Mark 12 — Read & Listen Online | Father's Heart Bible™

The Father's Beloved Son Rejected

Chapter 12.

And he began to speak to them in parables. "A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower, and leased it to tenant farmers and went away on a journey." "When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard." "But they seized him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed." "Again he sent another servant to them, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully." "And he sent another, and that one they killed—and so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed." "He still had one to send, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'" ^a "But those tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'" "So they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard." "What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others." "Have you not read this Scripture: 'The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;" this was our Father's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?"

And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the crowd, for they knew he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away.

Give to Caesar, Give to the Father

And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to trap him in his words. And they came and said to him, "Teacher, we know that you are true and care nothing for anyone's opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of our Father. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay, or should we not?" But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, "Why are you testing me? Bring me a silver coin and let me look at it." And they brought one. And he said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" They said to him, "Caesar's."

And Jesus said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to our Father what is our Father's." And they were amazed at him.

The Father of the Living

And the Sadducees came to him, who say there is no resurrection. And they questioned him, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but leaves no child, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. There were seven brothers; the first married, and when he died, left no children. And the second married her, and he died leaving no children. And the third likewise. And none of the seven left any children. Last of all the woman also died. In the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For the seven all had her as wife."

Jesus said to them, "Is this not why you are wrong—because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of our Father?" "For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels in heaven." "And concerning the dead, that they are raised—have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how our Father spoke to him, saying, 'I am the Father of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob'?" "He is not the Father of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken."

Love the Father With Everything

And one of the scribes came up and heard them debating, and seeing that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, "Which commandment is the most important of all?"

Jesus answered, "The most important is this: 'Hear, Israel: our Father is one.'" "And you shall love our Father with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." "The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

And the scribe said to him, "Well said, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is far more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."

And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of our Father." And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Whose Son Is the Messiah?

And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, "How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?"

"David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared: 'Our Father said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet."'"

"David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?" And the great crowd heard him gladly.

Beware of Empty Religion

And in his teaching he said, "Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and to be greeted in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets, who devour widows' houses and make long prayers just for show. These will receive the greater condemnation."

The Widow's Gift

And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the crowd putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large amounts. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, worth a penny. ^b And he called his disciples to him and said to them, "Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those contributing to the offering box." "For they all gave out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on."

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