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Then he began to speak to them using parables. “A man planted a
vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a pit for a winepress, and built a
tower. Then he leased it to some farmers, and went away on a trip.
At the
time of the harvest, he sent a servant to the tenant farmers to pick up some of
the fruit from the vineyard.
But they seized him, beat him up, and sent him
away empty-handed.
So the man sent another servant. They hit him on the
head and abused him.
He sent another, and this one they killed. He sent
many others — some they beat up, some they killed.
He had one more to
send, his beloved son. Finally he sent him, thinking ‘They will respect my son.’
But those farmers said to each other, ‘Here is the heir. If we kill him, we will get the inheritance!’
So they took him and killed him, and threw him
out of the vineyard.
Now what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will
come and kill those farmers, and give the vineyard to others.
Have you not
read this Scripture: ‘The stone rejected by the builders has become the main
cornerstone.
This came about from the Lord, and it is wonderful to see’?”
The Jewish leaders realized that the parable was directed at them, and so
they tried to find a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd. So
they left him and went away.
Then they sent some Pharisees and Herodians to him, to try to catch him
out in conversation.
They came and said to him, “Teacher, we know you are
a truthful person and you do not worry about what people think of you. You
show no partiality to anyone, but teach the way of God in truth. So is it right
to pay taxes to Caesar or not?
Should we pay or not?” Jesus, realizing their
hypocrisy, asked them, “Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a denarius
coin to look at.”
They brought one. “Whose is this image and inscription?” Jesus asked them. “Caesar’s,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “Then give
Caesar what belongs to him, and give God what belongs to Him.” They were
astonished at what he said.
Then some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came and posed
a question:
“Teacher, Moses instructed us that if a man dies, leaving a
childless widow, then his brother should marry his widow and have children
on the dead man’s behalf.
Once there were seven brothers. The first
married, and then died without having children.
The second married his
widow and then died, childless. The third did the same.
In fact all seven
died without having any children. In the end the woman died too.
In the
resurrection, whose wife will she be, because she was the wife of all seven
brothers?”
Jesus said to them, “Does this not prove you are mistaken, and
do not understand the Scriptures nor the power of God?
For when the dead
rise, they do not marry and are not given in marriage, but are like the angels
in heaven.
But about the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read
in Moses’ writings, how God spoke to him at the bush, ‘I am the God of
Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?
He is not the God
of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”
One of the religious teachers came and heard them arguing, and
recognized that Jesus had given them a good answer. So he asked Jesus,
“What commandment is the most important of all?”
Jesus replied, “The
most important commandment is: ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one
Lord.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
with all your mind, and with all your strength.’
The second is: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no more important commandment than these.”
The religious teacher replied, “You are right, teacher. It is true as you said that God is one Person, and there is no other besides Him,
and we are
to love Him with all our heart, all our mind, and all our strength, and to love
our neighbor as ourselves. That is far more important than all burnt offerings
and sacrifices.”
Jesus, seeing that he had given an intelligent answer, said,
“You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” After this no one was brave
enough to ask him any more questions.
As Jesus continued teaching in the Temple, he asked, “How is it that the
religious teachers say that the Messiah is the son of David?
David himself said, inspired by the holy spirit, ‘The Lord said to my lord, “Sit at My right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’
David himself calls
him lord, so in what sense is he David’s son?” The large crowd enjoyed
listening to what Jesus said.
He continued his teaching by saying, “Beware of the religious teachers
who love to walk around in long robes, and to be given respectful greetings in
the marketplaces.
They love to have seats of honor in the synagogues and
the best places at banquets.
They cheat widows out of their property, then
try to make themselves look good with long-winded prayers. They will
receive heavy condemnation.”
Jesus sat down opposite the treasury collection box, watching people
putting in coins. Many rich people were putting in large numbers of coins.
Then a poor widow came and put in just two small coins, amounting to only
a penny.
He called over his disciples and said to them, “I am telling you the
truth: this poor widow put in much more than all the others.
They all gave
out of their abundance, but she gave from her poverty all she owned, all she
needed to live on.”
Mark