UTN uW Translation Notes:

Luke 20 Chapter Introduction

Structure and Formatting

1. Jesus answers a question about his authority (20:1–8)
2. Jesus tells a parable about a man who rented a vineyard to farmers (20:9–19)
3. Jesus answers a question about paying taxes to Caesar (20:20–26)
4. Jesus answers a question about marriage and the resurrection (20:27–40)
5. Jesus asks a challenging question about the Messiah (20:41–44)
6. Jesus warns about the scribes (20:45–47)

Some translations set each line of poetry farther to the right than the rest of the text to make it easier to read. ULT does this with the poetry in 20:17 and 20:42–43, which is quoted from the Old Testament.

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

Questions that seem to have no good answer

In 20:4, Jesus asks the Pharisees a question that seems to have no good answer. His goal is to show them that they should have recognized John the Baptist as someone who came with God’s authority. So he asks them who gave John the authority to baptize. They could not answer, because any answer they gave would show that they should have respected John 20:5–6.

In 20:22, the Pharisees ask Jesus a question that seems to have no good answer. They thought that they would get Jesus in trouble either with the Roman government or the Jewish people when they asked him if people should pay taxes to Caesar. If he said “yes,” then the Jewish people would be angry with him for telling them to pay taxes to a foreign government. If he said “no,” then the religious leaders could tell the Romans that Jesus was teaching the people to break the Roman laws. But Jesus gave them an answer they had not anticipated, and instead everyone respected the wisdom of Jesus even more.

Translation Issues in This Chapter

Paradox

A paradox is a statement that describes two things that seem as if they cannot both be true at the same time, but which actually are both true. In this chapter, Jesus quotes a psalm that records David calling his son “lord,” that is, “master.” However, to the Jews, ancestors were greater than their descendants, so a father would not call his son “master.” In this passage, Luke 20:41–44, Jesus is trying to lead his hearers to the true understanding that the Messiah will be divine, and that he himself is the Messiah. So David is speaking to his son, that is, his descendant, as the Messiah, and it is appropriate for him to address him as his “Lord.”