Mark 11:27-12:17

Christian Standard Bible

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

²⁷ They^(A) came again to Jerusalem.^(B) As he was walking in the temple,^(C) the chief priests, the scribes,^(D) and the elders^(E) came ²⁸ and asked him, “By what authority^(F) are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do these things?”

²⁹ Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question;^(G) then answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. ³⁰ Was John’s baptism^(H) from heaven or of human origin? Answer me.”

³¹ They discussed it among themselves: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe^(I) him?’ ³² But if we say, ‘Of human origin’”—they were afraid of the crowd, because everyone thought that John was truly a prophet.^{(J) 33} So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The Parable of the Vineyard Owner

12 He^(K) began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard,^(L) put a fence around it, dug out a pit for a winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went away. ² At harvest time he sent^(M) a servant^(N) to the farmers to collect some of the fruit^(O) of the vineyard from them. ³ But they took him, beat^(P) him, and sent him away empty-handed.^{(Q) 4} Again he sent another servant to them, and they^[a] hit him on the head and treated him shamefully.^{[b] 5} Then he sent another, and they killed that one. He also sent many others; some they beat, and others they killed. ⁶ He still had one to send, a beloved^(R) son. Finally^(S) he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ⁷ But those tenant farmers said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s 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^[c](T) of the vineyard do? He will come and kill the farmers and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰ Haven’t you read this Scripture:^(U)

¹² They were looking for a way to arrest him but feared the crowd because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. So they left him and went away.

God and Caesar

¹³ Then^(Y) they sent some of the Pharisees^(Z) and the Herodians^(AA) to Jesus to trap him in his words.^{(AB) 14} When they came, they said to him, “Teacher, we know you are truthful and don’t care what anyone thinks, nor do you show partiality^(AC) but teach the way of God truthfully. Is it lawful to pay taxes^(AD) to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”

¹⁵ But knowing their hypocrisy,^(AE) he said to them, “Why are you testing^(AF) me? Bring me a denarius^[e](AG) to look at.” ¹⁶ They brought a coin. “Whose image^(AH) and inscription^(AI) is this?” he asked them.

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

¹⁷ Jesus told them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”^(AJ) And they were utterly amazed^(AK) at him.