9 He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to some farmers, and went into another country for a long time.
10 At the proper season, he sent a servant to the farmers to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard. But the farmers beat him and sent him away empty.
11 He sent yet another servant, and they also beat him and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty.
12 He sent yet a third, and they also wounded him and threw him out.
13 The lord of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. It may be that seeing him, they will respect him.’
14 “But when the farmers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.’
15 Then they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do to them?
16 He will come and destroy these farmers, and will give the vineyard to others.” When they heard that, they said, “May that never be!”
17 But he looked at them and said, “Then what is this that is written, ‘The stone which the builders rejected was made the chief cornerstone’?
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but it will crush whomever it falls on to dust.”
19 The chief priests and the scribes sought to lay hands on him that very hour, but they feared the people—for they knew he had spoken this parable against them.
20 They watched him and sent out spies, who pretended to be righteous, that they might trap him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the power and authority of the governor.
21 They asked him, “Teacher, we know that you say and teach what is right, and aren’t partial to anyone, but truly teach the way of God.
22 Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
23 But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them, “Why do you test me?
24 Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?” They answered, “Caesar’s.”
25 He said to them, “Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
26 They weren’t able to trap him in his words before the people. They marveled at his answer and were silent.
27 Some of the Sadducees came to him, those who deny that there is a resurrection.
28 They asked him, “Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies having a wife, and he is childless, his brother should take the wife and raise up children for his brother.
29 There were therefore seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died childless.
30 The second took her as wife, and he died childless.
31 The third took her, and likewise the seven all left no children, and died.
32 Afterward the woman also died.
33 Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them will she be? For the seven had her as a wife.”
34 Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry and are given in marriage.
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.
36 For they can’t die any more, for they are like the angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.
37 But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he called the Lord ‘The God of Abraham, 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 are alive to him.”
39 Some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you speak well.”
40 They didn’t dare to ask him any more questions.
41 He said to them, “Why do they say that the Christ is David’s son?
42 David himself says in the book of Psalms, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand,
43 until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet.”’
44 “David therefore calls him Lord, so how is he his son?”
8 passages from writers of 3 traditions, in their own words, each with their dates and tradition. The site doesn’t say who is right: read them beside the verses. About these
Reading as
Questions they answer differently
On verse
Oldest first.
Ambrose of Milanc. 339–397Early church, Westin the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas) · on Luke 20:9Not that our Lord journeys from place to place, seeing that He is ever present in every place, but that He is more present to those who love Him, while He removes Himself from those who regard Him not. But He was absent for a long time, lest His coming to require His fruit might seem too early. For the more indulgent it is, it renders obstinacy the less excusable.
Not that our Lord journeys from place to place, seeing that He is ever present in every place, but that He is more present to those who love Him, while He removes Himself from those who regard Him not. But He was absent for a long time, lest His coming to require His fruit might seem too early. For the more indulgent it is, it renders obstinacy the less excusable.
Ambrose of Milan, in the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas), on 20:9–18; translated under John Henry Newman (Oxford, 1841–1845); the text of CrossWire’s public-domain module. The edition
Bishop of Milan, a preacher and hymn writer, who baptized Augustine.
Augustine of Hippo354–430Early church, Westin the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas) · on Luke 20:34–36For marriages are for the sake of children, children for succession, succession because of death. Where then there is no death, there are no marriages; and hence it follows, But they which shall be accounted worthy, etc. … For as the multitude of the angels is indeed very great, yet they are not propagated by generation, but have their being from creation, so also to those who rise again, there is no more necessity for marriage; as it follows, And are the children of God.
For marriages are for the sake of children, children for succession, succession because of death. Where then there is no death, there are no marriages; and hence it follows, But they which shall be accounted worthy, etc. … For as the multitude of the angels is indeed very great, yet they are not propagated by generation, but have their being from creation, so also to those who rise again, there is no more necessity for marriage; as it follows, And are the children of God.
Augustine of Hippo, in the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas), on 20:34–36; translated under John Henry Newman (Oxford, 1841–1845); the text of CrossWire’s public-domain module. The edition
Bishop of Hippo in North Africa, the most widely read of the Western church’s Fathers. His Expositions on the Psalms are mostly sermons to his people, hearing Christ and the Church in every psalm.
Bedec. 673–735Early church, Westin the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas) · on Luke 20:22–24For there was a great division among the people, some saying that for the sake of security and quiet, seeing that the Romans fought for all, they ought to pay tribute; while the Pharisees, on the contrary, declared, that the people of God who gave tithes and first fruits, ought not to be subject to the law of man. … We must not suppose Augustus is thereby meant, but Tiberius, for all the Roman kings were called Caesar, from the first Caius Caesar.
