Mark 12:1-27

Jesus used stories to teach the people. He said, “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around the field and dug a hole for a winepress. Then he built a tower. He leased the land to some farmers and left for a trip. “Later, it was time for the grapes to be picked. So the man sent a servant to the farmers to get his share of the grapes. But the farmers grabbed the servant and beat him. They sent him away with nothing. Then the man sent another servant to the farmers. They hit this servant on the head, showing no respect for him. So the man sent another servant. The farmers killed this servant. The man sent many other servants to the farmers. The farmers beat some of them and killed the others. “The man had only one person left to send to the farmers. It was his son. He loved his son, but he decided to send him. He said, ‘The farmers will respect my son.’ “But the farmers said to each other, ‘This is the owner’s son, and this vineyard will be his. If we kill him, it will be ours.’ So they took the son, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. “So what will the man who owns the vineyard do? He will go and kill those farmers. Then he will lease the land to others. Surely you have read this in the Scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders refused to accept became the cornerstone. The Lord did this, and it is wonderful to us.’” When these Jewish leaders heard this story, they knew it was about them. They wanted to find a way to arrest Jesus, but they were afraid of what the crowd would do. So they left him and went away. Later, the Jewish leaders sent some Pharisees and some men from the group called Herodians to Jesus. They wanted to catch him saying something wrong. They went to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we know that you are an honest man. You are not afraid of what others think about you. All people are the same to you. And you teach the truth about God’s way. Tell us, is it right to pay taxes to Caesar? Should we pay them or not?” But Jesus knew that these men were really trying to trick him. He said, “Why are you trying to catch me saying something wrong? Bring me a silver coin. Let me see it.” They gave Jesus a coin and he asked, “Whose picture is on the coin? And whose name is written on it?” They answered, “It is Caesar’s picture and Caesar’s name.” Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.” The men were amazed at what Jesus said. Then some Sadducees came to Jesus. (Sadducees believe that no one will rise from death.) They asked him a question: “Teacher, Moses wrote that if a married man dies and had no children, his brother must marry the woman. Then they will have children for the dead brother. There were seven brothers. The first brother married but died. He had no children. So the second brother married the woman. But he also died and had no children. The same thing happened with the third brother. All seven brothers married the woman and died. None of the brothers had any children with her. And she was the last to die. But all seven brothers had married her. So at the time when people rise from death, whose wife will she be?” Jesus answered, “How could you be so wrong? It’s because you don’t know what the Scriptures say. And you don’t know anything about God’s power. When people rise from death, there will be no marriage. People will not be married to each other. All people will be like angels in heaven. Surely you have read what God said about people rising from death. In the book where Moses wrote about the burning bush, it says that God told Moses this: ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ So they were not still dead, because he is the God only of living people. You Sadducees are so wrong!”