Event 6 – A Shrewd Question and Pertinent Parables

Matthew 21:23-22:14; Mark 11:27-12:12; Luke 20:1-19

• Tuesday, April 4

^K They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus ^L was teaching the people in the temple courts and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. ^K “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you authority to do this?”

^M Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism – where did it come from? Was it ^K from heaven, or from men? Tell me!”

They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ^L ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet.”

So they answered, “We don’t know where it was from.”

Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

^K He then began to speak to them in parables: ^M “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ ‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.

Which of the two did what his father wanted? ‘The first,’ they answered. Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.