For there was a great division among the people, some saying that for the sake of security and quiet, seeing that the Romans fought for all, they ought to pay tribute; while the Pharisees, on the contrary, declared, that the people of God who gave tithes and first fruits, ought not to be subject to the law of man. … We must not suppose Augustus is thereby meant, but Tiberius, for all the Roman kings were called Caesar, from the first Caius Caesar.
Bede, in the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas), on 20:20–26; translated under John Henry Newman (Oxford, 1841–1845); the text of CrossWire’s public-domain module. The edition
A monk of Jarrow in northern England, called the Venerable Bede, who wrote on the Gospels and the history of the English church.
Bedec. 673–735Early church, Westin the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas) · on Luke 20:37–38Or He says this, that after having proved that the souls abide after death, (which the Sadducees denied,) He might next introduce the resurrection also of the bodies, which together with the souls have done good or evil. But that is a true life which the just live to God, even though they are dead in the body. Now to prove the truth of the resurrection, He might have brought much more obvious examples from the Prophets, but the Sadducees received only the five books of Moses, rejecting the oracles of the Prophets.
Or He says this, that after having proved that the souls abide after death, (which the Sadducees denied,) He might next introduce the resurrection also of the bodies, which together with the souls have done good or evil. But that is a true life which the just live to God, even though they are dead in the body. Now to prove the truth of the resurrection, He might have brought much more obvious examples from the Prophets, but the Sadducees received only the five books of Moses, rejecting the oracles of the Prophets.
Bede, in the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas), on 20:37–38; translated under John Henry Newman (Oxford, 1841–1845); the text of CrossWire’s public-domain module. The edition
A monk of Jarrow in northern England, called the Venerable Bede, who wrote on the Gospels and the history of the English church.
Theophylact of Ohridc. 1050–1107Orthodoxin the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas) · on Luke 20:41–44Although our Lord was shortly about to enter on His Passion, He proclaims His own Godhead, and that too neither incautiously nor boastfully, but with modesty. For He puts a question to them, and having thrown them into perplexity, leaves them to reason out the conclusion; as it follows, And he said to them, How say they that Christ is David’s son?
Although our Lord was shortly about to enter on His Passion, He proclaims His own Godhead, and that too neither incautiously nor boastfully, but with modesty. For He puts a question to them, and having thrown them into perplexity, leaves them to reason out the conclusion; as it follows, And he said to them, How say they that Christ is David’s son?
Theophylact of Ohrid, in the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas), on 20:41–44; translated under John Henry Newman (Oxford, 1841–1845); the text of CrossWire’s public-domain module. The edition
A Byzantine archbishop in Ohrid (in today’s North Macedonia), whose commentaries on the Gospels gather the Greek Fathers.
John Wesley1703–1791MethodistExplanatory Notes upon the New Testament · on Luke 20:37–38It cannot properly be said, that God is the God of any who are totally perished. … So that all live to him - All who have him for their God, live to and enjoy him. This sentence is not an argument for what went before; but the proposition which was to be proved. And the consequence is apparently just. For as all the faithful are the children of Abraham, and the Divine promise of being a God to him and his seed is entailed upon them, it implies their continued existence and happiness in a future state as much as Abraham's. And as the body is an essential part of man, it implies both his resurrection and theirs; and so overthrows the entire scheme of the Sadducean doctrine.
It cannot properly be said, that God is the God of any who are totally perished. … So that all live to him - All who have him for their God, live to and enjoy him. This sentence is not an argument for what went before; but the proposition which was to be proved. And the consequence is apparently just. For as all the faithful are the children of Abraham, and the Divine promise of being a God to him and his seed is entailed upon them, it implies their continued existence and happiness in a future state as much as Abraham's. And as the body is an essential part of man, it implies both his resurrection and theirs; and so overthrows the entire scheme of the Sadducean doctrine.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, on 20:37–38; London, 1755; the text of CrossWire’s public-domain module. The edition
The Anglican priest who began the Methodist movement; his notes on the Bible were written for ordinary readers.
