Church Fathers Commentary Mark 12

Glossa Ordinaria: After the Lord had closed the mouths of His tempters with a wise question, He next shows their wickedness in a parable.

Therefore it is said: And He began to speak to them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard.

Pseudo-Jerome: God the Father is called a man by way of a human analogy. The vineyard is the house of Israel; the hedge is the guardianship of angels; the winepress is the Law, the tower is the temple, and the tenants are the priests.

The Venerable Bede: Alternatively, the hedge is the wall of the city, the winepress is the altar, or those winepresses for which three psalms are named.¹

Theophylact of Ohrid: Or, the hedge is the Law, which prohibited their mixing with foreigners.

There follows: And went into a far country.

The Venerable Bede: Not by changing His location, but He seemed to go away from the vineyard so that He might leave the tenants to act on their own free will.

It goes on: And at the season he sent to the tenants a servant, that he might receive from the tenants of the fruit of the vineyard.

Pseudo-Jerome: The servants who were sent were the prophets; the fruit of the vineyard is obedience. Some of the prophets were beaten, others wounded, and others killed.

Therefore it goes on: And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty.

The Venerable Bede: By the servant who was first sent, we must understand Moses, but they beat him and sent him away empty because they angered Moses in the tents (Psalm 106:16).

There follows: And again he sent to them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled.

This other servant signifies David and the other Psalmists. They wounded him in the head and treated him shamefully because they despised the songs of the Psalmists and rejected David himself, saying, What portion have we in David? (1 Kings 12:16).

It goes on: And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some.

By the third servant and his companions, understand the company of the prophets. But which of the prophets did they not persecute? In these three kinds of servants, a figure of all the teachers under the Law may be included, as the Lord Himself elsewhere declares when He says, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Me (Luke 24:44).

Theophylact of Ohrid: Alternatively, by the first servant, understand the prophets who lived around the time of Elijah, for Zedekiah the false prophet beat Micaiah (2 Chronicles 18:23). By the second servant whom they wounded in the head—that is, mistreated—we may understand the prophets who lived around the time of Hosea and Isaiah. By the third servant, understand the prophets who were active around the time of Daniel and Ezekiel.

It goes on: Having yet therefore one son, his well-beloved, he sent him also last to them, saying, They will reverence my son.

Pseudo-Jerome: The well-beloved son, sent last, is the Only-begotten. When He says, They will reverence my son, He speaks in irony.

The Venerable Bede: Alternatively, this is not said out of ignorance. Rather, God is said to express uncertainty so that free will may be left to man.

Theophylact of Ohrid: Or, He said this not as though He were ignorant of what was to happen, but to show what was right and proper for them to do.

But those tenants said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.

The Venerable Bede: The Lord proves most clearly that the leaders of the Jews did not crucify the Son of God out of ignorance, but out of envy, for they understood that this was He to whom it was said, I will give you the nations for your inheritance (Psalm 2:8).

But these evil tenants strove to seize it by killing Him. When the Jews crucified Him, they tried to extinguish the faith that is through Him, and instead promote their own righteousness, which is from the Law, forcing it on the nations and instilling it in them.

There follows: And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.

Theophylact of Ohrid: That is, outside Jerusalem, for the Lord was crucified outside the city.

Pseudo-Jerome: Or, they cast Him out of the vineyard—that is, out of the people—saying, You are a Samaritan, and have a demon (John 8:48).

The Venerable Bede: Or, as far as it was in their power, they cast Him out of their own borders and gave Him over to the Gentiles so that they might receive Him.

There follows: What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the tenants, and will give the vineyard to others.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Matthew indeed adds that they answered and said, He will miserably destroy those wicked men (Matthew 21:41). Mark here says this was not their answer, but that the Lord, after asking the question, answered it Himself, as it were.

But we can easily understand this in one of two ways. Either their answer was added without the phrases "they answered" or "they said" being inserted, though they were implied. Or, because their answer was true, it was attributed to the Lord—since He, being the Truth, also gave this same answer concerning them.²

Theophylact of Ohrid: The Lord of the vineyard, then, is the Father of the Son who was killed, and the Son Himself is He who was killed. He will destroy those tenants by handing them over to the Romans, and He will give the people to other tenants—that is, to the Apostles.

Read the Acts of the Apostles, and you will find three thousand, and then five thousand, suddenly believing and bearing fruit for God.

Pseudo-Jerome: Or, the vineyard is given to others, that is, to those who come from the east, and from the west, and from the south, and from the north, and who sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

The Venerable Bede: But that this was done by divine intervention He confirms, by immediately adding, "And have you not read this Scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner?"

