Confrontation with the Jewish Leadership. - Mark 11:27-12:44
Up to this point in the Gospel Jesus' opponents had sought him out to challenge him. He tried to minister to the crowds and to his disciples, but was interrupted by his opponents. That changed when he entered Jerusalem. At this point Jesus had come to them and more directly challenges them. Even when they started a debate Jesus quickly seized control of it. Jesus was in control of his path to the cross.
Pharisees and the Sadducees - Mark 11:27
The
chief priests,
scribes and
elders represented both of the major parties in Judaism of Jesus' day: the Pharisees and the Sadducees. From their perspective Jesus' royal entry into Jerusalem and his act of cleansing the temple demanded some kind of a response. They all joined together against him. These are the same three groups that Jesus had already said would reject him and seek his death (8:31). The plural
chief priests includes not only the presently serving High Priest, but also any former high priests who were still living.
Jesus' authority - Mark 11:28
The challenge of the Jewish leaders focused on Jesus'
authority. Authority is the right to exercise power. More specifically they questioned what his authority was to do what he had just done in the Temple. This was only the most recent clash over authority. The conflict had begun back at the beginning of Jesus' ministry (1:22, 27; 2:10; 3:15).
Authority of John the Baptist - Mark 11:29-30
Jesus responded by trapping them with a question about the authority of John the Baptist. Did John receive his authority from man or from God? (The word
heaven was a typical Jewish way of avoiding saying the name of God.)
A threat to the chief priest - Mark 11:31-32
The fact that the people regarded John as a true prophet from God was a great threat to the chief priest and the rest of the Jerusalem aristocracy. In 1 Macc. 14:35-49 when Israel had driven the foreign forces out of Jerusalem Simon, and his sons after him, was designated high priest, governor, and leader of Israel "until a trustworthy priest arises" (v.41). If they admitted that John had been from God, they would have needed to give up all of their authority and power. They were unable to answer without either angering the people or admitting their guilt for rejecting God's messenger. So they claimed that they didn't know.
Jesus refused to explain - Mark 11:33
Jesus refused to explain his authority in the face of such hard-hearted disbelief.
Jesus began to speak in parables - Mark 12:1
But Jesus was not finished talking to them. He turned and went on the offensive. His parable was a condemning attack on their hypocrisy and pretended interest in the source of his authority. Jesus let them know that he understood that they were plotting his death. The parable was built on the long Old Testament tradition of describing Israel as God's
vineyard (Ps. 80:8-16; Isa. 5:1-5; Jer. 2:21; Jer. 19:10-14). The
vine growers were the leaders of Judaism.
Servant - Mark 12:2-4
The
was the prophet of the Old Testament. One after another they had been mistreated by Israel. Perhaps the last servant was intended to call to mind John the Baptist who was in a real sense the last of the Old Testament prophets.
Beloved - Mark 12:6-8
The
son was Jesus. The word
beloved occurs only two other times in the Gospel of Mark and both times it referred to Jesus (1:11; 9:7). The use of the word
heir implies that the vine growers thought the owner had died. In typical Palestinian fashion the heir then would have come to establish his own claim of ownership of the vineyard. Jesus was accusing the Jewish leaders of trying to rip Israel away from the control of God and make it their own.
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