1Then Jesus began teaching them with stories: “A man planted a vineyard. He built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country.
7“But the tenant farmers said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’
9“What do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do?” Jesus asked. “I’ll tell you—he will come and kill those farmers and lease the vineyard to others.
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.
11This is the Lord’s doing,
and it is wonderful to see.’*12:10-11 Ps 118:22-23.”
12The religious leaders*12:12 Greek They. wanted to arrest Jesus because they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.
13Later the leaders sent some Pharisees and supporters of Herod to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could be arrested.
Jesus saw through their hypocrisy and said, “Why are you trying to trap me? Show me a Roman coin,*12:15 Greek a denarius. and I’ll tell you.”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
17“Well, then,” Jesus said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”
His reply completely amazed them.
18Then Jesus was approached by some Sadducees—religious leaders who say there is no resurrection from the dead. They posed this question:
24Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.
26“But now, as to whether the dead will be raised—haven’t you ever read about this in the writings of Moses, in the story of the burning bush? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said to Moses,*12:26a Greek in the story of the bush? God said to him. ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’*12:26b Exod 3:6.
28One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord.
32The teacher of religious law replied, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other.
34Realizing how much the man understood, Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.
35Later, as Jesus was teaching the people in the Temple, he asked, “Why do the teachers of religious law claim that the Messiah is the son of David?
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit in the place of honor at my right hand
until I humble your enemies beneath your feet.’*12:36 Ps 110:1.
37Since David himself called the Messiah ‘my Lord,’ how can the Messiah be his son?” The large crowd listened to him with great delight.
38Jesus also taught: “Beware of these teachers of religious law! For they like to parade around in flowing robes and receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces.
41Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts.
43Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions.