The Authority of Jesus Challenged

23 ^zAnd when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him ^aas he was teaching, and said, ^b“By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 24 Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John, ^cfrom where did it come? ^dFrom heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ^e‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From man,’ ^fwe are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was ^ga prophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

28 ^h“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in ⁱthe vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he ^jchanged his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, ^kthe tax collectors and ^lthe prostitutes go into ^mthe kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you ⁿin the way of righteousness, and ^oyou did not believe him, but ^pthe tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward ^jchange your minds and believe him.

The Parable of the Tenants

33 ^q“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted ^ra vineyard ^sand put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and ^tleased it to tenants, and ^uwent into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants¹ to the tenants ^tto get his fruit. 35 ^vAnd the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and ^wstoned another. 36 ^xAgain he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ^y‘This is the heir. Come, ^zlet us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and ^athrew him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 ^bWhen therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, ^c“He will put those wretches to a miserable death and ^dlet out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

42 Jesus said to them, ^e“Have you never read in the Scriptures:

43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God ^gwill be taken away from you and given to a people ^hproducing its fruits. 44 And ⁱthe one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and ^jwhen it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”³

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 And ^lalthough they were seeking to arrest him, ^mthey feared the crowds, because they held him to be ⁿa prophet.

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

1 And again Jesus ^ospoke to them in parables, saying, 2 ^p“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave ^qa wedding feast for his son, 3 and ^rsent his servants⁴ to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4 ^sAgain he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my ^tdinner, ^umy oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ 5 But ^vthey paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, ^wtreated them shamefully, and ^xkilled them. 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and ^ydestroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not ^zworthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ 10 And those servants went out into the roads and ^bgathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.

11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there ^ca man who had no wedding garment. 12 And he said to him, ^d‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and ^ecast him into the outer darkness. In that place ^ethere will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are ^fcalled, but few are ^fchosen.”

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

27 ^vAnd they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, 28 and they said to him, ^w“By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was the baptism of John ^xfrom heaven or from man? Answer me.” 31 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ^y‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—^zthey were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was ^aa prophet. 33 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The Parable of the Tenants

1 ^bAnd he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted ^ca vineyard ^dand put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and ^eleased it to tenants and ^fwent into another country. 2 When the season came, he sent a servant¹ to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 ^gAnd they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 ^gAgain ^hhe sent to them another servant, and ⁱthey struck him on the head and ^jtreated him shamefully. 5 ^gAnd he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. 6 He had still one other, ^ka beloved son. ^lFinally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ^m‘This is the heir. Come, ⁿlet us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him and ^othrew him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? ^pHe will ^qcome and destroy the tenants and ^rgive the vineyard to others. 10 ^sHave you not read ^tthis Scripture:

12 And ^vthey were seeking to arrest him ^wbut feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they ^xleft him and went away.

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

1 ^hOne day, ⁱas Jesus¹ was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, ^jthe chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up 2 and said to him, “Tell us ^kby what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” 3 He answered them, “I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, 4 was the baptism of John ^lfrom heaven or from man?” 5 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ^m‘Why did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From man,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was ⁿa prophet.” 7 So they answered that they did not know where it came from. 8 And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

9 ^oAnd he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted ^pa vineyard and ^qlet it out to tenants and ^rwent into another country for a long while. 10 When the time came, he sent a servant² to the tenants, so that ^qthey would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. ^sBut the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 ^tAnd ^she sent another servant. But they also beat and ^utreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. 12 ^sAnd he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. 13 Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my ^vbeloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ 14 But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ^w‘This is the heir. ^xLet us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ 15 And they ^ythrew him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 ^zHe will ^acome and destroy those tenants and ^bgive the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” 17 But he ^clooked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written:

18 ^eEveryone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls ^fon anyone, it will crush him.”

37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 38 ^oso that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

39 Therefore they ^qcould not believe. For again Isaiah said,

41 Isaiah said these things because ^the saw his glory and ^uspoke of him. 42 Nevertheless, ^vmany even of the authorities believed in him, but ^wfor fear of the Pharisees they did not ^xconfess it, so that they would not be ^xput out of the synagogue; 43 ^yfor they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

Jesus Came to Save the World

44 And Jesus cried out and said, ^z“Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but ^ain him who sent me. 45 And ^bwhoever ^csees me sees him who sent me. 46 ^dI have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. 47 If anyone ^ehears my words and does not keep them, ^fI do not judge him; for ^gI did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 ^hThe one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; ⁱthe word that I have spoken will judge him ^jon the last day. 49 For ^kI have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father ^lwho sent me has himself given me ^ma commandment—what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”