The Wise Stewardship of God's Blessings (Mark 12:1–12)

CPT: Jesus spoke a parable of judgment against the spiritual leaders of Israel and their nation, a people who enjoyed the blessings of God but constantly rejected his authority. The blessings of their life were meant to point them to the source of those blessings, yet they enjoyed the blessings and missed their Creator.

Purpose: To encourage the church to appreciate the blessings that surround them and seek God’s glory with those blessings.

CPS: Be a wise steward of the blessings of God in your life.

Introduction

Attention

Today is September 10, 2023. Twenty-two years ago, on September 10, 2001, I was in mid-town Manhattan interviewing for a bank teller job in mid-town Manhattan.

Like many of us, the next morning was a morning that is seared into my brain. On September 11, 2001, I was in the Bronx driving toward the Tri-borough Bridge, with a view of downtown Manhattan. I saw the Twin Towers with smoke coming out of them, and then later saw downtown Manhattan engulfed in smoke.

Later that week, I got the job at the bank and headed toward 42nd St in Manhattan, where I would be trained for the job. The reality of what happened on 9/11 really hit me that day. As I walked along 42nd St in Manhattan, I saw hundreds and hundreds of flyers of people that were missing, families desperate to find their loved ones, hoping that they were still alive.

A total of people 2,977 died on 9/11. At the Twin Towers, 2,753 people died. 184 died at the Pentagon, and 40 died on Flight 93 when it crash-landed in Pennsylvania. (1)

What did we realize on 9/11? In America we have many blessings, and there was a feeling that we were not at risk in our homeland from our enemies. We made a commitment that we would “Never Forget” 9/11. We made a commitment that we would steward our responsibility to protect the blessing of our freedoms.

We need to steward the blessings that God has given us. Many times we take for granted our blessings, and don’t realize the gift of blessings that we have until they are at risk. We have blessings of family, blessings of good health, financial blessings, blessings of a church community, and we need to be good stewards of the many blessings God has given us.

Problem

How can we be good stewards of the many blessings God has given us?

We are continuing in our series on the Gospel of Mark. Please open up your Bibles to Mark 12:1-12.

The Context of the parable

We are in part two of a conversation that Jesus is having with the chief priests, scribes, and elders in the temple: Mark 11:27 “27 They came again to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came”

In Mark 11, there is an incident in the temple where Jesus starts overturning tables: Mark 11:15 “went into the temple and began to throw out those buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves,” Mark tells us that Jesus teaches in the temple that the temple was meant to be a house of prayer, but they had made it a den of thieves.

Jesus then leaves Jerusalem, and comes back. Upon coming back to the temple, he is confronted by the Jewish leaders. Certainly they had had enough, and they question Jesus about the authority behind his actions: Mark 11:28 “28 and asked him, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do these things?””

Last week, we talked about Jesus’ answer to them. Jesus responded to them with a question about John the Baptist, a man who’s mission was to point the nation of Israel to the Messiah, Jesus our Lord. The Jews refuse to talk with Jesus about the authority behind John the Baptist, and therefore, Jesus refuses to talk with them about his authority.

Jesus then continues the conversation with them through a parable, and that’s where we are today in Mark 12. It is a parable known as the parable of the vineyard owner, sometimes known as the parable of the wicked tenants.

Scripture Reading

Mark 12:1–12 CSB

1 He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug out a pit for a winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went away. 2 At harvest time he sent a servant to the farmers to collect some of the fruit of the vineyard from them. 3 But they took him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent another servant to them, and they hit him on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 Then he sent another, and they killed that one. He also sent many others; some they beat, and others they killed. 6 He still had one to send, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenant farmers said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill the farmers and give the vineyard to others. 10 Haven’t you read this Scripture: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 11 This came about from the Lord and is wonderful in our eyes?” 12 They were looking for a way to arrest him but feared the crowd because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. So they left him and went away.

Pray

The parable Jesus gives in Mark 12:1-12 is a judgment upon Israel. Lets take a look at the details in this parable.

