Mark 12
12
The Parable of the Tenants in the Vineyard
(Mt 21.33–46; Lk 20.9–19)
1 #
Is 5.1–2
Then Jesus spoke to them in parables: “Once there was a man who planted a vineyard, put a fence round it, dug a hole for the winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he let out the vineyard to tenants and left home on a journey. 2When the time came to gather the grapes, he sent a slave to the tenants to receive from them his share of the harvest. 3The tenants seized the slave, beat him, and sent him back without a thing. 4Then the owner sent another slave; the tenants beat him over the head and treated him shamefully. 5The owner sent another slave, and they killed him; and they treated many others the same way, beating some and killing others. 6The only one left to send was the man's own dear son. Last of all, then, he sent his son to the tenants. ‘I am sure they will respect my son,’ he said. 7But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the owner's son. Come on, let's kill him, and his property will be ours!’ 8So they seized the son and killed him and threw his body out of the vineyard.
9 “What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do?” asked Jesus. “He will come and kill those tenants and hand the vineyard over to others. 10#Ps 118.22–23Surely you have read this scripture:
‘The stone which the builders rejected as worthless
turned out to be the most important of all.
11 This was done by the Lord;
what a wonderful sight it is!’ ”
12The Jewish leaders tried to arrest Jesus, because they knew that he had told this parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.
The Question about Paying Taxes
(Mt 22.15–22; Lk 20.20–26)
13Some Pharisees and some members of Herod's party were sent to Jesus to trap him with questions. 14They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you tell the truth, without worrying about what people think. You pay no attention to anyone's status, but teach the truth about God's will for people. Tell us, is it against our Law to pay taxes to the Roman Emperor? Should we pay them or not?”
15But Jesus saw through their trick and answered, “Why are you trying to trap me? Bring a silver coin, and let me see it.”
16They brought him one, and he asked, “Whose face and name are these?”
“The Emperor's,” they answered.
17So Jesus said, “Well, then, pay the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor, and pay God what belongs to God.”
And they were amazed at Jesus.
The Question about Rising from Death
(Mt 22.23–33; Lk 20.27–40)
18 #
Acts 23.8
Then some Sadducees, who say that people will not rise from death, came to Jesus and said, 19#Deut 25.5“Teacher, Moses wrote this law for us: ‘If a man dies and leaves a wife but no children, that man's brother must marry the widow so that they can have children who will be considered the dead man's children.’ 20Once there were seven brothers; the eldest got married and died without having children. 21Then the second one married the woman, and he also died without having children. The same thing happened to the third brother, 22and then to the rest: all seven brothers married the woman and died without having children. Last of all, the woman died. 23Now, when all the dead rise to life on the day of resurrection, whose wife will she be? All seven of them had married her.”
24Jesus answered them, “How wrong you are! And do you know why? It is because you don't know the Scriptures or God's power. 25For when the dead rise to life, they will be like the angels in heaven and will not marry. 26#Ex 3.6Now, as for the dead being raised: haven't you ever read in the Book of Moses the passage about the burning bush? There it is written that God said to Moses, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ 27He is the God of the living, not of the dead. You are completely wrong!”
The Great Commandment
(Mt 22.34–40; Lk 10.25–28)
28 #
Lk 10.25–28
A teacher of the Law was there who heard the discussion. He saw that Jesus had given the Sadducees a good answer, so he came to him with a question: “Which commandment is the most important of all?”
29 #
Deut 6.4–5
Jesus replied, “The most important one is this: ‘Listen, Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord.#12.29 The Lord our God is the only Lord; or The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31#Lev 19.18The second most important commandment is this: ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment more important than these two.”
32 #
Deut 4.35
The teacher of the Law said to Jesus, “Well done, Teacher! It is true, as you say, that only the Lord is God and that there is no other god but he. 33#Hos 6.6And to love God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself, is more important than to offer animals and other sacrifices to God.”
34Jesus noticed how wise his answer was, and so he told him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
After this nobody dared to ask Jesus any more questions.
The Question about the Messiah
(Mt 22.41–46; Lk 20.41–44)
35As Jesus was teaching in the Temple, he asked the question, “How can the teachers of the Law say that the Messiah will be the descendant of David? 36#Ps 110.1The Holy Spirit inspired David to say:
‘The Lord said to my Lord:
Sit here on my right
until I put your enemies under your feet.’
37 David himself called him ‘Lord’; so how can the Messiah be David's descendant?”
Jesus Warns against the Teachers of the Law
(Mt 23.1–36; Lk 20.45–47)
A large crowd was listening to Jesus gladly. 38As he taught them, he said, “Watch out for the teachers of the Law, who like to walk around in their long robes and be greeted with respect in the market place, 39who choose the reserved seats in the synagogues and the best places at feasts. 40They take advantage of widows and rob them of their homes, and then make a show of saying long prayers. Their punishment will be all the worse!”
