Mark 12:13–14:11

Is It Right to Pay Taxes to Caesar?

¹³Later the religious leaders sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus. They wanted to trap him with his own words.

¹⁴They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know you are a man of honor. You don’t let others tell you what to do or say. You don’t care how important they are. But you teach the way of God truthfully. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? ¹⁵Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”

But Jesus knew what they were trying to do. So he asked, “Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a silver coin. Let me look at it.”

¹⁶They brought the coin.

He asked them, “Whose picture is this? And whose words?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

¹⁷Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. And give to God what belongs to God.”

They were amazed at him.

Marriage When the Dead Rise

¹⁸The Sadducees came to Jesus with a question. They do not believe that people rise from the dead. ¹⁹“Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us about a man who died and didn’t have any children. But he did leave a wife behind. That man’s brother must get married to the widow. He must have children to carry on his dead brother’s name.

²⁰“There were seven brothers. The first one got married. He died without leaving any children. ²¹The second one got married to the widow. He also died and left no child. It was the same with the third one. ²²In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. ²³When the dead rise, whose wife will she be? All seven of them were married to her.”

²⁴Jesus replied, “You are mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures. And you do not know the power of God. ²⁵When the dead rise, they won’t get married. And their parents won’t give them to be married. They will be like the angels in heaven.

²⁶“What about the dead rising? Haven’t you read in the scroll of Moses the story of the bush? God said to Moses, ‘I am the God of Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. And I am the God of Jacob.’ ²⁷He is not the God of the dead. He is the God of the living. You have made a big mistake!”

The Most Important Commandment

²⁸One of the teachers of the law came and heard the Sadducees arguing. He noticed that Jesus had given the Sadducees a good answer. So he asked him, “Which is the most important of all the commandments?”

²⁹Jesus answered, “Here is the most important one. Moses said, ‘Israel, listen to me. The Lord is our God. The Lord is one. ³⁰Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your mind and with all your strength.’ ³¹And here is the second one. ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ There is no commandment more important than these.”

³²“You have spoken well, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one. There is no other God but him. ³³To love God with all your heart and mind and strength is very important. So is loving your neighbor as you love yourself. These things are more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

³⁴Jesus saw that the man had answered wisely. He said to him, “You are not far from God’s kingdom.”

From then on, no one dared to ask Jesus any more questions.

Whose Son Is the Christ?

³⁵Jesus was teaching in the temple courtyard. He asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Christ is the son of David? ³⁶The Holy Spirit spoke through David himself. David said,

“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at my right hand

until I put your enemies

under your control.” ’

³⁷David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ So how can he be David’s son?”

The large crowd listened to Jesus with delight.

³⁸As he taught, he said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in long robes. They like to be greeted in the market places. ³⁹They love to have the most important seats in the synagogues. They also love to have the places of honor at dinners. ⁴⁰They take over the houses of widows. They say long prayers to show off. God will punish those men very much.”

The Widow’s Offering

⁴¹Jesus sat down across from the place where people put their temple offerings. He watched the crowd putting their money into the offering boxes. Many rich people threw large amounts into them.

⁴²But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins. They were worth much less than a penny.

⁴³Jesus asked his disciples to come to him. He said, “What I’m about to tell you is true. That poor widow has put more into the offering box than all the others. ⁴⁴They all gave a lot because they are rich. But she gave even though she is poor. She put in everything she had. She gave all she had to live on.”

Signs of the End

13Jesus was leaving the temple. One of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What huge stones! What wonderful buildings!”

²“Do you see these huge buildings?” Jesus asked. “Not one stone here will be left on top of another. Every stone will be thrown down.”

³Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, across from the temple. Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him a question in private. ⁴“Tell us,” they said. “When will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to come true?”

⁵Jesus said to them, “Keep watch! Be careful that no one fools you. ⁶Many will come in my name. They will claim, ‘I am he.’ They will fool many people.

⁷“You will hear about wars. You will also hear people talking about future wars. Don’t be alarmed. Those things must happen. But the end still isn’t here. ⁸Nation will fight against nation. Kingdom will fight against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in many places. People will go hungry. All of those things are the beginning of birth pains.

⁹“Watch out! You will be handed over to the local courts. You will be whipped in the synagogues. You will stand in front of governors and kings because of me. In that way you will be witnesses to them. ¹⁰The good news has to be preached to all nations before the end comes. ¹¹You will be arrested and brought to trial. But don’t worry ahead of time about what you will say. Just say what God brings to your mind at the time. It is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

¹²“Brothers will hand over brothers to be killed. Fathers will hand over their children. Children will rise up against their parents and have them put to death. ¹³Everyone will hate you because of me. But the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

¹⁴“You will see ‘the hated thing that destroys.’ It will stand where it does not belong. The reader should understand this. Then those who are in Judea should escape to the mountains. ¹⁵No one on the roof should go down into his house to take anything out. ¹⁶No one in the field should go back to get his coat. ¹⁷How awful it will be in those days for pregnant women! How awful for nursing mothers! ¹⁸Pray that this will not happen in winter.

¹⁹“Those days will be worse than any others from the time God created the world until now. And there will never be any like them again. ²⁰If the Lord had not cut the time short, no one would live. But because of God’s chosen people, he has shortened it.

²¹“At that time someone may say to you, ‘Look! Here is the Christ!’ Or, ‘Look! There he is!’ Do not believe it. ²²False Christs and false prophets will appear. They will do signs and miracles. They will try to fool God’s chosen people if possible. ²³Keep watch! I have told you everything ahead of time.

²⁴“So in those days there will be terrible suffering. After that, Scripture says,

“ ‘The sun will be darkened.

The moon will not shine.

²⁵The stars will fall from the sky.

The heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

²⁶“At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds. He will come with great power and glory. ²⁷He will send his angels. He will gather his chosen people from all four directions. He will bring them from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

²⁸“Learn a lesson from the fig tree. As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ²⁹In the same way, when you see those things happening, you know that the end is near. It is right at the door. ³⁰What I’m about to tell you is true. The people living at that time will certainly not pass away until all those things have happened. ³¹Heaven and earth will pass away. But my words will never pass away.

The Day and Hour Are Not Known

³²“No one knows about that day or hour. Not even the angels in heaven know. The Son does not know. Only the Father knows.

³³“Keep watch! Stay awake! You do not know when that time will come. ³⁴It’s like a man going away. He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge. Each one is given a task to do. He tells the one at the door to keep watch.

³⁵“So keep watch! You do not know when the owner of the house will come back. It may be in the evening or at midnight. It may be when the rooster crows or at dawn. ³⁶He may come suddenly. So do not let him find you sleeping.

³⁷“What I say to you, I say to everyone. ‘Watch!’ ”

A Woman Pours Perfume on Jesus

14The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were only two days away. The chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for a clever way to arrest Jesus. They wanted to kill him. ²“But not during the Feast,” they said. “The people may stir up trouble.”

³Jesus was in Bethany. He was at the table in the home of a man named Simon, who had a skin disease. A woman came with a special sealed jar of very expensive perfume. It was made out of pure nard. She broke the jar open and poured the perfume on Jesus’ head.

⁴Some of the people there became angry. They said to one another, “Why waste this perfume? ⁵It could have been sold for more than a year’s pay. The money could have been given to poor people.” So they found fault with the woman.

⁶“Leave her alone,” Jesus said. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ⁷You will always have poor people with you. You can help them any time you want to. But you will not always have me. ⁸She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body to prepare me to be…