Mark 12: ancient fake news tries to hide Yeshua’s influence to goodness

 

Guide: NKJV New Testament, online, emphasis in bold or Old Testament from chabad.org, text I emphasize in green; CJB in magenta; chabad.org Hebrew Bible in olive. footnotes to NKJV in superscript ^{sky blue} , discussion in yellow; and my comments in gray. I may use endnotes to cite outside literature or extensive comment.

Using AI, Search Assist for discussion with me; my statement the SA’s response:

A.   Genesis 1:26 improves Sumerian philosophy if goodness is a surrogate for God. SA: “Genesis 1:26 presents humanity as created in the image of God, emphasizing a unique relationship between humans and the divine, which contrasts with Sumerian views that often depicted gods as distant and capricious. This biblical perspective elevates the concept of goodness, suggesting that humans reflect divine qualities and have a purposeful role in creation, thus offering a more positive and relational understanding of divinity compared to Sumerian philosophy.”

B.    Genesis 1:26 informs that on earth, persons may choose goodness.

SA: “Genesis 1:26 indicates that humans are created in God's image and are given the responsibility to rule over the earth, which includes the ability to choose between good and evil. This choice reflects their unique role and dignity as representatives of God in creation.”

C.    Genesis 1:26 means each person has the power, authority, and responsibility to order the earth.

SA: “Genesis 1:26 indicates that humans are created in God's image and are given dominion over the earth, which means they have the power and responsibility to manage and care for creation. This dominion is meant to reflect God's character, emphasizing stewardship rather than exploitation.”

Key opinions:

I write opinion, in order to facilitate listening to others, because I do not know the ineluctable truth. I think the Bible suggests goodness-which-motivates-good-behavior.

Key verses:

1.     V1-11, reminding elite Jews of the Tanakh.

a.      In particular, the importance of the God’s emissary on earth, the Lord.

b.     Injustice by workers toward their benefactor seems a metaphor for Yeshua’s leaders’ behavior.

c.      Yeshua speaks of badness to encourage goodness.

d.     V12 the elites sense the crowd’s awareness of hypocrisy, so withdraw.

2.     V13-17 Yeshua informs antagonists to aid Caesar’s civil order.

a.      Without civil order, personal opportunity cannot flourish

3.     V18-27 Yeshua informs that the resurrected are like angles in heaven but the God is God to the living, as recorded for the patriarchs.

a.      Together, these thoughts imply that a physical person who accepts God during life has life in the afterdeath.

b.     However, life afterdeath does not reflect physical commitments like marriage.

4.     V28-34 Yeshua told the scribe he was not far from the kingdom of God, which he had established in V27 is the kingdom of the living.

a.      “Not far from” implies nearly pure acceptance of God, rather than impending death.

b.     I think extrapolation of this passage to claim that reaching perfection before the God portends death is erroneous.

                                                             i.      Living people may and can pursue perfect behavior.

c.      Love as competition with whole burnt offerings and sacrifices makes love a quid pro quo object.

                                                             i.      I prefer to accept, appreciate, and mimic goodness.

                                                           ii.      I appreciate whatever constrains the consequence of human choice and look to experience and observations for guidance.

1.     For example, harm invites loss.

d.     Blanket love for neighbor either precludes consideration of badness or makes resistance to badness an act of love.

5.     V35-37 has Yeshua asking, before Pilate executed him, about the Messiah.

6.     V38-44 has Yeshua approving of “the treasury” accepting sacrifice from the weak, a show of arrogance toward Sumerian law 4100 years ago.

a.      I do not think Yeshua approved sacrifice, especially from the weak.

The Text: Mark 12 NKJV

The Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers^{[tenant farmers]}

^12:1 Then He began to speak to them^{[in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders]} in parables: “A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. ² Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers. ³ And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴ Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated. ⁵ And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some. ⁶ Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ⁷ But those vinedressers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ ⁸ So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.

⁹ “Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰ Have you not even read this Scripture:

‘The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
¹¹ This was the Lord’s doing,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’?” ^{[Psalm 118:22]}

¹² And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them. So they left Him and went away.