The Widow's Offering
(Lk 21.1–4)
41As Jesus sat near the temple treasury, he watched the people as they dropped in their money. Many rich men dropped in a lot of money; 42then a poor widow came along and dropped in two little copper coins, worth about a penny. 43He called his disciples together and said to them, “I tell you that this poor widow put more in the offering box than all the others. 44For the others put in what they had to spare of their riches; but she, poor as she is, put in all she had — she gave all she had to live on.”
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Mark 12: GNBDC
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Mark 12
12
Parable of the Tenants.#The vineyard denotes Israel (Is 5:1–7). The tenant farmers are the religious leaders of Israel. God is the owner of the vineyard. His servants are his messengers, the prophets. The beloved son is Jesus (Mk 1:11; 9:7; Mt 3:17; 17:5; Lk 3:22; 9:35). The punishment of the tenants refers to the religious leaders, and the transfer of the vineyard to others refers to the people of the new Israel. 1He began to speak to them in parables.#Mt 21:33–46; Lk 20:9–19. “A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey.#Is 5:1–7; Jer 2:21. 2At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard. 3But they seized him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4Again he sent them another servant. And that one they beat over the head and treated shamefully. 5He sent yet another whom they killed. So, too, many others; some they beat, others they killed. 6He had one other to send, a beloved son. He sent him to them last of all, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8So they seized him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9What [then] will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come, put the tenants to death, and give the vineyard to others. 10Have you not read this scripture passage:#Ps 118:22–23; Is 28:16.
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
11by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes’?”
12They were seeking to arrest him, but they feared the crowd, for they realized that he had addressed the parable to them. So they left him and went away.
Paying Taxes to the Emperor. 13#In the ensuing conflicts (cf. also Mk 2:1–3:6) Jesus vanquishes his adversaries by his responses to their questions and reduces them to silence (Mk 12:34). They sent some Pharisees#Mt 22:15–33; Lk 20:20–39. and Herodians to him to ensnare him#3:6. in his speech.#See note on Mt 22:15–22. 14They came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion. You do not regard a person’s status but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or should we not pay?” 15Knowing their hypocrisy he said to them, “Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius to look at.” 16They brought one to him and he said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They replied to him, “Caesar’s.” 17So Jesus said to them, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” They were utterly amazed at him.#Rom 13:7.
The Question About the Resurrection.#See note on Mt 22:23–33. 18Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and put this question to him, 19saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us, ‘If someone’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother.’#Dt 25:5. 20Now there were seven brothers. The first married a woman and died, leaving no descendants. 21So the second married her and died, leaving no descendants, and the third likewise. 22And the seven left no descendants. Last of all the woman also died. 23At the resurrection [when they arise] whose wife will she be? For all seven had been married to her.” 24Jesus said to them, “Are you not misled because you do not know the scriptures or the power of God? 25When they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but they are like the angels in heaven. 26As for the dead being raised, have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God told him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, [the] God of Isaac, and [the] God of Jacob’?#Ex 3:6. 27He is not God of the dead but of the living. You are greatly misled.”
The Greatest Commandment.#See note on Mt 22:34–40. 28One of the scribes,#Mt 22:34–40; Lk 10:25–28. when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them, asked him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” 29Jesus replied, “The first is this: ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! 30You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’#Dt 6:4–5. 31The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”#Lv 19:18; Rom 13:9; Gal 5:14; Jas 2:8. 32The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, ‘He is One and there is no other than he.’ 33And ‘to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself’ is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”#Dt 6:4; Ps 40:7–9. 34And when Jesus saw that [he] answered with understanding, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to ask him any more questions.#Mt 22:46; Lk 20:40.
The Question About David’s Son.#Jesus questions the claim of the scribes about the Davidic descent of the Messiah, not to deny it (Mt 1:1; Acts 2:20, 34; Rom 1:3; 2 Tm 2:8) but to imply that he is more than this. His superiority derives from his transcendent origin, to which David himself attested when he spoke of the Messiah with the name “Lord” (Ps 110:1). See also note on Mt 22:41–46. 35As Jesus was teaching in the temple area he said,#Mt 22:41–45; Lk 20:41–44. “How do the scribes claim that the Messiah is the son of David? 36David himself, inspired by the holy Spirit, said:
‘The Lord said to my lord,
“Sit at my right hand
until I place your enemies under your feet.”’#Ps 110:1.
37David himself calls him ‘lord’; so how is he his son?” [The] great crowd heard this with delight.
Denunciation of the Scribes.#See notes on Mk 7:1–23 and Mt 23:1–39. 38In the course of his teaching he said,#Mt 23:1–7; Lk 11:43; 20:45–47. “Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, 39seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets. 40They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation.”
The Poor Widow’s Contribution.#See note on Lk 21:1–4. 41He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury.#Lk 21:1–4. Many rich people put in large sums. 42A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. 43Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. 44For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.”
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