←Mark 12→BSB

• The events of 11:27–12:44 all take place in the Temple (see 11:27; 13:1). This story (literally parable) is intimately tied to the previous question about Jesus’ authority (11:27–33) by the introductory words, Then Jesus began teaching them. This parable is an extended reply by Jesus to the religious leaders.
• Jesus intended his audience to interpret this parable in light of Isa 5:1–7, a similar story of someone planting a vineyard, building a lookout tower, putting a fence around the vineyard, and digging a pit for a wine vat. A similar question is asked: What do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do? (Mark 12:9; cp. Isa 5:4). Isaiah specifically identifies the vineyard as the people of Israel (Isa 5:7); Jesus’ hearers and Mark’s readers would similarly have understood the present story as an allegory about the Israelites. Other details in the story are also clearly meant to be interpreted allegorically: The tenants represent the leaders of Israel; the owner represents God; the servants represent the Old Testament prophets; the beloved son represents Jesus, the Son of God; the murder of the son represents Jesus’ crucifixion; and the giving of the vineyard to others represents the judgment coming upon Israel (Mark 11:15–17; 13:1–37). The interpretation would have been more clear to Mark’s readers than to Jesus’ original audience, but the religious leaders who were Jesus’ contemporaries understood it clearly enough that they sought to kill him (12:12).

• The time of the grape harvest probably refers to the time, some four years after planting, when a new vineyard would produce its first harvest. The owner’s share of the crop would have been a quantity of grapes or wine, given in payment for the lease of the vineyard.
• In the Old Testament, prophets are often referred to as servants (Jer 7:25–26; Amos 3:7; Zech 1:6); they were repeatedly mistreated and killed by Israelite leaders (1 Kgs 18:13; 19:10, 14; 2 Chr 24:20–27; 36:15–16; Jer 26:20–23; Neh 9:26; see Matt 23:34, 37; 1 Thes 2:15).

In his second rhetorical question, Jesus used a quotation from Ps 118:22–23. The rejected stone (the Son) had become the cornerstone of God’s Kingdom (cp. Acts 4:11; 1 Pet 2:4, 6–7). The phrase is traditionally understood as the buried cornerstone that is part of the foundation, but it could be the capstone at the top of a building that marks its completion. Whichever stone is meant, it was the most important one. Despite the evil intention of the builders—the religious leaders—all they did was in accordance with God’s will (Acts 4:28), which was wonderful to see. Those who put Jesus to death were God’s instruments in his plan for the Son of Man to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).

Having failed in questioning Jesus’ authority, Jesus’ enemies tried to alienate his audience. Readers are aware from the beginning that the flattery of the Pharisees and supporters of Herod (see 3:6) was insincere; they wanted only to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could be arrested. The question is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? had been carefully thought out by Jesus’ opponents. It presented Jesus with a dilemma. To say yes would alienate the people, for they despised the Romans and hated paying them taxes. To say no would make him a revolutionary and force an immediate confrontation with the Roman authorities, resulting in his arrest.

• This is the third controversy story of the series begun in 11:27. As in most New Testament references to the Sadducees, the setting is the Temple (Matt 22:23–33 // Luke 20:27–40; Acts 4:1–3; 5:12, 17; 22:30–23:10; the exceptions are Matt 3:7; 16:1–12).
• The Sadducees’ question (Mark 12:19–23) was carefully crafted and based on a commandment of Moses (Deut 25:5–6; see Gen 38:6–11; Ruth 4:1–22). Since all seven men could not have the woman as wife in the resurrection, and since none of them had a special claim, the Sadducees thought that they had proven the absurdity of the doctrine of the resurrection and refuted the Pharisees and Jesus (cp. Matt 12:41–42; Luke 16:19–31; see also Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:34).

• Jesus’ response had two elements. First, he rebuked the Sadducees’ ignorance of the Scriptures (i.e., the Old Testament), where the resurrection of the dead is referred to most clearly in the Prophets (Isa 26:19; Ezek 37:1–14) and the Writings (Job 19:26; Pss 16:9–11; 49:15; 73:23–26; Dan 12:2). However, the Sadducees accepted only the Torah (Genesis—Deuteronomy), so Jesus answered them from the Torah. The reference to God as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (see Exod 3:6, 15–16) showed that God’s covenant with the patriarchs could not be broken by death. They were still alive (Matt 8:11–12; 13:17; Luke 16:19–31; John 8:56), for God is the God of the living, not the dead. God’s covenant relationship with his people extends beyond their physical death, which means that the afterlife must be a reality.
• Second, Jesus challenged the Sadducees’ ignorance of God’s power. They thought that life in the resurrection would have to be an extension of mortal life. Instead, it is life raised to an entirely new level. In this new existence, there is no need for sexual reproduction because there is no more death. The intimacy of marriage is superseded by fellowship with a multitude of fellow believers and with God (Mark 10:29–30; Matt 19:28–29; Luke 18:29–30; Rev 21:1–4). It is in this respect that resurrected believers will be like the angels in heaven.
• Jesus’ argument demonstrates his wisdom before his opponents and affirms the hope of the resurrection for his followers. Jesus is “the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25); he has conquered death and assured those who believe in him that they will “not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

