The Story of the Renters
1Jesus began to speak to the people using stories. He said, “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it. He dug a pit for a winepress. He also built a lookout tower. He rented the vineyard out to some farmers. Then he went to another place. 2At harvest time he sent a servant to the renters. He told the servant to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3But they grabbed the servant and beat him up. Then they sent him away with nothing. 4So the man sent another servant to the renters. They hit this one on the head and treated him badly. 5The man sent still another servant. The renters killed him. The man sent many others. The renters beat up some of them. They killed the others.
6“The man had one person left to send. It was his son, and he loved him. He sent him last of all. He said, ‘They will respect my son.’
7“But the renters said to each other, ‘This is the one who will receive all the owner’s property someday. Come, let’s kill him. Then everything will be ours.’ 8So they took him and killed him. They threw him out of the vineyard.
9“What will the owner of the vineyard do then? He will come and kill those renters. He will give the vineyard to others. 10Haven’t you read what this part of Scripture says,
“ ‘The stone the builders didn’t accept
has become the most important stone of all.
11The Lord has done it.
It is wonderful in our eyes’?” (Psalm 118:22,23)
12Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest Jesus. They knew he had told the story against them. But they were afraid of the crowd. So they left him and went away.
Is It Right to Pay the Royal Tax to Caesar?
13Later the religious leaders sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus. They wanted to trap him with his own words. 14They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of honor. You don’t let other people tell you what to do or say. You don’t care how important they are. But you teach the way of God truthfully. Is it right to pay the royal tax to Caesar or not? 15Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”
But Jesus knew what they were trying to do. So he asked, “Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a silver coin. Let me look at it.” 16They brought the coin. He asked them, “Whose picture is this? And whose words?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
17Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. And give back to God what belongs to God.”
They were amazed at him.
Marriage When the Dead Rise
18The Sadducees came to Jesus with a question. They do not believe that people rise from the dead. 19“Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us about a man who died and didn’t have any children. But he did leave a wife behind. That man’s brother must get married to the widow. He must provide children to carry on his dead brother’s name. 20There were seven brothers. The first one got married. He died without leaving any children. 21The second one got married to the widow. He also died and left no child. It was the same with the third one. 22In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. 23When the dead rise, whose wife will she be? All seven of them were married to her.”
24Jesus replied, “You are mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures. And you do not know the power of God. 25When the dead rise, they won’t get married. And their parents won’t give them to be married. They will be like the angels in heaven. 26What about the dead rising? Haven’t you read in the Book of Moses the story of the burning bush? God said to Moses, ‘I am the God of Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. And I am the God of Jacob.’ (Exodus 3:6) 27He is not the God of the dead. He is the God of the living. You have made a big mistake!”
The Most Important Commandment
28One of the teachers of the law came and heard the Sadducees arguing. He noticed that Jesus had given the Sadducees a good answer. So he asked him, “Which is the most important of all the commandments?”
29Jesus answered, “Here is the most important one. Moses said, ‘Israel, listen to me. The Lord is our God. The Lord is one. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your mind and with all your strength.’ (Deuteronomy 6:4,5) 31And here is the second one. ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ (Leviticus 19:18) There is no commandment more important than these.”
32“You have spoken well, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one. There is no other God but him. 33To love God with all your heart and mind and strength is very important. So is loving your neighbor as you love yourself. These things are more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34Jesus saw that the man had answered wisely. He said to him, “You are not far from God’s kingdom.” From then on, no one dared to ask Jesus any more questions.
Whose Son Is the Messiah?
35Jesus was teaching in the temple courtyard. He asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David? 36The Holy Spirit spoke through David himself. David said,
“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your control.” ’ (Psalm 110:1)
37David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ So how can he be David’s son?”
The large crowd listened to Jesus with delight.
Warning Against the Teachers of the Law
38As he taught, he said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in long robes. They like to be greeted with respect in the market. 39They love to have the most important seats in the synagogues. They also love to have the places of honor at dinners. 40They take over the houses of widows. They say long prayers to show off. God will punish these men very much.”
