The Parable of the Tenants - Mark 12
The Parable of the Tenants
12 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.
Reflection:
As we have said before, Jesus spoke in parables to use earthly analogies to illustrate spiritual truths. In Jewish Galilee, large estates were owned by absentee landlords, which were put into the hands of tenant farmers, who cultivated the land. (NIV Study Bible) In this case Jesus uses this parable to expose the religious leaders in the past, who beat and killed the prophets who were sent by God to Israel. In the Old Testament, Israel is depicted as the Vine, who God cultivated to being salvation to the world. But yet they rejected the prophets who were calling them back to their true purpose, and would soon beat and kill Jesus, God's only Son and also a prophet.
Jesus was the true cornerstone. A cornerstone was used as a base to make sure the other stones of the building were straight and level. (NRSV Life Application Bible) As such unless the Church, God's building, is built with Jesus as the cornerstone it will be built on a faulty foundation. 1 Peter 2 also uses this as a metaphor to show that we are like living stones being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Christ Jesus.
So,before we stand in judgment of the leaders which only Jesus can do, how do we not commit the same mistakes as them? And by this I mean getting so caught up in preserving are own vineyards that we snuff out prophet's voice that God has sent to us. We may not literally beat and kill them, but maybe we just don't listen to them because we are so comfortable with status quo. So a question we might ask ourselves is: are we bearing fruit that God intended for us to bear, or are we just hoarding our vineyards! And I think the key to this is listening to the prophetic voice of God, which always comes through His Word through the power of the Holy Spirit.
God, the Holy Spirit, use Your Word to convict us of the things we need to adjust to be alignment with You and Your Word. Help us to see when we are being defensive or not listening to You so that we would preserve our vineyard and not grow yours! Amen.
12 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.
Reflection:
As we have said before, Jesus spoke in parables to use earthly analogies to illustrate spiritual truths. In Jewish Galilee, large estates were owned by absentee landlords, which were put into the hands of tenant farmers, who cultivated the land. (NIV Study Bible) In this case Jesus uses this parable to expose the religious leaders in the past, who beat and killed the prophets who were sent by God to Israel. In the Old Testament, Israel is depicted as the Vine, who God cultivated to being salvation to the world. But yet they rejected the prophets who were calling them back to their true purpose, and would soon beat and kill Jesus, God's only Son and also a prophet.
Jesus was the true cornerstone. A cornerstone was used as a base to make sure the other stones of the building were straight and level. (NRSV Life Application Bible) As such unless the Church, God's building, is built with Jesus as the cornerstone it will be built on a faulty foundation. 1 Peter 2 also uses this as a metaphor to show that we are like living stones being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Christ Jesus.
So,before we stand in judgment of the leaders which only Jesus can do, how do we not commit the same mistakes as them? And by this I mean getting so caught up in preserving are own vineyards that we snuff out prophet's voice that God has sent to us. We may not literally beat and kill them, but maybe we just don't listen to them because we are so comfortable with status quo. So a question we might ask ourselves is: are we bearing fruit that God intended for us to bear, or are we just hoarding our vineyards! And I think the key to this is listening to the prophetic voice of God, which always comes through His Word through the power of the Holy Spirit.
God, the Holy Spirit, use Your Word to convict us of the things we need to adjust to be alignment with You and Your Word. Help us to see when we are being defensive or not listening to You so that we would preserve our vineyard and not grow yours! Amen.
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