Today’s reading opens with a parable that addresses the Pharisees. In the parable of the vineyard owner, farm hands rebel against the owner of the land they are working on. They reject anyone sent by the owner and refuse to give the owner any of the produce of the field. Time and again they reject and even kill those messengers sent to them, and when the son of the vineyard owner comes, they plot to kill him so that they might take the land for themselves. Those who see themselves as authorities in matters of theology pepper Jesus with questions about taxes, the resurrection, and the greatest commandment. Christ answers every question deftly, and the crowds listen to him with delight.