Mark 11:15-19; Mark 11:27-33; Mark 12:1-12; Mark 12:28-34

Mark 11:15-19

15 Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves;

16 and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple.

17 He was teaching and saying, "Is it not written, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a den of robbers."

18 And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching.

19 And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.

Mark 11:27-33

27 Again they came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him

28 and said, "By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?"

29 Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

30 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin? Answer me."

31 They argued with one another, "If we say, "From heaven,' he will say, "Why then did you not believe him?'

32 But shall we say, "Of human origin'?"—they were afraid of the crowd, for all regarded John as truly a prophet.

33 So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things."

Mark 12:1-12

1 Then he began to speak to them in parables. "A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watchtower; then he leased it to tenants and went to another country.

2 When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard.

3 But they seized him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.

4 And again he sent another slave to them; this one they beat over the head and insulted.

5 Then he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they beat, and others they killed.

6 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, "They will respect my son.'

7 But those tenants said to one another, "This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'

8 So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

9 What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.

10 Have you not read this scripture: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;

11 this was the Lord's doing, and it is amazing in our eyes'?"

12 When they realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowd. So they left him and went away.

Mark 12:28-34

28 One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?"

29 Jesus answered, "The first is, "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one;

30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.'

31 The second is this, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

32 Then the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that "he is one, and besides him there is no other';

33 and "to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,' and "to love one's neighbor as oneself,'—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."

34 When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." After that no one dared to ask him any question.