As if He had said, "How is this prophecy to be fulfilled, except by Christ, being rejected and killed by you, being preached to the Gentiles, who will believe in Him?" Thus, as a cornerstone, He will found the two peoples on Himself and from the two peoples build for Himself one temple, a city of the faithful.

For the leaders of the synagogue, whom He had just called tenants, He now calls "builders," because the same people who were supposed to cultivate His people like a vineyard, so that they might bear the fruits of life, were also commanded to construct and adorn this people to be, as it were, a house worthy to have God as its inhabitant.

Theophylact of Ohrid: The stone, then, which the builders refused, has become the head of the corner—that is, of the Church. For the Church is, as it were, the corner, joining Jews and Gentiles together.

And this corner has been made by the Lord and is wonderful in our eyes—that is, in the eyes of the faithful, for miracles are met with slander from the faithless.

The Church is indeed wonderful, resting on wonders, as it were, for the Lord worked with the Apostles and confirmed the word with signs. And this is what is meant when it is said, This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.

Pseudo-Jerome: This rejected stone, which is borne by that corner where the lamb and the bread met in the supper, ending the Old and beginning the New Testament, does things marvelous in our eyes (Psalm 118:23), like the topaz.

The Venerable Bede: But the Chief Priests showed that the things the Lord had spoken were true, which is proven by what follows: And they sought to lay hold on him. For He Himself is the heir, whose unjust death He said would be avenged by the Father.

Again, in a moral sense, each of the faithful, when the Sacrament of Baptism is entrusted to him, receives a vineyard on lease, which he is to cultivate. But the servant sent to him is mistreated, beaten, and cast out when the word is heard by him and despised—or, what is worse, even blasphemed. Furthermore, he kills the heir, as far as it is in his power, who has trampled underfoot the Son of God.

The evil tenant is destroyed, and the vineyard is given to another, when the humble are enriched with that gift of grace which the proud man has scorned.

And it happens daily in the Church that the Chief Priests, wishing to lay hands on Jesus, are held back by the multitude. This occurs when someone, who is a brother only in name, either blushes or fears to attack the unity and peace of the Church's faith. Though he does not love it, he is restrained on account of the number of good brethren who dwell together within it.

The Venerable Bede: Although the chief priests sought to arrest Him, they feared the crowd. Therefore, they tried to accomplish by means of earthly powers what they could not do themselves, so that they might appear to be guiltless of His death.

And so the text says, And they send unto Him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch Him in His words.

Theophylact of Ohrid: We have said elsewhere that the Herodians were a new heresy, claiming that Herod was the Christ because the royal succession in Judah had failed. Others, however, say that the Herodians were Herod's soldiers, whom the Pharisees brought as witnesses to Christ's words so that they could arrest Him and lead Him away.

Notice how, in their wickedness, they tried to deceive Christ with flattery, for the text continues: Master, we know that thou art true.

Pseudo-Jerome: For they questioned Him with honeyed words, surrounding Him like bees that carry honey in their mouths but have a sting in their tails.

The Venerable Bede: This smooth and crafty question was intended to make Him, in His answer, fear God rather than Caesar, and say that tribute should not be paid. This was so the Herodians, upon hearing it, could immediately accuse Him of instigating rebellion against the Romans.

Therefore, they added, And carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of any.

Theophylact of Ohrid: As if to say, "You will not honor Caesar if it goes against the truth."

Therefore, they added, But teachest the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? Shall we give, or shall we not give?

Their whole plot was a trap with a precipice on both sides. If He said it was lawful to give tribute to Caesar, they could incite the people against Him, as if He wanted to enslave the nation. But if He said it was not lawful, they could accuse Him of stirring up the people against Caesar. The Fountain of Wisdom, however, escaped their snares.

Therefore, the text continues: But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it. And they brought it.

The Venerable Bede: A denarius was a coin, considered equal to ten smaller coins, that bore the image of Caesar. Therefore, the text continues: And He saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto Him, Caesar's.

Let those who think that our Savior asked the question from ignorance, and not for a higher purpose, learn from this that He could have known whose image it was. He asked the question only to give them a fitting answer in return.

Therefore, the text continues: And Jesus answering said unto them, Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's.

Theophylact of Ohrid: It is as if He had said, "Give what bears an image to the one whose image it is—that is, the penny to Caesar." For we can both pay Caesar his tribute and offer to God what is His own.

The Venerable Bede: This means tithes, firstfruits, offerings, and sacrifices. In the same way that He gave tribute for both Himself and Peter, He also gave to God the things that are God's by doing the will of His Father.

Pseudo-Jerome: Render to Caesar the money bearing his image, which is collected for him, and render yourselves willingly to God, for the light of thy countenance, O Lord (Psalm 4:6), and not Caesar's, is stamped upon us.

