12
Parable of wicked tenants
1 Then He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard—put a hedge around it, dug a wine trough, built a tower—rented it to farmers and went on a journey. 2 At the proper time he sent a slave to the farmers, that he might receive from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 But they took him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent another slave to them, and that one they wounded in the head by stoning,* Perhaps 3% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit ‘by stoning’ (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). and sent him away shamefully treated. 5 Again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some. 6 Finally, still having his one beloved son, he even sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those farmers said to one another: ‘This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they took him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.† The details of this particular parable strike me as improbable. Most owners would take punitive measures after the second slave, if not the first. But the parable was a picture of how Israel had treated God, over the centuries, culminating in the death of His Son.
9 “What therefore will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy those farmers, and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not even read this Scripture:
‘The stone that the builders rejected,
is the very one that became the cornerstone;
11 this was the Lord's doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”‡ See Psalm 118:22-23.
12 So they started looking for a way to arrest Him, because they knew He had spoken the parable against them, but they were in fear of the crowd. Then they left Him and went away.
Render to Caesar
13 Then they§ The reference is presumably to the leaders mentioned in 11:27. They were hoping to be able to denounce Jesus to the Governor, who was Caesar's representative. sent some of the Pharisees and of the Herodians to Him, in order to trap Him with a question. 14 Upon arriving they said to Him: “Teacher, we know that you are honest—you do not ‘protect’ anyone, because you do not consider the position of people, but teach the way of God in truth* They were really almost too obvious.—is it right to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? 15 Should we pay, or should we not?” But knowing their hypocrisy, He said to them: “Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius to look at.” 16 So they did, and He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar's.” 17 Then Jesus answered them by saying, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.”† We are to do both: tithe and pay taxes. The Lord's answer left them empty-handed. And they marveled at Him.
A hypothetical situation‡ If you ever have to deal with someone who wants to argue on the basis of a hypothetical situation—be careful! Like these Sadducees, they will have a hidden agenda.
18 Then some Sadducees came to Him—they say there is no resurrection—and asked Him, saying: 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies and leaves behind a wife, but no children, then his brother should take that wife and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 Well there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and dying left no offspring. 21 So the second one took her, and died; and neither did he leave any offspring. The third likewise. 22 In fact, all seven took her, and left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. 23 In the resurrection, whenever they may rise, whose wife will she be?—because all seven had her as wife.”
24 Then in answer Jesus said to them: “You do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God§ What a sad commentary! But is it not true of most religious leaders today, as well?—is this not the reason that you err? 25 Whenever people rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in the heavens.* Jesus does not say that angels do not have gender. Angels are always treated as male, not female—without females there could never be baby angels. That may be why they are evidently fascinated by the female of our species (1 Corinthians 11:10). Because of death, on this planet we must reproduce, or the race will die out. Since there is no death in Heaven, there will be no need to reproduce; it follows that ‘marriage’ and ‘family’ will be irrelevant up there. 26 But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, about the Bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not the God of dead people, but the God of living ones. You are therefore badly mistaken.”† The Sadducees were basically materialists, and like them any materialists today will also be badly mistaken in their whole world view.
The greatest commandment
28 Then one of the scribes came on the scene, heard them arguing, realized that He had answered them well, and asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?” 29 Jesus answered him:‡ I take it that Jesus answered without hesitation—this one was easy. “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord your§ I follow the best line of transmission in reading ‘your’, albeit some 75% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘our’, as in all versions. (pl) God, the Lord is one; 30 and you (sg) shall love the Lord your (sg) God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’* See Deuteronomy 6:4-5. The ‘love’ here cannot be limited to emotion, obviously. We are to love God with our whole being, all we have. But how does that work? Love for God is demonstrated by obedience, so all we do is to be oriented by God's will. This is the first commandment.† Just over 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit ‘this is the first commandment’ (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). 31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’‡ See Leviticus 19:18. There is no other commandment greater than these.”
32 So the scribe said to Him: “Well said, teacher; you said truly that He is one, and there is no other except He. 33 And to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the soul§ Perhaps 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit ‘and with all the soul’ (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). and with all the strength, and to love the neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”* Quite right—all the man had to do was put it into practice. And after that no one dared ask Him any question.
Is the Christ David's son?
35 Then, teaching in the temple, Jesus reacted by saying: “How is it that the scribes say that the Messiah is David's son? 36 Because David himself said by the Holy Spirit:
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand, until I place your enemies
as a stool for your feet.” ’† See Psalm 110:1. Note that the Lord Jesus affirms that David wrote under divine inspiration!
37 Therefore David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; so how can He be his son?” The large crowd listened to Him with pleasure.
Down with hypocrisy!
38 Then He said to them in His teaching: “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk about in long robes and to get greetings in the market places, 39 and the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts; 40 who devour the houses of widows,‡ Presumably, when the man died the widow no longer had the means to clear any debt; so they would just take over the house and put the widow out in the street. while praying long and loud for a show. These will receive a more severe judgment.”
A widow's offering
41 Then Jesus sat down opposite the offering chest and started watching how the people were depositing money into the chest. Many rich people put in large amounts. 42 A certain poor widow also came and put in two ‘lepta’, which equal a ‘quadrans’.§ The ‘lepta’ was a tiny coin used in Israel, but not in Rome; their smallest coin was a ‘quadrans’. Since Mark is writing for a Roman audience, he uses a value they can understand. 43 So summoning His disciples He said to them: “I tell you assuredly that this poor widow has put more in the chest than all these contributors; 44 because they all gave out of their excess, but she, out of her lack, put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.”* Wow! I imagine she was appealing to God for help.

