Jesus and Zacchaeus
1He entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. 4So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 5When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” 6So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 7All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” 8Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” 9Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”
The Parable of the Ten Pounds
11As they were listening to this, he went on to tell a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. 12So he said, “A nobleman went to a distant country to get royal power for himself and then return. 13He summoned ten of his slaves, and gave them ten pounds,a and said to them, ‘Do business with these until I come back.’ 14But the citizens of his country hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to rule over us.’ 15When he returned, having received royal power, he ordered these slaves, to whom he had given the money, to be summoned so that he might find out what they had gained by trading. 16The first came forward and said, ‘Lord, your pound has made ten more pounds.’ 17He said to him, ‘Well done, good slave! Because you have been trustworthy in a very small thing, take charge of ten cities.’ 18Then the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your pound has made five pounds.’ 19He said to him, ‘And you, rule over five cities.’ 20Then the other came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your pound. I wrapped it up in a piece of cloth, 21for I was afraid of you, because you are a harsh man; you take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ 22He said to him, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked slave! You knew, did you, that I was a harsh man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? 23Why then did you not put my money into the bank? Then when I returned, I could have collected it with interest.’ 24He said to the bystanders, ‘Take the pound from him and give it to the one who has ten pounds.’ 25(And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten pounds!’) 26‘I tell you, to all those who have, more will be given; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 27But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and slaughter them in my presence.’”
Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
28After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
29When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’” 32So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. 33As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34They said, “The Lord needs it.” 35Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38saying,
“Blessed is the king
who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,
and glory in the highest heaven!”
39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” 40He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”
Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem
41As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. 44They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”b
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
45Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there; 46and he said, “It is written,
‘My house shall be a house of prayer’
but you have made it a den of robbers.”
47Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him; 48but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were spellbound by what they heard.
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a The mina, rendered here by pound, was about three months’ wages for a laborer
b Gk lacks from God
19.1–10 The story of Zacchaeus illustrates earlier statements about tax collectors (5.29–32), the rich (18.25–27), and the lost (ch. 15).
19.2 Zacchaeus, the Greek rendering of a common Hebrew name (Ezra 2.9; Neh 7.14; 2 Macc 10.19) meaning “innocent” or “clean.” A chief tax collector played a role in the Roman bureaucracy that many Jews regarded as traitorous to their law (see 20.22; see also note on 5.30).
19.5 I must stay at your house. The comment implies divine necessity (see note on 2.49). Today. See note on 19.9.
19.7 The crowd’s reaction recalls those in 5.30; 7.34, 39;15.2.
19.8 Zacchaeus’s promise to give half to the poor is voluntary (cf. 18.18–25). Pay back four times as much, fulfilling the strictest law of restitution (see Ex 22.1). If I have defrauded. See 3.14. Some scholars understand Zacchaeus’s words to be a statement of his customary procedure (i.e., a defense) and not a sign of conversion, since the Greek verb behind I will give is in the present tense, lit. “I am giving.”
19.9 Today (see 2.11; 4.21;23.43; Deut 26.16–19) stresses the present reality of salvation (see note on 4.43). Son of Abraham, i.e., an Israelite (see also 3.8; 13.16; cf. Gal 3.29).
19.10 To save the lost. See note on 15.4.
19.11–27 Cf. Mt 25.14–30; Mk 13.34. This parable concludes the extended journey to Jerusalem (9.51–19.27) and again corrects misunderstandings about the present reality and future appearance of the kingdom of God (see 17.20–37; 21.7–36; Acts 1.6–7).
19.12 To get royal power, i.e., to acquire the status of a vassal king from an overlord (see note on 3.1). This allegorical detail alludes to Jesus’ own imminent departure and exaltation (24.26; Acts 2.32–36).
19.13 The pounds, or “minas” (see text note a), are distributed equally (cf. Mt 25.15). Each was worth 100 drachmas (see 15.8, text note a).
19.14 Another allegorical detail seems to refer to Jesus’ rejection (see 23.18).
19.17 Take charge of ten cities. The rewards are dispensed in direct proportion to performance.
19.26 See also 8.18; Mt 13.12; 25.29; Mk 4.25.
19.27 The conclusion of the story portrays with harsh realism how oriental kings could treat their enemies (v. 14; see also 20.9–16). The detail may allude to the destruction of Jerusalem (see 21.20–24).
