He gives the parable of the vineyard
12
📚And he began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard, set a hedge around it, dug out a place for a wine press, and built a tower. Then he rented it out to vine growers, and went to a far country. 2 📚And at harvest season he sent a servant to the vine growers so that he might receive his share of the produce of the vineyard from the vine growers. 3 📚And they seized him and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4 “And, again, he sent another servant to them. And they threw stones at him, wounded him in the head, and sent him away, shamefully treated. 5 📚And then he sent another servant. And him they killed. And so they dealt with many others, beating some, and killing some.
6 📚“So still having one son, his beloved one, last of all he sent him also to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
7 📚“But those vine growers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 📚And they took him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
9 📚“Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy those vine growers and give the vineyard to others. 10 📚And have you not read this Scripture? ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. 11 📚This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?’”
12 📚And they looked for a way to seize him, but were afraid of the people. For they knew that he had spoken the parable against them. And they left him, and went away.
He answers the questions of the religious leaders
13 📚And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to catch him in his words.
14 📚And when they came, they said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful, and do not care about anyone’s opinion, because you don’t look at anyone’s outward appearance, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? 15 📚Should we pay, or should we not pay?” But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you testing me? Bring me a silver coin so I can see it”.
16 📚And they brought it, and he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” And they said to him, “Caesar’s”.
17 📚And Jesus, answering, said to them, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God”. And they were amazed at him.
18 📚Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him, and asked him, saying, 19 📚“Teacher, Moses wrote this for us: If a man’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife, but leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 📚Now there were seven brothers. And the first took a wife, and dying left no children. 21 And the second took her as his wife, and died, and he also left no children. And the third also. 22 And the seven had her as a wife, and left no children. Last of all the woman also died. 23 Therefore in the resurrection, when they rise, among them whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as a wife”.
24 📚And Jesus, answering, said to them, “The reason you are in error is because you do not know either the Scriptures or the power of God. 25 📚For when they rise from the dead, they will not marry or be given in marriage, but will be like the angels who are in heaven. 26 📚And concerning the fact that the dead rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?’ 27 📚He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. So you are greatly deceived”.
28 📚And one of the scribes came, and hearing them debating and seeing that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which is the first commandment of all?”
29 📚And Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is, ‘Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord, 📖 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. 31 📚And the second is like it, namely this, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these”.
32 📚And the scribe said to him, “Excellent! Teacher, you have spoken the truth. There is one God, and there is no one else besides him. 33 📚And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the soul and with all the strength one has, and to love one’s neighbour as oneself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices”.
34 📚And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God”. And after that no one dared to ask him any question.
12:34 This man showed some spiritual understanding and some humility in confessing that the Lord Jesus had answered correctly. He was near God’s kingdom, but not yet in it. No doubt there are many in every generation in a similar state. Note on God’s kingdom at Matt 4:17.⚜
35 📚And Jesus, while he was teaching in the temple, responded to them and said, “How is it the scribes say that Christ is the son of David? 📖 36 📚For David himself said by the Holy Spirit, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’
12:36 Observe the words “by the Holy Spirit”. See Matt 22:43.⚜
37 📚Therefore, David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?” And the common people heard him gladly.
38 📚And in his teaching he said to them, “Beware of the scribes! They like going around in long robes, and greetings in the marketplaces, 39 📚and the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts. 40 📚But they devour widows’ houses, and in pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation”.
12:40 They were outwardly pious, but secretly greedy and merciless, preying on the weak and helpless. Compare Matt 23:25-28. (The whole of Matthew chapter 23 is a fearless exposure of the mind and ways of religious hypocrites.)⚜
He teaches about giving
41 📚And Jesus sat opposite the treasury, and watched how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich cast in large sums.
12:41 The treasury was in an outer court of the temple.⚜
42 📖And a poor widow came and put in two copper coins, which amounted to a penny.
43 📚And he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who put money in the treasury. 44 📚For all of them put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in everything, all she had to live on”.
12:41-44 The Lord Jesus here teaches us some much needed lessons about giving to God. Now also He watches what we offer. Compare Heb 4:12-13. He is not impressed by the large offerings of the rich who keep far more for themselves than they give to God. In His eyes, the smallest possible gift to God may be far greater than large amounts. He regards the motive of the giver, and the cost and sacrifice involved in the giving. He sees not merely how much a person gives, but how much he keeps for himself. We may see here also that the Lord Jesus delights in the offerings given by poor believers. Compare 2 Cor 8:1-5, 12. Notes and references on giving at 2 Cor 9:15.⚜