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| Chapter 12 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ And He began to speak unto them by parables: "A certain man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and dug a place for the wine vat, and built a watchtower; and he leased it out to husbandmen and went into a far country. 2 And at the harvest season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. 4 And again he sent unto them another servant, and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled. 5 And again he sent another, and him they killed, and many others, beating some and killing some. 6 Having yet therefore one son, his well beloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, ‘They will reverence my son.’ 7 But those husbandmen said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. 9 What therefore shall the Lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. 10 And have ye not read this Scripture? ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; 11 this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.’" 12 And they sought to lay hold on Him, but they feared the people, for they knew that He had spoken the parable against them. And they left Him, and went their way. 13 ¶ And they sent unto Him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians to catch Him in His words. 14 And when they had come, they said unto Him, "Master, we know that thou art true and carest for no man; for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? 15 Shall we give, or shall we not give?" But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, "Why tempt ye Me? Bring Me a penny, that I may see it." 16 And they brought it, and He said unto them, "Whose image and superscription is this?" And they said unto Him, "Caesar’s." 17 And Jesus answering, said unto them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s." And they marveled at Him. 18 ¶ Then came unto Him the Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked Him, saying, 19 "Master, Moses wrote unto us that if a man’s brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, then his brother should take his wife and raise up seed unto his brother. 20 Now there were seven brethren; and the first took a wife, and dying, left no seed. 21 And the second took her and died, neither leaving any seed. And the third likewise. 22 So the seven had her and left no seed. Last of all the woman died also. 23 In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be, for all seven had her for a wife?" 24 And Jesus answering, said unto them, "Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the Scriptures, neither the power of God? 25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels who are in Heaven. 26 And concerning the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spoke unto 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. Ye therefore do greatly err." 28 ¶ And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that He had answered them well, 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 thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength;’ this is the first commandment. 31 And the second is like, namely this: ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these." 32 And the scribe said unto Him, "Well, Master, thou hast said the truth, for there is one God, and there is none other than He. 33 And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, He said unto him, "Thou art not far from the Kingdom of God." And no man after that dared ask Him any question. 35 ¶ And Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, "How say the scribes that Christ is the Son of David? 36 For David himself said by the Holy Spirit: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit Thou at My right hand until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool."’ 37 David therefore himself calleth Him ‘Lord’; and whence is He then his son?" And the common people heard Him gladly. 38 And He said unto them in His doctrine, "Beware of the scribes, who love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces, 39 and the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts, 40 who devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation." 41 ¶ And Jesus sat opposite the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury. And many who were rich cast in much. 42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. 43 And He called unto Him His disciples and said unto them, "Verily I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast more in than all they that have cast into the treasury; 44 for they all cast in of their abundance, but she of her want cast in all that she had, even all her living." |
This chapter continues directly on from chapter 11, Jesus is speaking to the religious leaders warning them of where their action is leading them. Jesus uses a parable of a vineyard. This is a familiar image of Israel, in Leviticus 19:23-25 we are told that a farmer was not to use any fruit until the fifth year after planting the vines, if the farmer was a tenant, rented the land from another person then the owner expected to receive fruit and produce from the farmer each year. The owner would send, once a year, a person, his agent, to collect the produce each year. v1-12 The owner, the tenants and his vineyard. Matt 21 33-46; Luke 20:9-19. In the parable the tenant farmers refuse to send the required produce, at first beating them then later they even killed the servants sent. Eventually the owner sends his own son. The tenant farmers realized that if they killed the heir, then they would be clear to claim the land as their own. What should the owner of the land do? He comes and destroys the tenant farmers and gives the land to others. See Matt 21:41. v10 Jesus now quotes from Psalms 118:22-23, known as a messianic prophecy because the title "The Stone" was a known symbol for the Messiah, Daniel 2:34. v12 They thought of arresting Jesus because they knew that Jesus was speaking about them in this parable, but feared the people. Matt 22:1-14 records that Jesus told a further parable, then the religious leaders left to plot His destruction. v13-17 Tax and Caesar. Matt 22:15-22; Luke 20:19-26. The Pharisees and Herodians, two enemies now join to work together against Jesus. These now approach Jesus with a question, hoping to either put Jesus in trouble with Rome or Herod. Should a Jew pay tax to Caesar? If Jesus said ‘no,’ then Rome would get involved, if ‘yes’ then the Jews did not like Roman authority. The reply caught the hypocritical leaders out, Jesus asked them for a coin. "Whose image is on the coin?" He asks. "Caesar" is the reply. The reply by Jesus turns the problem on them. "The fact that you had some of these coins and used the money shows you already accept his authority." We must accept that God has created human governments for our protection and good. Rom 13:1ff; 1 Tim 2:1-6; 1 Peter 2:13-17. But also make sure you live under God’s authority as He made you in His image. v18-27 Eternity. Matt 22:23-33; Luke 20:27-38. The next attack comes from the Sadducees with a question on eternity. The Sadducees only accept the Law of Moses, they did not believe in life after death, resurrection, judgement. They brought a theoretical question based upon Deuteronomy 25:7-10. A woman has seven husbands during her lifetime, all brothers, all died. "If there is a future life" they ask, "which husband will she be married too?" Resurrection is not the restoration of the life we are now living, it is an entrance to a new life, new bodies, bodies which do not need marriage. v24 Jesus puts the Sadducees straight. "You do not know scripture, when God spoke to Moses He said that he was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob now, ‘I AM’ not ‘I was.’" Moses teaches there is a life after death. v28-34 Important. Matt 22:34-35; Luke 10:25-37. A further challenge, this time from the scribes. Religious leaders were often discussing which of the many Law’s was the most important, the greatest. Jesus replies "there is only One God and Lord, we should love Him with all we have, that’s the first, the second is love others as you do yourself." The scribe was just the spokesman for the Pharisees, who were trying to catch Jesus out, but on hearing the answer the scribe was brave enough to say that the words of Jesus were the truth and better than all the sacrifices being offered. v34 What did Jesus mean by "Not far from the Kingdom of God?" Jesus can see that this man was seeking the truth and the true worship and Kingdom of God. No one felt able to ask Jesus any more questions. v35-37 Who is the Messiah?. Matt 22:41-46; Luke 20:41-44. Jesus now asks questions of the Pharisees. While He was teaching in the temple, "Who is the Messiah?" "What do you think of the Christ?" "Whose Son is He?" Very important questions, because if we have got it wrong and Jesus is not the Messiah, then we have no salvation. Consider John 3:16-21; John 7:41-42. v36 Jesus quotes Psalm 110:1 and asks them to explain how David’s son would also be David’s Lord. To be the Lord means that the Messiah must be God in a human flesh, as demonstrated in the virgin conception and birth Matt 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38. v38-44 Warnings. Two warnings are given by Jesus in these verses. v38-40 The pride of the scribes. If your importance is only depending upon the clothes you wear, your title, or the office you hold then your "importance" is a fake, artificial. It is your personality, your character, your behaviour, your thoughts, the way you live your life is what is valuable. A relationship with God will help you develop this. v41-44 Pride of money. Luke 21:1-4. In the Court of the Women there were thirteen trumpet shaped boxes for the people to throw in their offerings. The rich made much of the placing their money into these boxes, the money may have made a noise as it entered the box, they made sure all around hear what they were putting in. Jesus, however, pointed out that the very small amount given by the widow was far more, because it was all she had, while the gifts given by the proud, rich people was just a small part of their riches. One was a gift of love and life, the other was given just for show and pride. |
Easy English Translation
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