Lukechapter 20
47 verses · Luke · about AD 62 · The Gospels
He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to Him all are alive.”
Introduction
Luke, The Gospels, Luke Overview.
Luke wrote this chapter for a reader weighing whether Jesus was justly condemned. It is set in the temple courts during the last week, where Jesus teaches each day and group after group comes to test Him. Chief priests, scribes, elders, spies and Sadducees each bring a question meant to trap Him or discredit Him before the crowd. Listen for the questions He puts back to them and for the parable He tells against those who hold the vineyard. By the end no one dares to ask Him anything more, and the chapter closes with a warning about the scribes.
Context
- Who
- A Greek reader watching a legal case being assembled
- What
- A series of challenges in the temple on authority, a parable of wicked tenants, questions about paying tribute to Caesar and about the resurrection, and a question about David's son.
- Where
- The temple courts in Jerusalem, where Jesus taught daily during His last week.
- When
- The final week in Jerusalem, before the Passover, about AD 30 or 33.
- Why
- To show that every charge brought against Jesus by trained opponents failed in public, and that the stone the builders rejected became the cornerstone.
Historical context
The opening challenge is a formal one: by what authority do you do these things, and who gave it to you. Teaching and acting in the temple precincts fell under the chief priests' jurisdiction, so the question is jurisdictional, not merely curious.
Show the rest of the historical context, 4 more paragraphs
The vineyard parable describes standard estate practice, an absentee owner, tenant farmers paying rent in produce, and agents sent at harvest to collect. Luke notes that the scribes and chief priests understood he had told it against them, which is why they wanted to seize him that hour.
The tax question is framed by Luke as a set-up: spies pretending to be sincere, sent to catch him in something they could hand to the governor's authority. The poll tax to Rome was the flashpoint issue in Judea, and the denarius he calls for bore the emperor's image and a title claiming divine parentage for the imperial house.
The Sadducees' riddle uses the levirate law from Deuteronomy, under which a brother married a childless widow to raise an heir for the dead man. They denied any resurrection, and the argument Jesus gives back, that God calls himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and is not God of the dead but of the living, is drawn from the burning bush, a passage in the books of Moses that the Sadducees held highest.
The warning about scribes devouring widows' houses points at real abuse. Scribes were not salaried and depended on support and on managing estates, which put widows' property within reach.
Significance
Luke is showing his reader that no charge stuck. Question after question is put by trained opponents, and each one fails publicly, which matters enormously for a book written for someone weighing whether the movement's founder was justly condemned.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
The parable's conclusion then supplied the church's own text: the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The verdict of the builders was not the final one.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
By What Authority Do You Do These Things?
Luke 20:1-2
teaching the people in the temple: While Jesus taught, the chief priests and scribes, together with the elders, came up to Him and asked by what authority He acted. The three groups acting as one body make the challenge official, the temple leadership closing ranks after He cleared the courts in 19:45-46.
Luke 20:1
For the Saviour Himself reproached them, saying, "And to you, lawyers, woe! for you have taken away the key of knowledge: you enter not in yourselves, and those that are entering in you have hindered." They rise up therefore against Christ as He teaches, and wickedly and abominably call out and say, "Tell us, by what authority You do these things? Who gave You this authority?"
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on Luke, Homily 132patristic
2 more voices on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Luke 20:1
“One of those days - Supposed to have been one of the four last days of his life, mentioned Luk 19:47, probably Tuesday before the passover.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 20:1
“The spirit which prompted this demand is too evident to be mistaken. These men hated and envied Christ. They saw His influence increasing. They saw their own power waning. They resolved, if possible, to stop the progress of this new teacher; and the point on which they made their assault was His authority . They ought to have examined His mighty works. His teaching they ought, in all fairness, to have compared with their own Scriptures. But they refused to take either one course or the other. They preferred to call His authority into question.”
The rulers ask two questions: what authority, and whose. Bede reads the second as a denial of the Son of God, for they held that He worked signs by another's power. Theophylact notes that He had already given the prophet's words as His warrant for clearing the house.
Luke 20:2
“And spoke unto him, saying, tell us by what authority doest thou these things?.... The Arabic and Ethiopic versions read, "this thing"; as if the sanhedrim only referred to his preaching the Gospel, which is mentioned in the preceding verse, and was what he was about when they came to him: but the Persic version reads, "all these things"; not only preaching, but working miracles; and particularly driving the buyers and sellers out of the temple, which especially affected them, they losing their rents thereby: or who is he that gave thee this authority? God or man?”
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 20:2
“Or when they say, By what authority doest thou these things? they doubt concerning the power of God, and wish it to be understood that of the devil He doeth this. Adding moreover, And who is he that gave thee this authority? Most plainly do they deny the Son of God when they think that not by His own power but another's He doeth miracles.”
Bede · written before 735 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 20:3-4
Jesus replies, I will also ask you a question, and puts John’s baptism to them: was it from heaven, or from men. The counter-question stays on the issue of authority, for John’s ministry and His own stand or fall together as one work of God.