Theophylact of Ohrid: The inevitable needs of our bodies are like Caesar to each of us; the Lord therefore commands that we give the body what is its own—that is, food and clothing—and to God the things that are God's. The text continues: And they marvelled at Him. Those who should have believed instead marveled at such great wisdom, because they had found no opening for their craftiness.

Glossa Ordinaria: After our Lord prudently escaped the crafty temptation of the Pharisees, it is shown how He also confounds the Sadducees, who tempt Him.

Therefore, it is said: Then come unto Him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection.

Theophylact of Ohrid: A certain heretical sect of the Jews called Sadducees denied the resurrection and said that there was neither angel nor spirit. Coming to Jesus, they craftily proposed a story to Him to show that no resurrection would or had ever taken place.

Therefore, the text adds, And they asked Him, saying, Master. In this story, they propose that seven men had married one woman, in order to make people draw back from believing in the resurrection.

The Venerable Bede: They aptly frame such a fable to prove the madness of those who assert the resurrection of the body. However, such a thing might really have happened at some time among them.

Pseudo-Jerome: But in a mystical sense, what can this woman mean? Leaving no seed to seven brothers and dying last of all, she represents the Jewish synagogue, deserted by the sevenfold Spirit that filled those seven patriarchs, who did not leave her the seed of Abraham—that is, Jesus Christ.

For although a Son was born to them, He was nevertheless given to us Gentiles. This woman was dead to Christ, nor will she be joined in the resurrection to any of the seven patriarchs, for the number seven signifies the whole company of the faithful.

Thus, Isaiah says the opposite: Seven women shall take hold of one man (Isaiah 4:1). This refers to the seven Churches, which the Lord loves, reproves, and chastens, adoring Him with one faith.

Therefore, it continues: And Jesus answering, said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, not knowing the Scripture, neither the power of God?

Theophylact of Ohrid: It is as if He had said, "You do not understand what sort of resurrection the Scriptures announce, for you believe that there will be a restoration of our bodies just as they are now, but it will not be so. Thus, you do not know the Scriptures."

"Nor, again, do you know the power of God, for you consider it a difficult thing, asking, 'How can the limbs, which have been scattered, be united and joined to the soul?' But this is as nothing in respect to the divine power."

Then follows the verse: For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven. It is as if He had said there will be a heavenly and angelic restoration to life, when there will be no more decay and we will remain unchanged; for this reason, marriage will cease.

Marriage exists now because of our decay, so that our race may be carried on by succession and not die out. But in the resurrection, we will be like the Angels, who do not need succession by marriage and never come to an end.

The Venerable Bede: We must consider here that the Latin custom does not correspond to the Greek idiom. Different words are properly used for the marriage of men and that of women, but here we may simply understand that "marry" refers to men and "given in marriage" refers to women.

Pseudo-Jerome: Thus, they do not understand the Scripture, in that in the resurrection, people will be like the Angels of God. That is, no one there dies, no one is born, and there are no infants or old men.

Theophylact of Ohrid: They are also deceived in another way by not understanding the Scriptures. For if they had understood them, they would also have understood how the resurrection of the dead can be proved from the Scriptures.

Therefore, He adds, And as touching the dead, that they rise, have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?

Pseudo-Jerome: But I say, "in the bush," which is an image of you; for in it the fire was kindled, but it did not consume its thorns. In the same way, my words set you on fire but do not burn off your thorns, which have grown under the curse.

Theophylact of Ohrid: But I say, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

It is as if He had said, "The God of the living." Therefore, He adds, He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. For He did not say, "I have been," but I am, as if they were present.

But someone might say that God spoke this only of Abraham's soul, not of his body. To this I answer that "Abraham" implies both soul and body, so that God is also the God of the body, and the body lives with God—that is, in God's ordinance.

The Venerable Bede: Alternatively, because the soul's survival after death was proven (for God could not be the God of those who did not exist at all), the resurrection of the body could also be inferred as a consequence, since it had done good and evil with the soul.

Pseudo-Jerome: When He says, The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, by naming God three times, He implied the Trinity. But when He says, He is not the God of the dead, by again naming the one God, He implies one substance.

Those who make good on the portion they had chosen live, and those who have lost what they had made good are dead. Ye therefore do greatly err.

Glossa Ordinaria: That is, because they contradicted the Scriptures and diminished the power of God.

Glossa Ordinaria: After the Lord refuted the Pharisees and the Sadducees who tested Him, this passage shows how He satisfied the scribe who questioned Him.

Therefore, it is said, And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked Him, Which is the first commandment of all?

Pseudo-Jerome: This question is a common problem for all who are skilled in the Law, namely, that the commandments are set forth differently in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy.

Therefore, He presented not one but two commandments, by which our infancy is nourished, as if by two breasts on the chest of the bride.