The Pharisees: Is It Lawful to Pay Taxes to Caesar?

¹³ Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees [The Pharisees were a prominent Jewish sect and philosophical school during, active from roughly the mid-second century BCE until the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, characterized by their rigorous interpretation of the Mosaic Law through an oral tradition believed to have been transmitted alongside the written Torah, and their advocacy for doctrines including the resurrection of the dead, angelic intervention, and a balance between divine providence and human free will.] and the Herodians [The Herodians were a Jewish political faction active in first-century AD Judea and Galilee that favored the continuation of rule by the Herodian dynasty under Roman imperial oversight, viewing it as essential for national stability and order.[1] Primarily attested in the New Testament Gospels, they appear as collaborators with the Pharisees—despite ideological tensions between the pro-Roman Herodians and the more nationalist Pharisees—in plots to eliminate Jesus of Nazareth, including after his Sabbath healing (Mark 3:6) and in the entrapment question regarding tribute to Caesar (Mark 12:13; Matthew 22:16).[1] Jesus himself critiqued their influence, warning his disciples against the "leaven" of Herod (Mark 8:15), interpreted by scholars as a caution against their accommodationist politics and perceived hypocrisy.[1] This unlikely alliance underscores the Herodians' pragmatic prioritization of Herodian authority, often aligned with Roman interests, over strict Torah observance or messianic expectations that threatened the status quo. Their prominence reflects the fragmented political landscape of Herod Antipas's tetrarchy (r. 4 BC–AD 39), where factional maneuvering amid Roman client kingship shaped Jewish responses to emerging religious movements.[1]], to catch Him in His words. ¹⁴ When they had come, they said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and ^[d]care about no one; for You do not ^[e]regard the person of men ^{[Court no man’s favor]}, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? ¹⁵ Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?”

But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why do you test Me? Bring Me a denarius that I may see it.” ¹⁶ So they brought it.

And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”

¹⁷ And Jesus answered and said to them, “Render ^[pay] to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

And they marveled at Him.

The Sadducees: What About the Resurrection?

¹⁸ Then some Sadducees [The Sadducees (Hebrew: צְדוֹקִים; Greek: Σαδδουκαῖοι) were an ancient Jewish sect active from approximately the 2nd century BCE until the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, primarily drawn from priestly, aristocratic, and military elites who emphasized strict adherence to the written Torah while rejecting oral traditions, the resurrection of the dead, angels, spirits, and predestined fate in favor of human free will. Their name likely derives from Zadok, the high priest under Solomon, reflecting ties to hereditary priestly lineages that positioned them as custodians of Temple worship in Jerusalem.], who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying: ¹⁹ “Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. ²⁰ Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring. ²¹ And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring. And the third likewise. ²² So the seven had her and left no offspring. Last of all the woman died also. ²³ Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife.”

²⁴ Jesus answered and said to them, “Are you not therefore ^[g]mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God? ²⁵ For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. ²⁶ But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? ²⁷ He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken ^{[Or deceived]}.”

The Scribes: Which Is the First Commandment of All?

²⁸ Then one of the scribes [Tanakh writers and teachers] came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving ^[seeing] that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first ^[foremost] commandment of all?”

²⁹ Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰ And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. ³¹ And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

³² So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. ³³ And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

³⁴ Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

But after that no one dared question Him.

Jesus: How Can David Call His Descendant Lord?

³⁵ Then Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ [Messiah] is the Son of David? ³⁶ For David himself said by the Holy Spirit:

‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” ’

³⁷ Therefore David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; how is He then his Son?”

And the common people heard Him gladly.

Beware of the Scribes

³⁸ Then He said to them in His teaching, “Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, ³⁹ the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, ⁴⁰ who devour widows’ houses [Ur-Nammu’s law code, 4100 years ago, warned the strong not to take advantage of the weak.], and for a pretense ^{for appearance’ sake]} make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”

The Widow’s Two Mites

⁴¹ Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. ⁴² Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites ^{[Gr. lepta, very small copper coins]}, which make a quadrans^{[A Roman coin]}. ⁴³ So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; ⁴⁴ for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.”