Mark 12:1-12 "Parables Against the Religious Leaders"

Good Morning Calvary Chapel Lake City!

We are about a month out from the Prophecy Conference. If you’ve never been… this is a great opportunity to get grounded in end times teachings…

I truly hope you make it a priority.

Well, let’s continue in our Chapter and Verse study through the Gospel of Mark. Please open your Bibles to Mark 12. Mark 12:1-12 today.

We left off where Jesus had entered Jerusalem on Tuesday of the Passion Week…

After cursing the fig tree, the disciple marveled over how quickly it withered…

Which set up a teaching about faith in God, prayer and forgiveness…

All needed to overcome mountainous obstacles… like fruitlessness both seen ON the fig tree and IN the religious leaders.

Lessons the disciples would need because shortly after they entered Jerusalem… Jesus was confronted by Religious Leaders who questioned Him about His authority.

A mountainous obstacle overcome by faith in God.

And after He silenced them, He spoke three parables directed against them… only one of which is recorded in Mark… but three in all.

Which leads us to our message title today… “Parables Against the Religious Leaders.”

Let’s Pray!

Please stand in reverence of God’s word as I read our passage today…

Mark 12:1-12 “Then He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. 2 Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers. 3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated. 5 And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some. 6 Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those vinedressers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard. 9 “Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not even read this Scripture: ‘The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. 11 This was the LORD’s doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes’?” 12 And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them. So they left Him and went away.”

Praise God for His word. Please be seated.

Matthew, Mark and Luke all record this parable in their gospels… which is commonly called the “Parable of the Vineyard Owner” or the “Parable of the Tenants.”

Matthew includes two additional parables.... and these were also directed against the religious leaders…

… and in response to them confronting Jesus about His authority…

Luke 20:1 tells us, “… as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him…”

Additionally, Matthew tells us Pharisees were also present…

The Pharisees were a Jewish party that were orthodox and held to strict interpretation of Mosaic Law AND added and extensive hedge of protection around the law… oral traditions.

And all these religious leaders were disrespectful… in the middle of Jesus’ ministry of teaching and preaching the gospel… the religious leaders interrupt and confront Jesus about His authority…

… looking back to the previous day when Jesus cleansed the temple…

There was NO REVERENCE for God’s house… and so Jesus made a stand for what is right… cleansing the temple and speaking these parables against them.

In addition to the context, Matthew confirms these parables were directed against the religious leaders…

As we read in Matt 21:45-46, “Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them. 46 But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.”

Luke 20:19 reiterates this message.

And, I want to establish this context… so that as we look at these parables… we know the heart of the Lord… and who He directed these parables towards.

These were not parables for Jesus’ disciples… or the Gentiles… or pagans of the day…

These parables were focused upon people who claimed they had a connection with God based upon strict religious observance of the OT Law PLUS their added traditions.

By a pure sense of the word… they were legalists, who added works to being saved through faith alone.

And, they did not accept Jesus in faith as their Messiah… despite numerous prophecies that were clearly fulfilled…

… in Jesus’ birth…

… through His forerunner John the Baptist…

… and through His ministry…

And, so Jesus now shifts to tell parables… which… have a threefold purpose…

Which Jesus explained in one of the greatest chapters on Parables… a chapter where Jesus told many parables in His second year of ministry… a multitude gathered to Him at the Sea of Galilee and He sat on a boat to share one parable after another with them…

Starting with the Parable of the Soils… and after He shared that parable…

We read in Matt 13:10-14 “And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” 11 He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled [Isa 6:9], which says which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive…”

And, so in that explanation… for that audience… we see the threefold explanation of whey Jesus taught in parables…

To conceal truth to unbelievers…

To reveal truth to believers…

And, to fulfill prophecy…

And, so Parables were perfect… because Jesus hid a truth in a story… and only honest and seeking hearts would discover the truth…

Unbelievers in the audience had ulterior motives… multitudes of common people had an agenda to force Jesus into becoming their political messiah…

Unbelieving religious leaders asked veiled and dishonest questions… attempting to ensnare Jesus, so they could charge Him with blasphemy or other religious infractions…

But, believers… as led by the Spirit… would receive revelation and understanding of the truth of the parable…

And, through the teaching and the receiving or rejection… OT prophecy was fulfilled.

