1. One day Jesus was in the Temple area teaching the people. He was telling them the Good News. The leading priests, teachers of the law, and older Jewish leaders came to talk to Jesus.
2. They said, “Tell us what authority you have to do these things. Who gave you this authority?”
3. Jesus answered, “I will ask you a question too. Tell me:
4. When John baptized people, did his authority come from God or was it only from other people?”
5. The priests, the teachers of the law, and the Jewish leaders all talked about this. They said to each other, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ then he will say, ‘Then why did you not believe John?’
6. But if we say that John’s baptism was from someone else, the people will stone us to death. They all believe that John was a prophet.”
7. So they answered, “We don’t know the answer.”
8. So Jesus said to them, “Then I will not tell you who gave me the authority to do these things.”
9. Then Jesus told the people this story: “A man planted a vineyard. He leased the land to some farmers. Then he went away for a long time.
10. Later, it was time for the grapes to be picked. So the man sent a servant to those farmers so that they would give him his share of the grapes. But they beat the servant and sent him away with nothing.
11. So the man sent another servant. They beat this servant too and showed no respect for him. They sent the servant away with nothing.
12. So the man sent a third servant to the farmers. They hurt this servant badly and threw him out.
13. “The owner of the vineyard said, ‘What will I do now? I will send my son. I love my son very much. Maybe the farmers will respect my son.’
14. 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.’