 But tonight, we're in Luke chapter 20. We're gonna be looking at verses one through 18, two sections here, one section, the first few verses, verses one through eight. We see an issue related to the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, and then we have a parable from verses nine through 18 that the Lord is going to give. And so what we'll do is we'll take these two portions of scripture separately, we'll look at verses one through eight, and then we'll look at verses nine through 18. So let's begin reading here in Luke chapter 20 at verse one. I'll read to verse eight and we'll get into our study. Luke writes, now it happened on one of those days as he taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel that the chief priests and the scribes together with the elders confronted him and spoke to him saying, tell us by what authority are you doing these things? Or who is he who gave you this authority? But he answered and said to them, I also will ask you one thing and answer me. The baptism of John, was it from heaven or from men? And they reasoned among themselves saying, if we say from heaven, he will say, why then did you not believe him? But if we say from men, all the people will stone us for they're persuaded that John was a prophet. So they answered that they did not know where it was from. And Jesus said to them, neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. So it's a question of authority. By what authority are you doing these things? Now notice in verse one how it begins here. What is happening is while Jesus is teaching and preaching, a group of religious leaders are now coming to him and confronting him. And this group of religious leaders is described for us. It's the chief priests, it's the scribes, and it's the elders. Now the chief priests were actually an elite class of priests. That's why they're called the chief priests. The present ruling high priest, Caiaphas, was part of this title. He'd be referred to as a chief priest. Those who formerly held the position of high priest would be a chief priest. There were a select group of dignitaries that would fall under that particular title, the chief priests. Then you have the scribes. The scribes were the teachers of the law. These were experts in Jewish religion. They were students of the law of Moses. And so we see that they're a chief priest. We see they're our scribes. And then you see elders. The elders were the key leaders from various key villages and towns in the nation of Israel. And normally this group of people would make up what is called the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin is the ruling council, the religious council of Israel. Under Moses, a religious council had been developed. Moses living somewhere around 1445 years before Christ. And in Numbers chapter 11, it says that God had said bring me 70 of Israel's elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the tent of meeting that they may stand there with you. And so Moses originally had a group of 70 elders. And so that was kind of how this began, at least traditionally. During the time of Ezra, some 500 years before Christ, the system evolved into a more formal council. And they actually helped the exiles return home to get situated in the nation of Israel. So during the time of Jesus, the Sanhedrin wielded great social and religious authority. They had power. And there were those who not only had power, they enjoyed it. And now they're concerned because Jesus Christ has become popular. And so what they're trying to do now is they're trying to discredit him by calling into question his authority or his credentials. That's what they're saying in verse two. And it says that they spoke to him saying, tell us by what authority are you doing these things or who is he who gave you this authority? So what they're trying to do is they're trying to challenge Jesus to reveal his credentials. Now that kind of question will always be asked of a moral leader. What gives you the right to say these things? Who gives you the right to do these things? By what authority and who gave it to you? So what they're trying to say is you have not been approved. You were never recognized by the means that we have used to approve people who have religious and moral authority. You haven't been ordained. That's what they're saying to him. You see, normally ordination occurred after serving an apprenticeship under a recognized rabbi and because of abuses, the Sanhedrin had taken over the process of ordination. And so what they're saying to Jesus is you have not completed the necessary requirements to be recognized as a rabbi. So who gives you this authority? How did you gain this authority? How did you get the right to do the things that you have recently done? Remember, Jesus has just triumphantly entered into the city of Jerusalem. Not only that, but he had entered into the temple and he had cleansed it. And so naturally they're greatly upset over that. He's been teaching and he's been preaching. He's been healing the sick. But in the cleansing of the temple, he had actually railed against the abuse of power and they got upset about that. Now, as I was sharing with you, whenever people's actions are called into question, the carnal response normally is to attack the one who is bringing the conviction. That's what is happening with them. Jesus had entered into that temple and he had cleansed it. And now they have gotten upset. And so what they've done is they've done some personal research on the Lord Jesus Christ. And what they're trying to do is they're trying to smear him. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 16, 27 and 28, an ungodly man digs up evil. And it is on his lips like a burning fire. A perverse man sows strife and a whisperer separates the best of friends. We see that every election year, smear campaigns. And so that's what they did with the Lord Jesus Christ. They were calling into question his authority in order that they might call into question his credentials. And so they questioned everything about him. As you study the scriptures, you'll discover there are a number of things that they would criticize him about. They would question him about things like his education. They questioned him about his birth. They questioned him concerning his friends. They brought accusations concerning personal habits. They called into question his spirituality. You see this throughout the gospels. For example, his education in John chapter seven, verses 14 and 15. It says about the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and taught. The Jews marveled saying, how does this man know letters having never studied? They were calling into question his education or his rabbinic training. How does this man know the law of Moses having never sat under one of our accredited rabbis? So they called into question his education. They called into question his birth. In John 841, they said to him, you do the deeds of your father. He said to them, you do the deeds of your father. Then they said to him, we are not born of fornication. We have one father, even God. When they said to Jesus, we are not born of fornication. They were calling in to question his birth because they knew that Jesus' mother Mary was not married when she was pregnant with him. So they called into question his birth. They called into question his friendships. In Luke chapter 15, we saw in verses one and two, all the tax collectors and sinners drew near to hear him and the Pharisees and scribes complained saying, this man receives sinners and eats with them. So they called into question his education, his birth, his friends. In Luke 734, they called into question his personal habits. The son of man is come eating and drinking. You say behold, a gluttonous man, a wine-biber, a friend of publicans and sinners. And they also called into question his spirituality because in Matthew 9, verse 34, the Pharisees said, he cast out devils through the prince of the devils. And so they would call into question everything about him so that his credentials could be called into question. And so they're speaking about him and they're speaking with conviction as if it's common knowledge. Now generally, that's how a person's character is attacked, smeared, and ultimately destroyed. And that's their desire to destroy his ministry effectiveness in order that they might undermine him. You see, if they could say that Jesus had no credentials, then the people might lose respect for him. So they're trying to embarrass him in order to undermine his ministry impact. People will ask, where do you get your credentials? And I think sometimes it is understandable. Many times in this fellowship, especially in the early days, I would have people approach me and that was basically what they would ask when they said, where did you get your training? You know, what schools did you go to? What did you graduate with? What is your degree? I can still remember a guy got real upset at me and he wrote me a letter, a very, very, very strongly worded letter. And he addressed it with his name and doctor of theology, master of theology, doctor of letters, you know, but he had all of these letters after his last name. And he was angry, so I responded to him and I responded to each one of the things he said and I signed mine, David Rosales HSG, high school graduate. I'm not really impressed with letters after somebody's last name, you know. Where do you get your authority? Well, Jesus's authority is from his father. And so what they're trying to do is they're trying to undermine him. They're trying to undermine him so that his ministry impact is lessened. So that's why they say, who gave you the right to do what you have done? So the question is, who gives Jesus the right to do what he's doing? And the answer is, his authority comes from above. He didn't need recognition from them. You see, in John chapter 12, verse 49, Jesus said, I have not spoken on my own authority, but the father who sent me gave me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. So Jesus was saying, my authority comes from my father. They rejected his authority then. People reject his authority even today because if the Bible says something they disagree with, they simply just disagree with the Bible. They say the Bible's wrong. Years ago I was given a Bible study out of 1 Corinthians and I got to a portion of scripture that related to just a variety of sins that Paul lists. And as I was going through that list of sins, I was explaining what Paul's referring to as I normally do in my Bible studies and all. And one of the sins that Paul listed in that list, I didn't just select it and want to talk about it. It was there in the list and I spoke about it as I spoke about all the other sins. Happened to be the sin of homosexuality. And so, as I shared on that and all, close the study. Well, a couple of weeks or so later, a young lady approached me and spoke to me and she said, I wanted to talk to you if I may for just