The Vineyard, and Caesar's Coin
1 He began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a pit for the wine press, built a tower, rented it out to a farmer, and went into another country. 2 When it was time, he sent a servant to the farmer to get from the farmer his share of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 They took him, beat him, and sent him away empty. 4 Again, he sent another servant to them; and they threw stones at him, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated. 5 Again he sent another, and they killed him, and many others, beating some, and killing some. 6 Therefore still having one, his beloved son, he sent him last to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those farmers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 They took him, killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. 9 What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the farmers, and will give the vineyard to others. 10 Haven’t you even read this Scripture: ‘The stone which the builders rejected was made the head of the corner. 11 This was from the Lord. It is marvelous in our eyes’?” 12 They tried to seize him, but they feared the multitude; for they perceived that he spoke the parable against them. They left him and went away. 13 They sent some of the Pharisees and the Herodians to him, that they might trap him with words. 14 When they had come, they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you are honest, and don’t defer to anyone; for you aren’t partial to anyone, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? 15 Shall we give, or shall we not give?” But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why do you test me? Bring me a denarius, that I may see it.” 16 They brought it. He said to them, “Whose is this image and inscription?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” 17 Jesus answered them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” They marveled greatly at him. 18 Some Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection, came to him. They asked him, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote to us, ‘If a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife behind him, and leaves no children, that his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.’ 20 There were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and dying left no offspring. 21 The second took her, and died, leaving no children behind him. The third likewise; 22 and the seven took her and left no children. Last of all the woman also died. 23 In the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be of them? For the seven had her as a wife.” 24 Jesus answered them, “Isn’t this because you are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God? 25 For when they will rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 But about the dead, that they are raised, haven’t you read in the book of Moses about the Bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are therefore badly mistaken.”
The tenants kill the beloved son and lose the vineyard; the tax trap is answered with an image question; and the Sadducees are corrected from the burning bush.
Therefore still having one, his beloved son, he sent him last to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
The vineyard parable retells Isaiah's song Isaiah 5:1–2 with the fault relocated: in Isaiah the vines failed; here the tenants do — beating and killing servant after servant, the prophets' whole history in three verses Mark 12:3–5 Jeremiah 7:25–26. The owner's last envoy is his beloved son — the baptism title Mark 1:11 — and the tenants' logic is the cross's exact anatomy: this is the heir. Come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours Mark 12:7. Jesus finishes with the builders' rejected stone made head of the corner Mark 12:10 Psalms 118:22 — the murdered son as the new building's cornerstone — and the hearers perceived that he spoke the parable against them Mark 12:12: understood perfectly, and confirmed it by trying to seize him.
16 They brought it. He said to them, “Whose is this image and inscription?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” 17 Jesus answered them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” They marveled greatly at him.
The tax question is built to destroy either way — yes loses the crowd, no summons Rome — and the answer springs the trap upward. The coin bears Caesar's image; give it back to him. The unspoken half completes itself: what bears God's image Genesis 1:27 is owed to God — the questioners themselves, withholding the greater tribute while auditing the lesser. Two legitimate claims, ranked; no formula for every church-state question, but the principle under them all.
26 But about the dead, that they are raised, haven’t you read in the book of Moses about the Bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are therefore badly mistaken.”
The Sadducees' seven-brothers puzzle Mark 12:20–23 is designed to make resurrection ridiculous, and the diagnosis is double: not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God Mark 12:24. The power: risen life is not this life resumed — like angels, marriage belonging to the mortal order it served Mark 12:25. The Scriptures: from the Sadducees' own Torah, the tense of the bush Exodus 3:6 — I am, not I was, the God of three dead patriarchs. The covenant name spoken over the dead is the argument: a God who names himself by his people has not finished with them, and the dead whose God he remains are appointed for life Mark 12:27. The resurrection rests not on the soul's durability but on the covenant's.
settled What this mark means