The Setting of the Vineyard (Mark 12:1)

This parable reflects a social situation in first-century Israel. To get a good understanding of this parable, its helpful to know about how this related to the Jewish society and culture. First-century Israel was a very agricultural society, which is why a lot of Jesus’ parable revolve around farming.

BKC: Wealthy foreign landlords owned large land estates which they leased to tenant farmers. The tenants agreed to cultivate the land and care for the vineyards when the landlords were away. A contract between them designated that a portion of the crop was to be paid as rent. At harvesttime the owners sent agents to collect the rent. Inevitably tension arose between the absentee owners and the tenants. (1)

A. The Owner (God)‌

In this parable, “the owner of the vineyard”, described in verse 1 as the “man who planted a vineyard,” the owner of the vineyard is God.

B. The Vineyard (Israel)

The picture of a vineyard is important. The Old Testament Scriptures used the picture of a vineyard to describe the nation of Israel.

You see this particularly in Isaiah 5:1-7. The description in Isaiah 5 is similar to what Jesus describes in the parable. Isaiah 5 speaks of “the one I love” owning “a vineyard on a very fertile hill.” He plants it with the finest vines, builds a tower in the middle of it, digs out a winepress, and expected it to “yield good grapes.” Finally, in Isaiah 5:7

Isaiah 5:7 CSB

7 For the vineyard of the Lord of Armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah, the plant he delighted in. He expected justice but saw injustice; he expected righteousness but heard cries of despair.

The vineyard is the house of Israel. You also see this in Psalm 80:8-19 where in Psalm 80:8 “8 You dug up a vine from Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.”

C. The Tenants (Religious Leaders)

The owner is God, the vineyard is Israel, what about the tenants of the vineyard? The answer for the tenants is answered for us in Mark 12:12 where it says the religious leaders “knew he had spoken this parable against them.” The tenants represent the religious leaders in the nation of Israel who have constantly rejected God’s messengers.

The Rejection of the Servants (Mark 12:2-5)‌

The servants in the parable represent the people God sent to Israel in its history, primarily speaking of the prophets, everyone from Moses, David, Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, up to an including John the Baptist. There is a constant rejection that builds up in this parable.

The parable speaks of the owner sending his servants to the tenants at harvest time to collect some of the fruit. Leviticus 19:23-25 speaks of waiting until the fifth year after planting to eat the fruit of the land, a harvest time.

A. The First Servant: Rejection and Shame

The owner sends the first servant during the harvest time, but they take him, beat him, and send him away empty-handed.

B. The Subsequent Servants: Violence and Murder

It gets progressively worse in the parable. He sends another servant, and they hit him on the head. The owner sends another servant, and they kill that one. He sends many servants, which they either beat or kill.

The prophet Jeremiah spoke about this constant refusal by the nation of Israel, probably specifically against the religious leaders of the nation, who constantly refused to listen to God’s messengers.

Jeremiah 7:25–26 CSB

25 Since the day your ancestors came out of the land of Egypt until today, I have sent all my servants the prophets to you time and time again. 26 However, my people wouldn’t listen to me or pay attention but became obstinate; they did more evil than their ancestors.

There is a progressive refusal by the people in Israel, all the way to religious leaders guiding the nation to commit terrible forms of idolatry. Jeremiah describes this as doing “more evil than their ancestors.”

C. God's Patience and Persistence

Yet, God is patient and persistent, promising to the nation a Messiah, who came to them as his Son.

The Sending of the Son (Mark 12:6-8)

A. The Son as the Ultimate Messenger

The beloved son is the ultimate messenger in this parable. He is the final one sent to the tenants, and the owner says, “They will respect my son.” Jesus is referencing himself in the parable as the son of the owner, the Son of God. This can be seen as another reference to his deity.

B. The Tenants' Calculated Rebellion

To understand the tenants rebellion in the parable, you have to understand something in Jewish society in reference to land called “ownerless property.”

BKC: The son’s arrival may have caused the tenants to assume that the owner had died and this son was his only heir. In Palestine at the time, a piece of land could be possessed lawfully by whoever claimed it first if it was “ownerless property,” unclaimed by an heir within a certain time period (cf. Mishnah Baba Bathra 3. 3). The tenant farmers assumed that if they killed the son they could acquire the vineyard. (2)

When the son is coming in the parable, the tenants may assume the owner has died. They try to get ownership of the land by making it ownerless through getting rid of the heir.

