The Tenants
Notes
Transcript
The Consequences of Rejecting God’s Authority
The Consequences of Rejecting God’s Authority
If you have your Bible and I hope that you do, please turn with me to Mark 12:1-12. We are continuing this study about authority issues and we are looking at a unique parable that Christ used to teach the chief priests, scribes, and elders.
This is special because nearly all of the parables that Jesus taught were for His disciples benefit and understanding. Mark 4:11–12
And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that “ ‘they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.’ ”
And yet in this parable, it is clear that that Jesus teaches against those that wouldn’t submit to His rightful authority. Sometimes this parable is called The Parable of the Tenants or Parable of the Vine-growers but I actually like to call it The Parable of the Wicked Tenants.
If you’ve ever been a renter or rented to someone there is a sense of authority that you are acutely aware of. There’s a tension, right? Because you’re paying for a home to someone but that person is the rightful owner. So if they have rules, you follow the rules, right? I remember Amber rented in college. She had two other roommates and there were certain thing that they had to do and things they couldn’t do. They had to keep the place clean, they couldn’t have parties. They had to keep the yard mowed, they couldn’t paint a wall. You live under their authority.
History is filled with many stories of people that rebelled against authority. Ephialtes of Trachis is famous in Greece. He betrayed the Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae by showing the Persians a secret mountain path. Why did he do it? Herodotus, the Greek historian tells us it was because he hoped for great personal gain. As a result, his king, Leonidas, and his nation fell to the Persians. Ephialtes didn’t even receive a reward from Xerxes for his betrayal! Later he was tracked down and killed for another reason by Athenades of Trachis, who was celebrated as a Greek hero.
There are many many people that behave treasonously against the Lord. They rebel at any given opportunity and hate to think that God should be the authority in their lives.
In our passage today we’re going to look at four truths and the warning that Christ provides. Let’s stand together in honor of God’s Word as we read Mark 12:1-12
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. When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this Scripture: “ ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” 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.
PRAY
In the first section of this parable, Christ introduces most of the characters in this story. A man is introduced. This man represents God the Father. The Father is the Creator and Sustainer of all things and He is the one that prepares a vineyard. The vineyard is important because it represents Israel in the Old Testament. In Isaiah 5, God speaks to Israel in a warning and see if you can’t notice some of the parallels that Christ points to—
Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
So notice that it is God Who does the work in preparing the nation of Israel, the vineyard of God. He’s the One that puts in a fence, digs the pit. The pit is a two sectioned vat where grapes would be crushed and the juices would fall and collect to be placed into wineskins to ferment into real wine. There’s a tower that is built as well. From there, someone could watch and see if pests were coming onto the property to dig at the roots. They could watch for thieves that would attempt to steal the grapes.
In Isaiah, God spoke against the nation of Israel. These wild grapes are literally translated as “stinking things”. They were useless sour grapes. But in Christ’s parable, the judgment doesn’t go toward the vineyard but against the tenants that it was leased to. The Tenants are Israel’s spiritual leaders. Specifically, the chief priests, scribes, and elders. The Tenants are not the owners of the vineyard. They are farmers that agree with the owner that they would do the work as a hired person and they would keep at least half of the goods produced and the other amount given to the owner.
Now, remember, these are hired men that have a lease but they’re not the owners. These are hirelings like the ones Jesus taught about in John 10:12-13
He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
The leaders really weren’t invested in the vineyard for the vineyard’s sake. They just want the fruit for themselves! Well, the owner went away into another country and remained there for a long time.
According to Levitical Law the first four harvests couldn’t be taken by anyone. The fifth harvest belonged to the Lord so this is five years that these men have been laboring and working the vineyard and it’s not like they’ve forgotten that they’re tenants, right? The harvest is coming soon and suddenly a man appears on the road walking toward their vineyard. He is from the owner and maker of the vineyard and he has come to receive the promised fruit. Well, they don’t really like that too much.