The Widow’s Offering
41Jesus sat down across from the place where people put their temple offerings. He watched the crowd putting their money into the offering boxes. Many rich people threw large amounts into them. 42But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins. They were worth only a few pennies.
43Jesus asked his disciples to come to him. He said, “What I’m about to tell you is true. That poor widow has put more into the offering box than all the others. 44They all gave a lot because they are rich. But she gave even though she is poor. She put in everything she had. That was all she had to live on.”
Prispodoba o zlim vinogradarima
(Mt 21:33-46; Lk 20:9-19)
1Tada im počne govoriti u prispodobama: “Neki čovjek posadi vinograd i ogradi ga, iskopa tijesak za grožđe i izgradi kulu. Zatim ga iznajmi vinogradarima i otputuje. 2Kad dođe vrijeme berbe, pošalje slugu da ubere njegov dio uroda. 3Ali vinogradari ga dograbe, pretuku i pošalju natrag praznih ruku. 4Vlasnik vinograda im zatim pošalje drugog slugu. Zakupci mu razbiju glavu i osramote ga. 5Trećega kojeg im je poslao ubiju. Poslao im je i mnoge druge, ali oni ih sve premlate ili ubiju.
6Preostao mu je samo još jedan: njegov ljubljeni sin. Pošalje napokon i njega misleći: ‘Prema mojem sinu sigurno će se odnositi s poštovanjem.’
7Ali kad vinogradari opaze da dolazi, rekoše: ‘Ovaj će naslijediti imanje. Ubijmo ga pa ćemo se domognuti imanja umjesto njega!’ 8Pa ga pograbe, ubiju i izbace tijelo iz vinograda.
9Što mislite da će učiniti vlasnik kad čuje što se dogodilo? Doći će i pobiti te vinogradare, a vinograd dati u najam drugima. 10Ne sjećate li se ulomka iz Svetog pisma:
‘Kamen koji su graditelji odbacili
postane ugaonim kamenom.
11To je Gospodnje djelo,
čudesno u našim očima.’?”12:10-11 Psalam 118:22-23.
12Židovski su ga vođe već tada htjeli uhvatiti jer su dobro znali da se ta prispodoba odnosi na njih, ali bojali su se mnoštva. Zato odu i ostave ga.
O porezu
(Mt 22:15-22; Lk 20:20-26)
13Vjerski mu vođe pošalju neke farizeje i Herodove sljedbenike da ga uhvate u riječi. 14Oni dođu i rekoše mu: “Učitelju, znamo da govoriš istinu i da si nepristran jer ne gledaš tko je tko, nego prema istini poučavaš putu Božjemu. Reci nam je li dopušteno plaćati porez caru ili nije.”
15Isus prozre njihovo licemjerje pa reče: “Zašto me kušate? Pokažite mi kovani novac12:15 U grčkome: denar. pa ću vam reći.” 16Donesu mu novčić, a on upita: “Čiji su ovo lik i natpis na kovanici?”
“Carevi”, odgovore.
17“Onda dajte caru carevo, ali Bogu valja dati Božje”, reče im. Bili su zadivljeni.
O uskrsnuću
(Mt 22:23-33; Lk 20:27-40)
18Tada dođu k njemu saduceji, koji tvrde da nema uskrsnuća, i upitaju ga: 19“Gospodine, Mojsije nam je dao zakon prema kojemu, umre li oženjen muškarac bez djece, njegov se brat mora oženiti njegovom udovicom kako bi ona rodila sina koji će naslijediti posjed umrloga i nositi njegovo ime.12:19 Ponovljeni zakon 25:5-6. 20Bilo je sedmero braće. Prvi se brat oženi i umre a da nije imao sina. 21Drugi se brat oženi njegovom udovicom, ali također umre a da nije ostavio sina. S trećim se dogodi isto. 22Tako nijedan od sedmorice ne ostavi potomstva. Na posljetku umre i žena. 23Čija će onda ona biti žena o uskrsnuću kad je bila udana za svu sedmoricu?”
