Mark 12 Studies

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each chapter is divided into a number of studies and each study or passage has a simple four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Mark 12:1-12

1 Jesus then began to speak to them in parables: ‘A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall round it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 2 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.

6 ‘He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, “They will respect my son.”

7 ‘But the tenants said to one another, “This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.” 8 So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

9 ‘What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture:

‘“The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;
11 the Lord has done this,
    and it is marvellous in our eyes”?’

12 Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away.

A. Find Out:

1. What did the owner do with his vineyard? v.1
2. Why did he send a servant back? v.2
3. What did the tenants do with the servants? v.3-5
4. Who did he eventually send? v.6
5. What did they do with him? v.8
6. What will the owner do with the tenants? v.9
7. What was the religious leaders’ response? v.12

B. Think:

1. Read Isaiah 5:1-7 What is the vineyard? Who do you think were the servants?
2. What actually is the point of Jesus’ parable?
3. What “fruit” do you think Jesus wanted from the people?

C. Comment:

Still talking to the religious leaders, Jesus goes on to tell a very pointed story, one that would already be familiar from the Old Testament, but which he updated for the present situation.

The vineyard was clearly Israel . God had formed them and placed them in Canaan . He had sent His prophets but they had all been rejected (see also Acts 7:52). Now the Son himself has come and they reject and will kill him as well. The result of this, says Jesus, will be their destruction and the kingdom given over to others (the Gentiles). The Lord had already done this at the Exile (see studies on Jeremiah) and would do it again in AD70 when Jerusalem would be sacked. As with the Exile, this is not to say that it is to be the end of Israel .

The clear challenge is understood by these religious leaders for they know that Jesus is applying it to them. Instead of repenting they plan to arrest him and it is only because the crowd will side with Jesus against them, that they delay actually arresting him. The purpose of God moves on yet another stage!

D. Application?

1. Ask the Lord to help your life bear fruit (see Galatians 5:22 ).
2. Thank Him that He IS in sovereign control and IS working His purposes  out in the world.

Passage: Mark 12:13-17

13 Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. 14 They came to him and said, ‘Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the poll-tax to Caesar or not? 15 Should we pay or shouldn’t we?’

But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. ‘Why are you trying to trap me?’ he asked. ‘Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.’ 16 They brought the coin, and he asked them, ‘Whose image is this? And whose inscription?’

‘Caesar’s,’ they replied.

17 Then Jesus said to them, ‘Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.’

And they were amazed at him.

A. Find Out:

1. Who came to see Jesus next? v.13
2. Why did they come? v.13
3. What 3 things did they say about Jesus? v.14
4. What question did they ask? v.14c,15a
5. What did Jesus say they should do? v.17
6. What did they feel about his answer? v.17

B. Think:

1. Just why did these two groups come to Jesus in the first place?
2. How did they “appear” to feel about Jesus?
3. What two abilities does Jesus reveal here?

C. Comment:

Pharisees were supposedly very religious; Herodians were very non-religious, being more concerned with leisure and pleasure than anything else. They have now both been sent by the religious leaders to try to trap Jesus. Isn’t it amazing how opposites come together in the face of a common enemy!

Yesterday they challenged Jesus; today they praise him, but it’s still with the same aim, to pull him down! Yesterday Jesus put them in a difficult position before the people; today they try to do the same with him, but you shouldn’t try to beat the wisdom of the Son of God!

Jesus shows first, DISCERNMENT, understanding perfectly what they were up to. Next he shows WISDOM in giving them a perfect answer to a difficult question. If he had opted for one or the other, he would have been in the wrong with either the authorities or the people (who objected to the tax).

The enemy often seeks to push us into “either/or” arguments where we are forced into extreme positions. We should learn to resist such arguments for ours is more often the “middle ground” rather than the extreme, and we shouldn’t let ourselves be pushed off it!

D. Application?

1. Remember, don’t get pushed into extremes. Ask the Lord for wisdom to handle difficult discussions.
2. Thank the Lord that He promises to give us wisdom (see Jas 1:5)

Passage: Mark 12:18-27

18 Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. 19 ‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. 21 The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. 22 In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. 23 At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?’

24 Jesus replied, ‘Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? 25 When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 26 Now about the dead rising – have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!’

A. Find Out:

1. Who next came to Jesus? v.18
2. What didn’t they believe? v.18
3. What had Moses taught? v.19
4. How many men had married the woman? v.22
5. Why did Jesus say they were in error? v.24
6. What did Jesus say would happen in heaven? v.25
7. Who did he cite to prove resurrection? v.26,27

B. Think:

1. The Sadducees taught that once you died that was the end. What was Jesus careful to teach?
2. How does v.26 confirm Jesus statement of v.24?
3. How many different groups has Jesus responded to now?

C. Comment:

After the religious leaders, the Pharisees and the Herodians, the next ones on the scene are the Sadducees who had yet more different beliefs. All these religious groups with different ideas must challenge us today. They all claimed they were right and the others wrong, and tragically all of them were actually against Jesus because he didn’t take their side. Do we claim special ideas for our little group that perhaps isn’t in line with Jesus’ own thinking?

As this group also tried to trip up Jesus, they too were confronted with their own foolishness. As a result, they also would be glad to see the back of this man who showed them up for what they really were! The religious leaders lacked authority, the Pharisees lacked integrity and the Sadducees lacked knowledge and when they each tried to pull Jesus down, they were shown up themselves. The thing they valued most was shown to be lacking!

