Sunday, August 25, 2024 AM
TEACHINGS OF JESUS: The Parable of the Wicked Tenants
Mike Teel, Pastor
Focal Passage:
1 Jesus then began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 2 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed. 6 “He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 “But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 “What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture: “‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; 11 the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” 12 Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away. —Mark 12:1-12
JESUS’
–Most people like to say this parable is about “The Wicked Tenants” but by the time we have finished you’ll see that it is more like the parable of “The Rejected Son”.
–We all know what the Pharisees and Sadducees were like in Jesus’ day.
–They were always questioning His authority.
21 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. —Mark 1:21-22
–Our passage for study is a parable Jesus told in response to their rejecting Jesus and His God given authority.
–The Parable tells us a lot about our God, mankind and Jesus Himself.
WHAT THE PARABLE SAYS ABOUT
1 Jesus then began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. —Mark 12:1
–This parable tells us four things about our God.
1. OUR GOD IS A
A. THE
PROVISIONS
–Notice the vineyard was given everything it needed to do its work.
–The vineyard owner gave the vineyard everything it needed to make their work easy and profitable.
–Notice that God didn’t just give them a task to do; He also gave them the means in which to do those tasks.
B. OUR
–God has made it possible for us to be productive for the Kingdom.
–Every person has gifts and talents.
–In Matthew 25 Jesus clearly tells us in the parable of the talents all were given talents. (some 5, some 2 and one had 1).
–God has given you an ability to serve Him whether it is preaching, teaching, giving to the needy, helping set up for worship each week, or praying.
2. GOD
ENOUGH TO DO THE WORK AT HAND
–God trusted the workers (tenants) to run the vineyard by themselves while He was away.
–The responsibility of sharing the good news about Jesus Christ with people is in our hands.
–We don’t have rights to abuse God’s Word or compromise His Word. We don’t have the right to abuse the gifts He has given us.
–But God does trust us enough to allow us to make mistakes.
3. OUR GOD IS
2 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed. —Mark 12:2-5
A. TREATMENT OF GOD’S
–Notice how the master (God) sent servant after servant.
–This is a reference to the many prophets God sent to encourage and warn people of the coming of God’s Messiah.
–Notice these servants of God were treated like this. Even after the first one was abused and treated this way, God still didn’t get angry with them and come after them with vengeance.
–No, He continued to give them chance after chance to respond to His appeal.
B. GOD’S
OF US
–God still treats us today with patience and endurance.
–God puts up with our continuous sinning and yet does not cast us away after we sin, even those of us who are Christians.
–He gives us chance after chance to change and live holy lives.
–He gives those who are not Christian’s opportunity after opportunity to accept Jesus as Savior.
4.
IS COMING
–The fourth thing we learn about God is that He is patient but one day judgment will come.
–You see these tenants pushed their luck; they pushed the patience of God.
–This parable tells us, the world can push its luck with its disobedience and rebellion but there is a time coming when justice will be served.
–You see loved ones, people will either be born again or wish they had never been born at all.
–Everyone wants to believe God is a God of love. And He is – John 3:16.
–But the same Bible that tells us that God is a God of love also declares He is a just God and cannot overlook sin.
–Our God today just in Jesus’ day is a Gracious God who trust us patiently to do the work – But also one day will hold us accountable by judging what we did with His Son Jesus.
LIVE IT OUT
Are you one of God’s chosen children?
What are you doing to use the talents and gifts He has given you?
Are you prepared for the day of judgment?
Next week we will continue to examine what the parable says about mankind and Jesus Himself.