You can watch this on You Tube here: https://youtu.be/IaLQOdPuls0

Luke 20:1-8 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2020%3A1-8&version=NLT

The religious leaders knew that any physical attack on Jesus would start a riot, so they focused their efforts on getting him to say something that might change public opinion.  I guess getting cancelled was a thing back then too.  

Honestly, it’s not a bad strategy if you can make it work.  Unfortunately for the religious leaders, Jesus saw them coming.  He was also really good at their game.

Up to this point, Jesus was doing a lot of miraculous things and explaining the scriptures with greater wisdom and authority than anyone had ever heard.  People were loving it.  “But,” the Pharisees wondered, “if we can get him to overtly claim to be delivering a message from God, maybe if we can even get him to claim to be God, maybe people will see that as going too far.  Maybe his adoring mob will turn on him.”

So they asked a loaded question.  I love Jesus’ response.  It tells me a lot about him.  See, after being welcomed like a king by hordes of people, he probably could have just said, “I’m the incarnate image of God.  Feel free to worship me.” And a lot of people probably would have done just that.  Yes, he rode into Jerusalem humbly mounted on a donkey, but he was no weakling.  And he was nobody’s fool.  We might interpret his reply as backing down and avoiding conflict.  I think we’d be wrong. I think he looked them dead in the eye so they knew he saw right through them.  I’ll answer your question when you answer mine.  

Jesus knew that their hold on public opinion was far more tenuous than his.  A lot of people deeply respected John the Baptist.  If the religious leaders asserted that he was just a rogue teacher making stuff up, they knew that would infuriate the crowds.  But they couldn’t very well agree that he had been teaching what God sent him to say. I mean, they hadn’t followed John’s teaching. That made them look pretty bad.  Besides, if John was the prophet sent to introduce the Messiah, well then what did that make Jesus?

There was no way for them to answer that wouldn’t put them in a bad spot, so they answered that they really couldn’t say.   

Jesus called.  They folded.