So, what is a Parable?

The Gk. root word is paraballō meaning “to throw alongside.”

A parable takes one truth and compares it to another truth…typically a natural truth to a heavenly truth.

Parables compare the visible (the things of this world) to the invisible (the heavenly realm).

Thus, parables have been titled both ‘mirrors’ and ‘windows’… if you take the time to really gaze… to really look… one with spiritual sight can see a heavenly truth… in the parabolic story.

And so, in Mark 11… after the Religious leaders ask Jesus a dishonest question about His authority…

And, in wisdom Jesus turns the tables setting them up… where they won’t say if they think John the Baptist’s ministry was of heaven or of man (which we discussed last week)… and He silences them…

Now, Jesus uses Parables to illustrate truth… and confront the religious leaders… for what is happening now… what happened historically, and what will happen in the future…

The first parable… the “Parable of the Two Sons”… only in Matthew… reflects upon the present state of the religious leaders…

The second parable… in all three Synoptic Gospels… the “Parable of the Vineyard Owner”… looks back historically… telling the history of fruitlessness and betrayal amongst the religious leaders…

The third parable…the “Parable of the Marriage Feast”… again only in Matthew… … looks forward to the Millennial Age and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb… where entrance and remaining was only for those who wore God’s garments of righteousness… symbolic for salvation through faith in Jesus.

So, Jesus takes these chief priests, scribes, elders and pharisees on a parabolic tour of the past, present and future…

And, Jesus explicitly let’s them know He is directing the parables at them…

He’s a bit more explicit and not as veiled as Matthew 13 when He still had a year of ministry left…

But, now… it’s the final Passover Week… it’s Passion Week… Game on… no holds barred… the boxing gloves are off… and Jesus speaks clearly…

Turn over to Matthew 21, and let’s take a look at the first Parable… the “Parable of the Two Sons”… this is quick one and easy to understand…

Jesus just finished saying “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

And, then continues in Matthew 21:28–32 “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ 29 He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. 30 Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said to Him, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.”

From what we looked at last week… the religious leaders would neither affirm nor deny John the Baptist’s ministry, so they just lied and said they were not sure if his ministry was from heaven or man…

But, Jesus had a few more words to say about John the Baptist’s ministry… and He does it through a parable…

Jesus portrays two sons who are asked by their Father to go work the vineyard…

The first son initially refuses, feels regret, and then obeys to go work the vineyard.

The second son pays lip service by acting respectful, and agreeing to work the field, but he was treacherous because while he said he would go… he never set foot in the vineyard.

And, when Jesus asks, “Which of the two did the will of his father?”

It’s a short Three-Stooges huddle… and the religious leaders say, “Duh… the first.”

And, then… to their surprise, Jesus responds, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you...”

Hello… they were already angry Jesus cleansed and cleared out the temple, but now He insults them…

I mean… he told the ultra religious… the influential leaders… who had it all together on the exterior…

That two groups of people at the tops of their list of most despised…

Tax collectors… who were traitors to Israel for working with Rome… and cheats who laid excessive taxes on their own people…

And, harlots… prostitutes… who lived a sinful and immoral lifestyle…

Jesus said… these people were going to enter the kingdom of God before the religious…

Because when John came… preaching repentance and pointing to Jesus…

The tax collectors and prostitutes… may not have immediately received John’s message…which was a message from heaven. But, then they believed him (V32). They turned to God and were saved.

And, in this Jesus likened them to the first son in the parable.

The religious leaders… are likened to the second son: They gave lip service only.

They were hypocrites claiming to be holy men of God, but their hearts were far from Him.

Their piety was no more than veneer.

And, when John came in the way of righteousness… they did not believe him.

In the previous segment, they said, they did not know if John’s baptism was of heaven or of man…

Here… Jesus is exposing them… they never believed John’s baptism was from heaven.

