It continues Jesus' teaching in the Temple in Jerusalem, and contains the parable of the Wicked Husbandmen, Jesus' argument with the Pharisees and Herodians over paying taxes to Caesar, and the debate with the Sadducees about the nature of people who will be resurrected at the end of time.

It also contains Jesus' Greatest Commandment, his discussion of the messiah's relationship to King David, condemnation of the teachers of the law, and his praise of a poor widow's offering.

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: Jesus, after his argument with the chief priests of the Sanhedrin over his authority in Mark 11:27–33,[6] speaks to "them" ("the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders")[7] in parables (εν παραβολαις, en parabolais, plural).

Mark however, who clearly has the Septuagint as his Old Testament reference, may have simply used it for his audience, as they spoke Greek, or to clarify his sources, oral and/or written.

[17]: 158 Mark says that they ("the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders") "realized" that Jesus was speaking about them and wanted to arrest him, but they would not do so for fear of the crowd.

[18] The passage invites interpretation as an allegory:[19] the husbandmen are the priests and teachers, and perhaps the Judean authorities in general.

A common interpretation of the servants is that of the prophets or all of God's proceeding messengers, while the gentiles, or Christians, are the "others" who will be given the vineyard.

[19] Workers working the estates of absentee landlords happened frequently in the Roman Empire, making the story relevant to the listeners of the time.

[23] Vineyards were the source of grapes and wine, a common symbol of good in the Gospels.

[25] Natural growth, like Jesus' parables of the Mustard Seed and the Seed Growing Secretly in Mark 4,[26] was probably a naturally understood metaphor for Mark's audience,[citation needed] as the ancient world was largely an agricultural world.

[27]: Saying 65 "They" (the chief priests, scribes, and elders,[28] or "the Jewish leaders"[29]) sent some Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus.

They offer false praise and hope to entrap him by asking him whether one should pay the taxes to the Romans.

[30] Protestant theologian Heinrich Meyer notes that the Greek: ἀγρεύω (argeuō, "entrap") is a hunting term.

[28] Luke's Gospel makes clear that "They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor."

[citation needed] The same saying is found in the Gospel of Thomas as saying 100, with reference to "a gold coin" and the additional words "... and give me what is mine".

[27]: Saying 100 Some writers cite this phrase in support of tax resistance: see, for example, Ned Netterville,[33] Darrell Anderson,[34] and Timmothy Patton.

The Jewish Levirate law, or Yibbum,[36] states that if a man dies and his wife has not had a son, his brother must marry her.

[37] George Maclear notes that Jesus deals with the latter point first, stating that after the resurrection of the dead, no one will be married, "... they will be like the angels in heaven".

(verses 25–27) The story of the burning bush is found in Exodus 3,[40] i.e. within the biblical texts acknowledged by the Sadducees.

[41] He quotes God's statement to Moses on Mount Sinai made in the present tense about the patriarchs to show that God states them to be still in existence after their death, and thus that the doctrine of resurrection is present in the scripture from the beginning.

[42] Meyer notes that the "short pithy words" of this assertion, Greek: πολὺ πλανᾶσθε (polu planasthe), do not need the additional words in the Textus Receptus, Greek: ὑμεῖς οὖν, humeis oun, "you therefore").

Jesus largely defends the belief here, perhaps indicating Mark's intended audience already knows it.

[52] Most Early Christians saw Jesus' teachings as summing up the essence of Jewish theology as opposed to the religion's ritualistic components.

[56] This seems to be Jesus' triumph over his opponents (or agreement with the Pharisees) as Mark states that this was the last question they asked him.

Some have argued that this is Mark's way of explaining why Jesus, from such a poor family, could possibly be the messiah.

Bartimaeus, the blind beggar whom Jesus healed, called him the Son of David in 10:47,[63] although Jesus has not referred to himself in this manner directly, an interesting choice for Mark to make, fitting with his theme of the Messianic Secret.

Paul might also reference it as well in Colossians 3:1[69] and Romans 8:34[70] where he mentions "Christ" at the right hand of God.

[72] Mark 12:39[73] refers to "the important seats in the synagogue", although the setting for Jesus' teaching is in the temple.

Often they might feign piety to gain access to trusteeship of a widow's estate and therefore its assets, like law firms today seek good reputations for the sole purpose of obtaining rich clients.

Unnamed spies from the priests challenge Jesus about the taxes and there is a longer discourse on marriage.