C. The Murder of the Son‌

The tenants then kill the son, a reference to the Jesus’ coming crucifixion coming through the accusations from the Jewish leaders.

The Judgment of the Tenants (Mark 12:9)

A. The Owner's Righteous Anger

The owner of the vineyard is alive.

B. The Destruction of the Tenants

He will destroy the tenants of the land.

C. The Transfer of Stewardship‌

He will give the vineyard to others. Verse 9 is a verse of judgment upon Israel, and its something that the apostle Paul wrestled with, where he saw the hardening that was coming upon Israel due to their rejection of the Messiah, and the shift in God’s plan to the Gentiles.

He described this work of God with the church as a mystery. It says in Romans 11:25:

Romans 11:25 CSB

25 I don’t want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you will not be conceited: A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

We are currently still living within this dispensation of the “fullness of the Gentiles,” a time also known as the dispensation of the church. This parable, in verse 9, references both the judgment of hardening upon the nation of Israel, and the transfer in God’s work to this time of the Gentiles, a period that we are still in where we are waiting for the fullness of the Gentiles to come in as a people grafted to the vine, part of his vineyard.

The Cornerstone: Jesus Christ (Mark 12:10-11)

A. The Rejected Stone

This is further confirmed in verses 10 and 11, where Jesus is described as the stone the builders (Israel) rejected.

B. The Chief Cornerstone

This stone has become the cornerstone. A cornerstone is a stone laid at the corner to bind two walls together and to strengthen them. It is a foundation stone at the base of a building. Everything is built upon this foundation and binds it all together.

C. The Fulfillment of Scripture (Psalm 118:22-23)

Jesus quotes from Psalm 118, a Psalm that speaks of the Messiah. It’s the same Psalm that was quoted at the beginning of Mark 11, where the people said, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” In this one parable then, Jesus again points to himself as the Son of God and as the Messiah, the fulfillment of God’s promise to Israel in Scripture.

The Leaders' Response (Mark 12:12)

A. Realization of the Accusation

The religious leaders realize the parable was spoken against them. It was Jesus’ response to their question of authority. He had the authority to overturn tables in the temple because he is the Son of God and the Messiah.

B. The Choice to Reject

Yet, the Jewish leaders, given the opportunity to submit before the Messiah, instead fulfill the parable by rejecting the Son, and looking for a way to kill the Son.

C. The Missed Opportunity for Repentance

This parable is a presentation of warning and opportunity. The warning is what will come about by their continued rebellion as wicked tenants in the vineyard of Israel. The opportunity is to realize and submit to the Son, something they would not do.

This parable is a parable of judgment against Israel. You might ask, “Well, what does that teach me? We are not Israel. We are the church.”

That’s an important question. We don’t approach the Bible just to obtain knowledge. We approach God’s Word because God’s Word is true, and we want to apply it to our lives.

There is much we can learn about the missed opportunities that Israel had, a people blessed by God. God gives blessings by his grace, but those blessings come with responsibility and accountability. We need to learn to steward the blessings of God in our life.

The first thing to learn is,

Every blessing in our life comes from God and needs wise stewardship.

Definition of Stewardship

Stewardship is “the process of being responsible with someone else’s property while it is entrusted.” (3)

The Vineyard

The story of Israel is a story of God’s blessing, and the necessity to steward that blessing. They had responsibility and accountability for God’s blessings. The land of Israel was described in Scripture as “a land flowing with milk and honey.” Take a look at Exodus 3:8:

Exodus 3:8 CSB

8 and I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the territory of the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

The people of Israel, the vineyard, was planted by God in a “good and spacious land.”

Like the nation of Israel, we often forget the blessings that surround us. We wake up with a roof over our head, something that’s expensive in San Diego, and how many times do we forget to thank God for that blessing?

The picture in Mark 12:1 is a beautiful description of the blessings of God.

Mark 12:1 CSB

1 He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug out a pit for a winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went away.

The Fence

The vineyard has a fence around it. A fence is a boundary. God placed boundaries around the people of Israel through the protection of his laws and commandments.

