Chapter Twelve

1–12. The parable of the wicked vinedressers. – 13–17. The Lord’s answer to the Pharisees and Herodians about the tax to Caesar. – 18–27. The Lord’s answer to the Sadducees about the resurrection of the dead. – 28–34. The greatest commandment. – 35–37. Christ—the Son and Lord of David. – 38–40. Speech against the scribes and Pharisees. – 41–44. Two widow’s mites.

Mark 12:1. Then He began to speak to them in parables: A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine vat, built a watchtower, and rented it to vinedressers, then went away. Mark 12:2. And he sent a servant to the vinedressers in due time — to receive from the vinedressers the fruit of the vineyard. Mark 12:3. And they, seizing him, beat him and sent him away with nothing. Mark 12:4. Again he sent another servant to them; and they broke his head with stones and sent him away with dishonor. Mark 12:5. And again he sent another: and him they killed; and many others, some they beat, some they killed. Mark 12:6. Having yet one beloved son, he sent him last to them, saying: They will respect my son. Mark 12:7. But the vinedressers said to one another: This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. Mark 12:8. And, seizing him, they killed him and cast him out of the vineyard. Mark 12:9. What then shall the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and will give the vineyard to others. Mark 12:10. Have you not read this in the Scripture: “The stone which the builders rejected, the same became the head of the corner; Mark 12:11. this was from the Lord, and is marvelous in our eyes”. Mark 12:12. And they sought to arrest him, but feared the people, for they understood that he spoke the parable against them; and, leaving him, they went away. “And he began to speak to them in parables” (verse 1). According to Mark’s Gospel, it comes out that the Lord spoke several parables to the chief priests and scribes (“them”). And the evangelist Matthew indeed reports in the parallel section (Matt 21:28-44) three parables. It is clear that if Mark in the present instance gives only one, he does this in view of a great abbreviation of the narrative. The parable chosen by him (the second in Matthew) is the most powerful. Similarly, from the servants of which Matthew speaks (Matt 21:34), Mark mentions only one, probably the most important. “And he cast him out” (verse 8). According to the evangelist Matthew, they first led the son out of the vineyard and then killed him. And in Mark the expression is used (ἐξεβαλον αὐτόν) which everywhere applies not to a corpse, but to a living person (cf. Mark 5:40; Luke 8:54; John 2:15). Thus, this expression at first needs to be supplemented with “after they first” and the whole verse 8 needs to be translated this way: “and, taking him, they killed him after they first cast him out of the vineyard”. “He will come and put to death...” (verse 9). These words the evangelist Mark puts in the mouth of the Lord, whereas Matthew attributes them to the listeners of Christ. But one can also in Mark’s Gospel consider these words to be the answer of the listeners, placing before them the expression: “and they said”. “And they sought to arrest him...” (verse 12). The chief priests and scribes (so more accurately the thought of verse 12 should be conveyed) employed all means to seize Christ, but at this time fear gripped them before the possibility of a popular uprising on account of Christ. The reason for their efforts was their understanding that the aforementioned parable was directed against them.

Mark 12:13. And they send to him some of the Pharisees and Herodians, to trap him in his words. Mark 12:14. And coming, they say to him: Master! we know that you are righteous and care for no one; for you do not regard the appearance of persons, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? Shall we give or shall we not give? Mark 12:15. But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them: Why do you tempt me? Bring me a denarius, that I may see it. Mark 12:16. And they brought it. And he said to them: Whose is this image and inscription? And they said to him: Caesar’s. Mark 12:17. And Jesus said to them in answer: Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marveled at him. (See Matt 22:16-21).

Mark 12:18. Then came to him Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, and asked him, saying: Mark 12:19. Master! Moses wrote for us: “If one’s brother dies and leaves a wife, and leaves no children, that his brother shall take his wife and raise up seed for his brother”. Mark 12:20. There were seven brothers: the first took a wife and, dying, left no children. Mark 12:21. The second took her and died, and he left no children; and likewise the third. Mark 12:22. And the seven had her and left no children. Last of all the woman died also. Mark 12:23. In the resurrection then, when they rise, which one’s wife shall she be? For the seven had her as wife. Mark 12:24. Jesus said to them in answer: Are you not brought into error by this, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God? Mark 12:25. For when they rise from the dead, they do not marry nor are they given in marriage, but are like the angels in heaven. Mark 12:26. But as to the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God said to him: “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”? Mark 12:27. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Therefore you are greatly in error. (See Matt 22:23-33.) “Are you not brought into error by this?” (verse 24). These words, brought forward only by the evangelist Mark, are better conveyed thus: “are you brought into error by this matter set forth above (the case depicted by those questioning), i.e., do you come to doubt the resurrection of the dead? But you can come into error only by not knowing the Scripture as it should be known, which is altogether not designed for the regulation of relationships in the future life, and by not understanding that the power of God can establish all relationships between people in a completely different way in the future life than here on earth.”.

