Mark 12:13–37

Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar

12:13–17pp—Mt 22:15–22; Lk 20:20–26

¹³Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians^c to Jesus to catch him^d in his words. ¹⁴They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax^b to Caesar or not? ¹⁵Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”

But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” ¹⁶They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

¹⁷Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”^e

And they were amazed at him.

Marriage at the Resurrection

12:18–27pp—Mt 22:23–33; Lk 20:27–38

¹⁸Then the Sadducees,^f who say there is no resurrection,^g came to him with a question. ¹⁹“Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.^{h 20}Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. ²¹The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. ²²In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. ²³At the resurrection^c whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”

²⁴Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scripturesⁱ or the power of God? ²⁵When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.^{j 26}Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’^d?^{k 27}He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”

The Greatest Commandment

12:28–34pp—Mt 22:34–40

²⁸One of the teachers of the law^l came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

²⁹“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^{e 30}Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’^{fm 31}The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^gn There is no commandment greater than these.”

³²“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him.^{o 33}To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”^p

³⁴When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”^q And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.^r

Whose Son Is the Messiah?

12:35–37pp—Mt 22:41–46; Lk 20:41–44 12:38–40pp—Mt 23:1–7; Lk 20:45–47

³⁵While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts,^s he asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David?^{t 36}David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit,^u declared:

“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord:

“Sit at my right hand

until I put your enemies

under your feet.” ’^hv

³⁷David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?”

The large crowd^w listened to him with delight.