God’s boundaries are a good thing. The Scriptures speak of God’s law as a delight. Psalm 119:1-2:

Psalm 119:1–2 CSB

1 How happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk according to the Lord’s instruction! 2 Happy are those who keep his decrees and seek him with all their heart.

You see this same picture in Psalm 1:2, where the Lord’s instruction is talked about as a delight. The boundaries that God placed around Israel were for their good, commandments that bring joy to the heart.

In the same way, the Lord’s commands and ways are for our good. James 1:22 speaks of our need to “be doers of the word and not hearers only.” We have boundaries that are set for our good. The application of God’s Word is a fence of protection to help guide us in our decisions and actions.

The Winepress

Back in Mark 12:1, the owner dug out a pit for a winepress. He gave Israel the means for producing fruit. He expected that those placed amongst his blessings would produce fruit, and sought to receive that fruit from the tenants.

In the same way, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we produce spiritual fruit in our lives, fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The owner expects fruit from his vineyard, and is faithful to his people. We give back to God through being a light for Christ in our homes, workplaces, and community, and sharing with a lost world the work of God in our life.

The Watchtower

The owner built a watchtower in his vineyard. God provided care and protection over his people Israel. Israel depended on God being their watchtower, their protection. It says in Psalm 121:3-4:

Psalm 121:3–4 CSB

3 He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber. 4 Indeed, the Protector of Israel does not slumber or sleep.

The same protector of Israel is the same protector of his church. He will not allow your foot to slip. Your protector will not slumber. He is vigilant over his people and protects his church. We steward that protection by being a people who live courageously for Christ, because we know that our protector sees us and knows us.

A Land Leased to Tenants

God gave many blessings to his people, and entrusted them with his blessings. These blessings came with responsibility and accountability. Take a look at Exodus 19:5-6:

Exodus 19:5–6 CSB

5 Now if you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine, 6 and you will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites.”

Israel received the blessings of God to be a “kingdom of priests” and a “holy nation.” In the same way, the church of God is entrusted with his blessings to be a light to the world. We are called to be a holy people through Jesus Christ our Lord.

As I have grown older, I have found myself thinking quite a bit about the next generation. So much of what we do is not about us. It’s about leaving things better than when we found it for the next generation.

I look at our church, and I see all of the blessings of God around us. This was not the result of one man. There was a body of people, a body of believers, that felt compelled to plant a church named Paradise Hills Southern Baptist Church in July 1956.

This church planted churches and believed in Sunday School. The church grew and pointed many people to Jesus, including a young woman named Kay Lewis, who was the daughter of an early pastor here. She became Kay Warren, the wife of Rick Warren.

They passed down this legacy to Catalyst Church in 2020.

We have been blessed by the legacy before us, and by all of the work that brought us here. There is a responsibility and accountability that we share. What do we do with the blessings handed down to us, and ultimately by God?

We seek to build on this legacy by pointing more people to Jesus. That is the answer in every generation, because all of our blessings are meant to point people to him.

Every blessing in our life comes from God and needs wise stewardship.

Also,

Our hearts need wise stewardship in listening to and obeying God’s message.

The owner of the vineyard sent his servants to the tenants, and the tenants had a responsibility to listen to them. There was an authority within the servants, because they spoke for the owner.

The tenants were responsible to listen to the servants and act upon their message, because their message came with the authority and power of the owner.

The time of the Old Testament was a unique time in history because prophets were speaking the Word of God to his people. The term “thus says the Lord” is a statement that is extraordinary, and is throughout the Scriptures. It is a claim that says, “These words are what God wants you to hear!” Prophets spoke the Word of God to his people. Peter said it this way in 2 Peter 1:21:

2 Peter 1:21 CSB

21 because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Yet, the tragic testimony of Israel is that they missed the message from the prophets and the one about whom the prophets spoke about, the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

We should value hearing from God. The biblical time of the prophets is past. The prophets spoke the Word of God during a time when God’s Word was being collected and written. Today, we have the Scriptures, the Word of God, who point to the ultimate Word from God, Jesus Christ.