24Isus im odgovori: “Niste li vi u zabludi zato što ne razumijete Sveto pismo ni Božju silu? 25Jer kad ljudi uskrsnu od mrtvih, neće se ženiti ni udavati, već će biti kao anđeli na nebu. 26A glede uskrsnuća, niste li u Knjizi Izlaska, ondje gdje piše kako je Mojsije ugledao gorući grm, pročitali da mu je Bog rekao: ‘Ja sam Bog Abrahamov, Izakov i Jakovljev’12:26 Izlazak 3:6. dugo nakon što su oni poumirali? 27A Bog nije Bog mrtvih, već Bog živih! Vi ste, prema tome, u velikoj zabludi!”
Najveća zapovijed
(Mt 22:34-40; Lk 10:25-28)
28Neki pismoznanac koji je ondje stajao shvatio je, slušajući raspravu, da je Isus dobro odgovorio pa ga upita: “Koja je najvažnija od svih zapovijedi?”
29Isus odgovori: “Najvažnija glasi:
‘Čuj, o Izraele! Naš Gospodin Bog jest jedini Bog.
30Ljubi Gospodina Boga svojega svim srcem svojim,
svom dušom svojom, svom pameti svojom i svom snagom svojom!’12:29-30 Ponovljeni zakon 6:4-5.
31Druga glasi:
‘Ljubi svojega bližnjega kao samoga sebe!’12:31 Levitski zakonik 19:18.
Nema zapovijedi koja bi bila veća od tih dviju.”
32Pismoznanac odgovori: “Učitelju, pravo si rekao da je Bog jedini i da nema drugih osim njega. 33Voljeti ga svim srcem, svim razumom i svom snagom, a bližnjega voljeti kao samoga sebe vrijedi više nego sve paljenice i ostale žrtve.”
34Videći da pametno govori, Isus mu reče: “Nisi daleko od Božjeg kraljevstva.” I nitko ga se više nije usudio išta pitati.
Čiji sin je Mesija
(Mt 22:41-46; Lk 20:41-44)
35Poučavajući u Hramu, Isus upita: “Kako pismoznanci mogu tvrditi da je Mesija Davidov sin? 36Pa sâm je David, nadahnut Svetim Duhom, rekao:
‘Gospodin je rekao mojem Gospodinu:
Sjedni mi s desne strane
dok ti ne bacim pod noge tvoje neprijatelje.’12:36 Psalam 110:1.
37Sâm ga je David nazvao svojim Gospodinom. Kako bi mu onda mogao biti sin?” Mnoštvo ga je oduševljeno slušalo.
Upozorenje protiv pismoznanaca
(Mt 23:1-7; Lk 11:43-46; 20:45-47)
38Poučavajući ih dalje, reče: “Čuvajte se pismoznanaca! Vole se šetati u dugim haljinama i da ih ljudi pozdravljaju na trgovima. 39U sinagogama vole sjediti na počasnim mjestima, a na gozbama na pročelju stola. 40Besramno troše udovička dobra, a prikrivaju se dugačkim molitvama u javnosti. Oni će biti strože kažnjeni.”
Udovičin dar
(Lk 21:1-4)
41Zatim ode sjesti do kutije za milodare te je promatrao mnoštvo kako ubacuje bakreni novac. Mnogi su bogataši ubacivali velike iznose. 42Dođe i neka siromašna udovica te ubaci samo dva novčića.12:42 U grčkome: dvije lepte.
43Isus dozove učenike i reče im: “Zaista vam kažem, ta je siromašna udovica ubacila više nego svi ostali skupa! 44Jer svi su oni dali od svojeg viška, a ona je, tako siromašna, dala sve što je imala.”
