Read Luke 20

Students of American history know John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. They may not be as familiar with George Azterodt, who was part of Wilkes’s conspiracy. Wilkes had instructed Azterodt to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson—but Azterodt lost his nerve and went out drinking instead. He was still convicted as an accomplice of Wilkes and executed by hanging in July 1865.

In our text today, Jesus had entered Jerusalem and the plot to kill Him intensified. The Pharisees and religious leaders were looking for a way to accuse Him; they were afraid of the crowd’s reaction if it seemed they were attacking Jesus for no reason. First, they tried to entrap Him on religious grounds: By what authority did He teach in the temple (v. 2)? Second, they tried to entrap Him on political grounds: Should faithful Jews pay taxes to the Romans (v. 22)?

Jesus demonstrated His discretion and wisdom by avoiding debate and instead answering questions with questions. He asked them to describe the nature of John’s baptism—was it earthly or was it heavenly (v. 4)? When questioned about taxes, He showed the interlocutors a denarius: whose inscription was on the coin (v. 23)? Jesus knew the questions posed by the Pharisees were attempted tricks, so He put them on the hot seat.

Jesus avoided pointless debate, but He didn’t hesitate to confront the Pharisees. He named their lust for power and riches (vv. 46–47). He told a parable about a vineyard, and they knew it was an indictment of them. They were tenants of the vineyard (which we have already seen is a metaphor for the people of Israel), and like these tenants, they have conspired to kill the son of the landowner (vv. 9–19). As God’s enemies, they will suffer severe punishment for rejecting the Cornerstone (v. 17).

APPLY THE WORD

We learn a lot about handling criticism and accusation from Jesus’ interaction with Pharisees. Those who are interested in defaming and harming us will not respond to our reasoning. We may need to confront them with the truth, but ultimately we must recognize that hatred is a heart issue that arguments alone can’t change.

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