Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Mark
Chapter 12: The Lord Our God Is One Lord
Mark 12 is a day of questions in the temple, and the King answers them all while revealing the heart of true religion. He tells the parable of the wicked husbandmen who kill the beloved son, and points to Himself as 'the stone which the builders rejected... become the head of the corner.' He silences the trap on tribute, 'Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's,' and answers the Sadducees from the living God. When a scribe asks the first commandment, Jesus gives the great confession of Israel's faith, 'Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,' joined to love of neighbour. He shows from Psalm 110 that Messiah is David's Lord, warns against the proud scribes, and honors a poor widow who gave 'all her living.' The chapter proclaims the one God, the coming of His beloved Son, and the wholehearted love and lowly giving that please Him.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Mark chapter 12. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Greek words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Here Jesus tells the parable of the husbandmen, answers His challengers, proclaims the one God and the great commandment, and honors the widow's mite. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
The Head of the Corner
The tenants kill the beloved son, but the rejected stone becomes the cornerstone.
Render Unto Caesar
He answers on tribute and the resurrection, the God of the living.
The Lord Our God Is One Lord
The first commandment: love the one God with all your heart.
All Her Living
A poor widow's two mites are worth more than all the rich gave.
The Stone Which the Builders Rejected (Mark 12:1-12)
In a parable of Israel's leaders, the tenants kill the beloved son, and the rejected stone becomes the cornerstone of God's house.
They Will Reverence My Son
"And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled. And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some. Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way."
Word Study
"wellbeloved," Greek agapetos (ἀγαπητός). The word means dearly loved, beloved, the same word the Father spoke over Jesus at His baptism and transfiguration, "This is my beloved Son." In the parable the owner sends "one son, his wellbeloved... last unto them." This is Jesus' own testimony to who He is: not another servant or prophet, but the beloved Son and heir, God's last and greatest messenger. That the tenants kill the beloved son is the very heart of the gospel tragedy and triumph, for the Son they cast out of the vineyard becomes, by God's doing, the cornerstone of a new house.
Explanation
The parable of the vineyard tells Israel's whole story: an owner sends servant after servant (the prophets), who are beaten and killed, and finally sends "his wellbeloved" son, whom the tenants murder to seize the inheritance. Jesus is openly foretelling His own death at the leaders' hands, and pronouncing that the vineyard will be given to others. He seals it with Psalm 118: "the stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner." The rejected Son is God's chosen cornerstone, and the builders who cast Him aside will be crushed by the very stone they refused.
Gospel Focus
This parable is the whole story of Israel and her Messiah, told to the very men about to fulfill it. God is the owner; the vineyard, carefully planted and hedged, is Israel; the husbandmen are her leaders, entrusted to render God His fruit. Down the centuries God "sent... a servant," then "another," the prophets, and the tenants "beat," "wounded," and "killed" them. At last the owner sends "one son, his wellbeloved," saying, "They will reverence my son." Here is the climax of God's dealing with men: after all the prophets, He sends His own beloved Son. But the tenants, seeing the heir, plot to "kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours," and they "cast him out of the vineyard" and kill him, an exact preview of Christ crucified outside the city walls within days. Jesus asks what the owner will do: "he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others." The privileges squandered by unbelieving Israel's leaders would pass to a new people who bear fruit for God, the church gathered from all nations. Then Jesus turns the knife with Scripture: "The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: This was the Lord's doing." They are the builders; He is the stone they are rejecting; and God will make the rejected One the very cornerstone of His house, in spite of them. The rulers "knew that he had spoken the parable against them," yet still would not repent, proving the parable true even as they heard it. This is who Jesus is, the beloved Son, sent last, and the rejected stone God exalts. And it presses the great question: what will you do with the beloved Son? Cast Him out, as the builders did, or build your life on the cornerstone God has laid?
The God of the Living (Mark 12:13-27)
Jesus turns the trap on tribute into a lasting principle and confounds the Sadducees with the covenant of the living God.
Render to Caesar, and to God
"And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words. And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it. And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's. And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marvelled at him. Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man's brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed. And the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed: and the third likewise. And the seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also. In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife. And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God? For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven. And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err."
Word Study
"of the living," Greek zonton (ζώντων). Jesus rests His whole proof of the resurrection on the covenant name of God. At the bush, long after the patriarchs had died, God said, "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob", not "I was." Since "He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living" (zonton), the patriarchs must live still to Him and shall rise. The living God binds Himself in covenant to His people, and death cannot break that bond. Because He lives, they live to Him; the God of the living holds His own beyond the grave.
Explanation
Two traps are sprung and two turned back. On taxes, Jesus answers, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" -- the coin bears Caesar's image, but you bear God's, and belong wholly to Him. On the resurrection, He tells the Sadducees they err, "not knowing the scriptures, neither the power of God," and proves the resurrection from God's own words at the bush: "I am the God of Abraham" -- present tense -- "he is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living." The covenant God does not lose His people to the grave.