a moment. And I said, of course, and we began to speak. And she said, I was here in the Bible study recently. She said on a Wednesday night was the first time I ever came to this church. And she said, I was there. She says with my girlfriend, she was a lesbian. She says, I was there with my girlfriend and she and I sat there and we listened to the Bible study and you spoke concerning that passage in 1 Corinthians and you spoke concerning homosexuality as a sin. And I said, yes, that's what the apostle Paul said. And yes, that's what I taught. She says, yes, I realize that. She said, so as we left and drove home, my girlfriend was speaking to me and said to me, well, that's just his opinion. She said, but I told her, you know, that wasn't his opinion. That was in the book we were looking at. That was in the Bible. And so she said, I wanted you to know something. She says, I've been thinking about what that passage said and how you said that God could forgive us of sin. And I wanted you to know that I left that girl. I left my girlfriend. She says, and I opened my heart up to the Lord Jesus Christ and I'm a follower of Christ now. And she stayed with us for several years in this fellowship, ultimately was serving the Lord. She got married and she moved away to another state. You know, I really do believe that the word of God sets you free. I really do. I really believe that when you speak the truth of the word of God, that people will get convicted and you have two responses to it. Either you accept it in your heel or you reject it and you continue in the path that you've been taking. And so in this particular case, when people get convicted, they get upset. Some who are listening to Jesus receive what he has to say. The others who are listening get upset at him. So the first thing they're doing is they're calling it to question his credentials. Who gave you this authority? They do so because they have a disagreement and therefore they reject the word of God. So as they're doing that, notice verse three. He answered and said to them, I also will ask you one thing and answer me. The baptism of John. Was it from heaven or from men? Now Jesus is not evading their question. In many places in the New Testament he's already answered that kind of question. He's already given witnesses to his ministry. In John chapter five, for example, verses 33 through 39, record four witnesses of the ministry of Jesus Christ. He speaks concerning the witness of John the Baptist. He speaks concerning the witness of his miracles. He speaks concerning the witness of his father. And he also states that the Bible all reveals his authority. The question really is, is are you willing to recognize heavenly authority? And that's why he says in verse four, John's baptism. Was it from heaven or of human origin? Now what's happening here is Jesus is now driving them into a corner. Because notice what happens in verse five. They reason among themselves saying, if we say from heaven, he'll say, why then did you not believe him? But if we say from men, all the people will stone us for they're persuaded that John was a prophet. So they answered that they did not know where it was from. And so if they say from heaven, they have to recognize that John actually had pointed them to Jesus Christ. That was John's message. And to receive John's message was to receive Messiah. In John chapter one, in verses 26 and 27, John said, I baptize with water, but there stands one among you whom you know not. He it is who coming after me is preferred before me whose shoes latch it, I'm not worthy to unloose. And then later on in verses 29 and 30, it says the next day John saw Jesus coming to him and said, behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, after me comes a man who was preferred before me, for he wants before me. John pointed people to Jesus Christ. And so he's saying in essence, if John's baptism was from heaven, why didn't you receive it? Because John was pointing people to me as Messiah. And so Jesus has caught them. So that's why they say in verse six, if we say from men, all the people will stone us because they're persuaded that John was a prophet. So they know they're caught in the horns of a dilemma. And that's why in verse seven, they answer that they did not know where it was from. They didn't want to commit themselves to it. We don't know. Now because they'll not answer him, Jesus refuses to answer their question. That's why it says here in verse eight, neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. And if you're not willing to be honest with me, why should I play games with you? And we all understand that. All of us understand what Jesus is doing. As a minister, there have been times that I've had conversations many times. I've had conversations with people who give to me a baited question. They're not really asking a question. They're wanting to make a statement. They're wanting to tell me something. And so very often, I got into the habit early on, very often I'd ask, are you really asking me a question or are you trying to start an argument? Are you asking me a question or are you wanting to give me your opinion? There's a difference between the two. Now if you want to give me your opinion, give me your opinion. But if you're wanting to argue with me, I'm not going to argue with you because there's no point in doing that. Because sometimes people will do that. Sometimes people will say something to you that they really don't intend in a conversation. Rather