Jesus went into the Temple area. While Jesus was teaching there, the leading priests and the older leaders of the people came to him. They said, “Tell us! What authority do you have to do these things you are doing? Who gave you this authority?”
Jesus answered, “I will ask you a question too. If you answer me, then I will tell you what authority I have to do these things. Tell me: When John baptized people, did his authority come from God, or was it only from other people?”
The priests and the Jewish leaders talked about Jesus’ question. They said to each other, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ then he will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe John?’ But we can’t say John’s baptism was from someone else. We are afraid of the people, because they all believe John was a prophet.”
So they told Jesus, “We don’t know the answer.”
Jesus said, “Then I will not tell you who gave me the authority to do these things.
“Tell me what you think about this: There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’
“The son answered, ‘I will not go.’ But later he decided he should go, and he went.
“Then the father went to the other son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ He answered, ‘Yes, sir, I will go and work.’ But he did not go.
“Which of the two sons obeyed his father?”
The Jewish leaders answered, “The first son.”
Jesus said to them, “The truth is, you are worse than the tax collectors and the prostitutes. In fact, they will enter God’s kingdom before you enter. John came showing you the right way to live, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes believed John. You saw that happening, but you would not change. You still refused to believe him.
“Listen to this story: There was a man who owned a vineyard. He put a wall around the field and dug a hole for a winepress. Then he built a tower. He leased the land to some farmers and then left on a trip. Later, it was time for the grapes to be picked. So the man sent his servants to the farmers to get his share of the grapes.
“But the farmers grabbed the servants and beat one. They killed another one and then stoned to death a third servant. So the man sent some other servants to the farmers. He sent more servants than he sent the first time. But the farmers did the same thing to them that they did the first time. So the man decided to send his son to the farmers. He said, ‘The farmers will respect my son.’
“But when the farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the owner’s son. This vineyard will be his. If we kill him, it will be ours.’ So the farmers took the son, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
“So what will the owner of the vineyard do to these farmers when he comes?”
The Jewish priests and leaders said, “He will surely kill those evil men. Then he will lease the land to other farmers, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
Jesus said to them, “Surely you have read this in the Scriptures:
‘The stone that the builders refused to accept
became the cornerstone.
The Lord did this,
and it is wonderful to us.’
“So I tell you that God’s kingdom will be taken away from you. It will be given to people who do what God wants in his kingdom. Whoever falls on this stone will be broken. And it will crush anyone it falls on.”
When the leading priests and the Pharisees heard these stories, they knew that Jesus was talking about them. They wanted to find a way to arrest Jesus. But they were afraid to do anything, because the people believed that Jesus was a prophet.
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