Mark 12 Accusation and Defense

Accusation and Defense

Mark 12

The chapter of the Scripture we are examining today contains at least two of the more quoted sections: the Widow’s mite (“small coin” in this version) and “Render unto Caesar”. What is often missed is that these stories are set in the same day of Jesus’ ministry. There is a consistent thread running through this chapter: wholehearted devotion to Christ.

Accusation

The Holy Bible, New International Version

¹He then began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He
put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he
rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. ²At harvest
time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the
vineyard. ³But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
⁴Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and
treated him shamefully. ⁵He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent
many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.

⁶“He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all,
saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

⁷“But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him,
and the inheritance will be ours.’ ⁸So they took him and killed him, and threw
him out of the vineyard.

⁹“What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those
tenants and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰Haven’t you read this scripture:

“‘The stone the builders rejected

has become the capstone^£;

¹¹the Lord has done this,

and it is marvelous in our eyes’^£ ?”

¹²Then they looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken
the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and
went away.

In this parable Christ presents his accusation against the Jewish nation. The indictment includes three points:

	The very existence of Israel is a gift from God. He is the one who spoke with Abraham. There were many others he could have picked. He could have dealt with another nation; nothing requires that Moses lead them to the promised land. But God had decided to do this – and so he gave them the gift. It is the gift of being the people of God. It comes with its own God given territory. By implication, Christ is saying that they misused this gift – a complaint made frequently by God in the Old Testament.
	The Jews have rejected the prophets. Over and over we see this in the Old Testament. To become a prophet was to cancel your life insurance and health insurance. Despite the miraculous signs and the call to repentance, the prophets were, by and large, a beaten and rejected lot. That’s one heck of a reception for those sent by God to the people of God. The closest modern parallel I can give you might be this: Suppose your pastor began to speak on the sin of divorce. After worship one Sunday, a group of divorced members of the church meet him in the parking lot and “pound a little sense in to him.” If you can see the ingratitude and defiance, you understand the charge against the Jews.
	The nation will now kill its Messiah, the Son of God. Here Jesus explicitly tells them that they will kill the Son of God, the Messiah. This, of course, is the ultimate ingratitude. The consequences of this to the Jewish nation will be severe and long lasting.

Ultimately, as Jesus here foretells, will come the Last Judgment. What will God say then? It will be the final word. But at this moment the Jews rise to present their defenses to the charges made.

The Defense

If you will, there are three defenses presented. Two are rejected; the third, adopted.

Defense of the Pharisees

It is well to review who the Pharisees are – at least in our terminology. They are the right-wing fundamentalists of their day. They are highly legalistic. Here is their counterattack:

The Holy Bible, New International Version

¹³Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in
his words. ¹⁴They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know you are a man of
integrity. You aren’t swayed by men, 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
taxes 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 portrait is this? And whose inscription?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

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

And they were amazed at him.

It is tempting to launch into a discussion of church and state here. (You can find that on the web site in the life of Christ series). But first, see the style of the defense – so you can recognize it in your own life.

	Seeking partial obedience. Somewhere in the dim recesses of the conscience these men know that they are not up to what God has called them to be. The therefore must substitute partial obedience for whole-hearted devotion. To do this, they must have an excuse for the obedience which is omitted. The Roman government supplies this to them. They now have an excuse.
	Hypocritical praise. Their praise for Jesus is not an oversight or accident. If you are going to substitute partial obedience for the whole, then the keeper of the whole obedience must somehow be snared into joining you. A modern parallel is the man who walks out of the church saying, “Great sermon, pastor!” while thinking of all the good reasons he can ignore the warning that sermon brought.
	Scriptural distortion. Here is a key attitude. I know the answer, now I need to go find the Scripture to support it. This takes the Word of God and turns it into a collection of excuses.

Defense of the Sadducees

The Sadducees are the left wing, politically correct thinkers of their day. Their defense is interesting in that it is the intellectual puzzle of the piece. They view themselves as (obviously) much more intelligent than those right wing fundamentalist types. To prove it, they trot out one of their intellectual puzzles in an air of smug certainty. If the Pharisees are holier-than-thou, the Sadducees are more intellectual-than-thou.

