Mark 12
12
The Story of the Renters
1Then Jesus began to speak to the people using stories. He said, “A man planted a vineyard, put up a wall around it, dug a pit for a winepress, and built a lookout tower. Then he rented the vineyard out to some farmers and moved to another place. 2When harvest time came, he sent a servant to the renters to collect some of the vineyard’s fruit from them. 3But they grabbed the servant, beat him up, and sent him away with nothing. 4So the man sent another servant to the renters. They hit that one over the head and treated him badly. 5The man sent a different servant, and the renters killed him. The man kept sending servants, but the renters beat some of them up and killed others.
6“The man had one person left to send. It was his son, who he loved. He finally sent him, thinking, ‘They’ll have to respect my son.’
7“But the renters said to each other, ‘This is the one who will receive all the owner’s property someday. Come on, let’s kill him, and then everything will be ours.’ 8So they took him and killed him and tossed his body out of the vineyard.
9“What will the owner of the vineyard do then? He’ll come and kill those renters and give the vineyard to others. 10Haven’t you read what this part of Scripture says?
“ ‘The stone that the builders didn’t accept
has become the most important stone of all.
11The Lord has done this,
and it’s wonderful to see.’ ”
12Then the chief priests, teachers of the law, and elders looked for a way to arrest Jesus, because they knew he’d told the story against them. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.
Is It Right to Pay the Royal Tax to Caesar?
13Later the religious leaders sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to see if they could trap him with his own words. 14They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you’re honest and that you don’t let other people tell you what to do or say, no matter how important they are. Instead, you teach the way of God truthfully. So, according to the law of Moses, is it right to pay the royal tax to Caesar, or not? 15Should we pay, or shouldn’t we?”
But Jesus knew they had bad motives for asking. So he responded, “Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a silver coin and let me look at it.” 16They brought the coin and he asked them, “Whose picture is on this coin? And whose name and titles?”
“Caesar’s,” they answered.
17Then Jesus told them, “Return to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and return to God what belongs to God.”
They were amazed by this answer.
Marriage When the Dead Rise
18Then the Sadducees, who don’t believe that people rise from the dead, came to Jesus with a question. 19“Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote in the law that if a man dies without having any children, but he leaves a wife behind, his brother has to marry the widow so that she can have children to carry on her late husband’s name. 20There were seven brothers. The first one got married, but he died without having any children. 21The next brother married his widow, but he also died and left no children. The same thing happened to the third one, 22and in fact, all seven brothers were married to her, but none of them left any children. Last of all, the woman died herself. 23When the dead rise, whose wife will she be? All seven of them were married to her.”
24Jesus answered, “You’re going wrong here because you don’t know the Scriptures and you don’t know the power of God. 25When the dead rise, people won’t get married, and parents won’t arrange marriages for their children. Everyone will be like the angels in heaven. 26But as for whether people rise from the dead, haven’t you read the story of the burning bush in the Book of Moses? God said to Moses, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ 27So he isn’t the God of the dead; he’s the God of the living. You don’t even know where to start!”
The Most Important Commandment
28One of the teachers of the law had been listening to the discussion and he realized that Jesus had given a good answer. So he came up and asked him, “Which is the most important of all the commandments?”
29Jesus answered, “The most important one is, ‘Listen, Israel, the Lord is our God and the Lord is one. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31And there’s a second one: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ None of the other commandments are more important than these.”
32“That’s a good answer, teacher,” the man replied. “You’re right to say that God is one and there’s no other God but him. 33And to love God with all your heart and mind and strength, and to love your neighbor as you love yourself, is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34Jesus saw that the man had answered wisely, and he said to him, “You’re not far from the kingdom of God.” From then on, no one dared to ask Jesus any more questions.
Whose Son Is the Messiah?
35While Jesus was teaching in the temple courtyard, he asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David? 36David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, said,
“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your control.” ’
37David calls the Messiah his ‘Lord.’ So how can he be David’s son?”
The large crowd listened to Jesus with delight.
Warning Against the Teachers of the Law
38As he taught, he said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in long robes, to be greeted with respect in the marketplace, 39and to have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 40But they cheat widows out of their houses and say long prayers just to show off. God will punish them very severely.”
The Widow’s Offering
41Jesus sat down across from the place where people gave their offerings at the temple. He watched as the crowd put their money into the offering boxes. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42But a poor widow came along and put in two very small copper coins that were worth only a few pennies.