Luke 20:3
“For that He might show that they had always rebelled against the Holy Spirit, and that besides Isaiah, whom they remembered not, they had refused to believe John whom they had lately seen; He now in his turn puts the question to them, proving that if so great a Prophet as John who was accounted greatest among them had been disbelieved when he testified of Him, they would in no wise believe Him, answering by what authority He did this.”
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Gill notes that John's baptism was a new ordinance, so its authority came either from God or from men. The question leaves them two answers. Tertullian holds that Christ knew the Pharisees would give Him no answer and asked all the same.
Luke 20:4
“The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? This was a new ordinance, and John must have his authority for administering it either from God, or from men; and Christ is desirous to know from which he derived it in their opinion; suggesting, that by the same authority John, his forerunner, came baptizing, he himself came preaching and working miracles; See Gill on Mat 21:25.”
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 20:4
“Christ knew "the baptism of John, whence it was." Then why did He ask them, as if He knew not? He knew that the Pharisees would not give Him an answer; then why did He ask in vain? Was it that He might judge them out of their own mouth, or their own heart? Suppose you refer these points to an excuse of the Creator, or to His comparison with Christ; then consider what would have happened if the Pharisees had replied to His question.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Against Marcion Book IVpatristic
Luke 20:5-6
They deliberated among themselves: They deliberated over what each answer would cost them: from heaven invited the question, Why did you not believe him, and from men risked stoning. Their private debate weighs only their safety and the crowd.
Luke 20:5
“But John's baptism was "from heaven." "Why, therefore," asks Christ, "did ye not believe him? " He therefore who had wished men to believe John, purposing to censure them because they had not believed him, belonged to Him whose sacrament John was administering.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Against Marcion Book IVpatristic
all the people will stone us: Bonaventure notes that the law of Leviticus 24 ordered blasphemers stoned, and the people held John a prophet. Gill takes the people to be the common people then in the temple courts. Bede notes that either answer would trap them.
Luke 20:6
“But and if we say of men,..... Which they had a good will to, against the dictates of their own consciences: all the people will stone us; meaning the common people, that were then in the temple about Christ, hearing him preach; who would be so enraged at such an answer, that without any regard to their character and office, they would rise and stone them.”
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 20:6
“Suppose their answer to have been, that John's baptism was "of men," they would have been immediately stoned to death. Some Marcion, in rivalry to Marcion, would have stood up and said: O most excellent God; how different are his ways from the Creator's! Knowing that men would rush down headlong over it, He placed them actually on the very precipice.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Against Marcion Book IVpatristic
Luke 20:7-8
did not know where it was: So they answered that they did not know where it was from, a claimed ignorance that verses 5 and 6 show to be false. Jesus replies in kind, Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
Luke 20:7
“And then it follows, And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was. Because they will not confess that which they knew, they were baffled, and the Lord would not tell them what He knew; as it follows, And Jesus said unto them, Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. For there are two reasons especially why we should conceal the truth from those that ask; for example, when the questioner is incapable of understanding what he asks, or when from hatred or contempt he is unworthy to have his questions answered.”
Bede · written before 735 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 20:7
“Whether from heaven, or of men; in this, no doubt, they told an untruth: but they chose rather to sacrifice their consciences than their interest, and pretend ignorance rather than profess the truth, when they saw they should be put to confusion, or be exposed to the resentments of the people.”
Luke 20:7
“Christ spoke this parable against those who were resolved not to own his authority, though the evidence of it was ever so full and convincing; and it comes very seasonably to show that by questioning his authority they forfeited their own. Their disowning the lord of their vineyard was a defeasance of their lease of the vineyard, and giving up of all their title.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Theophylact reads the refusal through John: they rejected the testimony of a prophet they held greater than Jesus. So they would believe no word of His own. The question of authority stays open.
Luke 20:8
“And Jesus said unto them,.... Since they would not give him a direct answer to his question: neither tell I you by what authority I do these things; nor was there any need of it; they might easily perceive by what he had said, from whence he professed to have received his authority, from God, and not men; See Gill on Mat 21:27.”
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 20:8
“But, at any rate, when He actually met their refusal to say what they thought, with such reprisals as, "Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things," He returned evil for evil! "Render unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Against Marcion Book IVpatristic
The Vineyard Let Out to Husbandmen
Luke 20:9-10
The parable opens: A man planted a vineyard, rented it out to some tenants, and went away for a long time. The setting is Isaiah 5:1-7, where the vineyard is Israel and its owner is God. The tenants beat his servant, the first of the prophets Israel's leaders refused.
Luke 20:9
“Then began he to speak to the people this parable,.... According to the other evangelists it seems to be spoken to the chief priests, Scribes, and elders; and certain it is, that they looked upon themselves as struck at in it; it might be spoken to both.”
3 more voices on this verse
Luke 20:9
“The parable we have now read, is one of the very few which are recorded more than once by the Gospel writers. Matthew, Mark, and Luke — all give it at full length. This three-fold repetition is alone sufficient to point out the importance of its contents. The parable, no doubt, was specially intended for the Jews to whom it was addressed. But we must not confine its application to them. It contains lessons which should be remembered in all churches of Christ, as long as the world stands.”
