Mark 12:12 (LSB)

Passage

And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the crowd, for they understood that He spoke the parable against them. And so they left Him and went away.

Nearby Context

Mark 12:10 Have you not even read this Scripture: ‘The stone which the builders rejected, This has become the chief corner stone;

Mark 12:11 This came about from the Lord, And it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

Mark 12:12 And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the crowd, for they understood that He spoke the parable against them. And so they left Him and went away.

Mark 12:13 Then they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Him in order to trap Him in a statement.

Mark 12:14 And they came and said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay a tax to Caesar, or not?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "seeking", "seize", "feared", "crowd", "understood", "spoke", "parable", and "against". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "seeking" and "seize", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "This came about from the Lord And..." into verse 13's "Then they sent some of the Pharisees...", so "seeking" and "seize" belong inside that flow. In Mark context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "seeking" and "seize" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.