Embedded Files
Aug 21-27, 2022
Compiled by Dr. "Joey" Alan Le, Ph.D.
Introduction
Introduction
Jesus had regularly refused to correct people who treated him as the Messiah—much to the chagrin of the religious leaders. Here, those leaders continued attempting to trap Jesus into making a mistake or revealing his true purpose.
OPEN: What are some of your favorite places to buy local produce?
The Parable of the Wicked Tenants
The Parable of the Wicked Tenants
12:1 A MAN PLANTED A VINEYARD … DUG OUT A PIT … BUILT A WATCHTOWER. For the religious leaders, Jesus’s use of these phrases would surely call to mind the well-known imagery found in a poem originally delivered by the prophet Isaiah centuries before (Is 5:1–7). In Isaiah’s song, the symbol of the vineyard was used to describe Israel. Although planted and cultivated by God, Israel was compared to a vineyard that produced only bad fruit. As a result, the landowner destroyed it. How do you respond to this extreme action? Is it fair or right for God to destroy something fruitless? How much of the responsibility do we bear for bearing fruit? What does fruitfulness look like for the follower of Jesus?
VINEYARD. Grapes were one of the major crops in Israel. They were eaten fresh, made into raisins, boiled into a syrup, or made into wine. This particular vineyard was carefully built, with a wall around it to keep out animals, a pit in which to crush the grapes to make wine, and a tower where the farmer kept a lookout for robbers and slept during the harvest. WENT AWAY. Jesus changes the Isaiah poem here in order to put the spotlight on the religious authorities. While in Isaiah God is the farmer who waits for the fruit which never appears, in this parable, God is the landlord who leaves his vineyard in the care of others who are responsible to him. It produces fruit, but the tenants refuse to give him his share of the produce. In what ways do people obstruct the flourishing of others? What does God think of such people who hinder another person’s well-being?
12:6 A BELOVED SON. The crowd didn’t know the identity of the son, yet Mark’s readers know that it is Jesus. A central theme in chaps 11–16 is the discovery that Jesus is the Son of God.
12:7 INHERITANCE. The arrival of the son signaled to the tenants that the owner had died. By law, a piece of ownerless property (which it would be if they killed the son) could be kept by those who first seized it. Since the tenants assumed the land would be ownerless if the son was dead, they plotted to kill him in order to lay claim to the land for themselves (Coleman 2019, 1621).
12:9 GIVE THE VINEYARD TO OTHERS. The appearance of the owner would shatter the illusion that the tenants now owned the land. The owner could enlist the aid of the government to force the evil tenants off his land. The landowner would then rent the vineyard to people who would meet the terms of their contract. The implication in the parable is that God will raise up new leaders to care for his people.
12:10 CORNERSTONE. The reference is to a stone that was rejected in the building of Solomon’s temple, which was later found to be the keystone to the porch (a keystone held an arch in place).
CONSIDER (vv1–12): Who are the key characters in this parable, and who did they represent in real life? What reasons did Jesus have for confronting the religious leaders in this way?
DIG DEEPER (vv1–12): Jesus’s parable points directly to Isaiah 5:1–7, in which God describes Israel as a “vineyard.” Where do you see additional connections between Jesus’s parable and Isaiah’s prophecy?
The Question about Paying Taxes
The Question about Paying Taxes
12:13–17 Beaten badly in their first two confrontations with Jesus, the leaders regroup and consider their strategy. They decide to send representatives from two groups with a trick question they hope will trap Jesus. The question deals with the explosive issue of taxes.
FOR GROUPS (vv12–17): Challenge group members to guess which presidents appear on the $5 bill, the $20 bill, and the $100 bill. Then ask about the $2 bill, and give a prize to anyone who knows the answer.
12:13 PHARISEES AND THE HERODIANS. The origin of this unusual alliance is described in 3:1–6. The plan to destroy Jesus had now matured and was gaining momentum in Jerusalem.
12:14 WE KNOW YOU ARE TRUTHFUL. By these and other flattering words, they hope to catch Jesus off guard. TAXES. A poll tax had to be paid to the Romans each year by all adult Jews. This tax was deeply resented.
The Pharisees and Herodians attempt to trap Jesus. If Jesus says, “Yes,” then he would be pro-Rome, and that would alienate Jewish patriots. If Jesus says, “No,” then he would be anti-Rome, and that would mark him as a treasonous rebel of the state (France 2009, 465).