they want to start an argument. And so it's why sometimes just to say, listen, if you're not going to answer my question, there's no reason why I should proceed in this conversation any longer. And that's what Jesus does. He says, you're not really being honest at all and therefore there's no reason for us to continue speaking here. So Jesus refuses to answer their question. These are people who are guilty of rejecting light and therefore he's not going to continue giving them opportunity. In John chapter 12 verse 48, Jesus said, he who rejects me and doesn't receive my words has that which judges him. The word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. And so Jesus leaves them there in that condition. I'm not going to answer because you don't want to hear what I have to say. Now we move on into a parable, a parable of the vineyard owner, verse nine. Then he began to tell the people this parable. A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vine dressers, and went into a far country for a long time. Now at vintage time, he sent a servant to the vine dressers that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the vine dressers beat him and sent him away empty handed. Again, he sent another servant and they beat him also, treated him shamefully and sent him away empty handed. And again, he sent a third and they wounded him also and cast him out. Then the owner of the vineyard said, what shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Probably they will respect him when they see him. But when the vine dressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves saying, this is the air. Come, let us kill him that the inheritance may be ours. So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore, what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those vine dressers and give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, certainly not. Then he looked at them and said, what then is this that is written? The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. Whoever falls on that stone will be broken. But on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder. Jesus gives this parables called in a variety of ways, the vineyard owner, the land owner. But what he's doing is he's illustrating. He's illustrating the kingdom of God by using a vineyard. I've discovered something in teaching and Jesus does this very well. Jesus teaches very often in parables as Jesus illustrates heavenly truth in a contemporary illustration. That's what he's doing here. He's taking heavenly truth and he's bringing it to earth, if you will, heavenly truth and that he's bringing it to earth so that people can see that the God's message has something you can identify with. In teaching very often, I see this, especially on Sunday mornings, when I'm teaching, if I'm giving a lot of doctrine, the body will get kind of glazed. The eyes of my people start kind of like, mm, you're like that. And it's really interesting. I'll start to tell a story. And when I start to tell a story, everybody kind of wakes up because we have a tendency of doing that. We like stories. I like stories to this day. You know, when I grew up, my mom, I'm still growing up, but when I was growing up, my mom would illustrate truth through stories all the time. I grew up hearing stories. My mom always would tell me stories. She'd say, it's like this. And she'd say, dah, dah, dah, dah. And then our son, it's like this. And she always, she's still to this day when we're talking, my mom, when she wants to share something with me, will give me a story. She always has given me stories. And I have discovered that as she gives the stories, I listen very carefully. I learned to communicate like that from my mom. That's how I learned to tell stories. That's how I learned to speak the way that I do. It's because of my mom. My mom teaches with stories. She shares stories and I do too. And you as a church know that because I'll be sharing something and I'll tell you, you know, Josiah did this and bang, here goes the story. I do it all the time because that's simply the way that I've learned and that's how I communicate. I understand the principles of using illustration because that's how I communicate but that's how Jesus communicated. And that's what he's doing here. He's given us a story, a story about a landowner, a story about a man who owns a vineyard. And what he's basically doing is he's taking things that the Jews understand and he's using them in order that he might illustrate a heavenly truth. And so as you look at this, he speaks of a rich landowner, a rich landowner who planted a vineyard. Now when he's saying that, he's speaking to Jewish people and when you plant a vineyard in Israel, that was a common crop in the nation. And so they're able immediately to begin to understand because they're an agricultural nation. And he speaks about leasing out this property to tenants and then leaving the country. They would understand that too. Vintage time draws near. He sends his servants to collect rent on the property. But then he illustrates how they took his servants and they beat them and they wounded them and they humiliated them. And so as he's sharing this, he's drawing the people in through this story. And then finally, as he says in verse 13, the owner of the vineyard says, what shall I do? Well, I'll send my beloved son. Probably they'll respect him when they see him. So at that point he's drawing them in and they're understanding the point that he's