turn in on oneself in a sense of shame. (The word is sometimes translated as shame, e.g., 1 Cor. 4:14, 2 Th. 3:14.)

Luke 20:14

“But when the vine-growers saw him, they reasoned with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’

(a) The vine-growers or tenants were Israel’s leaders. See entry for Luke 20:9.

(b) The heir. Jesus is the heir of all things (Heb. 1:2).

In the parable of the Prodigal Son, the younger son essentially wished his father dead so that he might enjoy his inheritance (Luke 15:12). In the same way, the tenants wished to be rid of the absent landowner even though he had been like a father to them. By killing his son they thought they could sever the relationship and go their own way.

(c) Let us kill him. It was an open secret that the religious leaders were keen to kill Jesus (John 7:25), and Jesus certainly knew the murderous intentions of their hearts (John 7:19, 25). The chief priests wanted Jesus dead because he threatened their position as the rulers of Israel (John 11:48).

(d) The inheritance will be ours. Kill the son, keep the vineyard. This line of thinking is so crazy that it beggars belief, yet it perfectly captures the motive behind the plot to assassinate Jesus.

The Sanhedrin was controlled by a former high priest called Annas. Annas had five sons and one grandson who became high priest after him, and Caiaphas, the current high priest, was his son-in-law (see entry for John 18:13). The House of Annas ruled the ruling council that ruled Israel. But Annas et al. felt threatened by Jesus. Just the previous day, Jesus and his followers had shut down the temple (Mark 11:15–16). Who knew what Jesus might do next?

If Jesus was not stopped, the House of Annas might lose its grip on power. To protect their position – their inheritance – Annas, Caiaphas, and the other chief priests decided to kill the Son.

Luke 20:15

“So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do to them?

(a) Out of the vineyard. Not wanting to desecrate the vineyard, the vine-growers killed the son outside the walls. In the same way, the religious leaders took Christ outside the city walls and killed him (John 19:17–18, Heb. 13:12).

(b) What will the owner of the vineyard do? Here and in Mark’s account of the story, Jesus answers the question himself (Mark 12:9). But in Matthew’s version, Jesus puts the question to the temple crowd and they answer him (Matt. 21:41).

Luke 20:16

“He will come and destroy these vine-growers and will give the vineyard to others.” When they heard it, they said, “May it never be!”

(a) Destroy the vine-growers. The tenants’ fate is similar to what happens to the murderers in the parable of the Wedding Banquet. They are thoroughly destroyed in a cataclysmic act of judgment (see entry for Matt. 22:7). The landowner’s righteous wrath tells us how God will ultimately deal with those things that are opposed to him (Rom. 1:18).

(b) Give the vineyard to others. God’s vineyard will be offered to all, both Jews and Gentiles alike (see Eph. 2:11–13). Anyone who comes to God in faith will become part of God’s chosen people and his holy nation (1 Pet. 2:9). But those who reject God’s Son will lose their place having cut themselves off through unbelief (Rom. 11:20).

(c) May it never be! God forbid! It is not the temple officials but the people who react (Luke 20:9). The listening Jews were horrified by the thought that God might share their vineyard with the Gentiles. Jesus responds by saying, “This is exactly what is going to happen” (Matt. 21:43).

The Jewish listeners begin to understand the significance of the parable. They are horrified by the thought that God might give their vineyard to the Gentiles. Jesus takes a quick segue into an old prophecy (see next verse) before confirming their fears, “Yes, this is exactly what is going to happen” (Matt. 21:43).

Further reading: “The Grace Bible: The Parables of Jesus” – coming soon!

Luke 20:17

But Jesus looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written: ‘The stone which the builders rejected, this became the Chief Corner Stone’?

(a) What then is this? What does this psalm mean? In other words, if the landowner doesn’t destroy the tenants, how do we explain Psalm 118:22–23?

(b) Stone. The rejected son is compared to a rejected stone that is exalted to the highest place. Jesus, the Son the Jews rejected, became the foundation stone for God’s new covenant habitation (Is. 28:16, Eph. 2:20).

(c) The builders who rejected the stone were the tenants who rejected the son. Jesus is still talking about the religious leaders who questioned his authority.

The religious leaders were as proud of their temple as they were of their religion. In their minds, they had built something that would impress the Lord. But they had no place for Jesus. The Living Stone not cut with human hands (1 Pet. 2:4, Dan. 2:34) did not fit in their manmade edifice.

