20: Jesus’ authority is questioned – Mark 11:27-12:27

11 ²⁷ Again they came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him ²⁸ and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?”
²⁹ Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. ³⁰ Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin? Answer me.” ³¹ They argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ³² But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?”—they were afraid of the crowd, for all regarded John as truly a prophet. ³³ So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

12 Then he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watchtower; then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. ² When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard. ³ But they seized him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.
⁴ And again he sent another slave to them; this one they beat over the head and insulted.
⁵ Then he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they beat, and others they killed. ⁶ He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ⁷ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ ⁸ So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. ⁹ What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰ Have you not read this scripture:

‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; 
¹¹ this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes’?” 

¹² When they realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowd. So they left him and went away. 

¹³ Then they sent to him some Pharisees and some Herodians to trap him in what he said.
¹⁴ And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not? ¹⁵ Should we pay them, or should we not?” But knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why are you putting me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me see it.” ¹⁶ And they brought one. Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” They answered, “The emperor’s.” ¹⁷ Jesus said to them, “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were utterly amazed at him. 

¹⁸ Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, saying,
¹⁹ “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ‘if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.’ ²⁰ There were seven brothers; the first married and, when he died, left no children; ²¹ and the second married her and died, leaving no children; and the third likewise; ²² none of the seven left children. Last of all the woman herself died. ²³ In the resurrection whose wife will she be? For the seven had married her.” 

²⁴ Jesus said to them, “Is not this the reason you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God? ²⁵ For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. ²⁶ And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the story about the bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? ²⁷ He is God not of the dead, but of the living; you are quite wrong.” NRSV

Get into the Word

1. Who approaches Jesus in the Temple? What do they ask him? What does Jesus say in response? What question does he pose? How do the Jewish leaders deal with this? What do they answer? How does Jesus respond to their answer? 

2. What is going on in the story Jesus tells? What details does he include? How does the owner try to collect his share? What happens to the collector? What is different in the three versions, [see Notes]?

3. Who does the owner finally send to collect his share? How does Jesus end the story? Why does he use this reference? Who is the son in the story? Who is the “stone” in the quotation?

4. How do the Jewish leaders react to this story and quotation? Why do you think they felt this way? What do they actually do next? Why?

5. Who do the leaders send next? What do they hope to accomplish? How do the men open the conversation? What question do they ask Jesus? How does Jesus respond to the men? To the question? What does he ask for? What does he say about the coin? 

6. Who confronts Jesus next? What is different about this group, [see Notes]? What do they ask? Where does this question come from, [see Notes]? How does Jesus deal with this question? What does he say about marriage? About the men’s beliefs?

Get Personal

Have you ever come across what seems like a contra-diction in your understanding of Christianity? How did you deal with the situation? Was there a particular person who helped you understand? Have you helped others deal with questions about what the Bible says about our faith?

(Cross-references to Matthew and Luke are given in brackets)

11:27-33. Jesus authority challenged — Matthew and Luke report this exchange in almost the same words Mark uses, [Matt 21:23-27; Luke 20:1-8].
12:1-12. The evil farmers — Matthew’s version of this parable is very similar to Mark’s, except the vineyard owner sends two groups of slaves before sending his son, and the “religious leaders” answer Jesus’ question, [Matt 21:33-46].
In Luke the story is similar to Mark’s, but Luke says the crowd responds, “Heaven forbid!” which leads Jesus to explain the meaning of the Psalm, [Luke 20:9-19].
12:10-11. The quote is from Psalm 118:22-23, a central part of the Passover ritual.
12:13-17. Taxes for Caesar — Matthew’s version is almost identical to Mark, except that Jesus begins his answer with “You hypocrites!”[Matt 22:15-22] Matthew also

inserts a parable about a wedding feast before this incident.
Luke says the Jewish leaders sent “spies,” and reports they failed to trap Jesus, [Luke 20:20-26].
12:18-27. The question about the resurrection — Matthew’s wording is very similar to Mark’s, but he adds the crowd was astounded at his teaching, [Matt 22:23-33].
Luke reports the Sadducees’ question in the same words as Mark, but Jesus’ answer does not include the opening about the Sadducees not knowing Scripture or God’s power; and Jesus says marriage is for those who belong to this age, and he says the scribes told Jesus he has “spoken well” and no longer dared to ask him another question, [Luke 20:27-40].
12:19. The reference is Deut 25:5-6. In an agrarian economy it was important that a man have an heir to keep the land and property in the family.