Глава 20

1–26. The question of the power of Christ and tribute to Caesar. – 27–38. Question of the Sadducees. – 39–47. Christ and the Scribes. Luke 20:1. On one of those days, when He was teaching the people in the church and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and scribes with the elders came, Luke 20:2. and they said to Him: Tell us, by what authority are You doing this, or who gave You this authority? Luke 20:3. He answered and said to them: I will also ask you one thing, and tell Me: Luke 20:4. Was John's baptism from heaven, or from men? Luke 20:5. They, reasoning among themselves, said: if we say: from heaven, then he will say: why didn’t you believe him? Luke 20:6. and if we say: from men, then all the people will stone us, for they are sure that John is a prophet. Luke 20:7. And they answered: we don’t know where. Luke 20:8. Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” This section is in complete agreement with the narrative of the Evangelist Mark (Mark 11:27–33), which Luke obviously follows here, and with the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 21:23–27). “The people will stone us.” The usual execution among the Jews (cf. Ex. 17:4). Luke 20:9. And He began to speak this parable to the people: A certain man planted a vineyard and gave it to husbandmen, and went away for a long time; Luke 20:10. and in due time he sent a slave to the vinedressers so that they would give him fruit from the vineyard; but the winegrowers, having beaten him, sent him away empty-handed. Luke 20:11. He also sent another slave; but they beat and cursed him and sent him away empty-handed. Luke 20:12. And he sent a third one; but they also wounded him and kicked him out. Luke 20:13. Then said the lord of the vineyard: What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; Maybe when they see him they will be ashamed. Luke 20:14. But the vinedressers, seeing him, reasoned among themselves, saying: This is the heir; Come, let us kill him, and his inheritance will be ours. Luke 20:15. And they brought him out of the vineyard and killed him. What will the lord of the vineyard do with them? Luke 20:16. He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others. Those who heard this said: Let it not be! Luke 20:17. But He, looking at them, said: What does this written mean: the stone that the builders rejected has become the head of the corner? Luke 20:18. Anyone who falls on that stone will be broken, and whoever it falls on will be crushed. Luke 20:19. And at that time the chief priests and scribes sought to lay hands on Him, but they were afraid of the people, for they understood that He had spoken this parable about them. The parable of the vineyard in the Evangelist Luke is closest to the way it is set out in the Evangelist Mark (Mark 12:1–12; cf. Matt. 21:33–46). “He began to speak to the people” (verse 9). According to Mark, the Lord spoke the parable to the chief priests, scribes and elders (Mark 12:1: "to them"; cf. Mark 11:27), and not to the people. But the Evangelist Luke probably means by “the people” also the high priests with the scribes and elders. At least, from his Gospel it is clear that these persons were also present when the parable was pronounced (cf. verse 19). “And those who heard this said: Let it not happen!” (verse 16). Apparently, these were people from among the common people who understood that the Lord was depicting in the parable the attitude towards Him on the part of representatives of Judaism. They say that they do not want the winegrowers to kill the “son,” that is, they feel sorry for Christ. “What does this mean...” (verse 17). More correctly: what, in this case, if your desire “let it not be” should come true, should the saying of Scripture “stone” mean? - that is, in this case, the will of God spoken about Me in Scripture will not be fulfilled. “Whoever falls” (verse 18; see Matt. 21:44). “For they understood” (verse 19). Who? People or hierarchs? According to the Evangelist Luke, rather, it was the people who understood that the parable was told about the hierarchs (cf. verses 16–17). The evangelist seems to want to say that the people, having understood the parable that pointed to the plans of the hierarchs against Christ, were already on their guard, and this is what the hierarchs were afraid of, which is why they did not dare lay hands on Christ. Luke 20:20. And, watching Him, they sent crafty people who, pretending to be pious, would catch Him in some word in order to betray Him to the authorities and the power of the ruler. Luke 20:21. And they asked Him: Teacher! we know that You speak and teach truthfully and do not show your face, but truly teach the way of God; Luke 20:22. Is it permissible for us to give tribute to Caesar or not? Luke 20:23. He, realizing their wickedness, said to them: Why are you tempting Me? Luke 20:24. Show Me the denarius: whose image and inscription is on it? They answered: Caesar's. Luke 20:25. He said to them, “Render therefore the things that are Caesar’s to Caesar, and the things that are God’s to God.” Luke 20:26. And they could not catch Him in His word before the people, and, surprised at His answer, they fell silent. Evangelist Luke presents Christ’s conversation with “evil people” about tribute to Caesar in accordance with Evangelist Mark (Mark 12:13–17; cf. Matt. 22:15–22). “Watching Him...” (verse 20). The hierarchs still did not abandon their plans and, constantly lying in wait for every deed and word of Christ, sent the evil ones to Him, i.e. people persuaded (ἐγκαθἐτους) by them, who, pretending to be pious, i.e. pretending that they act out of their own religious needs, they would catch Christ on some careless word. However, this translation of the Russian text of the Gospel does not fully correspond to the Greek; more correctly: “they sent learned people pretending to be pious in order to catch Him...”