After the three hostile challenges of 11:27–12:27, the reader might expect the next question to Jesus to be hostile (see 11:28; 12:13, 15, 19–23), but this was not a hostile counter. Earlier references in Mark to the teachers of religious law have portrayed them as antagonistic (2:6–7, 16; 3:22; 7:1, 5; 8:31; 9:14; 10:33; 11:18, 27), and Jesus will warn the crowds against their hypocrisy (12:38–40), but this teacher was positively inclined toward Jesus (12:28, 32) and praised him (12:32–33). Jesus described the man’s answer to his question as having understanding, and Jesus said that the man was not far from the Kingdom of God (12:34).

• Jesus’ reply combined two widely separated commands from the Torah.
• The first, Deut 6:4–5, was probably the best known passage in the Old Testament, for it was repeated twice daily by observant Jews. It is called the Shema because it begins with the word Listen (Hebrew shema‘). The first command corresponds to the first part of the Ten Commandments (Exod 20:2–11), which deals with a person’s relationship to God.
• The oneness of God is foundational to Jewish and Christian monotheism and is the basis for the command to love God with all one’s heart (thinking and affection), soul (desire and feeling), mind (understanding), and strength (energy and power).
• The second command is from Lev 19:18. It corresponds to the second part of the Ten Commandments (Exod 20:12–17), which concerns a person’s relationship with other people. The second command is based on the natural inclination of people to look after themselves. Its importance to the early church can be seen in its frequent repetition (Matt 5:43–44; 19:19; 25:31–46; Rom 13:8–10; Gal 5:14; Jas 2:8; Didache 1.2; 2.7). The two commands are not independent, but are intimately associated as one commandment. Their integration precludes religious mysticism that addresses only a person’s relationship with God or humanism that addresses only human relationships.

The scribe’s affirmation adds emphasis to the importance of these two commands for authentic devotion.

After having answered various questions, mostly from opponents, Jesus now asked a question (see 8:27; Matt 17:25; 21:31; Luke 10:36). The Messiah was considered the son of David because of such passages as Isa 9:2–7; 11:1–5; Jer 23:5–6; 33:15–16; Ezek 34:23–24; 37:24–28. With his question, Jesus did not deny that the Messiah was a descendant of David (Mark 10:47–48; 11:10; see Rom 1:3–4), but he demonstrated that this description, while correct, is inadequate. The Messiah is far more!

• teachers of religious law: See 1:22. The warning here is similar to the one against the Pharisees and Herod in 8:15. The scribes broke the two greatest commands (12:30–31). They broke the first command by failing to love God and failing to reserve for him alone the reverence and adoration they sought for themselves.
• Flowing robes were probably the garments worn by religious men; respectful greetings perhaps meant being called “Rabbi” (see Matt 23:7). The seats of honor were in the front of the synagogue facing the congregation.

The word translated collection box can refer to a building within the Temple compound in which Temple money was stored, but here it refers to one of thirteen money chests into which gifts were placed. As Jesus watched, many rich people put in large sums. Then he noticed a poor widow put in two small coins. (The use of the Roman term quadrans supports the view that Mark wrote his Gospel for the church in Rome; see Mark Book Introduction, “Audience.”) These two coins were worth one sixty-fourth of a denarius, a normal day’s pay (Matt 20:1–2).

This account of a poor widow highlights the contrast between the falsely pious religious leaders (12:38–40) and those who truly love God. The emphasis of the passage falls on Jesus’ pronouncement, I tell you the truth, in which the widow is described as having given more than the rich.

Jesus called his disciples to hear his teaching (see 3:23; 6:7; 8:1; 10:42; see also 7:14; 8:34). Jesus’ pronouncement in 12:43 revealed a radical difference between his thinking and that of the world. No one would have named a building after the widow for her gift of two small coins, but Jesus and his Father look at a person’s heart (1 Sam 16:7). The widow was doing exactly what Jesus told the rich young ruler to do (Mark 10:21) and what he taught his disciples (1:18, 20; 8:34–37; 10:28–29). Like the woman of 14:3–9, the poor widow loved God with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength (12:30).