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The Parable of the Tenants
1 Jesus then began to speak to them in parables: “A
man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit
for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the
vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 2 At
harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect
from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 But they
seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Then
he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the
head and treated him shamefully. 5 He sent still another,
and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them
they beat, others they killed.
6 “He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He
sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
7 “But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the
heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be
ours.” 8 So they took him and killed him, and threw him out
of the vineyard.
9 “What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He
will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to
others. 10 Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture:
“ ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the
cornerstone;
11 the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our
eyes’ ?”
12 Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and
the elders looked for a way to arrest him because they knew
he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid
of the crowd; so they left him and went away.
Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar
13 Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians
to Jesus to catch him in his words. 14 They came to him and
said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You
aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who
they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with
the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or
not? 15 Should we pay or shouldn’t we?” But Jesus knew their
hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring
me a denarius and let me look at it.” 16 They brought the
coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose
inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied.
17 Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what
is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” And they were amazed
at him.
Marriage at the Resurrection
18 Then the Sadducees, who say there is no
resurrection, came to him with a question. 19 “Teacher,”
they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man”s brother dies
and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the
widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 Now there
were seven brothers. The first one married and died without
leaving any children. 21 The second one married the widow,
but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the
third. 22 In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last
of all, the woman died too. 23 At the resurrection whose
wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”
24 Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do
not know the Scriptures or the power of God? 25 When the
dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage;
they will be like the angels in heaven. 26 Now about the
dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the
account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?’ 27
He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are
badly mistaken!”
The Greatest Commandment
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them
debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer,
he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most
important?”
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this:
‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The
second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is
no commandment greater than these.”
32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are
right in saying that God is one and there is no other but
him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your
understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt
offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said
to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from
then on no one dared ask him any more questions.
Whose Son Is the Messiah?
35 While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he
asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah
is the son of David? 36 David himself, speaking by the Holy
Spirit, declared:
“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I
put your enemies under your feet.” ’
37 David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be
his son?” The large crowd listened to him with delight.
Warning Against the Teachers of the Law
38 As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the
teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing
robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, 39
and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the
places of honor at banquets. 40 They devour widows’ houses
and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be
punished most severely.”
The Widow’s Offering
41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the
offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money
into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large
amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small
copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.
43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I
tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury
than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth;
but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had
to live on.”
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Cults 
Why Did God Permit Sin?
