Inspire Bible for Kids Luke Sampler - Book - Page 53
LUKE 20:20
Jesus Clears the Temple
45 Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling
animals for sacrifices. 46 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple
will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”*
47 After that, he taught daily in the Temple, but the leading priests, the
teachers of religious law, and the other leaders of the people began planning
how to kill him. 48 But they could think of nothing, because all the people
hung on every word he said.
The Authority of Jesus Challenged
One day as Jesus was teaching the people and preaching the Good
News in the Temple, the leading priests, the teachers of religious law,
and the elders came up to him. 2 They demanded, “By what authority are you
doing all these things? Who gave you the right?”
3 “Let me ask you a question first,” he replied. 4 “Did John’s authority to
baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?”
5 They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he
will ask why we didn’t believe John. 6 But if we say it was merely human, the
people will stone us because they are convinced John was a prophet.” 7 So
they finally replied that they didn’t know.
8 And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these
things.”
20
Parable of the Evil Farmers
9 Now Jesus turned to the people again and told them this story: “A man
planted a vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and moved to another country to live for several years. 10 At the time of the grape harvest, he sent one
of his servants to collect his share of the crop. But the farmers attacked the
servant, beat him up, and sent him back empty-handed. 11 So the owner
sent another servant, but they also insulted him, beat him up, and sent
him away empty-handed. 12 A third man was sent, and they wounded him
and chased him away.
13 “ ‘What will I do?’ the owner asked himself. ‘I know! I’ll send my cherished son. Surely they will respect him.’
14 “But when the tenant farmers saw his son, they said to each other, ‘Here
comes the heir to this estate. Let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’
15 So they dragged him out of the vineyard and murdered him.
“What do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do to them?” Jesus
asked. 16 “I’ll tell you—he will come and kill those farmers and lease the
vineyard to others.”
“How terrible that such a thing should ever happen,” his listeners
protested.
17 Jesus looked at them and said, “Then what does this Scripture mean?
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.’*
18 Everyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it
will crush anyone it falls on.”
19 The teachers of religious law and the leading priests wanted to arrest
Jesus immediately because they realized he was telling the story against
them—they were the wicked farmers. But they were afraid of the people’s
reaction.
Taxes for Caesar
20 Watching for their opportunity, the leaders sent spies pretending to be
honest men. They tried to get Jesus to say something that could be reported
19:46 Isa 56:7; Jer 7:11.
20:17 Ps 118:22.
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1307
Record Your Thoughts
God should always come
first. What are your
priorities? Do you put God
first, or is he way down
on the list? How can you
rearrange your priorities
to give God first place in
everything?