making. Finally, he's saying he sent his son and he said, they're gonna respect my son. Now you need to know that the way this is couched is really in an emotional way. Jesus is bringing something in here that would cause the fathers to have an emotional response to this because he's speaking about a son that is going over there. You see, when Mark speaks about this in Mark chapter 12 verse six, Mark records that Jesus said, having yet therefore one son, his beloved, he sent him also last to them saying they will respect my son. And so when it says having one son, his beloved, the point he's making is besides this son, there is now no longer any that he could send. This is his one son. This is the son of his heart. This is his one, this is his all. And he's saying surely they will respect him. Story time, my Josiah, your eyes are glazing, wake up. My Josiah was the only baby of his mama for four years. And then here comes a little sister, Sophie. And he did pretty good with her for a while. Couple months ago, he told his mom though, he said, you know, I'm tired of her, send her back. He really did. I'm tired of her, you can send her back now. That doesn't happen, she's not going back. But I'm, as a grandfather, I'm pretty sensitive to him and I understand that he spent over four years being the one and the only, the apple of everybody's eye, the center of all attention, you know, the king of the universe. And now there is somebody who is gonna dethrone him and it's not real easy for him to take. And so just today, he was in the office and I'll come walk it in and there's Sophie and there's Josiah and I will instantly go to him. I go to him first and I'll ruffle his hair and I'll give him a big old hug and I'll pick him up and I'll kiss his face and I'll hold on to him and I'll speak to him. And I will say to him, you know how deeply your papa loves you. I do that every time I see him. You know how deeply papa loves you. And he'll say, yep, I'm the only one. So I understand what Jesus is talking about here. He has one son, his beloved. And so you can understand the affection that he's speaking about. It's not like he got 12 kids, he's got one. And this is the center of his life. So Jesus is emphasizing something here. He's wanting these people who are listening to the story to understand how deeply he loves his son. This is the son of his heart. This is his one, this is his all. And he's saying, surely they will respect this one. But what happens? Well, it says in verse 14, when the vine dressers saw him they reasoned among themselves saying, this is the heir, come let us kill him that the inheritance may be ours. So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore, what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those vine dressers and give the vineyard to others. When they heard it, they said, certainly not. Because they understood what Jesus was saying. So what happens? Well, they conspired. They conspired to kill this son in order to steal the inheritance. Originally they were simply squatters. Now they're murderers, they're thieves. The murder of this one's son is coldly premeditated. There's no way that they confused him with a slave. They killed him on purpose. They recognized him. They said in verse 14, this is the heir, come let us kill him that the inheritance may be ours. And so they are 100% guilty of killing the son of this landowner. So what Jesus is doing here is he's illustrating something. He's illustrating the extreme grace and patience of the landowner. He's also illustrating the calloused, murderous hearts of those who rejected the son. And that's why the question is asked when the owner comes, what will he do to the vine dressers? And the answer is given in verse 16, he'll destroy those wicked men and give the vineyard to others. Now we know that the owner obviously represents God. We know that the vineyard represents the kingdom of God. The tenants represent Israel. The slaves represent the prophets calling the nation to repentance throughout Israel's history. The son obviously is Jesus Christ and his death is obviously the fact that he will be put to death on the cross. The point he's making in verse 16 is that Israel is about to reject their Messiah and in turn will be rejected by God. You see when he asks the question in verse 17, what then is this that was written? The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. When he asks that question, he actually is springing the trap. He's closing the door and he's pointing out that the nation of Israel is guilty of rejecting their own Messiah. You see, the nation of Israel for centuries considered itself and was regarded as the chief stone in God's plan for redemption. When Paul speaks about that, he does so in Romans chapter nine because in Romans chapter nine verses one through five, Paul said, I speak the truth in Christ. I am not lying. My conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit. I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart for I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. He goes on to say, there's is the adoption of sons, there's the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, temple worship and the promises. There's are the patriarchs and from them is traced the human ancestry of Jesus Christ who is God over all forever praised amen. And so the nation of Israel was actually the chief stone in God's plan for redemption for some time until Jesus came. But the world looking at Israel and considering it regarded