Mark 12
12
The Parable of the Tenants
1 # For ver. 1-12, see Matt. 21:33-46; Luke 20:9-19 And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted #Ps. 80:8; Isa. 5:1; Matt. 21:28 a vineyard #Isa. 5:2 and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and #Song 8:11, 12 leased it to tenants and #ch. 13:34; Matt. 25:14, 15went into another country. 2When the season came, he sent a servant#12:2 Or bondservant; also verse 4 to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3#Matt. 5:12; 22:6; 23:34, 37; [2 Chr. 24:19; 36:15, 16; Neh. 9:26; Jer. 37:15; 38:6; Acts 7:52; 2 Cor. 11:24-26; 1 Thess. 2:15; Heb. 11:36, 37]And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4#[See ver. 3 above] Again #Matt. 22:4 he sent to them another servant, and #[Acts 14:19] they struck him on the head and #Acts 5:41 (Gk.)treated him shamefully. 5#[See ver. 3 above]And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. 6He had still one other, #See Matt. 3:17 a beloved son. #[Heb. 1:1]Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7But those tenants said to one another, #Heb. 1:2; [John 1:11; Rom. 8:17] ‘This is the heir. Come, #[1 Kgs. 21:19]let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8And they took him and killed him and #Heb. 13:12threw him out of the vineyard. 9What will the owner of the vineyard do? #[Luke 19:27] He will #[Matt. 24:50; 25:19] come and destroy the tenants and #Matt. 21:43; Acts 13:46; 18:6; 28:28; [Matt. 8:11, 12]give the vineyard to others. 10#See Matt. 21:16 Have you not read #Luke 4:21; Acts 8:35 this Scripture:
#
Acts 4:11; 1 Pet. 2:7; Cited from Ps. 118:22, 23 “‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone; # 12:10 Greek the head of the corner
11 this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
12And #ch. 11:18; Luke 19:47, 48; John 7:25, 30, 44; [Matt. 26:4] they were seeking to arrest him #ch. 11:32 but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they #Matt. 22:22left him and went away.
Paying Taxes to Caesar
13 # For ver. 13-27, see Matt. 22:15-32; Luke 20:20-38 And they sent to him some of #ch. 3:6; [ch. 8:15] the Pharisees and some of #ch. 3:6; [ch. 8:15] the Herodians, to #Luke 11:54trap him in his talk. 14And they came and said to him, “Teacher, #[John 3:2] we know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For #See Acts 10:34 you are not swayed by appearances,#12:14 Greek you do not look at people’s faces but truly teach #Acts 18:25, 26; [Acts 13:10] the way of God. Is it lawful to pay #Matt. 17:25 taxes to #Luke 2:1; 3:1Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” 15But, knowing #Matt. 23:28; Luke 12:1 their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why #See John 8:6 put me to the test? Bring me #See Matt. 18:28a denarius#12:15 A denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer and let me look at it.” 16And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” 17Jesus said to them, #Rom. 13:7“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at him.
The Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection
18And #Matt. 3:7; 16:1; 22:34; Acts 4:1; 5:17; 23:6 Sadducees came to him, #Acts 23:8; [Acts 4:2]who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, 19“Teacher, Moses wrote for us that #[Deut. 25:5]if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man#12:19 Greek his brother must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 20There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. 21And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. 22And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. 23In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”
24Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because #John 20:9 you know neither the Scriptures nor #1 Cor. 6:14the power of God? 25For when they rise from the dead, they neither #Matt. 24:38; Luke 17:27marry nor #Matt. 24:38; Luke 17:27are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26And as for the dead being raised, #See Matt. 21:16 have you not read in #[Luke 3:4; 20:42; Acts 1:20; 7:42] the book of Moses, in #Ex. 3:1-4, 17 the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, #Acts 7:32; Cited from Ex. 3:6‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”
The Great Commandment
28 # For ver. 28-34, see Matt. 22:34-40, 46; [Luke 10:25-28] And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29Jesus answered, “The most important is, #Luke 10:27; Cited from Deut. 6:4, 5 ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, #Rom. 3:30; 1 Cor. 8:4, 6; Gal. 3:20; Eph. 4:6; 1 Tim. 1:17; 2:5; James 2:19; 4:12; Jude 25; [Matt. 19:17; 23:9]the Lord is one. 30And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31#[1 John 4:21] The second is this: #Cited from Lev. 19:18; See Matt. 19:19 ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment #[Matt. 23:23]greater than these.” 32And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that #[See ver. 29 above] he is one, and #Cited from Deut. 4:35 (Gk.)there is no other besides him. 33And to love him with all the heart and with all #Deut. 4:6; Luke 2:47; Col. 1:9; 2:2 the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, #1 Sam. 15:22; Hos. 6:6; Mic. 6:6-8; Matt. 9:13; 12:7 is much more than all #Ps. 40:6; Heb. 10:6, 8whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” #Luke 20:40And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Whose Son Is the Christ?