Jesus clarifies that in heaven all will be so great that we won’t be worrying about individual relationships. He also points out that if they listened to Moses they would realise there HAD to be resurrection.

D. Application?

           Let’s not try to fence with God. Let’s just submit to Him as Lord!

Passage: Mark 12:28-34

28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, ‘Of all the commandments, which is the most important?’

29 ‘The most important one,’ answered Jesus, ‘is this: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one.[ 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” 31 The second is this: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”  There is no commandment greater than these.’

32 ‘Well said, teacher,’ the man replied. ‘You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.’

34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

A. Find Out:

1. Who now came to speak? v.28
2. What did he ask? v.28
3. What was Jesus twofold reply? v.29-31
4. What did the man say was less important? v.33
5. How did Jesus consider this answer? v.34
6. What was the result of this? v.34c

B. Think:

1. How do these verses challenge our commitment to God?
2. How do they challenge our human relationships?
3. Why was this other man wise?

C. Comment:

When the teachers of the law had come with the chief priests, one of them appears rather different from the rest. In his integrity this man acknowledges that Jesus is giving good answers to his attackers. Good answers here, doesn’t just mean he is countering them well, but that he is giving very correct answers. His question, unlike the others, isn’t a trick question. It appears a genuine, “What do you think” type of question, and as such it gets a straight answer from Jesus.

Jesus states two laws, one from Deuteronomy 6:4,5 and one from Leviticus 19:18 as a summary of all the other laws put together. His clarifying the law like this brings joy to the listening scribe.

This teacher of the law understands that total love for God and for men is far more important that mere religious ritual. His response pleases Jesus, for here is a rare man in those times who sees that outward ritual is NOT what is all important. This man is near God’s heart and God’s rule as he sees the importance of love as the heart of the issue. Here is an unusual man who refuses to get caught up in religious politics and is more concerned with truth and integrity.

D. Application?

1. Do we understand that whole hearted love for God is more important than “religious performance”?
2. Thank the Lord that He has given us His love so that we can love others in return.

Passage: Mark 12:35-37

35 While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, ‘Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David? 36 David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared:

‘“The Lord said to my Lord:
    ‘Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
    under your feet.’”

37 David himself calls him “Lord”. How then can he be his son?’

The large crowd listened to him with delight.

A. Find Out:

1. Where is Jesus teaching? v.35a
2. What had the teachers of the law said? v.35b
3. How had David spoken? v.36a
4. To whom had the Lord spoken? v.36b
5. What had He said to Him? v.36c
6. What point was Jesus making? v.37a
7. What did the crowd think about all this? v.37b

B. Think:

1. What status had the teachers of the law given the Christ or Messiah?
2. What status is Jesus giving him?
3. Read Psalm 110 that Jesus is quoting from.

C. Comment:

We take time to consider just these three verses because they come in all the Gospels and in the Acts of the Apostles. At first sight they appear not to “fit” in what has gone just before but that is not so.

Jesus has just previously been speaking with an “open” teacher of the law and there would perhaps be others who were similarly open who might be listening. As this is Jesus’ last public teaching he conveys something very significant for those who have ears to hear. The Jews were awaiting their Messiah. The teachers had rather relegated him to a human level saying he was merely a son of David.

Jesus takes a prophetic psalm and shows that David referred to two persons above him. The Lord (1) who is God, spoke to David’s Lord (2) who must be the Messiah and who is clearly more than just David’s son.

Jesus is leaving in their minds the thought that he who has been called “the son of David” is perhaps far more than just a son; he is also Lord. Acts 2:34 -36 & Hebrews 7:17 clearly indicate Psalm 110 refers to Jesus – as Lord!

D. Application?

1. Do we give Jesus the full honour, that of Christ AND Lord?
2. Acclaim Him today as God’s anointed one who rules in the midst of His enemies.

Passage: Mark 12:38-44

38 As he taught, Jesus said, ‘Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the market-places, 39 and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets. 40 They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.’

41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few pence.

43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on.’

A. Find Out:

1. Against whom was Jesus speaking? v.38a
2. List the things he said they did? v.38-40
3. Where did Jesus sit down? v.41a
4. Who were coming? v.41c
5. How much did the widow put in? v.42
6. What did Jesus say about this? v.43,44

B. Think:

1. What characterised the teachers of the law?
2. What were they doing though?
3. How was the widow in the temple the opposite to these men?

C. Comment:

Jesus, again in this his last public teaching, picks out another significant issue, that of religion that is mostly concerned with personal prestige. These “guardians of the truth” liked to show how important they were by the way they dressed, where they sat and their religious eloquence. Jesus quietly pointed out that they also robbed widows! So much for organised religion! That wasn’t what he came to propagate!

And then as if to contrast these men he sat down where he could see who was coming to offer gifts in the temple treasury and waited for a poor widow (who he knew would come in?). Again there are the rich showing off by the way they threw in large amounts with flamboyant gestures.

Then comes the widow who has virtually nothing and she very quietly and humbly puts in the little she had, very different from all the exhibitionists! It is as if Jesus wanted his disciples to remember these contrasts after he has gone. He isn’t concerned with exhibitionist religion but with the poor in spirit and humble (see Matthew 5:3) who give sacrificially to God out of their love for Him. The temptation for all of us, is to be proud of our doing good, and then to parade it. This is NOT Jesus’ way!

D. Application?

1. Do we show off our religion, covering up our bankruptcy of spirit with ritual?
2. Do we give all we are to God?