And, look… this parable remains true today… there are many people who play religion… ultra orthodox people who look good on the outside… but there caught up in works based righteousness…

They profess they are going into the vineyard, but they don’t know the first thing about picking fruit… and harvesting a field…

Because to bear fruit and to harvest fruit… you have to be plugged into the source…

You have to be in relationship with Jesus…

In John 15:4 Jesus said, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”

And, these religious guys knew NOTHING about relationship with Jesus… all they had was religion…

So, after Jesus shares this first parable… sharing the current state of their hypocrisy and unbelief…

Now Jesus is going to share a second parable… taking them to school historically…

Turn back to Mark 12… the Parable of the Vineyard Owner… or the Parable of the Tenants… depending on who you focus on…

Before discussing the interpretation of this parable, let’s take a look at the characters and the vineyard itself in this parable in V1…

The characters in this parable are the landowner, vinedressers, the servants and the son.

The landowner is a good man who leased out a prime piece of land. He was thoughtful in planning the field, and financially vested…

V1 says “A man planted a vineyard…” which is a plantation of grapevines…

He “set a hedge around it” meaning he built a fence or a wall to protect his investment…

He “dug a place for the wine vat” or a winepress… I have a slide of an ancient winepress… it was used to crush the grapes and extract the juice…

He even built a watchtower (to watch over the crop…from anything that might cause it harm…animals, natural fires, or even enemies who may want to burn the fields or sew bad seed).

So, the landowner planned, invested, and set the vineyard and vinedressers up for a successful harvest.

He leased or rented the vineyard to tenant farmers…hired to work the land and care for the vineyard and at harvest... share the fruits of his investment and their labor…

While the landowner went to a distant country.

At harvest time… “vintage-time” in V2… the landowner sent a servant to collect some fruit from the vineyard.

But, vv3-5… the farmers get greedy. They want to keep the fruit and the vineyard for themselves, and they act violently.

They beat him the servant… and every subsequent servant the landowner sent…

They seized and beat the first… they stoned the second, seriously wounding him and shaming him… they killed the third… and many subsequent servants they either beat or killed…

Every effort to collect fruit has failed, so the long-suffering vineyard owner reasoned in V6…

To send one final messenger… his beloved son as Luke wrote, ‘Probably they will respect him when they see him.’

But they don’t. Some call this parable the ‘Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers’…

In V7, the farmers don’t respect the son… they don’t pay him honor… instead they plot against him reasoning ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’

They think with the son out of the picture, the land would be up for grabs.

Their line of reasoning, plus Marks words in V6 “Therefore still having one son, his beloved...” allows us to assume this was the ‘only son’ the ‘only heir’…

And their tradition held that if one died without heirs… their property would be owner-less… and the tenant farmers would retain possession.

That tradition was later formalized in the Jewish writing… the Mishna Bava Batra 3.3.

So, in V8… these wicked vinedressers… enact their plot… “So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.”

And, then Jesus asks a rhetorical question in V9 “Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do?”

Mark records Jesus answers His own question saying, “He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others.”

Luke recorded some of the listeners spoke against this… saying, “May this never happen!”

Matt 21:41 records some of the other Religious Leaders concur saying, “He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.”

They agree a horrible death was justified for such treachery…

Probably one of the only times the religious leaders and Jesus agreed on anything…

And, sadly it’s regarding their own judgment.

Unknowingly, they pronounce their own judgment and speak prophetically about things to com.

And, look… we know if we skip to the end… they got the sense that Jesus was speaking this parable against them… that what V12 states.

And you should get a sense that as we read this Parable… truly we are reading a history of the OT, and the wickedness performed against God’s prophets… and the wickedness against Jesus the Messiah…

In a parable, Jesus told the religious leaders their history… and He predicted what they were about to do in this Passion Week…

But, let’s be clear about the interpretation before moving on to V10…

D.A. Carson gave this concise interpretation, “The metaphorical equivalences are obvious: the landowner is God, the vineyard Israel, the tenants the leaders of the nation, the servants the prophets, and the son Jesus Messiah.”

And, if you think back to the history of Israel… did God not do everything to set His vineyard Israel up for success?

He set up a hedge of protection around it by giving them His statutes and ordinances.

His very eye was upon Israel, like the tower.

He entrusted the nation spiritually to the Levites… the Priests and expected fruit from their labor.