The Holy Bible, New International Version

¹⁸Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, 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 have
children for his brother. ²⁰Now 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^£ 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 Scriptures
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. ²⁶Now about the dead rising—
have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said
to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’^£ ?
²⁷He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”

Jesus trims this argument nicely. He tells us what’s wrong with this defense as well:

	They deny the power of God. This is the first and most crucial error. Those in our time who “re-interpret” the Bible start with the assumption that the miraculous must be a “later legend.” God goes from omnipotent to nice guy (who can be safely ignored).
	They deny the authority of the Scriptures. Again, a common error. In our time the “Minimalists” start with the assumption that the Scriptures must be wrong (since they contain within miracles) and then say, “What evidence do you have?” They might remember that the Bible was gathered together so that we might have one convenient place in which to find all the evidence. The evidence so carefully gathered and protected is now a convenient container for the trash.
	They substitute man’s opinions for God’s word. It is blasphemy. Blasphemy – “taking the Lord’s name in vain” – is not so much idle obscenity as it is statements like this: “A kind and loving God would surely not disapprove of my divorce, especially when my girlfriend makes me so happy. God wants me to be happy, after all, and as long as I’m doing this for love, it will be approved by God, I’m sure.”

The honest man

It is a mistake to assume that all the Jewish scholars here were blasphemers or hypocrites. Meet an honest man:

The Holy Bible, New International Version

²⁸One of the teachers of the law 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.^£ ³⁰Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’^£ ³¹The
second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^£ 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. ³³To 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.”

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

See the honest man’s reaction to this accusation. There is no defense; there is only the question: “What would God have me do?” This man understands that God’s plan must be simple enough for the simpleton but wise enough for the greatest of minds. That can only be if there is a “bottom line” where intellectual strength and simple heart can meet.

Christ gives him, in simple words quoted from the Old Testament, his answer. It comes down to this:

	Love God first. Without this, where will you get the strength to carry out any other commandment?
	Then love your neighbor as yourself. If not carried into practical application, your love of God is a delusion.

What God Wants

That last man was “not far from the kingdom.” Jesus now proceeds to give him and the disciples three lessons in just what God wants.

Believe in Jesus

Sometimes we miss this one. God wants us to put our trust in Jesus, the Christ. This is the pragmatic form of loving God:

The Holy Bible, New International Version

³⁵While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, “How is it that the
teachers of the law say that the Christ^£ is the son of David? ³⁶David himself,
speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared:

“‘The Lord said to my Lord:

“Sit at my right hand

until I put your enemies

under your feet.”’^£

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

The large crowd listened to him with delight.

It’s Jesus turn to pose the intellectual parable. In it we can see just how we are to love God in the person of his son Jesus.

	Love him as Messiah (Christ). We see here the idea of the one who came to redeem. He came that we might have our sins forgiven; for that we owe him our love.
	Love him as the fulfillment of prophecy – even prophecy yet to come. Our love for him should be based upon fact. The facts are scattered throughout the Old Testament; they are the prophecies he fulfilled when he came – or will fulfill when he returns. Honor God in this.
	Love him as Lord. So many of us are willing to have a Savior; we might even acknowledge him as the fulfillment of 1500 years of prophecy. But until you love him as lord you have not really known the man.

Beware of the legalists

Christ next gives us fair warning: his church is going to have trouble from within, the legalists:

The Holy Bible, New International Version

³⁸As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like
to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, ³⁹and have
the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.
⁴⁰They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men
will be punished most severely.”

How do you tell the difference between someone who is devoted to God and a hypocrite? Jesus gives you three tests:

	Recognize the love of praise. It’s a mistake to assume that hypocrites are always after the money. There are few who can turn their hypocrisy into profit, but many who can swell up like a sponge under a waterfall of praise.
	Recognize the greed. Here’s the killer question: what would you do to become rich? These men were appointed custodians over a man’s estate – and would turn his widow out of the house to sell it for a profit.
	Beware – these men will be punished severely. In this, Christ warns us about becoming such as these.

Devotion

Jesus concludes his lesson with an illustration – right before their eyes.

The Holy Bible, New International Version

⁴¹Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched
the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw
in large amounts. ⁴²But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper
coins,^£ worth only a fraction of a penny.^£

⁴³Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow
has put more into the treasury than all the others. ⁴⁴They all gave out of their
wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

Here at last Christ gives us the positive example. Please note that this is an act of devotion. The act of devotion has two aspects:

	First, an act of devotion seems to the world to be completely excessive. This woman gave all she had. Note that she had two coins. She could have placed only one in the offering. Most of us would not have objected if she passed the containers for offering without putting in anything.
	Next, it must be something that the world would say has little to no value. The coins she sticks in would, in our day, be worth (for example) a quarter.

If you can see the world’s view of giving to excess and producing little or no value to it, then you see the point of devotion. God will take that devotion and multiply it.

This is the thread that runs through the entire chapter. Jesus challenges them with the memory of the prophets, rejected by a half – hearted Israel. The Pharisees want to substitute a fussy legalism; the Sadducees want to substitute man’s good intentions.

God rejects both: he is seeking worshipers who will worship him in Spirit and in truth. Those who are devoted to him – no matter how small their resources – are those he will recognize as being his own on Judgment Day.