So what did these evil men do? Mark 12:3
And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
Now, if it were me and my tenants beat up someone that I sent, that would be the end of it. They would be cast out of the vineyard immediately. But if you’re taking notes write this first truth down:
1. God is Persistently Patient
1. God is Persistently Patient
Over and over again God sent His servants to Israel to preach the Word in spite of the many abuses they suffered. Hebrews 11:37-38
They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
Elijah fled from Jezebel into the wilderness because she swore to kill him. Isaiah, according to tradition was sawn in half by King Mannaseh. Zechariah the prophet of God was stoned to death in the temple near the altar 2 Chronicles 24:21
But they conspired against him, and by command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord.
And each time, God sent another prophet. Another messenger. Another word from God and the people hardened their hearts. And notice that the violence increases over time it continues to grow until literally the most recent prophet, John the Baptist was beheaded and his head served on a platter.
We must not ever assume that most people want God. The fact is that given the opportunity to kill Him, they would because most people are not good. They are evil to the core. Even the self-righteous Pharisees seemed to love the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength and they were responsible for killing Christ Himself! You see, it’s clear from these tenants actions that they wanted to keep all the goods for themselves. They wanted the fruit. They assumed, you know what? Maybe the owner is dead. That’s why we haven’t seen him in so long!
Then the son of the master is sent. This is Jesus Christ. He even describes the owner’s son as “a beloved son”. You have to wonder if any scribes or Pharisees that questioned John were at Jesus’ baptism. It was there where God’s voice thundered from the sky, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased,” and in Mark 9 at the transfiguration God again spoke, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him!”
Now, these men thought that perhaps these messengers from the master were trying to settle property issues after the owners death. This is the motivator behind murdering the Son. They wanted the proceeds. They wanted to be God. This is how they would inherit it. In three days this is exactly what would happen! They would take the Son before the authorities and He would be put to death. They would even arrange for it to be done outside of the city.
We see God patiently displaying the message of His love. Time and again He sends His messengers to humanity and time and again they hate the messengers. Martin Luther once said, “If I were God and the world had treated me as it treated Him, I would kick the wretched thing to pieces.”
But God is patient and instead of turning His back on the world He sends dozens of servants and then He sent His Son. Spurgeon once said, “If you reject Him, He answers you with tears; if you wound Him, He bleeds out cleansing; if you kill Him, He dies to redeem; if you bury Him, He rises again to bring resurrection. Jesus is love made manifest.”
But let’s also note this:
2. God’s Patience Will Not Endure Forever
2. God’s Patience Will Not Endure Forever
God is patient with sinners like us. The Greek word is makrothumias which makro meaning long and thumias meaning passion or temper. It’s translated as longsuffering in many places.
But you should know that God’s patience will not endure forever. Romans 2:4-5
Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
We know that the Pre-flood world was full of evil. God said that the hearts of mankind was only evil continually. And God had grace on Noah and God was patient! For nearly 75 years God waited to destroy the earth with the Flood while humanity continued to descend into deeper and greater forms of depravity.
God’s vineyard, Israel, was entrusted to the leaders of the Jews and they were evil men that hated God. They had a dangerous form of self-righteousness based off of their works and obedience to the Law, rather than standing in the grace of God. You see Israel didn’t receive the Law and then were delivered from Egypt, Israel was saved from the oppression and slavery of Pharaoh and then they received the Law. It is from a heart of joy and salvation that we obey Christ. We shouldn’t think for a moment that our obedience and submission somehow justifies us in His sight. It is grace then obedience. Deliverance and then submission from a heart of love.
But God’s patience will not endure forever. One day, you will pass from this life and what will matter is what you did with His Son. Did you reject Him and despise Him, or did you joyfully give Him the fruit of your life?
The third truth is that
3. You Will Face Judgment If You Reject God’s Son
3. You Will Face Judgment If You Reject God’s Son
Jesus asks Mark 12:9
What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.
I don’t want to be too controversial, but I do want to be biblical. The vineyard has been passed to others. This destruction was fulfilled in 70 AD when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans. I do not believe for a second that there are two peoples of God. The church is the Bride of Christ, and God doesn’t have two wives. It is not Israel of the flesh that is Israel, but those that walk by faith that are a part of true Israel.
Paul clearly taught this
So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.
There are not two peoples of God, there is one people of God and it is those that trust in Christ by faith. We know that Abraham believed God and it was counted to Him as righteousness. It wasn’t because of the covenant of circumcision that he was justified, but because of the grace of God. Yet, the point here that Jesus is making to the chief priests, scribes, and elders is that He knows their hearts. He knows that they want to kill Him. This action on the part of the wicked tenant reveals the sheer audacity of these men.