Luke 20:9
“Very many derive various meanings from the word vineyard, but Isaiah clearly stated that the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel. Who else but God founded this vineyard? He leased it and set out to foreign places. The Lord, who is always everywhere, does not journey from place to place, but he is present to those who love him and absent from those who neglect him. He was absent for many seasons, fearing that the foreclosure might seem premature.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Exposition of the Gospel of Luke 9.23-24patristic
Luke 20:9
“And they have vineyard-work to do, needful and constant work, but pleasant and profitable. Whereas man was, for sin, condemned to till the ground, they that have a place in the church are restored to that which was Adam's work in innocency, to dress the garden, and to keep it; for the church is a paradise, and Christ the tree of life in it.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
his share of the fruit of the vineyard: Theophylact notes that the owner asks only part of the fruit. What God gains from men is their knowledge of Him, which is also their profit.
Luke 20:10
“He went away, but plainly he cared for his farm and kept it in his mind. He sent faithful servants to them at three different times to receive produce or fruit from the tillers of the vineyard. There was no period in the interval, during which there were not sent by God prophets and righteous men to admonish Israel and urge it to bring forth as fruits the glories of a life in accordance with the law.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on Luke, Homily 134patristic
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 20:10
“That they should give him of the fruit - The Hindoo corn-merchants, that have lent money to husbandmen, send persons in harvest-time to collect their share of the produce of the ground.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 20:10
“That those who reject Christ's ministers would reject Christ himself if he should come to them; for it has been tried, and found that the persecutors and murderers of his servants the prophets were the persecutors and murderers of himself. They said, This is the heir, come let us kill him.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Luke 20:11-12
treated him shamefully: They beat the second servant and treated him shamefully, and they wounded the third and threw him out. The violence grows with each sending, in the pattern of the prophets rejected across Israel's history. Three servants are sent and three are refused, and the owner still sends again.
Luke 20:11
“And again he sent another servant,.... Or set of prophets in after times, and yet before the Babylonish captivity: and they beat him also; as they had done the other; they continued in their malpractices, yea increased in them: and entreated him shamefully; putting him to open shame, using him in a very ignominious and shameful manner, which it was a shame to relate, and which was shameful for them to do: and sent him away empty; as they had done the other.”
Then he sent a third: Bede reads the third servant as the company of prophets who warned the people with constant testimony and foretold what was coming. Gill places this sending after the return from captivity.
Luke 20:12
“But He does not stop here, for it follows, And again he sent a third: whereby we must understand the company of prophets who constantly visited the people with their testimony. But which of the Prophets did they not persecute; as it follows, And they wounded him also, and cast him out. Now these three successions of servants, our Lord elsewhere shows to comprehend under a figure all the teachers under the law, when He says, For all those things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and the Prophets, and the Psalms, concerning me.”
Bede · written before 735 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 20:12
“And again he sent the third,.... Perhaps after the return of the Jews from captivity, and between that time and the coming of Christ, in which interval many good men were used in a very inhuman manner, Heb 11:37 and they wounded him also; by casting stones at him; see Mar 12:4 and cast him out; of the vineyard.”
Luke 20:13-14
The vineyard's owner resolves, I will send my beloved son. The turn from servants to a son points to Jesus, whom the Father called His beloved Son at the baptism in 3:22. The tenants reason: Let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.
Luke 20:13
“But the lord of the vineyard considers with himself, saying, "What shall I do?" And we must carefully examine in what sense he says this. Does then the householder use these words because he had no more servants? Certainly not: for there were not wanting to Him other ministers of His holy will.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on Luke, Homily 134patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 20:13
“Then said the Lord of the vineyard,.... Who planted it, and let it out to husbandmen, and expected fruit from it, and sent his servants from time to time for it: what shall I do? or what can be done more than has been done? Isa 5:4 who else can be sent that is likely to do any good with such an ungrateful and unfruitful people?”
The tenants know the son and kill him for that reason. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the heir as the truth that God's inheritance was destined for His Son in human nature, citing Hebrews 1:2.
Luke 20:14
“But when the husbandmen saw him,.... In human nature, heard him preach, and observed the miracles done by him: they reasoned among themselves; as the Scribes and Pharisees, and elders of the people often did: saying, this is the heir; the heir of God, being his Son; and so the Ethiopic version; "this Son is his heir", or the heir of the vineyard; being, by appointment, heir of all things, and by his descent from David heir to the kingdom of Israel; come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.”
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 20:14
“When then the only-begotten Son was sent to them, the unbelieving Jews, wishing to be rid of the Heir, put Him to death by crucifying Him, and rejected Him by denying Him. Christ is the Heir and the Testator likewise. The Heir, because He survives His own death; and of the testament which He Himself bequeathed, He reaps as it were the hereditary profits in our advances.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 20:15-16
threw him out of the vineyard: So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him, as Jesus would die outside Jerusalem. The owner will give the vineyard to others: the judgment falls on the tenants, the present leaders, and the vineyard stays. The people answer, May such a thing never happen.
