Mark 12

The Parable of the Tenants

Where was Jesus? (Mark 11:27)

What did the man plant? (verse 1)

What did the man put around it? (Verse 1)

Did the man dig a pit for the winepress? (Verse 1)

What did the man build? (verse 1)

Who did he lease it to? (verse 1)

Where did the man go? (Verse 1)

When did the man send his servant to the tenants? (Verse 2)

What was the servant's mission? (Verse 2)

How was the servant received? (verse 3)

What did the servant receive? (Verse 3)

Was someone struck on the head? (Verse 4)

What did they do to another one that he sent? (Verse 5)

How were many others treated? (verse 5)

Who did he send last? (Verse 6)

What is said about this person? (verse 6)

What do the tenants say? (Verse 7)

How was the son received? (verse 7)

What will the owner of the vineyard do? (Verse 9)

What does Jesus quote is verse 10? (verse 10)

Who leaves Jesus? (verse 1-12)

Paying Taxes to Caesar

Who was sent to Jesus? (Verse 13)

What was their mission? (verse 13)

How did they address Jesus? (Verse 14)

How do they ask their question? (Verse 13-14)

What does Jesus know about them? (Verse 15)

What did Jesus know about them? (Verse 15)

What did Jesus ask them to bring to Him? (Verse 15)

What did He tell them to do with it? (Verse 15)

What did they bring to Jesus? (Verse 16)

What does Jesus ask about? (verse 16)

What were Jesus's words? (Verse 1-44)

What was the response? (Verse 17)

The Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

What is distinctively mentioned about the Sadducees? (Verse 18)


What is the question posed to Jesus? (Verse 19-23)

What is Jesus's response? (Verse 24-27)

The Great Commandment

When did people not dare to ask Jesus any more questions? (Verse 1-34)

Whose Son Is the Christ?

Who does Jesus quote and attribute the quote? (verse 36)

Where did Jesus teach? (verse 35)

What was the reaction of the crowd? (Verse 37)

Beware of the Scribes

Who does Jesus say to beware of? (verse 38-40)

Who does Jesus say will revive the greater condemnation? (Verse 38-40)

The Widow's Offering

What are the series of events in verse 41-44?

What does Jesus do? (verse 41-44)

What do Jesus' disciples do? (Verse 41-44)

What are Jesus' observations? (Verse 41-44)

Who does Jesus speak of?
How does Jesus speak of them?
What are the reoccurring things in this chapter?
Who fears in this passage?
Who do they fear? 
What does it cause them to do or not do?
How do some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians ask their question? (Verse 13-14)

Verse to Ponder

“‘The stone that the builders rejected

    has become the cornerstone;

11 this was the Lord's doing,

    and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

“Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 

“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.”

“The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And 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.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

“You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

“How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?

David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at my right hand,

    until I put your enemy's under your feet.”’

David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?”

“Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

Thoughts

Our beloved widow and the 

two small copper coins that make a penny.

What are my copper coins? 

Is there anything more profound? 

Heaven becoming bankrupt of God's only child 

in order that He might gain sons for himself?

Are they sitting across from Jesus?

Whose likeness and inscription is this?

He is not God of the dead, but of the living

Application

A living prayer

Mark 12English Standard Version (ESV)

The Parable of the Tenants

12 And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. 2 When the season came, he sent a servant[a] to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. 6 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this Scripture:

“‘The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;[b]
11 this was the Lord's doing,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

12 And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away.

Paying Taxes to Caesar

13 And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk. 14 And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone's opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances,[c] but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” 15 But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius[d] and let me look at it.” 16 And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar's.” 17 Jesus said to them, “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

18 And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man[e] must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. 21 And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. 22 And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. 23 In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”

24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage 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 God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”

The Great Commandment

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?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And 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 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him.33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Whose Son Is the Christ?

35 And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? 36 David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
    until I put your enemies under your feet.”’

37 David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?” And the great throng heard him gladly.

Beware of the Scribes

38 And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces 39 and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 40 who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

The Widow's Offering

41 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.[f] 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

Footnotes:

1. Mark 12:2 Or bondservant; also verse 4
2. Mark 12:10 Greek the head of the corner
3. Mark 12:14 Greek you do not look at people's faces
4. Mark 12:15 A denarius was a day's wage for a laborer
5. Mark 12:19 Greek his brother
6. Mark 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)