Mark 12

Then Jesus 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 leased the vineyard to some farmers and went away.

At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard.

But they grabbed him, beat him and sent him away with nothing.

Then he sent another servant. They hit this one over the head and treated him shamefully.

He sent another, and that one they killed. He sent plenty of others. Some of them they beat, others they killed.

He had one left to send, a son he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They'll respect my son.’

But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come on, let's kill him, and the place will be ours.’

So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

So what will the owner of the vineyard do? He'll come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.

Haven't you read this Scripture: ‘The stone the builders threw out has become the cornerstone.

The Lord has done this, and it's a wonder in our eyes’?”

Then they looked for a way to arrest him, because they knew he'd told the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.

Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus, to catch him out in something he said.

They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know you're straight. You don't bend for anyone, because you take no notice of who they are, but teach the way of God as it really is. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?

Should we pay, or shouldn't we?” But Jesus knew they were putting on an act. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he said. “Bring me a coin and let me have a look at it.”

They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose face is this? And whose name?” “Caesar's,” they said.

Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what's Caesar's, and to God what's God's.” And they were amazed at him.

Then the Sadducees, who say there's no resurrection, came to him with a question.

“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.

Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children.

The second married the widow, but he died too, leaving no child. Same with the third.

In fact none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too.

At the resurrection, whose wife will she be, seeing all seven were married to her?”

Jesus said to them, “Aren't you wrong because you don't know the Scriptures or the power of God?

When the dead rise, they don't marry or get married off. They're like the angels in heaven.

Now about the dead rising — haven't you 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’?

He's not the God of the dead, but of the living. You've got it badly wrong.”

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them arguing. Seeing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” Jesus answered, “is this: ‘Hear, Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There's no commandment greater than these.”

“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You're right in saying that God is one and there's no other but him.

And to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself — that's more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

When Jesus saw that he'd answered wisely, he said to him, “You're not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on nobody dared ask him any more questions.

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?

David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, said: ‘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 how can he be his son?” And the large crowd listened to him with delight.

As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like walking around in flowing robes and being greeted with respect in the marketplaces,

and having the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets.

They eat up widows' houses, and for show they make long prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put, and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Plenty of rich people threw in large amounts.

But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth next to nothing.

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I'm telling you straight, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.

They all gave out of what they had spare. But she, out of her poverty, put in everything — all she had to live on.”