Luke 20:15
“He rightly puts a question to them, that they may condemn themselves by their own words, as it follows, What then will the Lord of the vineyard do to them? He says, the Lord of the vineyard will come, because in the Son is present also the Father's majesty; or because in the last times He will be more graciously present by His Spirit in the hearts of men.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Theophylact reads the others as those who receive the grace of being called, which the tenants forfeited. The hearers answer May such a thing never happen, and Theophylact notes that Matthew has the hearers pronounce the sentence themselves. The two accounts differ in who speaks it.
Luke 20:16
“He shall come, &c.--This answer was given by the Pharisees themselves (Mt 21:41), thus pronouncing their own righteous doom. Matthew alone (Mt 21:43) gives the naked application, that "the kingdom of God should be taken from them, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof"--the great evangelical community of the faithful, chiefly Gentiles.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 20:16
“Though they could not but own that for such a sin such a punishment was just, and what might be expected, yet they could not bear to hear of it. Note, It is an instance of the folly and stupidity of sinners that they proceed and persevere in their sinful ways though at the same time they have a foresight and dread of the destruction that is at the end of those ways.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Luke 20:16
“God forbid - Or, Let it not be, μη γενοιτο. Our phrase, God forbid, answers pretty well to the meaning of the Greek, but it is no translation.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 20:17-18
Jesus looked directly at them: Jesus quotes the psalm the crowd sang at His entry in 19:38: The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, from Psalm 118:22. The saying on the falling stone echoes Isaiah 8:14-15 and Daniel 2:34-35.
Luke 20:17
“He referred them to the scripture: " What is this then that is written? How can you escape the judgment of God, when you cannot prevent the exaltation of him whom you despise and reject? The word of God hath said it, that the stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner. " The Lord Jesus will be exalted to the Father's right hand.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 20:17
“But holy Scripture compares to a corner the meeting together of the two nations, the Jew and the Gentile, into one faith. (1 Pet. 2:7. Eph. 2:20.) For the Saviour has compacted both peoples into one new man, reconciling them in one body to the Father. Of saving help then is that stone to the corner made by it, but to the Jews who resist this spiritual union, it bringeth destruction.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Cross references
Luke 20:17
- QuotingPsalms 118:22“The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”
'The stone which the builders rejected' ('what is this then that is written')
will be broken to pieces: The stone of Psalm 118 becomes a stone of judgment. Bede reads the one who falls on the stone as a sinner who believes, shaken and saved by penitence.
they sought to arrest Him: When the scribes and chief priests realized that Jesus had spoken this parable against them, they sought to arrest Him that very hour. Fear of the people holds them back, and the plan of verse 20 is built to get around the crowd.
Luke 20:19
“Again the gang of Pharisees is inflamed with unbridled rage. They draw the bow of their envy. They grind their teeth at him who calls them to life. They savagely attack him who seeks to save and who humbled himself from his supreme and godlike glory to our condition. They plot the death of he who became man that he might abolish death. The wise Evangelist shows us the only cause that hindered their shameless pride. He said that they feared the people. He understood, therefore, that they were not restrained by a feeling of piety toward God.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on Luke, Homily 135patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 20:19
“Christ tells them that instead of kissing the Son of God they would kill him, upon which they should have said, What, is thy servant a dog? But they do, in effect, say this: "And so we will; have at him now." And, though they deprecate the punishment of the sin, in the next breath they are projecting the commission of it. Christ's Enemies Nonplussed.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Spies, Tribute, and Caesar's Image
Luke 20:20-22
spies who pretended to be sincere: They sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They open with praise, then ask, Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not. A yes would anger a crowd chafing under Rome, and a no would give the governor grounds to arrest Him.
Luke 20:20
Let us mark, for one thing, in this passage — the cloak of goodness under which some of our Lord's enemies approached Him. We read that "they sent spies, who pretended to be honest. They hoped to catch Him in something he said so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor." We read further that they attempted to trick Him by flattering words, "Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality — but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth."
3 more voices on this verse
Luke 20:20
“These bold and hardhearted men, being ready for only evil, do not entertain a good purpose, but with their mind full of the craftiness of the devil, they commit themselves to wicked plans. They lay traps for Christ, plan a trap for an accusation against him, and gather pretexts for falsely accusing him. In their bitterness, they are already meditating and plotting the lying words they spoke against him before Pilate.… They pretended to be kind and just. They imagined that they could deceive him who knows secrets.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on Luke, Homily 135patristic
Luke 20:20
“These spies must take on them to have a value for Christ's judgment, and to depend upon it as an oracle, and therefore must desire his advice in a case of conscience. Note, Ministers are concerned to stand upon their guard against some that feign themselves to be just men, and to be wise as serpents when they are in the midst of a generation of vipers and scorpions.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Luke 20:20
“They watched him - Παρατηρησαντες, Insidiously watching. See on Luk 14:1 (note). Spies - Εγκαθετους, from εν, in, and καθιημι, I let down, to set in ambush. One who crouches in some secret place to spy, listen, catch, or hurt. Hesychius explains the word by ενεδρευοντες, those who lie in wait, or in ambush, to surprise and slay. Josephus uses the word to signify a person bribed for a particular purpose. See War, b. ii. c. ii. s. 5, and b. vi. c. v. s.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
You show no partiality: The praise is true and meant as bait. Bonaventure grants that their words were true. Bede calls it a smooth and artful question, set to draw Him into saying that He fears God above Caesar.
