Mark 12:13–14:11

Question of Taxes

Matt. 22:15–22; Luke 20:20–26

^13fThen they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words. ¹⁴When they had come, they said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and ⁴care about no one; for You do not ⁵regard the person of men, but teach the ^gway of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? ¹⁵Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?”

But He, knowing their ^hhypocrisy, said to them, “Why do you test Me? Bring Me a denarius that I may see it.” ¹⁶So they brought it.

And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”

¹⁷And Jesus answered and said to them, ⁶“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to ⁱGod the things that are God’s.”

And they marveled at Him.

Question of the Resurrection

Matt. 22:23–33; Luke 20:27–40

^18jThen some Sadducees, ^kwho say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying: ¹⁹“Teacher, ^lMoses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. ²⁰Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring. ²¹And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring. And the third likewise. ²²So the seven had her and left no offspring. Last of all the woman died also. ²³Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife.”

²⁴Jesus answered and said to them, “Are you not therefore ⁷mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God? ²⁵For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but ^mare like angels in heaven. ²⁶But concerning the dead, that they ⁿrise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, ^o‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? ²⁷He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly ⁸mistaken.”

Question of the Greatest Commandment

Matt. 22:34–40

^28pThen one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, ⁹perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the ¹first commandment of all?”

²⁹Jesus answered him, “The ²first of all the commandments is: ^q‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰And you shall ^rlove the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ³This is the first commandment. ³¹And the second, like it, is this: ^s‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than ^tthese.”

³²So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, ^uand there is no other but He. ³³And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, ⁴with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, ^vis more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

³⁴Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

^wBut after that no one dared question Him.

Jesus Questions the Leaders

Matt. 22:41–45; Luke 20:41–44

^35xThen Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David? ³⁶For David himself said ^yby the Holy Spirit:

^z‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at My right hand,

Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” ’

³⁷Therefore David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; how is He then his ^aSon?”

And the common people heard Him gladly.

Jesus Condemns the Leaders

Matt. 23:1–14; Luke 20:45–21:4

³⁸Then ^bHe said to them in His teaching, ^c “Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, ^dlove greetings in the marketplaces, ³⁹the ^ebest seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, ^40fwho devour widows’ houses, and ⁵for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”

^41gNow Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money ^hinto the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. ⁴²Then one poor widow came and threw in two ⁶mites, which make a ⁷quadrans. ⁴³So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that ⁱthis poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; ⁴⁴for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, ^jher whole livelihood.”

Questions from the Disciples

Matt. 24:1–3; Luke 21:5–7

13Then ^aas He went out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!”

²And Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? ^bNot one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

³Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, ^cPeter, ^dJames, ^eJohn, and ^fAndrew asked Him privately, ^4g“Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?”

The Tribulation

Matt. 24:4–26; Luke 21:8–24

⁵And Jesus, answering them, began to say: ^h“Take heed that no one deceives you. ⁶For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and will deceive many. ⁷But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet. ⁸For nation will rise against nation, and ⁱkingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines ¹and troubles. ^jThese are the beginnings of ²sorrows.

⁹“But ^kwatch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues. You will ³be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them. ¹⁰And ^lthe gospel must first be preached to all the nations. ^11mBut when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, ⁴or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, ⁿbut the Holy Spirit. ¹²Now ^obrother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. ^13pAnd you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But ^qhe who ⁵endures to the end shall be saved.

^14r“So when you see the ^s‘abomination of desolation,’ ⁶spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand), “then ^tlet those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁵Let him who is on the housetop not go down into the house, nor enter to take anything out of his house. ¹⁶And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. ^17uBut woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ¹⁸And pray that your flight may not be in winter. ^19vFor in those days there will be tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the creation which God created until this time, nor ever shall be. ²⁰And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days.

^21w“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, He is there!’ do not believe it. ²²For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and ^xwonders to deceive, if possible, even the ⁷elect. ²³But ^ytake heed; see, I have told you all things beforehand.

The Second Coming

Matt. 24:29–31; Luke 21:25–28

^24z “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; ²⁵the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be ^ashaken. ^26bThen they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷And then He will send His angels, and gather together His ⁸elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven.

Parable of the Fig Tree

Matt. 24:32–35

^28c“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. ²⁹So you also, when you see these things happening, know that ⁹it is near—at the doors! ³⁰Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. ³¹Heaven and earth will pass away, but ^dMy words will by no means pass away.

Exhortation to Watch

Matt. 24:36–51; Luke 21:34–36

³²“But of that day and hour ^eno one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the ^fFather. ^33gTake heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. ^34hIt is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave ⁱauthority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. ^35jWatch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning—³⁶lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. ³⁷And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”

Leaders Plot to Kill Jesus

Matt. 26:1–5; Luke 22:1, 2

14After ^atwo days it was the Passover and ^bthe Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by ¹trickery and put Him to death. ²But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people.”

Mary Anoints Jesus

Matt. 26:6–13; John 12:2–8

^3cAnd being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly ²oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head. ⁴But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, “Why was this fragrant oil wasted? ⁵For it might have been sold for more than three hundred ^ddenarii and given to the poor.” And they ^ecriticized ³her sharply.

⁶But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. ^7fFor you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; ^gbut Me you do not have always. ⁸She has done what she could. She…