And so, the text adds, And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; the Lord thy God is one God.

He mentions the first and greatest commandment of all. This is the one to which each of us must give first place in our hearts, as it is the sole foundation of piety—that is, the knowledge and confession of the divine unity, combined with the practice of good works, which is perfected in the love of God and our neighbor.

Therefore, it adds, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

Theophylact of Ohrid: See how He has enumerated all the powers of the soul. There is a living power in the soul, which He explains when He says, With all thy soul. To this power belong anger and desire, all of which He would have us give to divine love.

There is also another power, which is called the natural power, to which belong nourishment and growth. This too is to be given entirely to God, for which reason He says, With all thy heart.

There is also a third power, the rational, which He calls the mind, and this too is to be given wholly to God.

Glossa Ordinaria: The words that are added, And with all thy strength, may be referred to the body's powers.

It continues: And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Theophylact of Ohrid: He says that the second commandment is "like" the first because these two are harmonious and mutually contain each other. For the one who loves God also loves His creatures, and the chief of His creatures is man. Therefore, whoever loves God ought to love all people.

Conversely, one who loves his neighbor, who so often offends him, ought much more to love God, who is always bestowing benefits upon him.

Because of this deep connection between them, He adds, There is none other commandment greater than these.

It continues: And the Scribe said unto Him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God, and there is none other but He: and to love Him with all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.

The Venerable Bede: When the scribe says, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices, he shows that a serious question was often debated among the scribes and Pharisees regarding which was the first or greatest commandment of the divine Law.

Some praised offerings and sacrifices, while others preferred acts of faith and love, because many of the patriarchs before the Law pleased God by that faith alone which works by love. This scribe shows that he held the latter opinion.

The text continues: And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, He said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.

Theophylact of Ohrid: By this, Jesus shows that the scribe was not yet perfect, for He did not say, "You are within the kingdom of heaven," but rather, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.

The Venerable Bede: The reason he was not far from the kingdom of God was that he proved himself to be a supporter of that opinion which is proper to the New Testament and to the perfection of the Gospel.

St. Augustine of Hippo: We should not be troubled that Matthew says the one who asked the Lord this question was testing Him. It may be that although he came to test Him, he was corrected by the Lord's answer.

Or, in any case, we must not view this test as evil or as done with the intention of deceiving an enemy. Instead, it could be seen as the caution of a man who wished to probe something unknown to him.¹

Pseudo-Jerome: Alternatively, one who has knowledge is not far from the kingdom, for ignorance is further from the kingdom of God than knowledge is. Therefore, He says to the Sadducees in another passage, Ye err, not knowing the Scriptures, or the power of God.

The passage concludes: And no man after that durst ask Him any questions.

The Venerable Bede: For since they were refuted in argument, they asked Him no more questions. Instead, they seized Him openly and handed Him over to the Roman authorities. From this we understand that the poison of envy may be overcome, but it can rarely remain quiet.

Theophylact of Ohrid: Because Christ was approaching His Passion, He corrects a false opinion of the Jews, who said that Christ was the Son of David, but not his Lord.

Therefore it is said, And Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple.

Pseudo-Jerome: That is, He openly speaks to them of Himself, so that they may be inexcusable.

For it goes on: How say the Scribes that Christ is the Son of David?

Theophylact of Ohrid: But Christ shows Himself to be the Lord by the words of David.

For it goes on: For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on My right hand. It is as if He had said, "You cannot claim that David said this without the grace of the Holy Spirit; rather, he called Him Lord in the Holy Spirit."

And that He is Lord, he shows by what is added: Till I make Thine enemies Thy footstool. For they themselves were His enemies, whom God placed under the footstool of Christ.

The Venerable Bede: But the Father’s subduing of His enemies does not show any weakness in the Son, but rather the unity of their nature, by which the One works in the Other. For the Son also subjects the Father's enemies, because He glorifies His Father on earth.

Glossa Ordinaria: Thus, the Lord resolves the disputed question based on what has come before. From David’s preceding words, it is proved that Christ is the Lord of David, but according to the teaching of the Scribes, it is proved that He is his Son. And this is what is added: David himself then calls Him Lord, how is He then his Son?

The Venerable Bede: The question of Jesus is useful for us even now against the Jews. For they, while acknowledging that Christ is to come, assert that He is a mere man—a holy person descended from David. Let us then ask them, as our Lord has taught us: if He is a mere man and only the son of David, how does David, in the Holy Spirit, call Him Lord?

They are not, however, reproved for calling Him David's son, but for not believing Him to be the Son of God.

It goes on: And the common people heard Him gladly.

Glossa Ordinaria: Namely, this was because they saw that He answered and asked questions wisely.