. They wanted to betray Christ to the authorities and, precisely (κα ... - explanatory union), to the power of the procurator. “You do not look at the face” (verse 21), i.e. you do not belong to any party, you reason impartially (cf. Gal. 2:6). “To give” (verse 22) is a general and land tax (φόρον, in contrast to τέλος - a duty or indirect tax). Luke 20:27. Then some of the Sadducees who rejected the resurrection came and asked Him: Luke 20:28. Teacher! Moses wrote to us that if anyone's brother, who had a wife, dies and dies childless, then his brother must take his wife and raise up seed for his brother. Luke 20:29. There were seven brothers, the first, having taken a wife, died childless; Luke 20:30. The second one took that wife, and he died childless; Luke 20:31. the third took it; all seven also died, leaving no children; Luke 20:32. after all, the wife died; Luke 20:33. So, at the resurrection of which of them will she be a wife, for seven had her as a wife? Luke 20:34. Jesus answered and said to them, “The children of this age marry and are given in marriage; Luke 20:35. but those who are deemed worthy to reach that age and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, Luke 20:36. and they can no longer die, for they are equal to the Angels and are the sons of God, being the sons of the resurrection. Luke 20:37. And Moses showed that the dead will rise again at the bush, when he called the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Luke 20:38. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for with Him all are alive. Evangelist Luke conveys the answer to the Sadducees’ question in agreement with Mark (Mark 12:18–27; cf. Matt. 22:23–33). “Some of the Sadducees came who rejected the resurrection” (verse 27) – more correctly: “those who rejected the resurrection” (this is the definition of the word “some”). From this it is clear that only some Sadducees rejected the resurrection of the dead. “The children of this age” (verse 34), i.e. people of the pre-Messianic period. “And they can die no more” (verse 36) – more correctly: “for they also can die no more” (οὐδέ γάρ ἀποθανεῖν ἔτι δύνανται). The immortality of the resurrected, their non-dying, excludes marriage between them (but not the difference between the sexes), since marriage is necessary only where death exists (Blessed Theophylact). "For they are equal to the angels". This is the reason why they will not die. They will not die due to the change to which their nature will undergo, for equality or similarity with the Angels consists in a higher physicality that has ceased to be rough, carnal. This corporeality will not be subject to death. “And they are the sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.” Here is another basis for the immortality of the future life. People will become sons of God - not only in the moral sense, as children are loved by God, but in the highest, metaphysical sense - they will have in themselves the highest divine life, divine glory (Rom. 8:17), which (life) is eternal in nature. “Being sons of the resurrection”, i.e. through resurrection, rising to new life. “Moses showed by the bush” (verse 37). The word “revealed” (ἐμήνυσεν, mistakenly read by Bishop Michael as ἑρμήνευσεν – interpreted) means the proclamation of what was hidden (John 11:57; Acts 23:30). The Lord mentions Moses primarily because His co-questioners referred to Moses (verse 28). “For to Him all live” (verse 38), i.e. all of whom He is God live. If they are dead, then for people, in relation to people, but not in relation to God. Thus, the future resurrection of the dead is the natural and necessary completion of the state of life in which the dead find themselves before the Last Judgment. Luke 20:39. To this some of the scribes said: Teacher! You said it well. Luke 20:40. And they no longer dared to ask Him about anything. He told them: Luke 20:41. as they say that Christ is the Son of David, Luke 20:42. and David himself says in the book of Psalms: The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Luke 20:43. How long will I make Your enemies Your footstool? Luke 20:44. So David calls Him Lord; how is He his Son? Luke 20:45. And when all the people listened, He said to His disciples: Luke 20:46. Beware of the scribes, who love to wear long robes and love greetings in public assemblies, presiding in synagogues and presiding at feasts, Luke 20:47. who devour widows' houses and hypocritically pray for a long time; they will receive all the more condemnation. “Some of the scribes” (verse 39). According to the Evangelist Mark, this was said by one scribe who was having a conversation with Christ about the greatest commandment (Mark 12:32). Since the Evangelist Luke has already cited this conversation above (Luke 10:25 et seq.), here he omits it, and mentions only the result of this conversation - the recall of the scribe or “certain scribes,” as he put it. “And they dared no longer ask Him anything” (verse 40). Here also the evangelist Luke repeats Mark's message (Mark 12:34). “As they say...” (verses 41–44). (See Mark 12:35–37). “And while all the people heard...” (verses 45-47). (See Mark 12:38–40). The difference between Mark and Luke here is that, according to the first, the Lord’s warning was spoken before a multitude of people and for the people, but according to Luke, it was addressed to the disciples of Christ. This difference can be reconciled like this: the Lord spoke in the present case out loud to the whole people (Mark), but addressed directly to His disciples (Luke). You might be interested in: