Mark 12:1-12 The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

Introduction

Chapter 11

Mark 11:1–13:37 Entering and Judging Jerusalem. Jesus enters Jerusalem triumphantly, he cleanses the temple, and he authoritatively teaches both opponents and disciples.

Mark 11:1–11 Triumphal Entry to Jerusalem. Jesus enters Jerusalem upon a colt and is hailed as the triumphant Messiah of Israel.

Mark 11:12–12:44 Jesus’ Judgment on Religious Leaders. Jesus’ first actions, after being hailed by the people as King, are to pass judgment on Jerusalem figuratively through the cursing of the fig tree and the cleansing of the temple, which highlight Jesus’ zeal for true worship of God. Jesus’ teaching is bold and authoritative in confronting the religious rulers, and is both introduced (11:20–25) and concluded (12:38–44) by instruction of his disciples.

Mark 11:28–33 The official leaders of Israel inquire of Jesus by what authority he is doing these things. The question relates immediately to the cleansing of the temple (vv. 15–19) but also to his healing and teaching in the temple (and throughout his ministry), because Jesus is neither an official priestly nor a scribal authority according to the official standards of his questioners. Was the baptism (i.e., the ministry) of John from heaven (i.e., from God) or from man (i.e., did it have a merely human origin)? To avoid the dilemma posed by the question, Jesus’ opponents say that they do not know, because they feared the consequences of speaking against John the Baptist, whose divinely authorized ministry was also carried out apart from the official Jewish authority. Their confession of ignorance, however, demonstrates that they have no basis on which to assess Jesus’ ministry. If they do not know whether John the Baptist was from God, they cannot know whether Jesus is, either. Faced with such hostility, Jesus refuses to answer his opponents’ question and exposes their ignorance and lack of sincerity.

Mark 11:27–33 KJV

27 And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders, 28 And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things? 29 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me. 31 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe him? 32 But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed. 33 And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.

Chapter 12 - Parable

Parable:

Back in Matthew 13:10–15 “10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. 13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: 15 For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.”

Jesus said parables were given to hide from those not given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven and fulfill prophecy. Here the parable will be given for the Sanhedrin and everyone else to know exactly what He was saying. That they WILL BE judged!

Happens Tuesday of Passion week

Seems Jesus is basing off Isa. 5:1-30 divided into the song of the vineyard (5:1–7) and the “wild grapes” that the vineyard produced (vv. 8–30).

Any of them that heard Jesus tell it and especially the council of leaders would have picked up on His reference.

Mark 12:1–12 KJV

1 And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. 2 And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. 4 And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled. 5 And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some. 6 Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. 7 But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. 8 And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. 9 What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. 10 And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: 11 This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? 12 And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way.

Mark 12:1 “1 And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.”

vineyard: in Isa the vineyard is bad and judged; here Jesus speaks of the husbandmen going bad and being replaced. This is the difference between the OT and the NT, between Moses and Jesus, between law and Gospel. By grace Jesus can make new the old, rather than just judge the wicked He restores the broken!

hedge: a wall

winefat: the collection trough beneath the winepress

tower: able to see and defend the vineyard from animals and people

husbandmen: those that agreed to farm the vineyard for the owner and in exchange to pay the agreed upon cost and the leftovers would be theirs. We have it backward today. (We expect to keep the first fruits and give God the leftovers)

Mark 12:2 “2 And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard.”

season: typically took four years for an new vineyard to bear fruit. these husbandmen are fully entrenched! They’ve been there long enough to think they had done so much they deserved not to have to pay the rent

servant: these will be the prophets God sent to Israel

fruit: this is the method a person leasing the vineyard would be expected to pay

Mark 12:3–5 “3 And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. 4 And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled. 5 And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some.”

Marks version has Jesus sending three servants. Each time, the response by the husbandmen gets more rebellious and more wicked. But the fact God has sent one after another after another, shows His great mercy!

