Mark 11:27-12:12

Intro

Read Mark 11:27-12:12

Mark 11:27–12:12 ESV

27 And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, 28 and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.” 31 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet. 33 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” 1 And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. 2 When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. 6 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this Scripture: “ ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; 11 this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” 12 And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away.

A Trap

Read Mark 11:27-33

Mark 11:27–33 ESV

27 And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, 28 and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.” 31 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet. 33 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Jesus has caused quite a stir since arriving in Jerusalem

This was the plan

He has come back to fulfill his ministry

This isnt some half baked idea to make the chief priests upset

And he has got to them

They finally come out and challenge him

“By what Authority do you do these things”

“Who gave you Authority to do them”

Who do you think you are

A question we have asked throughout this book

“who is this man”

This question here is a trap

They want him to claim some false authority so they can have a charge to levy against him

So Jesus answers them back

“What do you say about John?”

Mark gives us the logic here

Jesus turns the trap question on them

They cant call John a prophet because if they do then Jesus is who he claims to be

They cant not call him a prophet because then the crowds will turn on him

So they turn back to the all to familiar answer

“I dont know”

cop out answer

Jesus doesnt answer them either

The answer has been shown

If you have seen whats been going on for the past 11 chapters you know who he is

Jesus uses this to teachs us what it means for us to reject who he is

To not believe John

To refuse to believe he is who he says he is

A Story

Read Mark 12:1-9

Mark 12:1–9 ESV

1 And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. 2 When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. 6 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.

This is a brutal story

these tenants are terrible

how could they do this

BUT like all these stories why here

jesus wanted the people to understand that this has already happened

This very story has been played out

and finally the son is here

and just as he has prophecied three times already

the son will come and because of greed and love of self he will be rejected

chief priest Sanhedrin love their status

you can almost sense jesus pointing to them

jesus ends this story with a question

what will the owner do

this is a warning to those tenents

you will be destroyed

this is a tragic story about a chosen people that rejected their master

the story of creation

A Hope

Read Mark 12:10-11

Mark 12:10–11 ESV

10 Have you not read this Scripture: “ ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; 11 this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

a rebuke

have you not read

have you no understood

A Warning

Read Mark 12:12

Mark 12:12 ESV

12 And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away.

Read Mark 12:9

Mark 12:9 ESV

9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.