12:15 BRING ME A DENARIUS. A denarius was a small, silver coin (worth about twenty-five cents today) bearing the picture of Tiberius Caesar. The denarius was the only coin that could be used to pay the poll tax.
If the tax rightfully belonged to Caesar because the coin was made in his image, then what belonged to God was that which was made in his image. Only one thing was made in God’s own image: humankind. Taxes belonged to Caesar, human beings belonged to God…By desacralizing and delimiting Caesar’s power, Jesus refused to give Caesar an autonomous sphere even in terms of taxation. If taxation dehumanized, exploited, and oppressed people, then Caesar was usurping his authority by robbing God of what rightfully belonged to him. People deserved a tax system that treated them with respect because people are God’s image-bearers and God wills that those who belong to him should be treated with dignity (Dempster 1999, 51). Just because something is legal, does that necessarily mean that it is just? Can you give any examples of human-made laws that exploit people, made in the image of God?
The tax was oppressive to the poor, and it was idolatrous for faithful Jews. Jesus was so concerned about justice for the poor and so emphatically taught service to God alone that his action of getting the Pharisees and Herodians to come up with a coin, and then holding it up and asking whose image on it, exposed their collaboration with the Roman power structure and distanced himself from it. He was confronting the injustice of the Roman tax and the collaboration of the Pharisees and Herodians, while at the same time advocating peaceful response (Gushee and Stassen 2016, 141). What is the best way to peaceably confront an unjust power structure? How do you spark change without violence?
12:17 THE THINGS THAT ARE GOD’S. What belongs to God? What does it mean to give to God the things that are God?
The Question about the Resurrection
The Question about the Resurrection
12:18 SADDUCEES. There is relatively little information available about this group. It seems they were a small but highly influential party of wealthy, aristocratic priests. Jesus had been no threat to the Sadducees. However, when he cleared the temple, he invaded their sphere of influence and so became their enemy. How does Jesus’ values and ethics threaten the way the world runs? RESURRECTION. The belief that at the end of the age God would bring the dead back to life for judgment. The Sadducees did not accept this belief. There is always a difference of opinion among God’s people. What is the best way to discern the truth when there are differing perspectives?
12:24–27 Jesus takes their question seriously (although it is not a sincere question, since they did not believe in the resurrection) and answers them directly. In so doing, he affirms that life after death is real.
CONSIDER (vv18–27): What reasons did the Sadducees have for asking Jesus this question? Does this mean earthly marriages do not continue in heaven? How did Jesus refute the Sadducees’ claim that there is no resurrection after death? (Coleman 2019, 1622).
The First Commandment
The First Commandment
How would you describe a healthy dialogue?
12:28 SCRIBES. Jesus has answered successfully the Herodians, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees. It is now a scribe’s turn to ask a question. His attitude toward Jesus is different from the others. He asks a genuine question. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer. This scribe is very impressed with the way Jesus answered the questions, so he asks an important question for him personally. WHICH COMMAND IS THE MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL? This phrase is, literally, “which is the chief (or first) commandment”; i.e., what commandment summarizes all the commandments.
12:29 LISTEN, O ISRAEL! The Shema (a statement of faith taken from Dt 6:4), recited by pious Jews each morning and evening. This affirmation captures what was clearly distinctive about Israel’s God.
THE LORD OUR GOD, THE LORD IS ONE. Most of us do not live surrounded by temples and images of polytheism. Yet we might ask whether we have not given in to another kind of polytheism, a casual pluralism that accepts whatever anyone believes as "okay." Or again, we allow good things that are not ultimate to become the ultimate and defining forces in our lives – nation, occupation, family, race, political cause, or theological system (Perkins 1995, 679).
By citing the Shema, Jesus is saying that his work, teaching, and mission are a fulfillment of every Jews’ central prayer and hope. Jesus’ movement is not a new religion, but a fulfillment of the law and prophets. If you’re a devout, pious Jew, Jesus’ way is fulfilling your life (Wright 2004, 170).
12:30 LOVE. In Greek, this is agapē. It means “an active, benevolent giving to others without expectation of reward.” HEART. The inner life; the center of personality; where God reveals himself to a person. SOUL. The seat of life itself; the personality or ego. MIND. The organ of knowledge; the intellect. STRENGTH. The power of a living being; the total effort behind heart, soul, and mind.
