Red Letter Year: 2/18

Mark 12:13-27

13 Later the leaders sent some Pharisees and supporters of Herod to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could be arrested. 14 “Teacher,” they said, “we know how honest you are. You are impartial and don’t play favorites. You teach the way of God truthfully. Now tell us—is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? 15 Should we pay them, or shouldn’t we?”

Jesus saw through their hypocrisy and said, “Why are you trying to trap me? Show me a Roman coin, and I’ll tell you.” 16 When they handed it to him, he asked, “Whose picture and title are stamped on it?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

17 “Well, then,” Jesus said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”

His reply completely amazed them.

18 Then Jesus was approached by some Sadducees—religious leaders who say there is no resurrection from the dead. They posed this question: 19 “Teacher, Moses gave us a law that if a man dies, leaving a wife without children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who will carry on the brother’s name. 20 Well, suppose there were seven brothers. The oldest one married and then died without children. 21 So the second brother married the widow, but he also died without children. Then the third brother married her. 22 This continued with all seven of them, and still there were no children. Last of all, the woman also died. 23 So tell us, whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For all seven were married to her.”

24 Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God. 25 For when the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. In this respect they will be like the angels in heaven. 26 But now, as to whether the dead will be raised—haven’t you ever read about this in the writings of Moses, in the story of the burning bush? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said to Moses, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ 27 So he is the God of the living, not the dead. You have made a serious error.”

Comments

The key to the first part of today’s reading is the understanding that all humans – male and female – are created in the image of God. This comes out of the creation narratives of Gen. 1 and 2. Jesus’ answer amazes them, not least because he is the only one who seems to have remembered and applied an understanding they all shared. These things we believe are not just things to memorize. There’s no heaven-SAT, where entrance depends on how much doctrine you can correctly identify. These things either inform how we live our everyday lives or else they are completely worthless.

The second part is different though. No clear understanding about the afterlife emerges in the Hebrew Scriptures or was in place in Jesus’ day. We can see this much from the ongoing debate between the Pharisees and Sadducees. Here Jesus clearly teaches, what he shortly after demonstrates, bodily resurrection of the dead. The Gospels and Paul are very direct in teaching this. But many who believe in Jesus persist in thinking in terms of a future that involves a soul-only existence; the eternal soul has more hold on our imaginations than resurrection of the body (remember the Patrick Swayze movie, Ghost?). This is another case of our doctrines not informing our actual lives. If bodies aren’t resurrected, then they’re not as important, then it doesn’t matter so much what we do to them or with them. Hear Jesus today. The power of God does not bypass the body. It resurrects the body.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Red Letter Year: 2/15

Mark 12:1-12

12 Then Jesus began teaching them with stories: “A man planted a vineyard. He built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country. 2 At the time of the grape harvest, he sent one of his servants to collect his share of the crop. 3 But the farmers grabbed the servant, beat him up, and sent him back empty-handed. 4 The owner then sent another servant, but they insulted him and beat him over the head. 5 The next servant he sent was killed. Others he sent were either beaten or killed, 6 until there was only one left—his son whom he loved dearly. The owner finally sent him, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’ 7 But the tenant farmers said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’ 8 So they grabbed him and murdered him and threw his body out of the vineyard. 9 What do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do?” Jesus asked. “I’ll tell you—he will come and kill those farmers and lease the vineyard to others. 10 Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. 11 This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.’”

12 The religious leaders wanted to arrest Jesus because they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.

Comments

This parable is an extended response by Jesus to the questioning of his authority we read yesterday. Unlike some of his parables, the point here was evident to its main target, the religious leaders understand that Jesus means they are the tenant farmers, the servants they have killed are the prophets, including John the Baptist, whose arrest and death seem to be an underlying sticking point between Jesus and these leaders. Jesus borrows and adapts this parable from Isaiah 5.1-7, with the focus of the owner/master/lord’s (all the same word in Greek: kurios, often used of God) judgment being not the vineyard itself (as it is in Isaiah), but on the tenants – the religious leaders who have failed in their task. The majority of the people are still with Jesus at this point, v.12 makes clear their presence is what saves Jesus from immediate arrest. But as the parable foreshadows, the death of the beloved son (same expression the voice of God uses at Jesus’ baptism and transfiguration) is about to take place. But that is not the end of the story. Jesus ends by quoting Psalm 118.22-23. The rejected one who becomes the central leader is a recurring motif in Israel’s story: Jacob, Moses, and David are prime examples. The understanding was that this stone represented all of them and also pointed to the Messiah who would come and also go from rejected to cornerstone. If you’ve ever been rejected, this should give you hope, since the motif continues and is a recurring theme in the ongoing story of the spreading of Jesus and his Good News.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.