Mar 12:13-37 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Mark 12:13-17: 12:13-17 Having failed in questioning Jesus’ authority, Jesus’ enemies tried to alienate his audience. Readers are aware from the beginning that the flattery of the Pharisees and supporters of Herod (see 3:6 ) was insincere; they wanted only to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could be arrested . The question is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? had been carefully thought out by Jesus’ opponents. It presented Jesus with a dilemma. To say yes would alienate the people, for they despised the Romans and hated paying them taxes. To say no would make him a revolutionary and force an immediate confrontation with the Roman authorities, resulting in his arrest.

Summary for Mark 12:13-17: 12:13-17 ^a Having failed in questioning Jesus’ authority, Jesus’ enemies tried to alienate his audience. Readers are aware from the beginning that the flattery of the Pharisees and supporters of Herod (see 3:6 ^b) was insincere; they wanted only to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could be arrested. The question is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? had been carefully thought out by Jesus’ opponents. It presented Jesus with a dilemma. To say yes would alienate the people, for they despised the Romans and hated paying them taxes. To say no would make him a revolutionary and force an immediate confrontation with the Roman authorities, resulting in his arrest.
12:14 ^c taxes: The Greek word refers to a poll tax or head tax; cp. Luke 2:1-2 ^d; Acts 5:37 ^e.
12:15 ^f Jesus’ surprising reply revealed his wisdom.

• a Roman coin: Apparently the poll tax had to be paid in Roman coinage.
12:16 ^g The picture and title on the coin was almost certainly that of Tiberius Caesar, who reigned from AD 14–37. The inscription read “Tiberius Caesar Augustus, Son of [the] Divine Augustus” on one side and “High Priest” on the other.
12:17 ^h give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar: Jesus’ words cannot be taken as those of an anti-Roman zealot opposing Jewish taxation by Caesar. Jesus clearly indicates elsewhere that he was opposed to the zealot cause (see Matt 5:9 ⁱ, 39 ^j, 41 ^k; 26:52 ^l). However, Jesus’ statement cannot be understood as pro-Roman, either, because service to God is fundamental, and God is ultimately over Caesar. Like the evil farmers in the previous parable, the religious leaders had not given God what belonged to him.
Summary for Mark 12:18-27: 12:18-27 ^m This is the third controversy story of the series begun in 11:27 ⁿ. As in most New Testament references to the Sadducees, the setting is the Temple (Matt 22:23-33 ^o // Luke 20:27-40 ^p; Acts 4:1-3 ^q; 5:12 ^r, 17 ^s; 22:30–23:10 ^t; the exceptions are Matt 3:7 ^u; 16:1-12 ^v).

• The Sadducees’ question (Mark 12:19-23 ^w) was carefully crafted and based on a commandment of Moses (Deut 25:5-6 ^x; see Gen 38:6-11 ^y; Ruth 4:1-22 ^z). Since all seven men could not have the woman as wife in the resurrection, and since none of them had a special claim, the Sadducees thought that they had proven the absurdity of the doctrine of the resurrection and refuted the Pharisees and Jesus (cp. Matt 12:41-42 ^aa; Luke 16:19-31 ^ab; see also Mark 8:31 ^ac; 9:31 ^ad; 10:34 ^ae). 12:18 ^af This is the only place in Mark where the Sadducees are mentioned by name, although they are included in references to the leading priests (see 8:31 ^ag; 10:33 ^ah; 11:18 ^ai, 27 ^aj). Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection from the dead (see Acts 4:1-2 ^ak; 23:8 ^al).
12:19 ^am The Sadducees based their views only on the books of Moses.

• Like the Pharisees (12:14 ^an), they addressed Jesus as Teacher. The Sadducees were fond of debating with religious teachers (see Josephus, Antiquities 18.1.4).
Summary for Mark 12:24-27: 12:24-27 ^ao Jesus’ response had two elements. First, he rebuked the Sadducees’ ignorance of the Scriptures (i.e., the Old Testament), where the resurrection of the dead is referred to most clearly in the Prophets (Isa 26:19 ^ap; Ezek 37:1-14 ^aq) and the Writings (Job 19:26 ^ar; Pss 16:9-11 ^as; 49:15 ^at; 73:23-26 ^au; Dan 12:2 ^av). However, the Sadducees accepted only the Torah (Genesis—Deuteronomy), so Jesus answered them from the Torah. The reference to God as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (see Exod 3:6 ^aw, 15-16 ^ax) showed that God’s covenant with the patriarchs could not be broken by death. They were still alive (Matt 8:11-12 ^ay; 13:17 ^az; Luke 16:19-31 ^ba; John 8:56 ^bb), for God is the God of the living, not the dead. God’s covenant relationship with his people extends beyond their physical death, which means that the afterlife must be a reality.

• Second, Jesus challenged the Sadducees’ ignorance of God’s power. They thought that life in the resurrection would have to be an extension of mortal life. Instead, it is life raised to an entirely new level. In this new existence, there is no need for sexual reproduction because there is no more death. The intimacy of marriage is superseded by fellowship with a multitude of fellow believers and with God (Mark 10:29-30 ^bc; Matt 19:28-29 ^bd; Luke 18:29-30 ^be; Rev 21:1-4 ^bf). It is in this respect that resurrected believers will be like the angels in heaven.