the nation as useless. Even as the nation of Israel looking at Jesus regarded him as useless. The stone is not the nation. In reality, Messiah is what is being referred to. Now in the book of Acts in chapter four verses 10 through 12, we read, be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel. That by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him does this man stand before you whole. This is the stone which was rejected by you builders which has become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. No other name, Jesus is that stone which was rejected by you builders, he said, the nation of Israel. And that's what Jesus is speaking about here in this particular parable. Jesus is saying that he is the stone. He is saying that the nation of Israel is rejecting him. But in the rejection of Jesus Messiah, Israel would place itself in the position of being rejected by God himself. And you're doing that because you are rejecting me. And so when he says, and notice that again in verse 16, he will come and destroy those bindresses and give the vineyard to others. They understood what he's saying, that's why they said, God forbid or certainly not. They don't wanna believe that the nation could be taken from them. And therefore they're rejecting what Jesus has to say. You see, he's about to ordain something new, something called the church. And the purpose the church is gonna fulfill is to produce fruit. And the kingdom of God is gonna be recognized as being within man. Because what's gonna happen is a Holy Spirit is gonna come upon those who believe in Christ and it's gonna transform their lives. And they're gonna be leaving from the places that they receive instruction. And they're gonna be winning people to a knowledge of Christ, to their open witness of the things that God does. And the kingdom of God, according to Paul in Romans 14, 17, is not a matter of eating and drinking, it's a matter of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. And so what's gonna happen is the nation of Israel, though it rejects Messiah, there will be some within it who will receive him. But the Gentile nations are gonna open their hearts. Those of us who are not Jewish, we are Gentiles will open their hearts to Christ and will be saved and will follow him. Now it says in verse 18, it says whoever falls on that stone will be broken. But on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder. The point he's making very simply is this, if you will not have him as deliverer, you will have him as destroyer. It's one or the other. Either you are broken or you are ground. That's how it works. Now, sometimes people may not like to hear that and I assume that those who are listening to Jesus that day most certainly didn't. But it's a strong word, it's a strong word. You see, that's what makes Christianity so difficult for some to swallow because we actually go about saying that Jesus said this, Jesus said that you need to receive him as Lord and Savior in order to have eternal life. Jesus said you had to embrace him by faith and the apostle Paul and all the other apostles and writers of the New Testament all agree that in order for somebody to go to heaven, they need to have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. And that's a strong word. It's an exclusive word and it causes a lot of people great hardship. They don't like that, but that's what the scripture teaches. The scripture makes that very clear and that's why Jesus said whoever falls on that stone will be broken. In order for you to have a relationship with God there's a brokenness that comes about because you have repented. And brokenness can be a symbol of humility. In order to have a relationship with God we forsake our pride and the things that would keep us from him and we with humility receive the engrafted word of God which is able to save our souls. So it takes a certain humility for you and for me to hear a Bible study and to actually apply it to ourselves. Early on in my Christian life I was very capable of saying, man I wish somebody else was here listening to this. They could be convicted because I wanted them convicted but I necessarily didn't want to be. Boy that'd be a great tape to get for them. And the Lord began to teach me very early. The message may be able to reach somebody else's heart but it's more important that it reaches yours so that you have a humility of spirit, so that you be broken yourself so that your life will be transformed by a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And so there's this brokenness. So one either we are broken through Jesus Christ or ultimately we are judged by Jesus Christ and that's the point that he's making. Now Mark tells us in chapter 12 verse 12 they looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken this parable against them but they were afraid of the crowd so they left him and went away. Some of the saddest words in scripture rather than hearing what he had to say they simply left him and went away which is what a lot of people do is they'll hear the message, they'll have a sense something touching their life but they reject it and they go off and continue in the same lifestyle that they'd been living for some time. We need to receive God's word when he first speaks it to us. When the Lord speaks a word of conviction the wisest thing for me to do is to hear it. So that my life might come into line with him. These people reject it. Let us not be those who reject, let us be those who receive.