In Luke chapter 20, Jesus has upset the religious atmosphere of the temple, and therefore the leader's question is authority. He then tells one of the more familiar parables about the owner of the vineyard who keeps sending people to get some of the fruit. This is a picture of God sending prophet after prophet to Israel to get them to do what is proper and leading the people in the right way to God. They keep killing the prophets, and finally they kill the owner's son, who is a picture of Jesus being killed.
We might not be in danger today, but when we stand up for the truth, when a church or a leader starts to go astray, we might be called heresy hunters or troublemakers. When that happens, we know that things have gone extremely wrong.
In other countries, they do kill those who tell the truth about Jesus, and one day they might lock us up too. In other countries, they do kill those who tell the truth about Jesus, and one day they might lock us up too, take away what we own, or even kill us if we don't stand up for the truth today. There's a famine in the land for the truth. Isaiah 59 verse 4 says, No one calls for justice, nor does anyone plead for the truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies. They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.
We must take a stand now. Ultimately, Jesus will crush those who go against him and his people, and in the end, He wins, but God will hold us responsible for failing to stand up for His truth. Let us be faithful.
