The people had enough truth. It wasn’t truth according to them. It was blaspheme and that meant death. They wanted to kill him. The only problem was that they were afraid of the people.
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. “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this authority?”
He replied, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me: John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin?”
They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet.”
So they answered, “We don’t know where it was from.”
Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
Did you see why they didn’t grab him at this point? Because they were scared of the people. So they tried again.
He 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. At 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. He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.
“Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’
“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.’ So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
“What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”
When the people heard this, they said, “God forbid!”
Jesus 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’[a]?
Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”
The 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.
Jesus was speaking about his Father sending him to claim what was rightfully his. He also was saying they had plans to kill him. Which they did. But again they paused, because they were afraid of the people.
So now they had to try to trap him. Because if they could get him to say something against Caesar, they would have a right to arrest him. And kill him. So this was their next attempt.
Keeping 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. So 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. Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
He saw through their duplicity and said to them, “Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
He said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent.
The trap failed. He saw through it. And he answered in a way that they couldn’t arrest him, and at the same time provoked them that their ultimate responsibility was to give their lives to God.
Genius.
Jesus knew they were going to kill him. This wasn’t going to stop them. But neither was his death going to stop him from fulfilling his mission.
One of the most powerful statements from Jesus came a bit earlier in his journey. Some Pharisees came to Jesus saying to leave because Herod wanted to kill him. This was not their intent to “lovingly warn him” as it wasn’t Herod who wanted to kill him, it was the Pharisees. They were just trying to name drop to get Jesus to do what they wanted him to do.
Regardless, I love Jesus’ answer.
At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.”
He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!
Jesus knew that he had a death warrant over his life. And when they were trying to stop him, he said he was going to be unstoppable.
He will continue to deliver people free from demons.
He will continue to bring healing.
And he will do it today, tomorrow and the next day.
And on the third day, which was a reference to his death and resurrection, he would reach his goal. The goal God gave him.
Then he mocked his death in a poignant way. All through history Jerusalem was known for killing the prophets. Why would he expect to die anywhere else?
The gospel still is the recipient of hostility today. As Nik Ripken says,
“The #1 cause of persecution is people coming to Jesus. The day persecution ends is that day that no one is coming to Christ.” Nik Ripken
It’s easy to stop persecution. Just stop preaching the gospel. Make an excuse for why you can’t evangelize. Stop obeying God. When the gospel stops going forth, all persecution ends.
There’s a price to pay for being obedient. Jesus led the way in this.
But may we all become like him.
When people try to stop us from teaching, delivering and healing, we become unstoppable.
Even if it means our death. Why?
Because we know what happens on the third day.