Luke 20:21
“What do they say? "Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, nor do you accept persons but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?" O what polluted dishonesty! The God of all certainly wanted Israel to be exempt from human rule. They trampled under foot the divine laws and totally despised the commandment given to them. They committed themselves to their own devices. They therefore fell under the hand of those who at that time ruled over them.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on Luke, Homily 135patristic
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 20:21
“And they asked him, saying, master,.... Rabbi, or doctor; hoping, by this flattering title, and the flattering words used by them, to work him up to an openness and freedom of conversation with them: we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly; rightly dividest the word of God, and deliverest out sound doctrine according to it: and this he certainly did, though they spoke these words hypocritically, not believing what they themselves said; at least, they did not care that others should believe this of him: neither acceptest thou the person of any.”
Luke 20:21
“Now if Christ should say that it was lawful the people would take it ill, for they expected that he who set up to be the Messiah should in the first place free them from the Roman yoke, and stand by them in denying tribute to Cæsar.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
pay taxes to Caesar: Either answer was a trap. A yes would anger the people, who expected the Messiah to free them from the Roman yoke, as Henry notes. A no would give the spies their charge before the governor.
Luke 20:22
And everywhere we, more readily than all men, endeavour to pay to those appointed by you the taxes both ordinary and extraordinary, as we have been taught by Him; for at that time some came to Him and asked Him, if one ought to pay tribute to Caesar; and He answered, "Tell Me, whose image does the coin bear?" And they said, "Caesar's." And again He answered them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."
Justin Martyr · written before 165 · The First Apology, Chapter XVIIpatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 20:22
“Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no? The Syriac and Persic versions here, as in the other evangelists, render it, "head money". The phrase, "for us", is here added, and on it lies the emphasis, and stress of the question; for the doubt pretended, was not whether it was lawful for the Romans to pay tribute to Caesar, but whether it was lawful for them who were Jews, were Abraham's seed, and, as they boasted, were never in bondage, but were the Lord's free people, to pay tribute to an Heathen emperor, or no.”
Luke 20:23-26
saw through their duplicity: Jesus saw through their duplicity and asked whose image the denarius bore. Their own answer, Caesar’s, supplies half His verdict: Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s. The coin bears Caesar's image, and a person bears God's image and belongs whole to God.
Luke 20:23
“But he perceived their craftiness,.... Knowing what was in them, and being a discerner of the thoughts and intents of their hearts, he clearly saw that their view was either, that they might have a charge against him to the Roman governor, should he declare against payment of tribute; or that they might expose him to the people of the Jews, should he assert the lawfulness of it: and said unto them, why tempt ye me? with this ensnaring question.”
The coin they carried supplied the answer. Bede notes that Jesus knew whose image was on the money and asked in order to give a fitting answer. Ambrose sets the image of Caesar beside the image of God, one image of the world and another of God.
Luke 20:24
When they questioned him about the penny, he asks about the image, because there is one image of God and another image of the world. The apostle also admonishes us, "As we have borne the image of the earthly, let us bear also the image of the heavenly." Christ does not have the image of Caesar, because he is the image of God. Peter does not have the image of Caesar, because he said, "We have left all things, and have followed you."
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Exposition of the Gospel of Luke 9.35patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 20:24
“Show me a penny,.... A Roman denarius, value seven pence halfpenny of our money.”
Theophylact notes that the verb Jesus uses means give back, a debt paid to Caesar, who protects his subjects and keeps their life quiet. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that no one could dispute the answer Jesus told them. What is God's is given to God.
Luke 20:25
“And he said unto them, render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's,.... The Arabic version renders it, "give to the king what is the king's"; the tribute that was due to him; since they were under his government, and were protected by him, and traded with his money; the currency of which among them was an acknowledgment of him as their sovereign: and unto God the things which be God's; which relate to his worship, honour, interest, and kingdom; See Gill on Mat 22:21.”
amazed at His answer, they fell silent: Theophylact notes that their chief aim was to trap Him before the people as one enslaving the nation to the Romans. The wisdom of His answer defeated the trap.
Luke 20:26
“And they could not reproach his word before the people, and marveling at his answers they remained silent. They who ought to have believed because of such wisdom, wondered that their cunning in ensnaring had found no place.”
Bede · written before 735 · On the Gospel of Lukepatristic
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 20:26
“If, then, forasmuch as there is in the law a precept that a man is to take in marriage the wife of his brother if he have died without children, for the purpose of raising up seed to his brother; and this may happen repeatedly to the same person, according to that crafty question of the Sadducees; men for that reason think that frequency of marriage is permitted in other cases as well: it will be their duty to understand first the reason of the precept itself; and thus they will come to know that that reason, now ceasing, is…”
Tertullian · written before 220 · On Monogamypatristic
Luke 20:26
“The Pharisees could not catch Jesus in His word before the people. For their special concern was to slander Him before the people as one who was enslaving the nation to the Romans. But this they could not achieve because of His most wise answer.”
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Commentary on Lukepatristic
Sadducees Ask About Seven Husbands
Luke 20:27-30
who say there is no resurrection: Then some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to question Him, citing the law of Deuteronomy 25:5-6. Seven brothers marry the same woman in turn and each dies childless, a number chosen to make the case absurd. They mean to make the resurrection itself look ridiculous.
Luke 20:27
“We see in these verses — what an old thing unbelief is. We are told that "Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question." Even in the Jewish Church, the Church of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, the Church of Moses, and Samuel, and David, and the prophets — we find that there were bold, avowed, unblushing skeptics . If infidelity like this existed among God's people, the Jews — then what must have been the state of heathenism?”
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 20:27
“That is, "to Jesus", as the Persic version expresses it; and it was the same day, as Matthew says, on which the disciples of the Pharisees, and the Herodians, had been with him, putting the question about tribute to him: Mat 22:16 which deny that there is any resurrection; that is, of the dead; that there ever was any instance of it, or ever will be: this was the distinguishing tenet of that sect; see Act 23:8 and they asked him, the following question, after they had put a case to him.”
raise up offspring for him: The Sadducees open with Moses. Ambrose notes that the letter of the law compelled a widow to marry, however unwilling, to raise up offspring for the brother who died. He sets it beside the saying that the letter kills.
Luke 20:28
“Saying, master, Moses wrote unto us,.... In Deu 25:5 where the substance of what follows is contained, though not in express words: if any man's brother die, having a wife, and he die without children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother; the meaning of which is, that if a man died without issue, and left a wife behind him, his next brother, if unmarried, was to marry his wife, and the first child born of her, was to be reckoned the deceased's, and to inherit his estate; See Gill on Mat 22:24.”
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 20:28
“According to the letter of the law, a woman is compelled to marry, however unwilling, in order that a brother may raise up seed to his brother who is dead. The letter therefore killeth, but the Spirit is the master of charity.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Cross references
Luke 20:28
Now there were seven brothers: Gill holds that the Sadducees either knew such brothers or supposed the case, and that it might have happened. Each brother marries and dies childless. Seven brothers push the case to its limit.
Luke 20:29
“There were therefore seven brethren,.... In the place where these Sadducees dwelt; or, however, that were known by them; at least they supposed such a case, and it might be fact: and the first took a wife, and died without children; son or daughter, and so had none to keep up his name, and to possess his inheritance.”
Then the second: Gill notes that the second brother married her as the law obliged him, unless he refused and had his sandal pulled off. He died childless like the eldest.
Luke 20:30
“And the second took her to wife,.... As he was obliged by the above law, or pluck off the shoe: and he died childless: as his eldest brother before him.”
Luke 20:31-33
all seven died, leaving no children: After all seven brothers and the woman die, the Sadducees ask whose wife she will be in the resurrection. The case is built to make the resurrection an absurd tangle. Jesus answers by correcting its assumption, that life after death copies life on earth.
Luke 20:31
“And the third took her,.... To wife, by virtue of the same law: and in like manner the seven also; the other four, one after another, when all seven married her: and they left no children, and died; or they died, leaving no children behind them.”
the woman died: The woman outlives all seven husbands and dies last. Gill adds that she had borne no child to any of them. Every line of the story has been built toward the question of verse 33.
Luke 20:32
“Last of all the woman died also. Having had no children by either of her seven husbands.”
whose wife will she be?: Bede notes that the Sadducees use the absurdity of the story to deny the truth of the resurrection. Gill notes they speak of a resurrection they denied. The question assumes that life after death copies life on earth.
Luke 20:33
“Therefore in the resurrection,.... At the time of the resurrection of the dead, in that state, supposing there will be such an one, which they denied; whose wife of them is she? the first, or the last, or any of the intermediate ones? for seven had her to wife; and she had no child by either of them; so that their claim seems to be alike; this they thought unanswerable, and sufficient to set aside the notion of a resurrection.”
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 20:33
“For the question submitted to Christ had nothing to do with the god, but only with the state, of that world.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Against Marcion Book IVpatristic
Luke 20:34-36
Jesus answers that those counted worthy of the age to come will neither marry nor be given in marriage. The reason follows: they can no longer die, because they are like the angels. Marriage belongs to the mortal order, where death makes children necessary.
Luke 20:34
“Let us also see what Christ said to them. He says, "The children of this world that lead worldly, fleshly lives full of fleshly lust marry and are married for the procreation of children. Those who have maintained an honorable and chosen life, full of all excellence, and have been accounted worthy of attaining to a glorious and marvelous resurrection, certainly will be raised far above the life which people lead in this world. They will live as is suitable for saints who already have been brought near to God.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on Luke, Homily 136patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 20:34
“The children of this world - Men and women in their present state of mortality and probation; procreation being necessary to restore the waste made by death, and to keep up the population of the earth.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
worthy to share in the age to come: Jesus sets the age to come beside this age. Theophylact reads the reason: the sons of that age cannot die, so there is no marriage there, and their life is angelic. Worthy names those God counts fit for the resurrection.
Luke 20:35
“But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world,.... The world to come, eternal life and happiness; not by their own works and merits, but through the blood, sacrifice, and righteousness of the Messiah; and the resurrection from the dead; that is, the first resurrection, the resurrection unto life, which only the dead in Christ will enjoy; otherwise all will be raised: but some to the resurrection of damnation: these neither marry, nor are given in marriage; there will be no need of any such practice, for the reasons that follow.”
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 20:35
"And all that glory shall serve Him; His dominion shall be an everlasting one, which shall not be taker from Him, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed," because in it "men shall not die, neither shall they marry, but be like the angels."
Tertullian · written before 220 · Against Marcion Book IVpatristic
they are like the angels: Like the angels, they can no longer die. Theophylact reads sons of God as those regenerated by the resurrection, since God works in it, and nothing carnal remains in them.
Luke 20:36
“Equal unto the angels - Who neither marry nor die. See the Jewish testimonies to the resurrection of the human body quoted at length on 1Co 15:42 (note).”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 20:36
“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.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 20:37-38
the passage about the burning bush: Even Moses demonstrates that the dead are raised, in the passage about the burning bush, and the Sadducees accepted only the books of Moses. At Exodus 3:6 He is still the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, so they live to Him.
Luke 20:37
“The Savior also demonstrated the great ignorance of the Sadducees by bringing forward their own leader Moses, who was clearly acquainted with the resurrection of the dead. He set God before us saying in the bush, "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." Of whom is he God, if, according to their argument, these have ceased to live? He is the God of the living.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on Luke, Homily 136patristic
Cross references
Luke 20:37
- QuotingExodus 3:6“Then He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.”
'the God of Abraham', resurrection argument at the bush
Theophylact notes that God spoke of Himself in the present tense at the bush. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are therefore alive to Him in the hope of the resurrection. The argument rests on one verb.
Luke 20:38
“For those that have believed in God, although they are asleep, are not dead. For our Saviour says to the Sadducees: "But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which is written, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God, therefore, is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for all live to Him." Wherefore, of those that live with God, even their very relics are not without honour.”
Apostolic Constitutions · written before 380 · Constitutions of the Holy Apostles Book 6patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 20:38
“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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 20:39-40
Some of the scribes sided with Jesus against the Sadducees on the resurrection: Teacher, You have spoken well. After three failed tests, on His authority, on taxes to Caesar and on the resurrection, they did not dare to question Him any further.
Luke 20:39
“Then certain of the Scribes, answering said,.... Who believed the doctrine of the resurrection, which the Sadducees denied, and so were pleased with our Lord's reasoning on this subject: master, thou hast well said; thou hast spoken in a beautiful manner, reasoned finely upon this head, and set this matter in a fair and clear light; See Gill on Mar 12:28.”
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 20:39
“They, indeed, who had caught the very force of His voice, and pronunciation, and expression, discovered no other sense than what had reference to the matter of the question. Accordingly, the Scribes exclaimed, "Master, Thou hast well said." For He had affirmed the resurrection, by describing the form thereof in opposition to the opinion of the Sadducees.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Against Marcion Book IVpatristic
did not dare to question Him: Gill notes that after this no party asked Him anything, whether Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes or Herodians. Clarke gives the reason as fear of being confounded again. Henry sets them against His disciples, who, though weak, dared to ask Him questions.
Luke 20:40
“They durst not ask - Or, did not venture to ask any other question, for fear of being again confounded, as they had already been.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
David's Lord; Beware of the Scribes
Luke 20:41-44
is the Son of David?: Jesus asks how the Christ can be the Son of David when David calls Him Lord in Psalm 110:1. The question points to what the New Testament states plainly: the Christ descends from David and is David's Lord by deity.
Luke 20:41
“And he said unto them,.... The Ethiopic version reads, "to the Pharisees"; and so it appears, that it was to them he spoke, from Mat 22:41 how say they? The Syriac version reads, "how say the Scribes?" as in Mar 12:35 and the Persic version, how say the wise men, the doctors in Israel, that Christ is David's son? that which nothing was more common among the Jews.”
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 20:41
“They are not blamed here because they acknowledge Him to be David's Son, for the blind man for so doing was thought worthy to be healed. (Luke 18:42.) And the children saying, Hosanna to the Son of David, (Matt. 21:9.) rendered to God the glory of the highest praise; but they are blamed because they believe Him not to be the Son of God. Hence it is added, And David himself saith in the book of Psalms, The Lord said unto my Lord. (Ps. 110:1.)”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Luke 20:41
“Let us observe in this passage — what striking testimony to Christ's divinity, the book of Psalms contains. We read that after patiently replying to the attacks of His enemies, our Lord in turn propounds a question to them. He asks them to explain an expression in the hundred and tenth Psalm, where David speaks of the Messiah as his Lord. To this question the Scribes could find no answer.”
Jesus quotes Psalm 110:1 and names David as its author. Augustine warns against picturing the sitting as a posture of human limbs. Bonaventure reads the psalm as foretelling the eternal generation of the Son.