Mark 12:28. And one of the scribes came, hearing them discussing, seeing that Jesus had answered them well, asked him: Which is the first commandment of all? Mark 12:29. Jesus answered him: The first of all commandments is: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is the Lord alone; Mark 12:30. and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” — this is the first commandment! Mark 12:31. The second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”. There is no other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:32. And the scribe said to him: Well, Master! You spoke the truth, that God is one, and there is no other but Him besides him; Mark 12:33. and to love him with all the heart, and with all the mind, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices. Mark 12:34. And Jesus, seeing that he answered wisely, said to him: You are not far from the kingdom of God. And after that no one dared to ask him. (See Matt 22:34-40). The evangelist Mark in this section differs somewhat from Matthew. Thus, he says that one of the scribes approached the Lord, listening to the discussions which the enemies of Christ were conducting among themselves (in Matthew he is called “a lawyer from the Pharisees”). Mark does not say that this questioner had the intention of putting Christ to the test (as Matthew reports). Perhaps the scribe, who was about to put Christ to the test, soon renounced his intention, which is why the evangelist Mark saw no need to mention that intention. Further, Mark introduces the commandment of love to God with the words of the well-known Hebrew prayer (“Shema”), which represented a repetition of the words of Moses (Deut 6:4). In Mark’s Gospel these words of Moses serve as the basis for the requirement of exclusive love to God: God is the only Lord or Master, consequently, to him alone should belong all the love of the Israelite. “The scribe said to him: Well, Master!” (verse 32). It is better to refer the word “well” to the verb “said”, because in Mark’s Gospel nowhere is the address “Master” placed in the second place. “More than all burnt offerings” (verse 33; see Hos 6:6; 1 Sam 15:22). This addition was very important for the readers of Mark’s Gospel, Christians from the gentiles, who were troubled by the fact that they did not have such a temple and such solemn worship as the Jews had before the year 70. “And Jesus, seeing that he answered wisely...” (verse 34). The wisdom of the scribe’s answer was shown not only in his agreement with the words of Christ, but also in his striving to determine precisely those faculties by which man should serve God. Namely (according to the best reading, see Tischendorf, 8th edition), he says that God should be loved with the heart, mind or understanding, and strength: he thus places reason (ἡ σύνεσις) as a means of love to God, which should indeed be a completely intelligent endeavor, not merely a matter of feeling. However, recognition of the unity of God and the necessity of love to people is still insufficient for entering the Heavenly Kingdom. One must also fulfill this highest commandment: the scribe must approach Christ not only as a Teacher, but also as a Savior, who alone can give him the strength necessary to fulfill that greatest commandment. But faith in Christ as the Messiah, apparently, he did not yet have.

Mark 12:35. And Jesus, continuing to teach in the temple, said: How do the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David? Mark 12:36. For David himself said by the Holy Spirit: “The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies as a footstool under your feet”. Mark 12:37. Therefore David himself calls him Lord: how then is he his son? And many people heard him with pleasure. (See Matt 22:41-46). In distinction from the evangelist Matthew, Mark represents the speech of Jesus Christ as monological. Christ here speaks to the people about the scribes. But the scribes, doubtless, were present at this address of Christ to the people, because Mark says that the Lord here “answered” (ἀποκριθείς — verse 35; in Russian translation imprecisely — “continuing to teach”). But to whom did he answer? Clearly, to the scribes, who, according to Matthew’s report, proposed to him a question and expressed their opinion about the Messiah.

Mark 12:38. And in his teaching he said: Beware of the scribes, who desire to go about in long robes and love greetings in the marketplaces, Mark 12:39. and to sit in the first seats in the synagogues and to recline in the first place at feasts — Mark 12:40. these, who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers, will receive the greater condemnation. (See Matt 23:6). From the extensive speech of the Lord against the scribes and Pharisees, which the evangelist Matthew transmits (Matt 23), Mark gives only a few sayings which characterize the ambition, avarice, and hypocrisy of the Pharisees or, properly, the scribes of whom the Lord spoke, according to Mark’s report. For the readers of Mark’s Gospel an extensive characterization of Pharisaism such as is given by Matthew was not a matter of great interest. “In long robes” — it was customary for people of rank to dress in this way. “In the marketplaces” — in the market squares (ἀγοραῖς).

Mark 12:41. And Jesus sat opposite the treasury and watched how the people put money into the treasury. Many wealthy put in much. Mark 12:42. And a poor widow came and put in two lepta, which equals a quadrans. Mark 12:43. And calling his disciples, Jesus said to them: Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all who put into the treasury, Mark 12:44. for all they put in from their abundance, but she, from her poverty, put in all that she had, her whole livelihood. Matthew’s Gospel has no account of the poor widow who put two lepta into the temple treasury (this account is in Luke — Luke 21:1-4). Christ sat “opposite the treasury”, i.e., probably in the courtyard of the women, by the church collection box (the question of what the treasury (γαζοφυλάκιον) was is still not finally resolved by Scripture scholars). By custom, those passing by the collection box put offerings into it for the needs of the temple, whereby the wealthy put in large sums of money. But there came a poor widow, who put in “two lepta”, i.e., two of the smallest copper coins, which made up one “quadrans” (λεπτόν — Greek coin, κοδράντης — Roman quadrans; the value of a quadrans — 1/2 kopeck; in Hebrew a “lepton” was called “prutah”). The Lord, having in mind the apparent piety of the scribes — people of means — about which he had just spoken, did not fail to point out to his disciples the example of the widow, who gave all that she had, and who by her offering rose above the wealthy, who put in much more, but still were giving only a small part of their wealth. * * * Christ (verse 30) used the expression διάνοια — which less emphasizes the moment of sound and precise reasoning than σύνεσις. This word is composed of the Hebrew word “gaz” — treasure, and the Greek φυλάκιον — storehouse. Perhaps the treasury represented a whole series of rooms, because in ancient times the temple sometimes stored private property belonging to widows and orphans (2 Macc 3:10).