Mark's Story (27 page)

Forgiveness and Prayer

²⁵
“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.
²⁶
But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
^a

Jesus’ Authority Questioned

²⁷
Then they came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him.
²⁸
And they said to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?”

²⁹
But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things:
³⁰
The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me.”

³¹
And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’
³²
But if we say, ‘From men’”—they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed.
³³
So they answered and said to Jesus, “We do not know.”

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

The Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers

12
Then He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around
it,
dug
a place for
the wine vat and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.
²
Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers.
³
And they took
him
and beat him and sent
him
away empty-handed.
⁴
Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones,
^a
wounded
him
in the head, and sent
him
away shamefully treated.
⁵
And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some.
⁶
Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
⁷
But those vinedressers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’
⁸
So they took him and killed
him
and cast
him
out of the vineyard.

⁹
“Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others.
¹⁰
Have you not even read this Scripture:

‘The stone which the builders rejected

Has become the chief cornerstone.

¹¹
This was the L
ORD
’s doing,

And it is marvelous in our eyes’
?”
^a

¹²
And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them. So they left Him and went away.

The Pharisees: Is It Lawful to Pay Taxes to Caesar?

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

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

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

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

And they marveled at Him.

The Sadducees: What About the Resurrection?

¹⁸
Then
some
Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying:
¹⁹
“Teacher, Moses 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.
²⁰
Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring.
²¹
And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring. And the third likewise.
²²
So the seven had her and left no offspring. Last of all the woman died also.
²³
Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife.”

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

The Scribes: Which Is the First Commandment of All?

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

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

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

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

But after that no one dared question Him.

Jesus: How Can David Call His Descendant Lord?

³⁵
Then 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?
³⁶
For David himself said by the Holy Spirit:

‘The L
ORD
said to my Lord,

“Sit at My right hand,

Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”’
^a

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

And the common people heard Him gladly.

Beware of the Scribes

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

The Widow’s Two Mites

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

Jesus Predicts the Destruction of the Temple

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

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

The Signs of the Times and the End of the Age

³
Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately,
⁴
“Tell us, when will these things be? And what
will be
the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?”

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

⁹
“But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues. You will be brought
^a
before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them.
¹⁰
And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.
¹¹
But when they arrest
you
and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate
^a
what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.
¹²
Now brother 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.
¹³
And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.

The Great Tribulation

¹⁴
“So when you see the
‘abomination of desolation,’
^a
spoken of by Daniel the prophet,
^b
standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
¹⁵
Let him who is on the housetop not go down into the house, nor enter to take anything out of his house.
¹⁶
And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.
¹⁷
But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!
¹⁸
And pray that your flight may not be in winter.
¹⁹
For
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.
²⁰
And 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.

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