Jesus’ Authority Questioned^(A)

²⁷ Then they came again to Jerusalem. ^(B)And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him. ²⁸ And they said to Him, “By what ^(C)authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?”

²⁹ But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things: ³⁰ The ^(D)baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me.”

³¹ And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ³² But if we say, ‘From men’ ”—they feared the people, for ^(E)all counted John to have been a prophet indeed. ³³ So they answered and said to Jesus, “We do not know.”

And Jesus answered and said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers^(F)

12 Then ^(G)He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower. And he leased it to ^[a]vinedressers and went into a far country. ² Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers. ³ And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴ Again he sent them another servant, ^[b]and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated. ⁵ And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, ^(H)beating some and killing some. ⁶ Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ⁷ But those ^[c]vinedressers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ ⁸ So they took him and ^(I)killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.

⁹ “Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰ Have you not even read this Scripture:

^12 (K)And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them. So they left Him and went away.

⁷ And he preached, saying, ^(A)“There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. ^8 (B)I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you ^(C)with the Holy Spirit.”

² and saying, “Repent, for ^(A)the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

⁷ Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ^(A)‘You shall not ^[a]tempt the Lord your God.’ ”

³ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:

⁴ Now ^(C)John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was ^(D)locusts and ^(E)wild honey. ^5 (F)Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him ^6 (G)and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ^(H)“Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from ^(I)the wrath to come? ⁸ Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, ⁹ and do not think to say to yourselves, ^(J)‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. ¹⁰ And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. ^(K)Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ^11 (L)I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. ^(M)He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit ^[a]and fire. ^12 (N)His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will ^(O)burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

John Baptizes Jesus^(P)

^13 (Q)Then Jesus came ^(R)from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”

¹⁵ But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.

^16 (S)When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and ^[b]He saw ^(T)the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.