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 the winepress
and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another
country. When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to
get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. And they took him
and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent to them
another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him
shamefully. And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with
many others: some they beat, and some they killed. He had still one
other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They
will respect my son.’ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This
is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be
ours.’ And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the
vineyard. What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and
destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have you not
read this Scripture:
“‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord's doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people,
for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So
they left him and went away.
And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the
Herodians, to trap him in his talk. And they came and said to him,
“Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone's
opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the
way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we
pay them, or should we not?” But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said
to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me
look at it.” And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose
likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar's.”
Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's,
and to God the things that are God's.” And they marveled at him.
And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection.
And they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us
that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no
child, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his
brother. There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when
he died left no offspring. And the second took her, and died,
leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. And the seven left no
offspring. Last of all the woman also died. In the resurrection,
when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her
as wife.”
Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong,
because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? For
when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in
marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the dead being
raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage
about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of
Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God
of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”
And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one
another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which
commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The
most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is
one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your
strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” And
the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly
said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love
him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all
the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more
than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” And when Jesus saw
that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the
kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more
questions.
And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes
say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, in the Holy
Spirit, declared,
“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet.”’
David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?” And the
great throng heard him gladly.
And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to
walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces
and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor
at feasts, who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long
prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people
putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large
sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins,
which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to
them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than
all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all
contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has
put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