35 # For ver. 35-37, see Matt. 22:41-45; Luke 20:41-44 And as #See Matt. 26:55 Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that #See Matt. 1:1, 17the Christ is the son of David? 36David himself, #[Luke 10:21; 1 Cor. 12:3] in the Holy Spirit, declared,
#
Acts 2:34, 35; Heb. 1:13; Cited from Ps. 110:1; [1 Cor. 15:25; Heb. 10:13] “‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies # [Acts 7:49] under your feet.”’
37 David himself calls him Lord. So # [Rom. 1:3, 4] how is he his son?” And the great throng #ch. 6:20heard him gladly.
Beware of the Scribes
38 # For ver. 38, 39, see Matt. 23:1, 2, 5-7; Luke 20:45, 46; [Luke 11:43] And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces 39and have the best seats in the synagogues and #Luke 14:7, 8the places of honor at feasts, 40#[Luke 11:39; 16:14] who devour widows’ houses and #[Matt. 6:5, 7]for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
The Widow’s Offering
41 # For ver. 41-44, see Luke 21:1-4 And he sat down opposite #Matt. 27:6; John 8:20 the treasury and watched the people #2 Kgs. 12:9putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42And a poor widow came and put in two #Luke 12:59small copper coins, which make a penny.#12:42 Greek two lepta, which make a kodrantes; a kodrantes (Latin quadrans) was a Roman copper coin worth about 1/64 of a denarius (which was a day’s wage for a laborer) 43And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, #[2 Cor. 8:2, 12]this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her #Phil. 4:11 poverty has put in everything she had, all #Luke 8:43she had to live on.”
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Mark 12
12
Tenants of a vineyard
(Matthew 21.33-46; Luke 20.9-19)
1Jesus then told them this story:#Is 5.1,2.
A farmer once planted a vineyard. He built a wall around it and dug a pit to crush the grapes in. He also built a lookout tower. Then he let his vineyard and left the country.
2When it was harvest time, he sent a servant to get his share of the grapes. 3The tenants grabbed the servant. They beat him up and sent him away without a thing.
4The owner sent another servant, but the tenants beat him on the head and insulted him terribly. 5Then the man sent another servant, and they killed him. He kept sending servant after servant. They beat some of them and killed others.
6The owner had a son he loved very much. Finally, he sent his son to the tenants because he thought they would respect him. 7But they said to themselves, “Some day he will own this vineyard. Let's kill him! That way we can have it all for ourselves.” 8So they grabbed the owner's son and killed him. Then they threw his body out of the vineyard.
9Jesus asked, “What do you think the owner of the vineyard will do? He will come and kill those tenants and let someone else have his vineyard. 10Surely you know that the Scriptures say,#Ps 118.22,23.
‘The stone that the builders
tossed aside
is now the most important
stone of all.
11This is something
the Lord has done,
and it is amazing to us.’ ”
12The leaders knew that Jesus was really talking about them, and they wanted to arrest him. But because they were afraid of the crowd, they let him alone and left.