CONSIDER (v34): Why is intellectual understanding not enough to gain entrance into God’s kingdom?
The original Markan community could not worship at the temple, either because of war or seige or the temple had been destroyed. The scribe’s statement that love is more important than all whole burnt offerings/sacrifices essentially reinforces the Markan community’s status – that the temple cult was irrelevant for fulfilling God’s most vital demands. When people love God by loving others, they have offered the one sacrifice that pleases God (Garland 1996, 477). In what ways do you express your love for God? (Is it appropriate to say that when people act lovingly, that God accepts that as a pleasing act of worship, even if they are not a Christian, even if they do not intend it as worship?)
12:31 YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. Reflect on this passage from George MacDonald’s, Unspoken Sermons, Series I: “Love Thy Neighbor”:
Who, that loves his brother, would not, upheld by the love of Christ, and with a dim hope that in the far-off time there might be some help for him, arise from the company of the blessed, and walk down into the dismal regions of despair, to sit with the last, the only unredeemed, the Judas of his race, and be himself more blessed in the pains of hell, than in the glories of heaven? Who, in the midst of the golden harps and the white wings, knowing that one of his kind, one miserable brother in the old-world-time when men were taught to love their neighbour as themselves, was howling unheeded far below in the vaults of the creation, who, I say, would not feel that he must arise, that he had no choice, that, awful as it was, he must gird his loins, and go down into the smoke and the darkness and the fire, travelling the weary and fearful road into the far country to find his brother?--who, I mean, that had the mind of Christ, that had the love of the Father?
How does this passage speak to you? What does unconditional love for your neighbor look like? Exactly how far does love go to reach someone lost? Think of Jesus’ love for you, and your love for your neighbor.
The Question about David’s Son
The Question about David’s Son
12:35 THE MESSIAH. This is the expected deliverer of Israel.
Jesus is reshaping the expectations of the Messiah. He would be a descendant of David. He would have authority over Jerusalem and the Temple. But he would also die to bring about the true kingdom. He is the true authority (Wright 2004, 174).
Jesus Denounces the Scribes
Jesus Denounces the Scribes
12:38 LONG ROBES. Long, white linen garments fringed with tassels that touched the ground. In such a stately garment, a person could not run or work and would be reckoned to be a person of leisure and importance. In your society, today, what marks a person of wealth and importance?
GREETINGS. People considered the teachers of the Law to be men of great insight and authority, and so they rose when they passed by and called out titles of respect.
12:39 THE BEST SEATS IN THE SYNAGOGUES. The choice seat was up front, with its back to the box which contained the sacred Scriptures and its front facing the congregation so that all would see who sat there. How do you see these self-aggrandizing practices play out today?
12:40 THEY DEVOUR WIDOWS’ HOUSES. Since the teachers of the Law were forbidden to receive pay for their teaching, they lived off others, including, it seems, poor widows who were little able to support them (Coleman 2019, 1623).
A number of passages in Mark 12 reflect the theme of justice and righteousness. The parable of the Wicked Vineyard Tenants (Mk 12:1-12) portrayed the ruling priests as thieves and murderers, whose day of reckoning was not too far off. The exchange with the scribe who inquired of Jesus which commandment was greatest (Mk 12:28-34) ended with the scribe acknowledging Jesus’ earlier teaching that justice and righteousness trump religiosity and cultic activity (Westfall and Dyer 2016, 61).
Mark 12 concludes with two short vignettes that again presuppose justice and righteousness, even if this language does not appear. Both of these passages make the point that religious show cannot compensate for injustice. For all their religiosity (“long prayers”) and ostentation (“long robes,” “greeted with respect” “best seats,” “places of honor”), Jesus tells his disciples, “They will receive the greater condemnation” (Westfall and Dyer 2016, 61). How do Christians today act religiously without living justly? What does living justly have to do with worshiping God?
Immediately following, probably as an illustration of the warning regarding the avaricious scribes, the evangelist narrates the story of the poor widow who gave the temple her last penny (vv. 41–44) (Westfall and Dyer 2016, 61).
The Widow’s Offering
The Widow’s Offering
Have you ever been “at the end of your rope”? Would you be willing to share what that was like, and the feelings you felt at that time?