*12:4 Perhaps 3% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit ‘by stoning’ (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).

†12:8 The details of this particular parable strike me as improbable. Most owners would take punitive measures after the second slave, if not the first. But the parable was a picture of how Israel had treated God, over the centuries, culminating in the death of His Son.

‡12:11 See Psalm 118:22-23.

§12:13 The reference is presumably to the leaders mentioned in 11:27. They were hoping to be able to denounce Jesus to the Governor, who was Caesar's representative.

*12:14 They were really almost too obvious.

†12:17 We are to do both: tithe and pay taxes. The Lord's answer left them empty-handed.

‡12:17 If you ever have to deal with someone who wants to argue on the basis of a hypothetical situation—be careful! Like these Sadducees, they will have a hidden agenda.

§12:24 What a sad commentary! But is it not true of most religious leaders today, as well?

*12:25 Jesus does not say that angels do not have gender. Angels are always treated as male, not female—without females there could never be baby angels. That may be why they are evidently fascinated by the female of our species (1 Corinthians 11:10). Because of death, on this planet we must reproduce, or the race will die out. Since there is no death in Heaven, there will be no need to reproduce; it follows that ‘marriage’ and ‘family’ will be irrelevant up there.

†12:27 The Sadducees were basically materialists, and like them any materialists today will also be badly mistaken in their whole world view.

‡12:29 I take it that Jesus answered without hesitation—this one was easy.

§12:29 I follow the best line of transmission in reading ‘your’, albeit some 75% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘our’, as in all versions.

*12:30 See Deuteronomy 6:4-5. The ‘love’ here cannot be limited to emotion, obviously. We are to love God with our whole being, all we have. But how does that work? Love for God is demonstrated by obedience, so all we do is to be oriented by God's will.

†12:30 Just over 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit ‘this is the first commandment’ (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).

‡12:31 See Leviticus 19:18.

§12:33 Perhaps 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit ‘and with all the soul’ (to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).

*12:34 Quite right—all the man had to do was put it into practice.

†12:36 See Psalm 110:1. Note that the Lord Jesus affirms that David wrote under divine inspiration!

‡12:40 Presumably, when the man died the widow no longer had the means to clear any debt; so they would just take over the house and put the widow out in the street.

§12:42 The ‘lepta’ was a tiny coin used in Israel, but not in Rome; their smallest coin was a ‘quadrans’. Since Mark is writing for a Roman audience, he uses a value they can understand.

*12:44 Wow! I imagine she was appealing to God for help.

© 2016 Wilbur N. Pickering, ThM, PhD