Luke 20:1-19

The Authority of Jesus Challenged
1 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." 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.’[a] 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.
Devotion:
As I read this passage I‘m reminded that our life and our gifts are on lease to us from God. He‘s given each of us a different set of time and a different set of skills. In this parable, the people were farmers on a vineyard, but these farmers wanted to keep everything for themselves and not give to the owner what was rightfully his. Jesus uses this story to illustrate what the religious leaders in that day were doing. You see they were given responsibilities and positions of leadership to to help people understand God‘s love for them and help them to try and live a righteous life, but they took these roles and abused them for their own selfish gain. This passage challenges me to be diligent with the gifts that God has given me and helps me realize that one day He will come back and ask me for His share of the fruits of my labor and I don‘t want to send Him back empty-handed.

Prayer:
Lord, help me to not be like the farmers in this story. God I thank You for the gifts and talents You‘ve blessed me with and I ask that You would guide me in the ways that You want me to use what You‘ve given me. Help me to not just do things for my own selfish ambitions, but create in me a clean heart that loves those around me as You love them and seeks to serve people as You have served us. In Your name I pray, amen.