Luke 20:9-26
Verse 18 from today’s first parable is one that has been confusing to me: Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him. But a key to understanding lies in the pronoun, everyone. My Study Bible suggested pottery instead of people. A clay pot falling on a stone will be broken to pieces, but stone falling on a clay pot will surely do more damage. The NASB says, “will scatter him like dust”, an even stronger wording. Maybe something was lost in the translation?
Both Mark and Luke note that “they” (presumably the chief priests) did not try to arrest Jesus because they “feared the people”. All of our readings for the next two weeks take place during the first few days of Holy Week, with Jesus presumably teaching in the Temple. If the chief priests are afraid of arresting Jesus because of the people, it must have been a very large crowd of people to whom Jesus was speaking – every time He spoke! And He is doing His teachings every day, Monday through Thursday, probably within the Temple grounds until He celebrates the Passover with His disciples at the Last Supper. Only then do the chief priests hatch a plot to catch Him late at night when the crowd is gone. And even then they incite a rabble crowd to force the Roman governor to sentence Jesus to death. What a sad commentary on these Jewish leaders.
See also: September 11 / Luke 20:9-19; September 14 / Luke 20:20-26