12:41 HE SAT DOWN. At the temple cleansing, Jesus condemned the temple sacrificial system. Now at the temple again, Jesus commends the widow who sacrifices her all to God (Garland 1996, 480).
12:42 TWO TINY COINS. The smallest coins in circulation, worth one four-hundredth of a shekel, or about one-eighth of a cent. It did not make a sound as it dropped into the treasury. No one would hear or notice her offering. What is the significance of this offering?
Why do people love to follow celebrities and royalty? Every human society grants recognition to the powerful and wealthy or encourages the desire for power and wealth. Jesus teaches his followers that we should not. The reason why we fawn over the rich/honorable is not that we love them but because we want to win their favor. However, we treat the poor with contempt because we do not think they can offer anything to us. But, Jesus looks at things through God’s vantage point. The gleaming reputations of the pious and wealthy are stained by the mean-spirited oppression of the helpless poor. But the widow is rich in faith, which is the only honor worth striving for, and the only thing that counts with God. How would you describe being rich or poor in faith? How would your lifestyle or choices be different if you were richer in faith?
Whose favor do we desire most? The powerful privileged people in society, or the King of kings? Depending on who the master is, we would dedicate our time and money to different places.
12:43 THIS POOR WIDOW HAS PUT IN MORE. In this story, Mk 12:42, and in Mk 14:3-9, Jesus honors two women, who are anonymous, who expressed their devotion practically (first with a mite, and second with an alabaster jar of ointment). In both stories, their devotion is unappreciated by the male spectators (who are the disciples) (France 2009, 490). Do you see this pattern of men ignoring the contributions of women happening today?
On the other hand, with a different tone, Jesus is not saying a word of praise; it is a lament. Instead of being assisted by the temple establishment, as the Law of Moses commands, the poor widow has been exploited by the temple establishment and reduced to abject poverty (Westfall and Dyer 2016, 61-62). How should Christians respond to the exploitation of the poor today? Who are the vulnerable groups of people in your periphery?
Ironically, this widow gives so sacrificially to this den of thieves. The woman is to be praised, but giving sacrificially to a corrupt, spiritually bankrupt, and oppressive temple is to be lamented. She exhibits unquestioning devotion to the temple, a fruitless cause that exploits her. The high priests live in luxury on their cut from the contributions made by the poor. Hers is a misguided gesture, a case of the poor giving to the rich, the victim lining the pockets of the oppressor. The costs to operate this extravagant temple are therefore one of the things that devour the resources of the poor (Garland 1996, 482). With this extra context, how do we interpret Mk 12:40 “they devour widows’ houses”? Does this situation of the poor giving to the rich happen today?
The temple has become a place where widows are robbed (see Isa. 1:14–17, where the prophet connects God’s rejection of sacrifice to their injustice to widows and orphans). Now that she has given all she has, what will happen to her? Who in the temple hierarchy will help her? What will happen to all the money? Will some of it be used to bribe Judas to betray his master? She throws away her living for the sake of the temple. The temple overlords will throw away Jesus’ life to preserve their power base (Garland 1996, 483). What is Jesus teaching about the use and abuse of power?
What is most important about authentic worship of God? The new community centered around Jesus places a priority on people rather than cultic rituals and grand edifices that are subject to destruction. What is important is the demonstration of humble faith, sacrificial devotion to God, and care for the poor and needy (1 Tim. 5:16; James 1:27) (Garland 1996, 483).
Works Cited
Works Cited
Coleman, Lyman. 2019. Life Connections Study Bible. Nashville: Holman Bibles.
Dempster, Murray W. 1999. "Social Concern in the Context of Jesus' Kingdom, Mission and Ministry." Transformation 16 (2): 43-53.
France, Richard T. 2009. The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text.The New International Greek Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans.
Garland, David E. 1996. Mark.The NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
Gushee, David P., and Glen H. Stassen. 2016. Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context. 2nd / Kindle ed. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans.
Perkins, Pheme. 1995. "The Gospel of Mark." In The New Interpreter's Bible: General Articles on the New Testament, the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of Mark. Nashville: Abingdon Press.
Westfall, Cynthia Long, and Bryan R. Dyer. 2016. The Bible and Social Justice: Old Testament and New Testament Foundations for the Church's Urgent Call.McMaster New Testament Studies. Eugene: Pickwick Publications.
Wright, Tom. 2004. Mark for Everyone. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
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