19.28–40 Cf. Mt 21.1–9; Mk 11.1–10; Jn 12.12–19. The journey that began in 9.51 now reaches its climax in Jerusalem.
19.28 Going up. See note on 10.30.
19.29 Bethphage and Bethany are villages about two miles from Jerusalem, on the lower slope of the Mount of Olives (see also 24.50; Mt 21.1; 26.6; Mk 11.1; 14.3; Jn 11.1, 18; 12.1). The Mount of Olives is just east of Jerusalem; God was expected to appear t
here on the “day of the LORD” and become “king over all the earth” (see Zech 14.4–9). The two disciples are advance agents preparing for a royal entrance (see also 9.52;10.1).
19.30 The unridden colt marks a direct enactment of Zech 9.9 (see Mt 21.4–5; see also 1 Kings 1.33–35).
19.34 The Lord needs it. The colt is requisitioned as a royal prerogative.
19.36 Luke does not mention festal branches (cf. Mt 21.8; Mk 11.8; Jn 12.13), but spreading their cloaks has royal significance (cf. 2 Kings 9.13).
19.37 The multitude of the disciples again stresses Jesus’ large following (see also 18.15, 36, 43; 19.3).
19.38 Blessed…in the name of the Lord, the usual greeting (from Ps 118.26) for Passover pilgrims (but with the word king added); and it also fulfills Jesus’ royal prediction of 13.35. Peace in heaven. Cf. 2.14; 10.5–6; 12.51;19.42.
19.39 The caution of some of the Pharisees recalls 13.31. This is the last appearance of the Pharisees in the Gospel. In Acts they almost serve as allies to the Christian cause (see Acts 5.33–42; 23.6–9).
19.40 Jesus’ response (lit. “the stones will cry out”) is prophetic (cf. Hab 2.11).
19.41–44 Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem (see 13.34–35) is filled with allusions to oracles of destruction (2 Kings 8.11–12; Ps 137.9; Isa 29.3–10; 48.18; Jer 6.6–20; 8.18–21; 15.5; 23.38–40).
19.43 Ramparts implies siege warfare such as Titus used against Jerusalem in 70 CE, but also cf. Isa 29.3 (see also Introduction).
19.44 Not…one stone upon another. See also v. 40; 21.6. The fault lies in the failure to recognize Jesus as God’s visitation, intended to save (1.68; 7.16) but now become judgment (Isa 29.6).
19.45–48 Cf. Mt 21.12–13; Mk 11.15–17; Jn 2.13–17. In a sudden visitation to the temple (see Mal 3.1–2), the Messiah drives merchants from it.
19.46 Restoring the temple as a house of prayer has prophetic precedent (Isa 56.7). Den of robbers. See Jer 7.11.
19.47–48 Jesus is teaching in the temple through ch. 21. Luke eliminates all the specific chronological references of Mark’s “passion week”(e.g., Mk 14.1) and represents Jesus’ time in Jerusalem as an extended time of teaching. On the efforts of the leaders to find a way to kill him, see 11.53–54; 22.2; see also 6.11. The constant presence of the people in Jerusalem serves as a buffer between Jesus and those who would do him harm (see 20.1, 6, 9, 19, 26, 45;21.38; 22.2).
Luke 20
The Authority of Jesus Questioned
1One day, as he was teaching the people in the temple and telling the good news, the chief priests and the scribes came with the elders 2and said to him, “Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who is it who gave you this authority?” 3He answered them, “I will also ask you a question, and you tell me: 4Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” 5They discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ 6But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us; for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” 7So they answered that they did not know where it came from. 8Then Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
The Parable of the Wicked Tenants
9He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, and leased it to tenants, and went to another country for a long time. 10When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants in order that they might give him his share of the produce of the vineyard; but the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11Next he sent another slave; that one also they beat and insulted and sent away empty-handed. 12And he sent still a third; this one also they wounded and threw out. 13Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ 14But when the tenants saw him, they discussed it among themselves and said, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance may be ours.’ 15So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Heaven forbid!” 17But he looked at them and said, “What then does this text mean:
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone’?a
18Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.” 19When the scribes and chief priests realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to lay hands on him at that very hour, but they feared the people.