Gospel Focus
Two traps are turned into treasures of truth. First, the Pharisees and Herodians ask about tribute, a perfect snare: say pay, and offend the Jews; say don't, and be reported to Rome as a rebel. Their flattery masks their malice, but Jesus, "knowing their hypocrisy," asks for the coin. "Whose is this image and superscription?" "Caesar's." "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." In one sentence He sets the proper place of two loyalties: the Christian honors the state in its sphere, paying taxes and obeying just laws, but the state is not God and may never claim what belongs to God, our worship and our souls. Caesar may stamp his image on a coin; God has stamped His image on us, and that belongs to Him alone. Second, the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection, come with a riddle meant to make it look absurd, a woman married to seven brothers in turn. Jesus answers with a rebuke that exposes the root of their error: "ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God." They did not know God's power, imagining the risen life must be more of this life, when in fact the risen "neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels." And they did not know the Scriptures, so Jesus proves the resurrection from the books of Moses they revered: God's covenant word at the bush, "I am the God of Abraham," spoken long after Abraham died, means the patriarchs live to God and will rise, for "He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living." Here is deep comfort: the believer's hope rests not on wishful thinking but on the character of the living God who has pledged Himself to His own. Give the state its due, but give God yourself; and rest in the God of the living, who will raise His people.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord Our God Is One Lord (Mark 12:28-37)
Jesus proclaims the great confession of the one God and the love it demands, then shows that Messiah is David's Lord.
There Is One God; and There Is None Other but He
"And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question. And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the Son of David? For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool. David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly."
Word Study
"one," Greek heis (εἷς). Jesus quotes the Shema, the great confession of Israel: "Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord" (Deuteronomy 6:4). The word "one," heis, is a numeral, meaning a single, undivided one. God is not a plurality but one Lord. The scribe rejoices in it: "there is one God; and there is none other but he." This is the bedrock of biblical faith and of the Apostolic understanding of God: the LORD is one. And the wonder of the gospel is that this one God, this one LORD, came in flesh as Jesus, so that Christ is the very One David calls "my Lord."
Explanation
Asked for the first commandment, Jesus recites the Shema, Israel's great confession of monotheism: "Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord," and joins to it love of neighbor. The scribe agrees warmly -- "there is one God; and there is none other but he" -- and Jesus commends him as near the kingdom. This is the bedrock of all true faith: God is one, not a plurality of persons but one undivided LORD. Then Jesus asks how the Messiah can be both David's son and David's "Lord" (Psalm 110) -- and the answer, unspoken, is that the one God of the Shema has come in the flesh of David's line. The oneness of God and the deity of Christ stand together.
Gospel Focus
A scribe, impressed by Jesus' answers, asks, "Which is the first commandment of all?" Jesus answers with the Shema, the daily confession of every faithful Israelite: "Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord." This is the great foundation truth of all Scripture, there is one God, one Lord, undivided, "and there is none other but he," as the scribe rightly agrees. On this rests the first and greatest commandment: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength", the whole person given wholly to the one God. And the second is "like" it: "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." All of God's law is love, love to the one God and love to neighbour, and this, the scribe sees, "is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." God wants the heart, not merely ritual. To this honest scribe Jesus says, "Thou art not far from the kingdom of God", so near, needing only to come the rest of the way and receive the King. Then Jesus poses His own question, and it is the crown of the chapter. "How say the scribes that Christ is the Son of David?" David himself, "by the Holy Ghost," had spoken in Psalm 110 the words Jesus now quotes: "The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand." If David calls the Messiah "my Lord," how is Messiah merely David's son? The answer is the heart of the gospel: the Christ is David's son according to the flesh, born of his line, yet He is David's Lord, for He is God come in flesh. Set this beside the Shema and see the wonder: there is one LORD, one God, none other but He, and that one LORD is the very "my Lord" David worshiped, now made flesh in Jesus. The one God of Israel has come as the Messiah. To confess that "the Lord our God is one Lord" and to confess Jesus as that Lord is not a contradiction but the fullness of the truth. Love the one God with all your heart, and know that He has drawn near to you in Jesus Christ.
She Did Cast in All That She Had (Mark 12:38-44)
Against the proud, devouring scribes stands a poor widow whose two coins outweigh all the offerings of the rich.
This Poor Widow Hath Cast More In
"And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces, And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts: Which devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation. And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living."
Word Study
"two mites," Greek lepta duo (λεπτὰ δύο). The lepton was the smallest coin in circulation, worth a tiny fraction of a day's wage; two of them "make a farthing." By every human measure the widow's gift was negligible, dwarfed by what "the rich cast in." Yet Jesus, who "beheld how the people cast money into the treasury," declared she "cast more in, than all they." God does not weigh our giving by the amount but by the heart and the cost. The rich gave "of their abundance"; she gave "all that she had, even all her living." Two mites given in total trust and love are more, in heaven's reckoning, than a fortune given from the surplus.