Good stewardship of listening to and obeying God’s message including testing the message. Make sure it aligns with God’s Word. God will never tell you to do something contrary to his Word. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Some of Jesus’ greatest judgments were against religious leaders. What does that mean for you? That means that any word spoken from this pulpit should align with God’s Word. God will never give any person fresh revelation that was not first revealed to his people in his Word.

Once we hear the Word of God, what do we do with it? We act according to his Word. The Lord said it this way in Matthew 7:24:

Matthew 7:24 CSB

24 “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

We hear the Word of the Lord, and then we build the foundation of our life upon him and what he wants from our life.

We prioritize obedience over convenience. Being a good steward of God’s Word means choosing obedience to God over personal convenience or social expectations.

We are accountable for the spiritual messages we receive from God.

Illustrate

Apply

Every blessing in our life comes from God and needs wise stewardship.

Our hearts need wise stewardship in listening to and obeying God’s message.

Finally,

Our hearts need wise stewardship in submitting to the centrality of Christ.

The sending of the son in the parable is the climax from the landowner. It is central to the parable. In Mark 12:6:

Mark 12:6 CSB

6 He still had one to send, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

Jesus Christ is the final and ultimate revelation from God. The rejection of the son by the tenants is tragic. The tenants treasured the physical blessings from the owner, but missed the ultimate blessing from the owner when he sent his son.

It’s tragic when you miss the cornerstone of your faith. You can have all the trappings, all the religious fluff, go to all of the church events and speak the church speak. But if Jesus is not the center of your life, if he is not what everything else is built upon, then you are missing the whole point.

Jesus is the stone the builders rejected, the chief cornerstone. As the cornerstone, he is central in our lives and is what everything is built upon.

The first step in stewardship is the recognition of the authority of Christ as being central to our everyday life. Stewardship is not just about your income, or your decisions, or anything else. All those are an overflow of one thing: The centrality of Christ in your life.

When Jesus is the center of your life, everything else flows from that. Your decisions flow from the centrality of Christ. Your marriage flows out of the centrality of Christ. Your relationships flow out of the centrality of Christ in your life. Everything flows from him.

Stewarding his centrality involves consistent obedience to his Word and faithfulness in our relationship to him.

Jesus speaks of the importance of him being the center of our faith. Look at John 15:5:

John 15:5 CSB

5 I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.

Fruit in your life comes through being attached to the vine, making sure that he is the foundation upon which everything else is built upon.

In Philippians 3, Paul shared about everything he accomplished in his life. He had gained a lot of things and had a lot of reasons to be confident in his accomplishments. Then he says this in Philippians 3:7-9:

Philippians 3:7–9 CSB

7 But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith.

Our goal needs to be to know him, to grow deeper in Jesus, to build everything upon Jesus, the cornerstone of our faith.

There is a great hymn goes like this:

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand: all other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand.

Apply

Personally examine our lives: Is Jesus central in every area of your life? Is he central in your relationships? Is he central in your career decisions? Is he central in your personal pursuits?

Be willing to surrender, repent, and engage actively in growing in the centrality of Christ.

Conclusion

Every blessing in our life comes from God and needs wise stewardship.

Our hearts need wise stewardship in listening to and obeying God’s message.

Our hearts need wise stewardship in submitting to the centrality of Christ.

Conclude

Prayer

Last Song

Doxology

Numbers 6:24–26 CSB

24 “May the Lord bless you and protect you; 25 may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.” ’

Jude 24–25 CSB

24 Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.

You are dismissed. Have a great week in the Lord!

USA Today, “How many people died in 9/11?” https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2023/09/08/how-many-people-died-911-attacks/70780975007/

Grassmick, John D. “Mark.” In The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, edited by J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck,. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985. https://ref.ly/logosref/Bible.Mk12.1-12

Grassmick, John D. “Mark.” In The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, edited by J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985. https://ref.ly/logosref/Bible.Mk12.6-8

Faithlife, LLC. “Stewardship.” Logos Bible Study, Computer software. Logos Bible Study Factbook. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, LLC, September 9, 2023. https://ref.ly/logos4/Factbook?ref=bk.%25stewardship.