The Parable of the Tenants
Mark 12He began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watchtower. Then he rented it out to some farmers and went into another country. When it was time, he sent a servant to the farmers to get from them his share of the fruit of the vineyard. They took him, beat him, and sent him away empty. Again, he sent another servant to them; and they threw stones at him, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated. Again he sent another, and they killed him, and many others, beating some and killing others. He had one left, his beloved son. He sent him last to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those farmers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ They took him, killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. What then will the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the farmers, and will give the vineyard to others. Haven’t y’all even read this Scripture:
‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This was from the Lord [YHWH]. It is marvelous in our eyes’?”+Psa 118:22-23Then they tried to seize him, but they feared the crowd, for they perceived that he spoken the parable against them. They left him and went away.
Paying What Is Due
They sent some of the Pharisees and the Herodians to him, in order to trap him with words. When they had come, they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful, and you are not concerned about anyone because you don’t focus on the face of humans, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”
But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why do y’all test me? Y’all Bring me a denarius to look at.”
They brought it.
He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”
They said to him, “Caesar’s.”
Jesus answered them, “Y’all render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
They marveled greatly at him.
Marriage at the Resurrection
Some Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to him. They asked him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote to us, ‘If a man’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife and no children, his brother should marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.’ There were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died leaving no children. The second one married her, and died, leaving no children. The third likewise, and so the seven left no children. Last of all, the woman died also. In the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as a wife.”
Jesus answered them, “Isn’t this the reason y’all are in error, not knowing the Scriptures or the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. But about the dead being raised, haven’t you read in the book of Moses about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?+Exo 3:6 Hᴇ is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are greatly mistaken.”
The Greatest Commandment
One of the scribes came and heard them debating. Recognizing that Jesus had answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the greatest of all?”
Jesus answered, “The greatest is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord [YHWH] our God, the Lord[YHWH] is one. You are to love the Lord [YHWH] your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’+Deut 6:4-5 The second is like this: ‘You are to love your neighbor as yourself.’+Lev 19:18 There is no other commandment greater than these.”
The scribe said to him, “Truly, teacher, you have said well that ʜᴇ is one, and there is none other but ʜᴇ; and to love ʜɪᴍ with all the heart, with all the understanding, all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the Empire of God.”
No one dared ask him any question after that.
Jesus Explains a Trinitarian Psalm
Jesus was teaching in the temple, saying, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? For David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, said
‘The Lord [YHWH] said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet.”’+Psa 110:1If David himself calls him ‘Lord,’ then how can he be his son?”
The large crowd heard him with delight. In his teaching, he said, “Y’all beware of the scribes, who like to walk in long robes, and to get greetings in the marketplaces, and to get the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ houses, and for appearance make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”
The Widow’s Offering
Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and watched how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large amounts. A poor widow came and she put in two small copper coins, worth less than a penny. He called his disciples to himself and said to them, “I tell y’all, this poor widow gave more than all those who are giving into the treasury, for they all gave out of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, gave all that she had to live on.”