• Jesus’ argument demonstrates his wisdom before his opponents and affirms the hope of the resurrection for his followers. Jesus is “the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25 ^bg); he has conquered death and assured those who believe in him that they will “not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 ^bh).
Summary for Mark 12:28-34: 12:28-34 ^bi After the three hostile challenges of 11:27–12:27 ^bj, the reader might expect the next question to Jesus to be hostile (see 11:28 ^bk; 12:13 ^bl, 15 ^bm, 19-23 ^bn), but this was not a hostile counter. Earlier references in Mark to the teachers of religious law have portrayed them as antagonistic (2:6-7 ^bo, 16 ^bp; 3:22 ^bq; 7:1 ^br, 5 ^bs; 8:31 ^bt; 9:14 ^bu; 10:33 ^bv; 11:18 ^bw, 27 ^bx), and Jesus will warn the crowds against their hypocrisy (12:38-40 ^by), but this teacher was positively inclined toward Jesus (12:28 ^bz, 32 ^ca) and praised him (12:32-33 ^cb). Jesus described the man’s answer to his question as having understanding, and Jesus said that the man was not far from the Kingdom of God (12:34 ^cc). 12:28 ^cd Of all the commandments: The Torah (Genesis—Deuteronomy) contains 613 separate commandments, and Jewish teachers frequently debated about which were more important than others. No command was considered unimportant, but some were recognized as more fundamental than others (see Matt 22:40 ^ce). Rabbi Hillel’s answer to this question was, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor” (Babylonian Shabbat 31a; see also Tobit 4:15). Other suggestions included Prov 3:6 ^cf; Isa 33:15-16 ^cg; 56:1 ^ch; Amos 5:4 ^ci; Mic 6:8 ^cj; and Hab 2:4 ^ck.
Summary for Mark 12:29-31: 12:29-31 ^cl Jesus’ reply combined two widely separated commands from the Torah.

• The first, Deut 6:4-5 ^cm, was probably the best known passage in the Old Testament, for it was repeated twice daily by observant Jews. It is called the Shema because it begins with the word Listen (Hebrew shema‘). The first command corresponds to the first part of the Ten Commandments (Exod 20:2-11 ^cn), which deals with a person’s relationship to God.

• The oneness of God is foundational to Jewish and Christian monotheism and is the basis for the command to love God with all one’s heart (thinking and affection), soul (desire and feeling), mind (understanding), and strength (energy and power).

• The second command is from Lev 19:18 ^co. It corresponds to the second part of the Ten Commandments (Exod 20:12-17 ^cp), which concerns a person’s relationship with other people. The second command is based on the natural inclination of people to look after themselves. Its importance to the early church can be seen in its frequent repetition (Matt 5:43-44 ^cq; 19:19 ^cr; 25:31-46 ^cs; Rom 13:8-10 ^ct; Gal 5:14 ^cu; Jas 2:8 ^cv; Didache 1.2; 2.7). The two commands are not independent, but are intimately associated as one commandment. Their integration precludes religious mysticism that addresses only a person’s relationship with God or humanism that addresses only human relationships.
Summary for Mark 12:32-33: 12:32-33 ^cw The scribe’s affirmation adds emphasis to the importance of these two commands for authentic devotion.
12:34 ^cx The account ends with Jesus’ commending the teacher of religious law for recognizing that this twofold command was more important than burnt offerings and sacrifices (see Hos 6:6 ^cy). We are left uncertain as to the fate of this man. He was not far from the Kingdom of God, but did he enter it? Mark might have intentionally left this question unanswered so that each reader would wrestle with the question, Have I entered the Kingdom of God?
Summary for Mark 12:35-37: 12:35-37 ^cz After having answered various questions, mostly from opponents, Jesus now asked a question (see 8:27 ^da; Matt 17:25 ^db; 21:31 ^dc; Luke 10:36 ^dd). The Messiah was considered the son of David because of such passages as Isa 9:2-7 ^de; 11:1-5 ^df; Jer 23:5-6 ^dg; 33:15-16 ^dh; Ezek 34:23-24 ^di; 37:24-28 ^dj. With his question, Jesus did not deny that the Messiah was a descendant of David (Mark 10:47-48 ^dk; 11:10 ^dl; see Rom 1:3-4 ^dm), but he demonstrated that this description, while correct, is inadequate. The Messiah is far more!
12:36-37 ^dn Psalm 110:1 ^do is the Old Testament verse most quoted in the New Testament. Since David authored the psalm, the statement “The Lord [God] said to my [David’s] Lord [the Messiah]” indicates that the Messiah is David’s Lord. Thus, the Messiah could not simply be David’s son. He is the Son of God who sits at God’s right hand (Mark 14:62 ^dp) and will come to judge the world (8:38 ^dq; 13:24-27 ^dr, 32-37 ^ds).