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Texts -- Mark 12:1-20 (NET)

Context
The Parable of the Tenants
12:1 Then he began to speak to them in parables : “A man planted a vineyard . He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress , and built a watchtower . Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went on a journey . 12:2 At harvest time he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his portion of the crop . 12:3 But those tenants seized his slave , beat him, and sent him away empty-handed . 12:4 So he sent another slave to them again . This one they struck on the head and treated outrageously . 12:5 He sent another , and that one they killed . This happened to many others , some of whom were beaten , others killed . 12:6 He had one left, his one dear son . Finally he sent him to them , saying , ‘They will respect my son .’ 12:7 But those tenants said to one another , ‘This is the heir . Come , let’s kill him and the inheritance will be ours !’ 12:8 So they seized him, killed him , and threw his body out of the vineyard . 12:9 What then will the owner of the vineyard do ? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others . 12:10 Have you not read this scripture : ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone . 12:11 This is from the Lord , and it is marvelous in our eyes ’?” 12:12 Now they wanted to arrest him (but they feared the crowd ), because they realized that he told this parable against them . So they left him and went away .
Paying Taxes to Caesar
12:13 Then they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to trap him with his own words . 12:14 When they came they said to him , “Teacher , we know that you are truthful and do not court anyone’s favor, because you show no partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth . Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not ? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?” 12:15 But he saw through their hypocrisy and said to them , “Why are you testing me ? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” 12:16 So they brought one, and he said to them , “Whose image is this , and whose inscription ?” They replied , “Caesar’s .” 12:17 Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s , and to God the things that are God’s .” And they were utterly amazed at him .
Marriage and the Resurrection
12:18 Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection ) also came to him and asked him , 12:19 “Teacher , Moses wrote for us : ‘If a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children , that man must marry the widow and father children for his brother .’ 12:20 There were seven brothers . The first one married , and when he died he had no children .

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  • Yerusalem, Pusaka Daud [KJ.155]
  • [Mar 12:17] Soul, What Return Has God, Thy Savior

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • Moses evidently wrote this book on the plains of Moab shortly before his death, which occurred about 1406 B.C.The Mosaic authorship of this book is quite easy to establish. The book claims to be the words of Moses (1:5, 9; 5:...
  • In Zedekiah's reign Judah bottomed out spiritually. The king refused to humble himself before either Yahweh or Nebuchadnezzar even though God repeatedly sent messages and messengers urging him to do so. Hardness of heart now ...
  • 118:22-24 The psalmist seems to have been comparing himself to the stone that the builders (his adversaries) had rejected in view of the preceding context (cf. v. 18). The imagery is common. Whenever builders construct a ston...
  • "The section begins (1-6) and ends (23-29) with double illustrations drawn from nature and agriculture. Between lies a meditation in eight broadly equal parts on how Jerusalem's leaders refused the word of invitation and inhe...
  • Jesus proceeded immediately to tell another parable. Luke wrote that Jesus addressed it to the crowds in the temple courtyard (Luke 20:9). The chief priests and elders continued to listen (vv. 45-46).21:33-34 Jesus alluded to...
  • I. Introduction 1:1-13A. The title of the book 1:1B. Jesus' preparation for ministry 1:2-131. The ministry of John the Baptist 1:2-82. The baptism of Jesus 1:9-113. The temptation of Jesus 1:12-13II. The Servant's early Galil...
  • Mark may have intended this sentence to introduce the ministry of John the Baptist since that is what follows immediately. It could also refer to the inception of Jesus' public ministry and therefore be a title of the Gospel'...
  • The writer pointed out that the ministry of Jesus' forerunner fulfilled prophecy. It made a significant impact on those whom John contacted. Then Mark recorded the essence of John's message.1:2-3 Mark began with a quotation f...
  • Jesus' temptation by Satan was another event that prepared the divine Servant for His ministry. Mark's account is brief, and it stresses the great spiritual conflict that this temptation posed for Jesus. The writer omitted an...
  • Mark omitted Jesus' year of early Judean ministry (John 1:15-4:42), as did the other Synoptic evangelists. He began his account of Jesus' ministry of service in Galilee, northern Israel (1:14-6:6a). Because of increasing oppo...
  • 2:1-2 These two verses are an introduction to what follows. Mark frequently used summaries such as this one (cf. 1:14-15, 39; 2:13; 3:7-12, 23; 4:1, 33-34; 8:21-26, 31; 9:31; 10:1; 12:1). They are a mark of his literary style...
  • This pericope introduces Jesus' continuing ministry in Galilee following the religious leaders' decision to kill Him (cf. 1:14-15; 2:13). It provides much more detail than the parallel account in Matthew.3:7-8 The sea to whic...
  • The picture the writer painted was of Jesus and his disciples in a house in Capernaum. Jews wanting healing or some other favor from Jesus barged right in the door. There were so many of them that Jesus could not even eat a m...
  • The rest of Jesus' ministry, as Mark recorded it, took place in and around Jerusalem. Chapters 11-13 present Jesus' ministry before His passion. It consisted of Jesus' formal presentation to the nation (11:1-26), His teaching...
  • Mark gave more precise time intervals than Matthew did. Matthew related the cursing of the fig tree (Matt. 21:12-17) and Jesus' lesson to the disciples the following day (Matt. 21:18-22) back to back.11:12-13 The next day was...
  • This was Jesus' second messianic act that constituted part of His formal presentation to Israel. The first was the Triumphal Entry (vv. 1-11).11:15-16 The market atmosphere existed in the court of the Gentiles, the outermost ...
  • This entire section contains Jesus' teaching in the temple courtyard on Wednesday. The religious leaders first questioned Jesus' authority (11:12-12:12) and then His teaching (12:13-37). Finally Jesus condemned their hypocris...
  • This controversy consisted of a discussion with the religious leaders over John the Baptist's authority (11:27-33) followed by a parable that illustrated the religious leaders' irresponsibility (12:1-12)....
  • "The other major example of the concentric [chiastic] pattern in Mark's story [beside 2:1-3:6] is the series of Jesus' conflicts with the authorities in Jerusalem [ch. 12], comprised of seven episodes: Episodes A and A1 invol...
  • Controversy over Jesus' authority led to controversy over His teaching. The Jewish religious leaders attacked Him three times trying to destroy His credibility and popularity. They plied Him with questions about the poll tax ...
  • 12:13 Sanhedrin members took the initiative in sending the Pharisees and Herodians. They united against Jesus, whom they perceived as a common threat, even though they disagreed politically. They asked Jesus about a political...
  • 12:18 The Sadducees were mainly urban, wealthy, and educated Jews. Their numbers were comparatively few, but they occupied important positions including many in the priesthood. Their influence was greater than their size as a...
  • The third attack by Jesus' enemies involved a question about the greatest commandment (cf. Luke 10:25-28).12:28 The rabbis counted 613 commands in the Mosaic Law, 365 positive and 248 negative. They recognized that all were n...
  • The Olivet Discourse is the longest section of Jesus' teaching that Mark recorded (cf. 4:1-34; 7:1-23). Mark used this discourse as a bridge between Jesus' controversies with Israel's leaders (11:27-12:44) and the account of ...
  • Several themes peak in this section. Here we have the clearest evidence that Jesus was the Messiah and the Son of God (cf. 1:1; 8:29). Here, too, Jesus' conflict with the religious leaders, His foes, came to a head (cf. 3:1, ...
  • 14:53 The high priest in view here was Caiaphas. Interestingly Mark never mentioned him by name. He was the high priest that the Romans had appointed in 18 A.D., and he served in this capacity until 36 A.D.This was an unoffic...
  • 15:21 Probably only Mark mentioned Simon's sons because the Christians in Rome knew them or knew of them (cf. Rom. 16:13). Evidently Simon became a believer in Jesus. Mark mentioned very few people by name other than the Twel...
  • These inflammatory words of criticism and condemnation fanned the embers of Pharisaic hostility into an inferno of hatred and hostility. Luke wrote that these religious leaders now questioned Him closely on many subjects. He ...
  • The textual authenticity of this pericope is highly questionable. Most ancient Greek manuscripts dating before the sixth century do not contain it. However, over 900 ancient manuscripts do contain it including the important e...
  • Jesus often used a grapevine to describe the nation of Israel (cf. Matt. 20:1-16; 21:23-41; Mark 12:1-9; Luke 13:6-9; 20:9-16). The vine as a symbol of Israel appears on coins of the Maccabees.474Here Jesus used the vine meta...
  • 4:5 The "Council"(v. 15) before which soldiers brought Peter and John the next day was the Sanhedrin, which was the senate and supreme court of Israel. It consisted of the high priest, who served as its presiding officer, and...
  • Paul passed from a loosely connected series of exhortations in 12:9-21 to a well-organized argument about a single subject in 13:1-7."Forbidding the Christian from taking vengeance and allowing God to exercise this right in t...
  • Peter continued to give directions concerning how the Christian should conduct himself or herself when dealing with the state since his readers faced suffering from this source.2:13-14 The Christian's relationship to the stat...
  • Having established the believer's basic adequacy through God's power in him and God's promises to him, Peter next reminded his readers of their responsibility to cultivate their own Christian growth. He did so to correct any ...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • Mark 10-16
  • And He began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. 2. An...
  • Having yet therefore one son, his well beloved, he sent him also last unto them.'--Mark 12:6.REFERENCE to Isaiah 5. There are differences in detail here which need not trouble us.Isaiah's parable is a review of the theocratic...
  • They will reverence My Son.' May we not say this is a divine hope? It is not worth while to make a difficulty of the bold representation. It is but parallel to all the dealings of God with men; and it sets forth the possibili...
  • And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the' Passover, His disciples said unto Him, Where wilt Thou that we go and prepare that Thou mayest eat the Passover? 13. And He sendeth forth two of His disciples, and ...
  • And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted Him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26. He said unto him, What is written in the law! how readest thou? 27. And he, answering, said, Thou shalt lov...
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