| Luke 20 | |
|---|---|
 Facsimile from 1861 of Luke 20:9 inCodex Cyprius (9th–10th century) | |
| Book | Gospel of Luke |
| Category | Gospel |
| Christian Bible part | New Testament |
| Order in the Christian part | 3 |
Luke 20 is the twentieth chapter of theGospel of Luke in theNew Testament of theChristianBible. It records the teaching ofJesusChrist in thetemple inJerusalem, especially his responses to questions raised by thePharisees andSadducees.[1] The book containing this chapter isanonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed thatLuke the Evangelist composed thisGospel as well as theActs of the Apostles.[2]
The original text was written inKoine Greek.This chapter is divided into 47 verses. Some earlymanuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:
Luke followsMark 11:27–33 with some abbreviation, and with some material peculiar to himself.[4]
TheNew King James Version reads "on one ofthose days", reflecting the additional word εκεινων (ekeinōn), inserted into theTextus Receptus. This word, added "for greater precision", is missing "from the authorities of greatest importance, condemned byJohann Jakob Griesbach, and deleted byKarl Lachmann andConstantin von Tischendorf".[4]
Luke presents Jesus continuing to teach 'the people' in the Temple,[6] who are "presented as favourably disposed to him",[7] but when thechief priests,scribes and eldersquestion him about his authority, Jesus raises a question in return about the origin ofJohn's baptism.
In the popular mind, John was aprophet, but the temple leaders had "refused to believe him" (verse 5). InLuke 7:30, the Pharisees and the lawyers had declined John's baptism.[9] Matthew and Mark both refer generally to the leaders' fear of the people,[10] but do not suggest that the people wouldstone their leaders.William Robertson Nicoll argues that the suggestion that they would actually carry this out should be taken "cum grano" ("with a pinch of salt").[11]
So those who have questioned Jesus decline to answer, stating that they "did not know where it came from".[12]F. W. Farrar notes that there is a Hebrew proverb,Learn to say I do not know, which it is wise to use in a case of "real uncertainty", but wrong when, as in this case, they did hold an opinion on the matter and "it was their plain duty [in this case] to have arrived at a judgment".[9]
Thisparable ofJesus, also known as theParable of the Wicked Husbandmen, is found in three of the fourcanonical gospels (Luke 20:9–19,Mark12:1–12, andMatthew21:33–46), and also in the non-canonicalGospel of Thomas. ForRudolf Bultmann, the passage is not a "parable" but an "allegory", and "intelligible only on that basis".[13] It describes a householder planting a vineyard and letting it out to husbandmen, who failed in their duty. The owner sent various servants successively to collect a share of the proceeds of the harvest, but each time the husbandmen rejected them. Unlike the texts in Matthew and Mark, Luke states that "perhaps" (Greek:ἴσως,isōs, "probably" in theNKJV and inMarvin Vincent's interpretation)[14] they will respect the owner's son. The word ἴσως isnot used elsewhere in the New Testament. It appears once in theSeptuagint version of theHebrew Bible, at1 Samuel 25:21, where the Greek is translated as "perhaps", but as "surely" in many English translations based on the Hebrew text.[15][16] As the parable continues, the wicked husbandmenconspire to kill the son, in the expectation that the vineyard wouldpass to them. Finally, the owner comes and "destroys" those husbandmen and gives the vineyard to others.
He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others.
And when they heard it they said, 'Certainly not!'[17]
In the climax of the story it is announced that the owner will come, to "destroy" those husbandmen and gives the vineyard to others. In Matthew's version, the proposal is put forward by those listening to the parable.[18]"Certainly not!", or "No - never!",[19] (Greek:μὴ γένοιτο,mē genoito), is a characteristically Pauline phrase only used here within the Gospels, but frequently inPaul’s Epistles: seeRomans 6#The Bearing of Justification by Grace upon a Holy Life.[11]
17Then He looked at them and said, "What then is this that is written:
The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone?
18Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.[20]
These words, alluding toIsaiah 8:14–15,[21] are tied to verse 16 as a response toμὴ γένοιτο. "What then ..." or "Why then ...",Greek:Τί οὖν,ti oun, infers the negation ofμὴ γένοιτο: "How then, supposing your wish to be fulfilled, could this which is written come to pass?"[22]
This parable concerned the chief priests and Pharisees and was given to the people present inthe Temple during thefinal week before thedeath of Jesus.
A question about the tribute money:
Farrar's opinion is that "There is something in this fawning malice, and treacherous flattery, almost as repulsive as the kiss ofJudas."[9]
These tactics are slightly different from the way they are presented by Matthew (Matthew 22:15) and Mark (Mark 12:13):they sent some Pharisees and someHerodians to trap him .... Luke is "on the one hand, less definite as to the parties to the conspiracy than the other Gospels, and on the other hand more explicit as to its aim".[25] In this verse, Luke anticipates the events ofJesus' trial, when having questioned him before theSanhedrin, they "arose and led Him toPilate".[26]
Using the example of a woman who has successively married seven brothers in accordance with theMosaic rule oflevirate marriage prescribed byDeuteronomy 25:5, the Sadducees put "something of atrick question" to Jesus, exploring "the sense in which life after death can be meaningful".[28] Farrar notes that verses 27–39 relate the discomfiture of the Sadducees.[9]
Luke 20:40, and similarlyMatthew 22:46, record that after this series of partisan questions, the scribes concluded that they were not able to outwit Jesus and "after that they dared not question Him anymore".
American theologianAlbert Barnes suggests that "never was wisdom more clear, never more triumphant";[29] Farrar, in theCambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, reflects that at this point events became more perilous for Jesus as his opponents recognised that they would be unable "to pose themselves as superiors to [him] in wisdom and knowledge", and contempt was therefore "deepened into real hatred".[9]
Verse 46 ("Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in thesynagogues, and the best places at feasts ...") recalls the second of Luke'swoes to the Pharisees:
| Preceded by Luke 19 | Chapters of the Bible Gospel of Luke | Succeeded by Luke 21 |