Lenten Reading for March 3rd, 2016

Reading Guide for Lent

Each day read the Gospel passage for the day and the Psalm passage for the day (you can read them all at once or do one reading in the morning and one in the evening) and use the reflection questions to help process the passage.

The 20th day of Lent

Thursday March 3, 2016

Gospel Reading:  Luke 20

The Authority of Jesus Questioned

20      One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. ²“Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this authority?”

³He replied, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me, ⁴John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin?”

⁵They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ ⁶But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet.”

⁷So they answered, “We don’t know where it was from.”

⁸Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

The Parable of the Tenants

⁹He went on to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. ¹⁰At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. ¹²He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.

¹³“Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’

¹⁴“But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will 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 kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”

When the people heard this, they said, “God forbid!”

¹⁷Jesus looked directly at them and asked, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written:

“ ‘The stone the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone’?

¹⁸Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

¹⁹The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.

Paying Taxes to Caesar

²⁰Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. ²¹So the spies questioned him: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. ²²Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

²³He saw through their duplicity and said to them, ²⁴“Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

²⁵He said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

²⁶They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent.

The Resurrection and Marriage

²⁷Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question. ²⁸“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. ²⁹Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. ³⁰The second ³¹and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children. ³²Finally, the woman died too. ³³Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”

³⁴Jesus replied, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. ³⁵But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, ³⁶and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection. ³⁷But in the account of the burning bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ ³⁸He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”

³⁹Some of the teachers of the law responded, “Well said, teacher!” ⁴⁰And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Whose Son Is the Messiah?

⁴¹Then Jesus said to them, “Why is it said that the Messiah is the son of David? ⁴²David himself declares in the Book of Psalms:

“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord:

“Sit at my right hand

⁴³until I make your enemies

a footstool for your feet.” ’

⁴⁴David calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?”

Warning Against the Teachers of the Law

⁴⁵While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples, ⁴⁶“Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. ⁴⁷They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”

The Holy Bible : Today's New International Version. 2005. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Reflection Questions:

1. Jesus holds “court” in this passage, like a King facing questions of his people.  What kind of questions is He asked?
2. Why is the Parable of the tenants so convicting to the leaders?  What does this story resemble?
3. What did Jesus say that brought an ending to the questions? (vs. 39,40)
4. What is the warning Jesus gives to the teachers of the law?

Psalm Reading:  Psalm 110

Psalm 110

Of David. A psalm.

¹The Lord says to my lord:

“Sit at my right hand

until I make your enemies

a footstool for your feet.”

²The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying,

“Rule in the midst of your enemies.”

³Your troops will be willing

on your day of battle.

Arrayed in holy splendor,

your young men will come to you

like dew from the morning’s womb.

⁴The Lord has sworn

and will not change his mind:

“You are a priest forever,

in the order of Melchizedek.”

⁵The Lord is at your right hand;

he will crush kings on the day of his wrath.

⁶He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead

and crushing the rulers of the whole earth.

⁷He will drink from a brook along the way,

and so he will lift up his head.