And, when the Nation drifted to worshipping foreign gods… when they were unfaithful in their practices of idolatry… and all the sinful practices that accompany it…

God sent his servants… OT prophets… they should have been able to collect fruit… but there were only wild grapes… not the intended fruit that was planted… a wild and disobedient crop…

And, the tenant farmers… when the prophets… the “fruit inspectors” came… what did they do?

In Mark 12… Jesus spoke about the servants being beaten, stoned, and killed.

And, historically… that’s exactly what Israel did to her prophets…

Jer 20:2 “...Pashhur [a priest] struck Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks...”,

1 Ki 18:4 “...Jezebel massacred the prophets of the LORD...”

Jer 26:23 “...they brought Urijah [the Prophet] from Egypt and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with the sword...”

2 Ch 24: 20 Zechariah, the son of Jehoida the priest “...at the command of the king [Joash] they stoned him with stones...”

In Matt 23:34-35 Jesus said, “I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, 35 that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah [the minor Prophet], whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.” and in V37 Jesus will lament...“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!”

God was longsuffering with the leaders of Israel and Judah… time and again sending them His servants the prophets… to remind them of their God… to get them back on track…

But the vinedressers (the leaders of Israel) rejected… abused.... and killed the prophets.

And, then we read the sobering words in V6 of Mark 12 “Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last...”

Matthew records, “Then last of all he sent his son...”

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son...”

Jesus, the Son, the final one sent to the vinedressers… these chief priests, pharisees, scribes and elders…

And, how did the religious leaders receive Him? Just like we read in vv 7-8 “But those vinedressers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.”

They didn’t want Jesus cleansing the Temple… and disrupting their financial profits… they wanted the vineyard to themselves…

They feared that many would flock to Jesus and Rome would swoop in and end Israel.

In a private scene in John 11… a council of chief priests and Pharisees gathered just prior to the Triumphal Entry… and said, “What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. 48 If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.”

They therefore plot to kill Jesus in that passage because they want the vineyard to themselves.

And, within a weeks time they would kill the Son… and cast him out of the city… leading Him to Calvary…

Heb 13:12 states, “Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate.” (meaning outside Jerusalem)

John 19:20 states, “… the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city...” (not in the city)

This parable would unfold before their eyes…

And, if any of those interpretations feel like their reaching to you… if turn back to Isa 5… you’ll find that Isa 5 is a very strong parallel to our parable today…

I wouldn’t be surprised if Jesus had Isa 5 in mind when He told the parable in Mark 12.

Isa 5 has been called both a parable and a song…

The NET Bible titles this “A Love Song Gone Sour.”

I’m not making that up. Now… I know I’m not as smart as the scholars who translated the NET Bible, but c’mon…

… “A Love Song Gone Sour”… they could have done better than that… but, here it is…

Isa 5:1-7 “Now let me sing to my Well-beloved A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard [Isaiah is singing a song directed to God… the Well-beloved… the owner of the Vineyard]: My Well-beloved has a vineyard On a very fruitful hill. 2 He dug it up and cleared out its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, And also made a winepress in it [Sounds familiar]; So He expected it to bring forth good grapes, But it brought forth wild grapes. [Again, wild grapes were counter to what was planted… thus indicating rebellion and disobedience]. V3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard. 4 What more could have been done to My vineyard That I have not done in it? [A Rhetorical question answered with ‘nothing.’] Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, Did it bring forth wild grapes? [The fault lies on the vinedressers] 5 And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6 I will lay it waste; It shall not be pruned or dug, But there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds That they rain no rain on it.” [V7 Interpretation] For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.” [the fruit God desired from them was justice and righteousness, but instead their fruit was rotten as the oppressed and people cried out in distress].

Quite the parallel to Mark 12. The vineyard is Israel… with the interpretation at the end that the vineyard is Israel…

Just like we see in other OT verses… Deut 32:32, Ps 80:8, Jer 2:21, Ezk 15…

And, for not bearing fruit… just like the fig tree that the Lord cursed in Mark 11…

Here is Isa 5, it’s said the vineyard would be laid waste…

But, in Matt 12, He would destroy NOT the vineyard, but the vinedressers and give the vineyard to others…

The vineyard would be transferred to another group of tenant farmers…

And, that’s exactly what happened historically…

Just like Isaiah wrote that the vineyard would be laid waste…

From 740-722 B.C.- God used Assyria to judge the Northern Tribes of Israel... in multiple waves ultimately conquering the capital Samaria in 722 B.C. and deporting the people to Nineveh.