The Question about Paying Taxes
20So they watched him and sent spies who pretended to be honest, in order to trap him by what he said, so as to hand him over to the jurisdiction and authority of the governor. 21So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you are right in what you say and teach, and you show deference to no one, but teach the way of God in accordance with truth. 22Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” 23But he perceived their craftiness and said to them, 24“Show me a denarius. Whose head and whose title does it bear?” They said, “The emperor’s.” 25He said to them, “Then give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 26And they were not able in the presence of the people to trap him by what he said; and being amazed by his answer, they became silent.
The Question about the Resurrection
27Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him 28and asked him a question, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the manb shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. 29Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; 30then the second 31and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. 32Finally the woman also died. 33In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.”
34Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; 35but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. 37And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 38Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.” 39Then some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” 40For they no longer dared to ask him another question.
The Question about David’s Son
41Then he said to them, “How can they say that the Messiahc is David’s son? 42For David himself says in the book of Psalms,
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
43until I make your enemies your footstool.” ’
44David thus calls him Lord; so how can he be his son?”
Jesus Denounces the Scribes
45In the hearing of all the people he said to thed disciples, 46“Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets. 47They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
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a Or keystone
b Gk his brother
c Or the Christ
d Other ancient authorities read his
20.1–21.4 In a series of conflicts in the temple, Jesus’ adversaries ask insincere questions to entrap or ridicule him, yet he still finds ways to teach with integrity.
20.1–8 Cf. Mt 21.23–27; Mk 11.27–33.
20.1 Jesus’ daily teaching in the temple is linked with his “proclaiming,” or telling the good news (see 4.18, 43; 7.22; 8.1; 9.6; 16.16). The ch
ief priests, scribes, and elders are Jesus’ primary adversaries in Jerusalem (see also 9.22; 19.47; 20.19; 22.52).
20.2 On the question of Jesus’ authority, see 4.32, 36; 5.24; 11.14–23; see also 9.1; 10.19.
20.3 Jesus’ question places his opponents on the horns of a dilemma.
20.4 Baptism of John. See 3.1–17; 7.24–35.
20.5–6 See 7.29–30; cf. Acts 5.38–39.
20.9–19 Cf. Mt 21.33–46; Mk 12.1–12. Jesus’ parable presses his adversaries beyond predictable scholastic questions (see also 10.25–26;18.18–19).
20.9 Vineyard. See Isa 5.1–7.
20.10–12 The mistreatment of the slaves recalls the treatment of the prophets and apostles (11.49; Acts 7.52).
20.13 What shall I do? a common Lukan soliloquy (3.10, 14; 10.25; 12.17; 16.3; 18.18; Acts 2.37; 4.16; see also Isa 5.4). My beloved son. See 3.22; 9.35.
20.14 Discussed it among themselves. See v. 5; see also 19.47–48.
20.17 The text quoted is Ps 118.22, also quoted in Acts 4.11; 1 Pet 2.7. Another verse of this psalm is quoted in 13.35; 19.38.
20.18 The rejected but exalted stone (an allusion to Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection; see 9.22) will become an occasion for stumbling and judgment (see also 2.34; Isa 8.14–15; Dan 2.34–35, 44–45; 1 Pet 2.6–8).
20.19 The division continues between the people and the rulers (see note on 19.47–48).
20.20–26 Cf. Mt 22.15–22; Mk 12.13–17. The second controversy in the temple (see also vv. 1–8).
20.20 They watched him. See also 6.7; 14.1. Spies try to lay the groundwork for legal charges (see 23.2). Governor, Pilate (see 3.1; 23.1–25).
20.21 The traditional compliments (see Lev 19.15; Deut 1.17; 16.19) are patently hypocritical.
20.22 The question was difficult for Jews because of the theological claims of the Roman order (see notes on 2.10;2.11; 20.24) and the dangers of opposing Rome.
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