Mark 12 - Who’s in Charge Here?
March 8th, 2026 “Who’s in Charge Here?” Rev. Heather Jepsen
Mark 12:1-17
As we continue our deep dive into the gospel of Mark, Jesus moves ever closer to his death in Jerusalem. Since our reading last week, Jesus has entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey, a text that we will look at for Palm Sunday. Today’s reading finds Jesus in the last week of his life. He is in the temple, arguing with the religious authorities and in today’s text he once again predicts his own death.
Speaking to the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders Jesus tells a parable about a vineyard. Right away reader’s ears would perk up, for the vineyard is a common Old Testament metaphor for the nation of Israel.
A landowner plants a vineyard and then leaves it in care of some tenants. When harvest time comes, he sends a slave to collect his earnings, but the slave is beaten and sent away empty handed. Things continue to escalate as a series of slaves go to the vineyard and then are harmed by the tenants. Finally, the man sends his son who is killed. Jesus asks the religious authorities, “what will the landowner do? He will destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.” The religious authorities realize that he is speaking against them, and they begin to plot his demise.
Another group comes to Jesus to challenge his authority, this time with a question about taxes. It’s a trick question. If Jesus agrees to Roman taxation he angers his base, and if he says “no” to paying taxes than they can charge him with treason. Jesus turns the tables on the askers, turning the question back to them. “Give to the emperor what is the emperor’s and to God what is God’s.” It forces the askers to decide for themselves what belongs to God and what belongs to empire.
Both of these stories revolve around questions of authority. Just who is in charge here? The vineyard parable is hard for us to work with as modern listeners. Slaves and violence, absentee landowners and required harvest amounts, none of this connects to our modern experience and much of it is offensive. One commentator I read this week said people shouldn’t even own land anyway, so there’s one view. And someone else mentioned that squatters’ rights were a real part of the ancient world and if the landowner was absent perhaps the tenants had a right to try to take the vineyard. Interpreting this parable can be messy.
This is a good time for us to step back and do some basic biblical interpretation. If we imagine Mark crafting this parable for his community then the meaning becomes clearer. The religious elite are the shepherds of the nation of Israel, the tenants of the Lord’s vineyard. They have rejected the Lord’s son, Jesus, and so a new community is formed. God’s blessing now resides with the Markan community who are followers of Jesus and not with their contemporaries, the pharisees, who reject the Messiah.
Historically, this text has been used to support antisemitism. Look, folks argue, the Jews killed Jesus and so God made a new community in the Christian church. We have to be wary of such interpretation because it is not correct or helpful. It’s good to remember that Jesus was a Jew, and Mark’s early community was Jewish. No one was setting out to create a new religion; they were just seeking to reform the old one. It’s important to ground ourselves in history here.
Take this into a modern context and we can find plenty of examples of corrupt church leaders. Those who seek to use the church and the message of Jesus Christ for their own personal gain. Be it using the authority of the church to gain wealth, political influence, or power, there are plenty of wicked tenants in the vineyard right now. Rather then being about Jews versus Christians, this text is about the behavior of the religious elite. Where have the religious elite rejected the person and message of Jesus Christ today?
Back to my question of “who is in charge?” When Jesus tells the parable he is implying that the religious elite think that they are in charge. And they certainly are in power on earth, for they will conspire to kill him. Jesus’ point though is that their time is fleeting. God is the one who is truly in charge, and God will raise Jesus to his true position of authority, the cornerstone of the foundation of faith. This will be the Lord’s doing and it will be amazing in our eyes.
The question about taxes is also about who is in charge. Again, our history lesson. Jesus asks the Herodians to produce a denarius, which they do. The coin features a picture of the emperor, and it says, “Ceasar Augustus, son of god.” The coin is the most accessible mass media of empire. It is how they get their message out. And the message of empire is that Ceasar is the son of God, Ceasar is divine, and Cesar is the bringer of peace.
The Herodians show the coin which claims the belief in a divine emperor, and Jesus challenges that message. If you believe that the emperor is divine, then the coin and everything else belong to him. “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s.” If you believe that God is divine, then the emperor is a liar, and you owe him nothing. Instead, everything belongs to God. “Give to God the things that are God’s”.
Jesus leaves it to the askers to decide. Will they go along with the blasphemous claims of empire? Or will they stand by their faith? That’s why they are utterly amazed at him. He calls out their hypocrisy, and they are trapped in front of the crowd.
Put both these stories in our own context and we can ask the same question. “Who is in charge here?” Is it the mega churches that have aligned themselves with empire? The rows of men at the national prayer breakfast? The folks who preach at the Pentagon and praise Christian Nationalism? The loudest voice at the table?
Whose face is on the coin and what does it mean? Who has the authority to tell us what do with our money and with our lives? Is it those who reject the suffering servant for an all-American militant Jesus? Or is it the folks who claim the God of the immigrant? Who is in charge here?
Last week we talked about the disciples grasping for power and we never really are able to let that desire go. Jesus reminded his followers that whoever wanted to be greatest among them must be the least of all, that the son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. That is what we remember at this table today as we ask, “who is in charge here?”
When Jesus dies on the cross it sure looks like empire is in charge. Mocked and beaten, betrayed by his own faith community, a threat to decency and good order. Jesus is the leader of a non-violent resistance movement, and the empire knows what to do with those. Cut off the head, and the movement dies. And so they make an example out of him. Who was in charge that day as he hung there and died? It certainly looked like Rome was.
But the stone the builders rejected becomes the chief cornerstone. God is working behind the scenes, something bigger is playing out, and three days later Jesus returns in glory. Who is in charge now? Pilate wonders as he discovers an empty tomb.
When we gather at this table we once again declare our allegiance to God. Not to the god of empire and violence. But the God of suffering and death. The one who lays down his life for his friends. The one who lays down his life for us.
As you go out into the world this week, I encourage you to consider this question. “Who is in charge here?” As you scroll your social media and watch the news this week ask yourself “Who thinks they are in charge? Who is really in charge? Who am I letting be in charge of me and my life?”
Always we are challenged to choose between God and empire. Always we are looking at that coin that claims our allegiance to the system we live in. This week can we give to the empire what belongs to it, and give to God what belongs to God? It’s up to you to decide that. Amen.
