Mark 12

Mark 12
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Image of page from the 7th century Book of Durrow, from The Gospel of Mark. Trinity College Dublin
Book	Gospel of Mark
Bible part	New Testament
Order in the Bible part	2
Category	Gospel

Mark 12 is the twelfth chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Continuing Jesus' teaching in Jerusalem on what is traditionally celebrated as Holy Tuesday, it contains the parable of The Wicked Husbandmen, Jesus' argument with the Pharisees and Herodians over paying taxes to Caesar, and the debate with the Sadducees about the nature of people who will be resurrected at the end of time. It also contains Jesus' greatest commandment, his discussion of the messiah's relationship to King David, condemnation of the teachers of the law, and his praise of a poor widow's offering.

Jesus, after his argument with the chief priests of the Sanhedrin over his authority in Mark 11, tells them some parables, but Mark then relates only one:

The scripture mentioned is a quote from Psalm 118:22-23, a Psalm that is a general praising of the power of God. Is Jesus the stone that was rejected on which the new Christian community was built? Skeptics tend to doubt whether Jesus really said this, at least in its written form, rejecting all predictions, real and metaphorical, as actually made by the real Jesus. The quote about the stone is from the Septuagint version of the Psalms, a version Jesus and Jews in Israel would probably not have used. Mark however, who clearly has the Septuagint as his Old Testament reference, may have simply used it for his audience, as they spoke Greek, or to clarify his sources, oral and/or written. For those who believe the accuracy of Mark these predictions serve to demonstrate the power of Jesus' knowledge. Paul also refers to Jesus as a "stone" in Romans 9:33 but references this with quotes from Isaiah 8:14 and 28:16. Acts of the Apostles 4:11 records Peter as using the same Psalm to describe Jesus. 1 Peter references both Isaiah and the Psalm in 2:6-8, although most scholars, though not all, do not accept this letter as actually written by the Apostle Peter.