Paying taxes
(Matthew 22.15-22; Luke 20.20-26)
13The Pharisees got together with Herod's followers.#12.13 Herod's followers: People who were political followers of the family of Herod the Great and his son Herod Antipas. Then they sent some men to trick Jesus into saying something wrong. 14They went to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are honest. You treat everyone with the same respect, no matter who they are. And you teach the truth about what God wants people to do. Tell us, should we pay taxes to the Emperor or not?”
15Jesus knew what they were up to, and he said, “Why are you trying to test me? Show me a coin!”
16They brought him a silver coin, and he asked, “Whose picture and name are on it?”
“The Emperor's,” they answered.
17Then Jesus told them, “Give the Emperor what belongs to him and give God what belongs to God.” The men were amazed at Jesus.
Life in the future world
(Matthew 22.23-33; Luke 20.27-40)
18The Sadducees did not believe that people would rise to life after death. So some of them came to Jesus and said:#Ac 23.8.
19Teacher, Moses wrote that if a married man dies and has no children, his brother should marry the widow. Their first son would then be thought of as the son of the dead brother.#Dt 25.5. 20There were once seven brothers. The first one married, but died without having any children. 21The second brother married his brother's widow, and he also died without having children. The same thing happened to the third brother, 22and finally to all seven brothers. At last the woman died. 23When God raises people from death, whose wife will this woman be? After all, she had been married to all seven brothers.
24Jesus answered:
You are completely wrong! You don't know what the Scriptures teach. And you don't know anything about the power of God. 25When God raises people to life, they won't marry. They will be like the angels in heaven. 26You know about people being raised to life. You know that in the story about Moses and the burning bush, God said, “I am the God worshipped by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”#12.26 “I am the God worshipped by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”: Jesus argues that if God is worshipped by these three, they must still be alive, because he is the God of the living.#Ex 3.6. 27He isn't the God of the dead, but of the living. You Sadducees are all wrong.
The most important commandment
(Matthew 22.34-40; Luke 10.25-28)
28One of the teachers of the Law of Moses came up while Jesus and the Sadducees were arguing. When he heard Jesus give a good answer, he asked him, “What is the most important commandment?”#Lk 10.25-28.
29Jesus answered, “The most important one says: ‘People of Israel, you have only one Lord and God.#Dt 6.4,5. 30You must love him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.’ 31The second most important commandment says: ‘Love others as much as you love yourself.’ No other commandment is more important than these.”#Lv 19.18.
32The man replied, “Teacher, you are certainly right to say there is only one God.#Dt 4.35. 33It is also true that we must love God with all our heart, mind, and strength, and that we must love others as much as we love ourselves. These commandments are more important than all the sacrifices and offerings that we could possibly make.”#Ho 6.6.
34When Jesus saw that the man had given a sensible answer, he told him, “You are not far from God's kingdom.” After this, no one dared ask Jesus any more questions.
About David's son
(Matthew 22.41-46; Luke 20.41-44)
35As Jesus was teaching in the temple, he said, “How can the teachers of the Law of Moses say that the Messiah will come from the family of King David? 36The Holy Spirit led David to say,#Ps 110.1.
‘The Lord said to my Lord:
Sit at my right side#12.36 right side: The place of power and honour.
until I make your enemies
into a footstool for you.’
37If David called the Messiah his Lord, how can the Messiah be his son?”#12.37 David…his son: See the note at 10.47.
The large crowd enjoyed listening to Jesus teach.
Jesus condemns the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Moses
(Matthew 23.1-36; Luke 20.45-47)
38As Jesus was teaching, he said:
Guard against the teachers of the Law of Moses! They love to walk around in long robes and be greeted in the market. 39They like the front seats in the meeting places and the best seats at banquets. 40But they cheat widows out of their homes and pray long prayers just to show off. They will be punished most of all.
A widow's offering
(Luke 21.1-4)
41Jesus was sitting in the temple near the offering box and watching people put in their gifts. He noticed that many rich people were giving a lot of money. 42Finally, a poor widow came up and put in two coins that were worth only a few pennies. 43Jesus told his disciples to gather around him. Then he said:
I tell you that this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 44Everyone else gave what they didn't need. But she is very poor and gave everything she had. Now she doesn't have a penny to live on.
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