The Daily Audio Bible

Priests Ask, By What Authority Do You Do This? From Where Was John’s Authority?

²⁷ And they come again into Jerusalem. And while He is walking around in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders come to Him. ²⁸ And they were saying to Him, “By what-kind-of ^[a] authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority that you may be doing these things?” ²⁹ And Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one thing, and you answer Me, and I will tell you by what kind of authority I am doing these things: ³⁰ Was the baptism of John from heaven or from humans? Answer Me!” ³¹ And they were discussing it with themselves, saying, “If we say ‘From heaven’, He will say ‘Then for what reason did you not believe him?’ ³² But should we say ‘From humans’?” They were fearing the crowd, for they all were holding as to John that he really was a prophet. ³³ And having responded to Jesus, they say “We do not know”. And Jesus says to them, “Nor am I telling you by what kind of authority I am doing these things”.

You Priests Are Like Farmers Who Killed The Owner’s Messengers And His Son

12 And He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit [for a wine press] and built a tower. And he rented it to farmers and went-on-a-journey. ² And he sent forth a slave to the farmers at the harvest time in order that he might receive from the fruits of the vineyard from the farmers. ³ And having taken him, they beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴ And again he sent-forth another slave to them. And that one they struck-on-the-head, and dishonored. ⁵ And he sent forth another— and that one they killed— and many others, they beating some and killing others. ⁶ He was still having one to send: a beloved son. He sent him forth to them last, saying that ‘They will have-regard-for my son’. ⁷ But those farmers said to themselves that ‘This one is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours’. ⁸ And having taken him, they killed him and threw him outside of the vineyard. ⁹ Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the farmers, and give the vineyard to others.

But As The Psalm Says, The Stone The Builders Rejected Became The Cornerstone

¹⁰ Did you not even read this Scripture [in Ps 118:22-23]: ‘The stone which the ones building rejected, this became the head of the corner^[b]. ¹¹ This came about from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” ¹² And they were seeking to seize Him. And^[c] they feared the crowd. For they^[d] knew that He spoke the parable against them. And having left Him, they went away.

The Pharisees Try To Snare Jesus: Shall We Pay Taxes To Caesar?

¹³ And they send forth some of the Pharisees and the Herodians^[e] to Him in order that they might catch Him in a statement. ¹⁴ And having come, they say to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful. And You are not concerned about [pleasing] anyone^[f], for You do not look^[g] at the face of people, but You teach the way of God in accordance with truth. Is it lawful to give a poll-tax^[h] to Caesar, or not? Should we give it, or should we not give it?” ¹⁵ But the One, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a denarius^[i] in order that I may see it”. ¹⁶ And the ones brought it. And He says to them, “Whose is this image^[j] and inscription?” And the ones said to Him, “Caesar’s”. ¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, “Give back^[k] the things of ^[l] Caesar to Caesar, and the things of God to God”. And they were marveling-greatly at Him.