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MARK 12:1-12
12 And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.
2 And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard.
3 And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty.
4 And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled.
5 And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some.
6 Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son.
7 But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours.’
8 And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.
9 What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others.
10 And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner:
11 This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
12 And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way.
1. The Parable (vv. 1-8)
- Jesus was a master storyteller. He often used parables to teach truths.
- He drew upon images familiar to an
- This story will use the image of a vineyard and vinedresser.
This is also an image that is familiar to the Jews because the Old Testament uses this same image to describe God and Israel’s relationship. God is the vinedresser. Israel is the vineyard.
Jesus says, let me tell you story.
- Once upon a time there was a man who owned a large plot of land. He turned it into a vineyard. He took great care to plant the vines and protect the vineyard from intruders. He put a fence around it. He also built a winevat to collect the juice of the grapes when they were crushed.
He made it to where the laborers could do everything needed to not only collect the harvest but allow the owner to enjoy the fruits of the harvest.
At the appropriate time, the owner sent a servant to collect the harvest from the tenants to whom it had been let out to.
- This wasn’t just harvest time. It was a specific time. Under the law, the first three years’ harvest of a vineyard was not to be eaten. The fourth year belonged to
- So the appropriate time meant that it was time for the fruit to be harvested and
- As the story unfolds, the audience is cluing in that the servant that is sent is one of the Old Testament
The tenant farmers beat him and run him off. They keep the produce for themselves.
vv. 4-5 – The owner shows great patience. He sends more servants (i.e. prophets). They too are mistreated, beaten, some even
Again, the parallel is now unmistakable to the audience, including the religious leaders.
vv. 6-8 – Finally the owner sends his own beloved son thinking surely the tenants will respect the son and turn the produce over to him.
The word beloved is used only two others time in the book of Mark. It is used at the
The owner thought they would respect him because of who he is. However, the tenant farmers thought it better to kill him and take the vineyard for themselves.
- This was a
- Murderers do not inherit the estates of the people they murder. Murderers inherit judgment.
These tenants are insane with reckless ambition.
They seize the son, kill him, and throw his body out of the vineyard.
2. The Question (vv. 9-11)
- Jesus asked them what they thought the land owner would do.
- It is a rhetorical question. He doesn’t give anyone a chance to answer. He answers and uses terms that are quite
- “Kill” would be appropriate. “Punish” would be legally accurate. But “destroy” recalls the plans of the Pharisees (3:6) and the temple authorities (11:18).
In this case, “destroy” has the sense of condemnation to eternal torment (cf. 1:24) (loss / lost forever)
After the faithless tenant farmers were destroyed, the owner would give the vineyard to others. This is a cryptic reference to the New Testament
None of the Jews could fathom their
- They correctly understood the covenant with Abraham to be irrevocable and unconditional.
- They couldn’t foresee, however, an intervening period in which “others” would become stewards of God’s Word and redemptive plan for the world.
Moreover, they could not have anticipated how the Messiah and His church would position Israel to receive all the covenant promises…eventually.
To make it clear, Jesus quotes and applies a Messianic Psalm to confirm what He has just taught in the parable. (Ps. 118:22-24)
This psalm predicts the Messiah being
- The rejected stone ultimately becomes the most important stone in the whole structure, i.e. the
3. The Revelation (v. 12)
- The leaders reveal themselves to be exactly who the story says they are.
- The religious leaders know that the story is about them, but despite the clear warning they, like the criminally insane tenant farmers of the story, believed that killing the “beloved son” would allow them to
- Only the fear of losing the support of the people prevented them from seizing the Son, killing Him, and throwing his body out of the temple. (cf. 12:8)
The Application
- You cannot exhaust the grace of God. His grace is sufficient to cover every sin. His grace is sufficient to save every sinner.
- Every person (Jew or Gentile) who has lived in rebellion toward God can be forgiven.
- Why? Because God’s grace is
- However, not every person (Jew or Gentile) who has lived in rebellion toward God will be forgiven.
Why? Because access to God’s grace is
Point for the Jewish leaders: God’s grace was unlimited to save them, but access to it was limited to their
- Jesus was saying, repent, turn, and
- But because they rejected Him, they missed out on God’s grace being extended to them to save them.