Adam Clarkec. 1760–1832MethodistCommentary on the Holy Bible · on Luke 20:38All live unto him - There is a remarkable passage in Josephus's account of the Maccabees, chap. xvi., which proves that the best informed Jews believed that the souls of righteous men were in the presence of God in a state of happiness. "They who lose their lives for the sake of God, Live unto God, as do Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the rest of the patriarchs." And one not less remarkable in Shemoth Rabba, fol. 159. "Rabbi Abbin saith, The Lord said unto Moses, Find me out ten righteous persons among the people, and I will not destroy thy people. Then said Moses, Behold, here am I, Aaron, Eleazar, Ithamar, Phineas, Caleb, and Joshua; but God said, Here are but seven, where are the other three? When Moses knew not what to do, he said, O Eternal God, do those live that are dead! Yes, saith God. Then said Moses, If those that are dead do live, remember Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." So the resurrection of the dead, and the immortality and immateriality of the soul, were not strange or unknown doctrines among the Jews.
All live unto him - There is a remarkable passage in Josephus's account of the Maccabees, chap. xvi., which proves that the best informed Jews believed that the souls of righteous men were in the presence of God in a state of happiness. "They who lose their lives for the sake of God, Live unto God, as do Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the rest of the patriarchs." And one not less remarkable in Shemoth Rabba, fol. 159. "Rabbi Abbin saith, The Lord said unto Moses, Find me out ten righteous persons among the people, and I will not destroy thy people. Then said Moses, Behold, here am I, Aaron, Eleazar, Ithamar, Phineas, Caleb, and Joshua; but God said, Here are but seven, where are the other three? When Moses knew not what to do, he said, O Eternal God, do those live that are dead! Yes, saith God. Then said Moses, If those that are dead do live, remember Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." So the resurrection of the dead, and the immortality and immateriality of the soul, were not strange or unknown doctrines among the Jews.
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Holy Bible, on 20:38; 1810–1826; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
A Methodist preacher and scholar from Ulster, whose commentary on the whole Bible took him nearly forty years.
Jamieson, Fausset and Brownpublished 1871Presbyterian and AnglicanA Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments · on Luke 20:36equal--or "like." unto the angels--that is, in the immortality of their nature. children of God--not in respect of character but nature; "being the children of the resurrection" to an undecaying existence (Rom 8:21, Rom 8:23). And thus the children of their Father's immortality (Ti1 6:16).
equal--or "like." unto the angels--that is, in the immortality of their nature. children of God--not in respect of character but nature; "being the children of the resurrection" to an undecaying existence (Rom 8:21, Rom 8:23). And thus the children of their Father's immortality (Ti1 6:16).
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments, on 20:36; 1871; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
Three ministers, two Scottish Presbyterians and an Irish Anglican, whose commentary on the whole Bible was written to be short and plain.
Luke 20
Luke 20:9–44, World English Bible
Luke 20 in the Bible · Told in the Story: Chapter 49, By What Authority?, Chapter 50, Woe to You
What others have written
8 passages from writers of 3 traditions, in their own words, each with their dates and tradition. The site doesn’t say who is right: read them beside the verses. About these
Oldest first.
Ambrose of Milanc. 339–397Early church, Westin the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas) · on Luke 20:9Not that our Lord journeys from place to place, seeing that He is ever present in every place, but that He is more present to those who love Him, while He removes Himself from those who regard Him not. But He was absent for a long time, lest His coming to require His fruit might seem too early. For the more indulgent it is, it renders obstinacy the less excusable.
Ambrose of Milan, in the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas), on 20:9–18; translated under John Henry Newman (Oxford, 1841–1845); the text of CrossWire’s public-domain module. The edition
Bishop of Milan, a preacher and hymn writer, who baptized Augustine.
Augustine of Hippo354–430Early church, Westin the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas) · on Luke 20:34–36For marriages are for the sake of children, children for succession, succession because of death. Where then there is no death, there are no marriages; and hence it follows, But they which shall be accounted worthy, etc. … For as the multitude of the angels is indeed very great, yet they are not propagated by generation, but have their being from creation, so also to those who rise again, there is no more necessity for marriage; as it follows, And are the children of God.
Augustine of Hippo, in the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas), on 20:34–36; translated under John Henry Newman (Oxford, 1841–1845); the text of CrossWire’s public-domain module. The edition
Bishop of Hippo in North Africa, the most widely read of the Western church’s Fathers. His Expositions on the Psalms are mostly sermons to his people, hearing Christ and the Church in every psalm.