And, this wasn’t just Assyria acting on their own accord… God’s sovereignty was at hand....

1 Chr 5:26 “So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, that is, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. He carried the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh into captivity.”

Assyria was a mere puppet and God was pulling the strings… all because Israel was bearing wild grapes… which 1 Chr 5 describes as unfaithfulness.

From 605-586 B.C, God used Babylon to judge the Southern Tribes of Judah... also in multiples waves…taking Jerusalem in 586 B.C. and deporting the people to Babylon.

3x in Jeremiah... Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon is titled by God... “My servant.” Jer 25:9, 27:6, & 43:10.

Wild grapes were present in Judah… and so God took away the vineyard.

And, just like Mark wrote he would destroy the vinedressers and give the vineyard to others…

And, In 70 A.D. He used Rome to take away the temple and to scatter the Jews throughout the Roman nation.

Just as Jesus predicted in Matt 24:1-2 “Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

And at that time, both the sects of the Pharisees and Sadducees dissolved in 73 A.D. The vinedressers were destroyed… just like the parable we are reading in Mark 12.

But, the vineyard was NOT destroyed… the vineyard passed hands. In Acts 2 during Pentecost… with the baptism with the Holy Spirit…

The Disciples were empowered to be witnesses to Jesus and the early church was born.

Just like we read in V9 “He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others.”

And, is that not where we find ourselves today? Has God not entrusted His vineyard to us today? And, does He not expect fruit from our lives as well?

Turn to John 15… surely He does… over the past few weeks… we have referenced verses from John 15… which places believers in a vineyard… and describes the relationship believers are to have to Jesus…

Let’s read this beautiful passage which Jesus addresses to His disciples… one of my favorites…

John 15:1–8 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away [A fruitless life is just “dead wood” and will be cut off… just like He did to Israel]; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. [pruning is painful, but purposeful] 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. [God’s word has a cleansing effect… a key reason our ministry is that of a ‘bible teaching church.’] 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. [Abide or ‘remain’ in Jesus… be connected to Him… in relationship with Him… and you will bear fruit in your character and your witness] 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. [a promise of fruit for he who abides; and a warning of judgment for he who does not] 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. [Because as you know the word of God… you will know the will of God… and your prayer will be in harmony with God and for His glory] 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”

Jesus spoke that to His disciples… the men God would use to start the Church Age… the same dispensation of time we live in today…

And, look you can debate what it means for Him to take away branches… or throw them into the fire and burn them…

Is that an apostate Christian or false Christian heading for hell… or a backslidden Christian who’s rewards will be judged at the Bema Seat?

I don’t know… what I do know is if you Abide in Him… you don’t need to find out because it won’t apply to you… because you’ll bear much fruit.

Just meditate on that! “How can I daily abide in Christ so I will bear much fruit?”

You live there and you’ll do fine.

You’ll do fine because you’ll see fruit in your life, AND when the King comes hungry for fruit… you’ll have an offering.

And, the fruit is NOT JUST for you… it’s also for Him.

Just like the religious leaders unknowingly, but prophetically declared in our parable today… when Jesus asked “… what will he do to those vinedressers?”

Again, in Matt 21:41 they replied, “He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.”

There is an expectation for us to render… or give… to Him fruit.

And, then in vv 10-11 in Mark, Jesus continued the thought… taking them to scripture and asking the religious leaders, “Have you not even read this Scripture: ‘The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. 11 This was the LORD’s doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

Jesus closes here with strong words for the religious leaders…

“Have you not even read this Scripture...”

Them are fighting words… for the Pharisees especially… studying scripture was their life…

Which is why this question is so perfect… because in the previous passage, they asked Jesus in V28, “By what authority are You doing these things?”

And, even now… He will demonstrate His greater authority over Scripture… and in this passage He proclaims to them that He is the Chief Cornerstone… their Messiah.