I remember thinking the first few times I read it, “what landlord would keep sending servants and wouldn’t instead gather an army and wipe them out?” The older I get and longer I’m saved, the more I see and appreciate the grace of God!

prophets are beat, stones, and killed. Tradition tells us Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Micah, and Amos were all martyred.

The most recent had Jesus asking the chief priest about john the Baptist in Mark 11:30 “30 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me.” when they questioned his authority

Mark 12:6 “6 Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son.”

wellbeloved son: Jesus - Even after all the prophets Yahweh God has sent and been rejected and killed, He still sent His beloved son Mark 1:11 “11 And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

reverence: this isn’t just His son, you feel the idea this is their last chance to repent and pay up

Mark 12:7–8 “7 But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. 8 And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.”

the plan: In their pride the husbandmen think they can kill the heir and just keep the vineyard for themselves.

Mark 12:9 “9 What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others.”

Jesus asks the chief priests, scribes, and elders there this question

Mark 12:10–11 “10 And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: 11 This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?”

When Jesus asks, “have ye not read” He knows and is saying “of course you have read” all would have been expected to know scripture. (unlike us today!)

Jesus quotes Psalm 118:22–23 “22 The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. 23 This is the LORD’S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.”

Christians in the earliest church use the reversal of judgement this quote is in the middle of as Jesus’ vindication after his rejection and death (Resurrection)

Psalm 118:21–24 “21 I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. 22 The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. 23 This is the LORD’S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. 24 This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Mark 12:12 “12 And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way.”

Marks editorial comment that helps anyone understand what Jesus has been saying to the Sanhedrin since they challenged Him in Chapter 11.

conviction

Conclusion

This parable could be one of the simplest to understand on it’s first reading.

At the very least you hear it with no doubt the son is Jesus

From there and after reading the conversation Jesus is having with the Sanhedrin beginning in 11, it’s not hard to get the husbandmen are the chief priest and leadership.

Not just them though. Yes they were tenants in the nation of Israel, but we are tenants in the world! We have been lent a space and some time in which Yahweh God expects “fruit” from us to pay the rent.

As individuals, God is lending you your family, your job, and everything else you have.

As families God has “let out” the institution of the church, built and planted by Jesus; staffed and served by us.

As the church, we have been lent communities, states, and nations that we are called to speak truth to. To be the moral and ethical “preachers” to and bless the righteous and speak judgement to the wicked rulers.

The prophets were sent speaking truth to us in the Bible and like Isaiah 53:6 “6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

He has now sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ in mercy because of our rebellion to every expectation God has given to every person born in His image by Word in scripture and even by conscience to every person created by God (Romans 1:20 “20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:” )

But like Jesus asks in Mark 12:9 “9 What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others.”

What can we expect God to do?

This is June and America is “celebrating” “pride month”! I have been trying to pray every day for God to grant repentance and forgiveness for all the sexual sins of us as individuals, the church, and the nation

Romans 1:26–27 “26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.”

1 Corinthians 6:9 “9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,” is still true regardless of how the spirit of the age is moving.

The Bible is still true and explicit that God gave us marriage and the marriage bed for one man and one woman for life!

Isaiah 5:20 “20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”

Abortion in America

CDC reported 620,327 abortions in 2020 (the latest year of data). These are only reported abortions.

the Guttmacher Institute, which conducts surveys of abortion providers, reported approximately 930,160 abortions in 2020.

So, depending on who you want to look at: according to the CDC, there were approximately 1,695 abortions per day in 2020, and according to the Guttmacher Institute, there were approximately 2,542 abortions per day.

Again only reported, and only in the US! How many more were performed and unreported and around the world?

State by state since the overturning of Roe vs. Wade, laws are being passed that are less restrictive on abortion rather than more

Galatians 6:7 “7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

Hosea 8:7 “7 For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.”

We as individuals are not paying our rent and so too the church and nations! Judgement IS COMING!

But mercy is available through faith in Jesus:

Ephesians 2:4–9 “4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Sin is still sin and Romans 3:23 “23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

Romans 5:20 “20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:”

1 Corinthians 6:9–11 “9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”