Rejected cornerstone - Mark 12:10
Jesus continued his attack by quoting Ps. 118:22. Jesus, the Messiah, was the
rejected cornerstone that God was making the foundation of the true temple God was building, the people of God who followed Jesus. (See Eph. 2:19-22; 1 Pet. 2:4, 5.) For Jesus to apply this verse to himself at any time is amazing. To do so at this particular moment is even more so. In verse 8 he had spoken of his own death. Here in verse 10 he speaks with complete trust in the promise of the Father that he will be the messianic cornerstone. (See Acts 4:11 and 1 Pet.2:7 where Ps. 118:22 is also quoted.)
The work of God himself - Mark 12:11
That Jesus would be rejected and then become the cornerstone on which the people of God would be built is so
marvelous that there is only one explanation for it. It is the work of God himself.
Enemies tried to arrest him - Mark 12:12
The crowd may not have understood Jesus, but his enemies did and they tried
to arrest him. Only the presence of the crowd prevented them.
Pharisees and Herodians - Mark 12:13
The
Herodians were Jewish supporters of King Herod and his family. They often favored compromises between their Judaism and the Hellenistic influences of the day. This often brought them into conflict with the Pharisees. The Pharisees thought such compromises with foreign influences were sinful. See the article on Pharisees and Sadducees. Mark reported that this unusual coalition was
sent to Jesus. Anyone who had power to send members of both of these groups was a very high ranking official. The plot against Jesus was being shaped in the top tier of Jewish leadership.
Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's - Mark 12:14-17
They tried to trap Jesus, first by lulling him into complacency with false compliments. Then with their trick question they tried to lure him into either promoting revolution against Rome or angering Jews who hated Roman taxation and rule.
Roman silver coin - Mark 12:15
A
denarius was a Roman silver coin that had the image of Caesar imprinted on it.
12:16-17 Jesus wisely escaped their trap. He reaffirmed the biblical principle that people are to be subject to government authority when it does not involve disobedience to God. (See Rom. 13:1-7.) Taxes belonged to Caesar and should be paid. But by adding that human beings were always to give God what belonged to Him, Jesus made the most radical demand. Human beings were made in God's image; and ultimately everything a person is belongs to God. Jesus' challenge to give God everything that belongs to Him had revolutionary potential.
The Sadducees - Mark 12:18
The
Sadducees were another party in Judaism. They had great influence because of their connections to the temple and to the aristocracy of Jerusalem. See the article on Pharisees and Sadducees. They did not believe in the resurrection, but they tried to act as though they did to trap Jesus with a trick quick question. See
BC 37.
Kinsman–redeemer legislation - Mark 12:19
Their question is based on the kinsman–redeemer legislation of Deut. 25:5, 6.
Jesus rebuked their attempt. - Mark 12:24-27
Jesus rebuked their attempt to trap him by condemning them for two failures. They didn't know the
power of God and they didn't know the
scriptures. They underestimated God's power by denying that he could raise the dead. God will raise his people to a whole new order of physical life, and in this new mode of living, marriage is irrelevant. They also misunderstood the scriptures. Jesus quoted Exod. 3:6. God told Moses that he was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jesus claimed that such a claim was a nonsense statement and patently false unless Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had all been still alive with God when God spoke to Moses. God is the God of the
living.
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