Bedec. 673–735Early church, Westin the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas) · on Luke 20:22–24For there was a great division among the people, some saying that for the sake of security and quiet, seeing that the Romans fought for all, they ought to pay tribute; while the Pharisees, on the contrary, declared, that the people of God who gave tithes and first fruits, ought not to be subject to the law of man. … We must not suppose Augustus is thereby meant, but Tiberius, for all the Roman kings were called Caesar, from the first Caius Caesar.
Bede, in the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas), on 20:20–26; translated under John Henry Newman (Oxford, 1841–1845); the text of CrossWire’s public-domain module. The edition
A monk of Jarrow in northern England, called the Venerable Bede, who wrote on the Gospels and the history of the English church.
Bedec. 673–735Early church, Westin the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas) · on Luke 20:37–38Or He says this, that after having proved that the souls abide after death, (which the Sadducees denied,) He might next introduce the resurrection also of the bodies, which together with the souls have done good or evil. But that is a true life which the just live to God, even though they are dead in the body. Now to prove the truth of the resurrection, He might have brought much more obvious examples from the Prophets, but the Sadducees received only the five books of Moses, rejecting the oracles of the Prophets.
Bede, in the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas), on 20:37–38; translated under John Henry Newman (Oxford, 1841–1845); the text of CrossWire’s public-domain module. The edition
A monk of Jarrow in northern England, called the Venerable Bede, who wrote on the Gospels and the history of the English church.
Theophylact of Ohridc. 1050–1107Orthodoxin the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas) · on Luke 20:41–44Although our Lord was shortly about to enter on His Passion, He proclaims His own Godhead, and that too neither incautiously nor boastfully, but with modesty. For He puts a question to them, and having thrown them into perplexity, leaves them to reason out the conclusion; as it follows, And he said to them, How say they that Christ is David’s son?
Theophylact of Ohrid, in the Catena Aurea (the Fathers on the Gospels, gathered by Thomas Aquinas), on 20:41–44; translated under John Henry Newman (Oxford, 1841–1845); the text of CrossWire’s public-domain module. The edition
A Byzantine archbishop in Ohrid (in today’s North Macedonia), whose commentaries on the Gospels gather the Greek Fathers.
John Wesley1703–1791MethodistExplanatory Notes upon the New Testament · on Luke 20:37–38It cannot properly be said, that God is the God of any who are totally perished. … So that all live to him - All who have him for their God, live to and enjoy him. This sentence is not an argument for what went before; but the proposition which was to be proved. And the consequence is apparently just. For as all the faithful are the children of Abraham, and the Divine promise of being a God to him and his seed is entailed upon them, it implies their continued existence and happiness in a future state as much as Abraham's. And as the body is an essential part of man, it implies both his resurrection and theirs; and so overthrows the entire scheme of the Sadducean doctrine.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, on 20:37–38; London, 1755; the text of CrossWire’s public-domain module. The edition
The Anglican priest who began the Methodist movement; his notes on the Bible were written for ordinary readers.
Adam Clarkec. 1760–1832MethodistCommentary on the Holy Bible · on Luke 20:38All live unto him - There is a remarkable passage in Josephus's account of the Maccabees, chap. xvi., which proves that the best informed Jews believed that the souls of righteous men were in the presence of God in a state of happiness. "They who lose their lives for the sake of God, Live unto God, as do Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the rest of the patriarchs." And one not less remarkable in Shemoth Rabba, fol. 159. "Rabbi Abbin saith, The Lord said unto Moses, Find me out ten righteous persons among the people, and I will not destroy thy people. Then said Moses, Behold, here am I, Aaron, Eleazar, Ithamar, Phineas, Caleb, and Joshua; but God said, Here are but seven, where are the other three? When Moses knew not what to do, he said, O Eternal God, do those live that are dead! Yes, saith God. Then said Moses, If those that are dead do live, remember Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." So the resurrection of the dead, and the immortality and immateriality of the soul, were not strange or unknown doctrines among the Jews.
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Holy Bible, on 20:38; 1810–1826; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
A Methodist preacher and scholar from Ulster, whose commentary on the whole Bible took him nearly forty years.
Jamieson, Fausset and Brownpublished 1871Presbyterian and AnglicanA Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments · on Luke 20:36equal--or "like." unto the angels--that is, in the immortality of their nature. children of God--not in respect of character but nature; "being the children of the resurrection" to an undecaying existence (Rom 8:21, Rom 8:23). And thus the children of their Father's immortality (Ti1 6:16).
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments, on 20:36; 1871; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition
Three ministers, two Scottish Presbyterians and an Irish Anglican, whose commentary on the whole Bible was written to be short and plain.