Explanation
Jesus warns against the scribes who love long robes, chief seats, and public greetings while they "devour widows' houses" -- a religion of display that preys on the vulnerable. Then, sitting opposite the treasury, He watches a poor widow drop in two mites and declares she "hath cast more in, than all" the rich, "for... she of her want did cast in all that she had." God measures giving not by the amount but by the cost -- what is kept back against what is surrendered. The widow who gave her whole living is the true image of the God who would soon give His all.
Gospel Focus
Jesus ends His temple teaching with a sharp contrast between false religion and true devotion. First He warns against the scribes, whose religion was all show and self-interest: they "love to go in long clothing," love public "salutations," "the chief seats," and "the uppermost rooms," while they "devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers." Their pious appearance covered greed and exploitation, and Jesus says "these shall receive greater damnation", the greater the pretense of holiness, the greater the judgment on its hypocrisy. Then, as if to answer their emptiness, He points to one of the very widows such men preyed upon. Sitting "over against the treasury," Jesus watches the offerings. Many rich give large sums, but "a certain poor widow" throws in "two mites," the smallest of coins. To everyone else she is invisible and her gift is nothing; to Jesus she is the one worth calling His disciples to see: "this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they." His reasoning overturns all our arithmetic: "all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living." She gave not from her surplus but her substance, holding nothing back, trusting God for the very next meal. This is the giving God treasures, not the amount but the heart, not what is left over but what is laid entirely in His hands. And note the tenderness of it: the Lord who is about to give His whole life sees and honors a poor widow who gave her whole living. He notices what the world overlooks; He measures by love and by cost, not by size. So the chapter that proclaimed the one God to be loved "with all thy heart" ends with a widow who did exactly that with her two small coins. Do not measure yourself by the scribes' show or the rich man's sum; give, and live, with a whole heart for the one God who sees.
Chapter 12 in Review
Mark 12 answers a day of hostile questions with the great truths of the faith. In the parable of the husbandmen, God sends His "wellbeloved" Son last, the tenants kill Him, and yet "the stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner." Jesus turns the trap on tribute into a principle, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's," and answers the Sadducees from "the God of the living." To the scribe He gives the first commandment, the Shema: "The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart," joined to love of neighbour. He shows from Psalm 110 that Messiah is David's Lord, warns against the proud scribes, and honors a poor widow who "did cast in all that she had, even all her living."
For the Apostolic reader the chapter's crown is the truth of the one God and His Son. At its center stands the great confession, "The Lord our God is one Lord... there is one God; and there is none other but he." And beside it stands the mystery of the gospel: this one LORD is the very "my Lord" whom David worshiped, the Messiah who is David's son in the flesh and yet David's Lord as God. The one God of Israel has come in flesh as Jesus, the beloved Son and rejected cornerstone. The chapter also lays bare the religion God accepts and the religion He judges: not the scribes' proud show and devouring greed, but wholehearted love for the one God and a widow's total, trusting gift. So Mark 12 calls us to know the one God, to receive His beloved Son, to render to God what is God's, to rest in the God of the living, and to love and give with a whole heart. Confess with Israel that the LORD is one, and worship that one Lord who has drawn near in Jesus Christ.
- God sent His beloved Son last of all; the rejected stone becomes the cornerstone (12:6, 10).
- Give the state its due, but render yourself, God's image-bearer, to God (12:17).
- The resurrection rests on the covenant of "the God of the living" (12:27).
- "The Lord our God is one Lord": love the one God with all your heart (12:29-30).
- Messiah is David's son in the flesh and David's Lord as God (12:36-37; Psalm 110:1).
- God measures giving by the heart and the cost, not the amount (12:43-44).
Questions for Reflection
- What will you do with the beloved Son, the rejected cornerstone?
- Do you confess and love the one Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength?
- Do you see that the one God of the Shema has come in flesh as Jesus, David's Lord?
- Do you give and live from the surplus, or, like the widow, with a whole heart?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. The rejected cornerstone: Psalm 118:22-23; Acts 4:11; 1 Peter 2:6-8. God at the bush: Exodus 3:6. The one God, the Shema: Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Isaiah 44:6; 45:5; 1 Timothy 2:5. God manifest in flesh: John 1:1, 14; 8:58; Colossians 2:9; 1 Timothy 3:16. David's Lord: Psalm 110:1; Acts 2:34-36. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The parable of the wicked husbandmen: Mark 12:1-12; Matthew 21:33-46; Luke 20:9-19; Psalm 118:22.
- Tribute to Caesar and the resurrection: Mark 12:13-27; Matthew 22:15-33; Luke 20:20-40; Exodus 3:6.
- The great commandment and David's Lord: Mark 12:28-37; Matthew 22:34-46; Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Psalm 110:1.
- The scribes and the widow's mites: Mark 12:38-44; Luke 20:45-21:4.