43Jesus called over his disciples and said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the offering box than all the others. 44They gave a lot of money, but it was extra money they could afford to give. She gave even though she was poor. She put in all she had—everything she needed to live on.”
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Mark 12
12
The Story About a Vineyard
1-2Then Jesus started telling them stories. “A man planted a vineyard. He fenced it, dug a winepress, erected a watchtower, turned it over to the farmhands, and went off on a trip. At the time for harvest, he sent a servant back to the farmhands to collect his profits.
3-5“They grabbed him, beat him up, and sent him off empty-handed. So he sent another servant. That one they tarred and feathered. He sent another and that one they killed. And on and on, many others. Some they beat up, some they killed.
6“Finally there was only one left: a beloved son. In a last-ditch effort, he sent him, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’
7-8“But those farmhands saw their chance. They rubbed their hands together in greed and said, ‘This is the heir! Let’s kill him and have it all for ourselves.’ They grabbed him, killed him, and threw him over the fence.
9-11“What do you think the owner of the vineyard will do? Right. He’ll come and get rid of everyone. Then he’ll assign the care of the vineyard to others. Read it for yourselves in Scripture:
That stone the masons threw out
is now the cornerstone!
This is God’s work;
we rub our eyes—we can hardly believe it!”
12They wanted to lynch him then and there but, intimidated by public opinion, held back. They knew the story was about them. They got away from there as fast as they could.
Paying Taxes to Caesar
13-14They sent some Pharisees and followers of Herod to bait him, hoping to catch him saying something incriminating. They came up and said, “Teacher, we know you have integrity, that you are indifferent to public opinion, don’t pander to your students, and teach the way of God accurately. Tell us: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
15-16He knew it was a trick question, and said, “Why are you playing these games with me? Bring me a coin and let me look at it.” They handed him one.
“This engraving—who does it look like? And whose name is on it?”
“Caesar,” they said.
17Jesus said, “Give Caesar what is his, and give God what is his.”
Their mouths hung open, speechless.
Our Intimacies Will Be with God
18-23Some Sadducees, the party that denies any possibility of resurrection, came up and asked, “Teacher, Moses wrote that if a man dies and leaves a wife but no child, his brother is obligated to marry the widow and have children. Well, there once were seven brothers. The first took a wife. He died childless. The second married her. He died, and still no child. The same with the third. All seven took their turn, but no child. Finally the wife died. When they are raised at the resurrection, whose wife is she? All seven were her husband.”
24-27Jesus said, “You’re way off base, and here’s why: One, you don’t know what God said; two, you don’t know how God works. After the dead are raised up, we’re past the marriage business. As it is with angels now, all our ecstasies and intimacies then will be with God. And regarding the dead, whether or not they are raised, don’t you ever read the Bible? How God at the bush said to Moses, ‘I am—not was—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? The living God is God of the living, not the dead. You’re way, way off base.”
The Most Important Commandment
28One of the religion scholars came up. Hearing the lively exchanges of question and answer and seeing how sharp Jesus was in his answers, he put in his question: “Which is most important of all the commandments?”
29-31Jesus said, “The first in importance is, ‘Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.’ And here is the second: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment that ranks with these.”
32-33The religion scholar said, “A wonderful answer, Teacher! So clear-cut and accurate—that God is one and there is no other. And loving him with all passion and intelligence and energy, and loving others as well as you love yourself. Why, that’s better than all offerings and sacrifices put together!”
34When Jesus realized how insightful he was, he said, “You’re almost there, right on the border of God’s kingdom.”
After that, no one else dared ask a question.
* * *
35-37While he was teaching in the Temple, Jesus asked, “How is it that the religion scholars say that the Messiah is David’s ‘son,’ when we all know that David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said,
God said to my Master,
“Sit here at my right hand
until I put your enemies under your feet.”
“David here designates the Messiah ‘my Master’—so how can the Messiah also be his ‘son’?”
The large crowd was delighted with what they heard.
38-40He continued teaching. “Watch out for the religion scholars. They love to walk around in academic gowns, preening in the radiance of public flattery, basking in prominent positions, sitting at the head table at every church function. And all the time they are exploiting the weak and helpless. The longer their prayers, the worse they get. But they’ll pay for it in the end.”
41-44Sitting across from the offering box, he was observing how the crowd tossed money in for the collection. Many of the rich were making large contributions. One poor widow came up and put in two small coins—a measly two cents. Jesus called his disciples over and said, “The truth is that this poor widow gave more to the collection than all the others put together. All the others gave what they’ll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn’t afford—she gave her all.”
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.