Luke 20:1-18

1One day, Jesus was teaching people in the yard of the temple. He was telling people the good news about God. Then the leaders of the priests and the teachers of God's Law came to him. With them were some other important Jews.

2They asked him, ‘Tell us what authority you have to do these things? Who gave you the authority to do them?’

3Jesus replied, ‘I also will ask you a question. Tell me the answer.

4John baptized people. Did God give him the authority to do this? Or did men tell him to do it?’

5The Jewish leaders talked to each other about Jesus' question. ‘We could say that God gave John his authority. But if we say that, Jesus will say to us, “Then you should have believed John.”

6But we do not want to say that only men gave John his authority. Then all the people would throw stones at us to kill us. They are sure that John really was a prophet from God.’

7So the Jewish leaders answered Jesus, ‘We do not know who gave John his authority.’

8Jesus said to them, ‘You will not answer my question. So I will not tell you what authority I have to do these things.’

9Then Jesus began to tell this story to the people. He said, ‘A man planted vines in his garden to grow grapes there. He found some farmers to work in the garden for him. Then he went away to another country and he stayed there for a long time.

10At the time for the harvest, the man sent a servant to speak to the farmers. He wanted them to give him some fruit from the garden. But the farmers hit the servant with sticks and they sent him away with nothing.

11The master sent another servant to go to the farmers. They hit him with sticks too, and they did other bad things to him. They also sent him away with nothing.

12The master then sent a third servant to the farmers. They hurt him badly too, and they threw him out of the garden.

13Then the master of the garden said to himself, “I know what I will do. I will send my own son to go to them. I love him very much. Perhaps they will respect him.”

14But the farmers saw him coming. They said to each other, “This is the son of our master. When our master dies, the garden will belong to his son. So we should kill the son and then the garden will be ours.”

15So they threw the son out of the garden and they killed him.’ Jesus went on to ask, ‘Then what will the master of the garden do to those farmers?

16I tell you, he will come to those farmers and he will kill them. Then he will give the garden to other people to take care of it.’ When the people heard this, they replied, ‘That must never happen!’

17Jesus then looked at the people and he said, ‘You say that this must not happen. But you have read this in the Bible and you should know what it means: “The builders refused to use a certain stone. They thought that it had no value. But now that stone has become the most important stone at the corner of the building.

18When a person falls onto that stone, it will break his body into pieces. When that stone falls on top of someone, it will destroy him completely.” ’