The priests and scribes and elders would all look at this situation that Jesus is talking about and say, “There’s no way! No one could possibly be that stupid! The owner will come and destroy them! It will go very poorly for these men!” In fact, in Matthew’s Gospel they answer Jesus’ question Matthew 21:40-41
When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”
This completely unrealistic behavior from this story from the owner sending numerous messengers and the tenants being extremely violent is exactly what happens. None of us would send dozens of messengers that get killed. None of us would send our beloved son to a people that hate us, and yet it is this completely absurd and unrealistic reality that displays the amazing grace of God in truth. The religious leaders behave just like the tenants. They believe that the nation of Israel is theirs by right rather than God’s. They refuse to submit to Christ. In fact, after Christ tells this parable, they were seeking to still arrest Him because they knew and understood that this parable was against them.
They rejected Christ. They rejected the Messiah. The Promised One that they were looking for was staring at them directly in the face and they hated Him.
The judgment against these evil men isn’t simply death. The Greek word for kill is apokteinō but Jesus uses the word destroy to describe what the owner will do to those men. It’s not simply an eye for an eye. These men will receive much worse than what they gave. The leaders plot to destroy Jesus will lead to their own destruction.
But Christ knows what’s happening and by grace He still points to the Gospel truth that this is exactly what has to happen in order to fulfill all prophecy.
In fact, Christ quotes from Psalm 118 which is a Messianic psalm that was quoted while He entered into Jerusalem. Psalm 118:22-23
The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is a key point in Christianity. Peter and John preached this message to these men in Acts 4:11-12
This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
And it is God’s work that does this. Humanity left on its own, will always reject the grace that’s in Christ. But it is through this rejection that Christ receives honor and glory! In 1 Cor 3:11
For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
and Eph 2:20–22
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
the stone is foundational and in 1 Pet 2:6–8 it can be stumbled over. This passage is the clearest evidence that Mark understands Jesus and the messianic community to be the replacement for the Jerusalem temple. By quoting Psalm 118 in the temple, Jesus is claiming to be the new cornerstone of the final temple, not the cornerstone of the physical temple. God is doing a new work through the obedience of His Son, leading his people out of the exile of sin and death.… Despite His rejection and death, God will raise Him to be the cornerstone of the new temple.
You see this is the Lord’s work and the Lord’s way. And this leads us to fourth truth:
4. Christ Is the Only Way
4. Christ Is the Only Way
You see it is Christ that became the cornerstone. The cornerstone is the most important block that can be laid in construction. The Jewish leaders said that Christ wasn’t good enough and yet, Christ is God’s perfect plan. The builders rejected it but God exalted Christ.
who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
This parable reminds us of God's amazing patience and grace, but it also confronts us with the reality of His coming judgment. The religious leaders in Jesus’ day rejected Him as the cornerstone, and their rebellion brought destruction upon them. But the message of hope in this passage is clear: even for those who have rebelled against God, His grace is available to anyone who will repent and trust in Him.
So what does this mean for us today?
First, it means we need to recognize the severity of rejecting Jesus as Lord. He is not just the Son sent by the Father—He is the cornerstone of God’s kingdom. To reject Him is to face God’s ultimate judgment.
Second, it reminds us that God’s grace is extended even now. He sent His Son, not to condemn the world, but to save it. The same Savior who confronted these rebellious leaders offers forgiveness to all who will repent and trust in Him.
And third, it challenges us as believers to examine our lives. Are there areas where we resist submitting to Christ's authority? Do we hoard the “fruit” of our lives instead of giving it back to the One to whom it belongs?
Head: God wants you to know those that reject Christ will suffer His severe wrath. It’s an eternity in hell and there’s no changing it if you continue to rebel against Him. So trust in Jesus Christ today!
Heart: God wants you to believe that Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of God’s kingdom, and trusting in Him is the only way to escape judgment and partake in His grace. So don’t wait! Trust in the Lord Jesus today!
Hand: God wants you to examine your heart and life and see if there are areas of rebellion that you might be walking in.