Luke 20:42
“If he be his Lord, why do we call him his Son? This he left them to consider of, but they could not reconcile this seeming contradiction; thanks be to God, we can; that Christ, as God, was David's Lord, but Christ, as man, was David's Son. He was both the root and the offspring of David, Rev. xxii.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 20:42
“He manifests then that He is not opposed to the Father, but agrees with Him, since the Father resists the Son's enemies, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool.”
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Cross references
Luke 20:42
- QuotingPsalms 110:1The LORD said to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
'The Lord said unto my Lord' (Davidic-sonship question)
Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet sets a limit on the waiting of verse 42. Clarke notes that the phrase reads literally the footstool of the feet, the picture of enemies fully subjected. The Father subdues the enemies, and the Son waits seated.
Luke 20:43
“Until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Which words are a continuation of the citation out of the above Psalm Psa 110:1; and for the application of these words, with the preceding, to the Messiah; see Gill on Mat 22:44.”
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 20:43
“Thy footstool - Literally, the footstool of thy feet. They shall not only be so far humbled that the feet may be set on them; but they shall be actually subjected, and put completely under that Christ whom they now despise, and are about to crucify.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Luke 20:43
“We must believe then that Christ is both God and man, and that His enemies are made subject to Him by the Father, not through the weakness of His power, but through the unity of their nature, since in the one the other works. For the Son also subjects enemies to the Father, in that He glorifies the Father upon earth. (John 17:6.)”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Thus David calls Him: Theophylact answers the question: He was David's son according to the flesh and at the same time David's God. He adds that Jesus stirs the doubt and leaves the hearers to draw the conclusion. The question is left with them.
Luke 20:45-47
the hearing of all the people: Jesus warns His disciples against the scribes, who love the greetings in the marketplaces and the chief seats in the synagogues. They defraud widows of their houses and make lengthy prayers for a show, so the show of piety makes their condemnation greater.
Luke 20:45
“Then in the audience of all the people,.... Whilst they were about him, and hearing him, and for their sakes too; he said unto his disciples; yea, he spake to the multitude, as well as to the disciples, as appears from Mat 23:1.”
2 more voices on this verse
Luke 20:45
“To keep the company of the holy disciples free from disgraceful faults, he usefully testifies. He says, "Beware of the scribes and Pharisees." That means do not expose yourselves to be the prey of their vices and do not be partakers of their disregard of God. What was their custom? They walked in the streets beautifully clothed, dragging with them a pompous dignity to catch the praises of those who saw them. While they were wicked and their hearts were full of all dishonesty, they falsely assumed to themselves the reputation of piety.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Commentary on Luke, Homily 137patristic
Luke 20:45
“Christ bids his disciples beware of the scribes, that is, 1. "Take heed of being drawn into sin by them, of learning their way, and going into their measures; beware of such a spirit as they are governed by. Be not you such in the Christian church as they are in the Jewish church." 2.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Theophylact reads the warning as fitted to disciples about to be sent to teach the world. They were to avoid the scribes' love of glory and of first place. Every item on the list is public.
Luke 20:46
“He does not forbid those to sit first in the synagogue, or at the feast, to whom this dignity belongs by right, but He tells them to beware of those who love this unduly; denouncing not the distinction, but the love of it. Though the other also would not be free from blame, when the same men who wish to take part in the disputes in the market, desire also to be called masters in the synagogue.”
Bede · written before 735 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 20:46
“Beware of the scribes - Take heed that ye be not seduced by those who should show you the way of salvation. See on Mat 23:4-14 (note). 1. How it can be supposed that the ancient Jewish Church had no distinct notion of the resurrection of the dead is to me truly surprising. The justice of God, so peculiarly conspicuous under the old covenant, might have led the people to infer that there must be a resurrection of the dead, if even the passage to which our Lord refers had not made a part of their law.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
They defraud widows of their houses: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read it as taking advantage of widows' helpless and trusting condition to gain their houses. Lengthy prayers made for a show are the cover, and their condemnation is the greater for it.
Luke 20:47
“But they seek not only for praise from men, but money; for it follows, Who devour widows' houses, and for a show make long prayers. For pretending to be righteous and of great merit before God, they do not fail to receive large sums of money from the sick and those whose consciences are disturbed with their sins, as though they would be their protectors in the judgment. Or because they seek from men praise and money, they are punished with the greater damnation.”
Bede · written before 735 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Luke 20:47
“Which devour widows' houses,.... As the characters of them, in the preceding verse, expose their pride, this shows their avarice; they were very voracious and cruel; they did not spare widows, but devoured their substance: and for a show make long prayers; to cover their wickedness, pretending great devotion and religion; the same shall receive greater damnation: than openly profane sinners; doing such wickedness under a cloak of religion, will aggravate their condemnation; See Gill on Mat 23:14.”
Keep studying
Studies5
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Gospels; Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture, Luke; Ambrose of Milan; Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Bede; Bonaventure, Commentary on Luke, Chapter 20; Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 133; J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Luke; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Tertullian, Against Marcion Book IV and Theophylact of Ohrid.