Mark 11:27-12:12

New Century Version

Leaders Doubt Jesus’ Authority

²⁷ Jesus and his followers went again to Jerusalem. As Jesus was walking in the Temple, the leading priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders came to him. ²⁸ They said to him, “What authority do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”

²⁹ Jesus answered, “I will ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you what authority I have to do these things. ³⁰ Tell me: When John baptized people, was that authority from God or just from other people?”

³¹ They argued about Jesus’ question, saying, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ Jesus will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ ³² But if we say, ‘It was from other people,’ the crowd will be against us.” (These leaders were afraid of the people, because all the people believed that John was a prophet.)

³³ So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Jesus said to them, “Then I won’t tell you what authority I have to do these things.”

A Story About God’s Son

12 Jesus began to use stories to teach the people. He said, “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it and dug a hole for a winepress and built a tower. Then he leased the land to some farmers and left for a trip. ² When it was time for the grapes to be picked, he sent a servant to the farmers to get his share of the grapes. ³ But the farmers grabbed the servant and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴ Then the man sent another servant. They hit him on the head and showed no respect for him. ⁵ So the man sent another servant, whom they killed. The man sent many other servants; the farmers beat some of them and killed others.

⁶ “The man had one person left to send, his son whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

⁷ “But the farmers said to each other, ‘This son will inherit the vineyard. If we kill him, it will be ours.’ ⁸ So they took the son, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

⁹ “So what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those farmers and will give the vineyard to other farmers. ¹⁰ Surely you have read this Scripture:

¹² The Jewish leaders knew that the story was about them. So they wanted to find a way to arrest Jesus, but they were afraid of the people. So the leaders left him and went away.