This was a familiar image to them… not only in architecture, but also in Scripture…

I have a slide of a cornerstone of a building…

Which was the key foundation stone at the base of a building.

Once this stone was set… it was the basis to determine every measurement for the remaining construction.

It became the standard… and all else was aligned to it…

The perfect picture for Jesus Christ… our foundation… our standard of measure and alignment.

And, He takes them to a familiar Psalm… a Psalm called a Hillel Psalm… a Praise Psalm… one that was sang during feasts… like during Passover week which they were presently celebrating…

Let’s read, Psalm 118:22-26 “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. 23 This was the LORD’s doing [reflecting His Sovereignty]; It is marvelous in our eyes. [This verse continues with the Messianic proclamations that were shouted over Jesus during His Triumphal Entry just two days prior] 24 This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. 25 Save now, I pray [Hosanna], O LORD; O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity. 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!”

Jesus cites this verse to let the religious leaders know He fulfills this messianic Psalm.

He is the chief cornerstone.

He was the stone the builders rejected which is ultimately fulfilled at the cross.

And, He is the chief cornerstone of the church fulfilled in His resurrection.

I love how Paul paints the picture of our interconnectedness with Christ the chief cornerstone....

In Eph 2:19-22 Paul pictured God’s Kingdom as a house…a building…and pictures us (Christians) as the very building materials... “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”

Paul pictures us as stones and Jesus as the chief cornerstone of the temple.

And, without Him being the cornerstone… we would never be a suitable temple for the Holy Spirit.

After the cornerstone citation… in the parallel account in Matthew’s Gospel… to the Religious Leaders… Matt 21:43-44 records Jesus saying, “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. [That’s very clear… the kingdom of God… the vineyard has been passed on to the Gentiles… us] 44 And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”

And He presents two options on how they can come to the cornerstone… they can fall on it… or it can fall on them…

And, given the massive size of these stones… it was definitely preferable to fall on the stone versus having it fall on you…

And the spiritual implication is the same… people today… still must either fall or the stone or have it fall on them…

One either humbly comes to Jesus Christ and falls on Him with a broken self-will… with broken self-sufficiency… and is saved…

Brokenness is not bad… it’s just a new beginning.

But, if one is prideful and will not allow brokenness to happen… they will reject and oppose Him… and in judgment He falls on them… grinding them to powder… picturing eternal death…

In this verse… Jesus is alluding to Isa 8:14–15 which reads, “He [contextually Yahweh in the OT and Jesus Christ in the NT] will be as a sanctuary, But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense To both the houses of Israel, As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many among them shall stumble; They shall fall and be broken, Be snared and taken.”

To them, and to many today… Jesus remains either a sanctuary or a stone of stumbling.

Let’s pull up that cornerstone slide again, and notice how it protrudes from the wall…

One might round the corner and stumble on the cornerstone…

And the spiritual application is upon coming in contact with Jesus, you may get tripped up…even fall in life.

You thought you were going to live your life one way… But then you encountered the cornerstone…Jesus… and you stumbled and fell… and that’s not a bad thing.

Worship Team please come.

And after these parables… we read in Mark 12:12 “And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them. So they left Him and went away.”

Knowing Jesus had in numerous ways spoke against them… they were irate… so bad they wanted to take Him to trial in that moment and end Him.

But they feared the people…

Matthew wrote, “… they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.”

And, so powerless before the authority of Jesus whom they questioned… they exit the scene.

For extra credit, on your own read the third parable Jesus spoke to them in Matt 22:1-14… you can also listen to my sermon on that parable through our app.

And, read ahead… Jesus is next asked a question about Taxes… what perfect timing as we are in tax season.

Let’s Pray!

It’s amazing to look at verses where parables, and prophecy… all line up and point to the Messiah… What a blessing those verses were today.

If you’re here today and you’ve never accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior… do that today… come and pray with us.

It’s much better to fall on the stone, then to be crushed beneath it.

The invitation to faith that Jesus gave some 2000 years ago stands today. If you don’t know Him…fall on Him today.

The rest of you… Go bear fruit as you enter the week ahead!