(d) Chief corner stone. The corner stone is the first stone laid in a new structure. It sets a mark for the rest of the building. Jesus is the corner stone on which God’s house is being built (Eph. 2:20).

Luke 20:18

“Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”

(a) Stone. Jesus combines bits of prophecies from Isaiah and Daniel.

From the prophet Isaiah, the Jews understood that God was “a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over” (Isa. 8:14). From Daniel, they knew that God’s kingdom would fall like a stone from heaven and crush manmade kingdoms and endure forever (Dan. 2:34–45).

(b) Broken to pieces. There are two responses we can make to Jesus the heavenly Stone. Either we will fall on the Stone in brokenness and humility, or we will stumble over him and be offended (Rom. 9:32–33). Those who stumble in stubborn unbelief will be broken to pieces and crushed into dust.

(c) On whomever it falls. “Jesus the cornerstone” points to Christ’s first coming. But when he returns at the end the age, he will strike like a falling stone, and everything opposed to him will be crushed and scattered like dust.

Two judgments are mentioned here: In the first, the religious leaders will lose their place in the vineyard. As Jesus has warned them before, they will find themselves outside the kingdom in the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 8:12). This prophecy came true when the religious Jews saw the rise of the New Testament church. Some wept, while others gnashed their teeth in rage (e.g., Acts 7:54). The second judgment will be far greater. It will take place when the Lord returns with his mighty angels in blazing fire (2 Th. 1:7, Heb. 10:27).

(d) Dust symbolizes death (Gen. 3:19). Death is the ultimate outcome for those who reject the Author of Life (John 5:40).

Luke 20:19

The scribes and the chief priests tried to lay hands on him that very hour, and they feared the people; for they understood that he spoke this parable against them.

(a) The scribes and the chief priests felt threatened by Jesus (see entry for Luke 20:14). They knew that the parable was about them and their refusal to recognize him as their Savior.

(b) The scribes were experts in the law and were sometimes referred to as lawyers. See entry for Matt. 5:20.

(c) The chief priests served on the ruling Council or Sanhedrin and were responsible for overseeing the temple. The high priests were selected from among their number. See entry for Matt. 2:4.

(d) Lay hands on him. The religious leaders would have killed Jesus there and then if they could (John 5:18, 11:53).

(e) Feared the people. The leaders’ attempts to arrest Jesus was thwarted by the temple crowds, so they waited for a more private moment. Two days later, and accompanied by 500 armed men, they seized him under the cover of night in the Garden of Gethsemane (see entry for John 18:3).

(f) Against them. The religious leaders were not confused about the meaning of the parable. They understood that Jesus was speaking about them and their refusal to recognize him as the Son of God (John 5:18, 19:7).

Luke 20:27

Now there came to Him some of the Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection),

(a) Sadducees; see entry for Matt. 3:7.

(b) Resurrection from the dead (Luke 20:35).

Luke 20:34

Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage,

This age. The present era that concludes when Christ returns in glory; see entry for Matt. 12:32.

Luke 20:35

but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage;

That age. The age to come, a.k.a. the eternal age, the future era that commences when Christ returns in glory, the heavens and the earth are made new (2 Pet. 3:13), and death is no more (Mark 10:30).

Luke 20:41

Then He said to them, “How is it that they say the Christ is David’s son?

It was widely believed that the Messiah or Christ would descend from David’s line (Matt. 22:42).

Luke 20:42–43

“For David himself says in the book of Psalms, ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.”’

(a) The Lord. Jesus quoted Psalm 110:1 to show that David referred to the Messiah as Lord.

(b) Sit at my right hand. The Son shares his Father’s throne; see entry for Matt. 22:44.

(c) Enemies; see entry for Matt. 22:44.

Luke 20:44

“Therefore David calls Him ‘Lord,’ and how is He his son?”

Lord. Fathers don’t call their sons Lord, yet David referred to the Messiah as Lord. How can he be both? The Pharisees could not answer (Matt. 22:46), but the implication was clear: The Messiah is more than David’s descendent, he is David’s Lord. He is more than the Son of David, he is the Son of God.

Luke 20:47

who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”

(a) Greater condemnation. Jesus is not saying there are levels to God’s judgment. Condemnation of any sort is self-inflicted (Matt. 12:37, John 3:18). The greater condemnation is that inflicted by the hardened and grace-resistant heart. See entry for Matt. 23:14.

(b) Condemnation. The original noun (krima) is a neutral word that means decision, but in scripture it is almost always used in a negative sense of a condemning verdict (e.g., Rom. 2:2).

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