Mark: The parable of the wicked tenants [Mark 12:1-12]

Mark: The parable of the wicked tenants []

The backdrop: Jesus had entered Jerusalem with great praise and with people rejoicing in Him. Upon entering the city, Jesus examined everything, and in the temple he found a fruitless people involved in false worship. After Jesus cleanses the temple the leaders of Judaism come to him with a question of authority, trying to trap Jesus in a corner so to accuse him…but that backfires on them. Jesus’ question to them put them in a place where they would have to make a decision…but they refuse too because they didn’t want to loose their status with the people. So after this controversy Jesus begins to teach them a lesson…Jesus chose to use parables to teach them…not to cloud the issue but to clarify it for them. We begin in chapter 12...

Stand for the reading of the word of God []

In the scriptures we need to keep together a number of biblical truths to keep them in balance. For example, we best understand the reality and beauty of heaven against the backdrop of the horrors of hell. We see God’s mercy more wonderfully when contrasted with the severity of God’s judgment. God’s grace will be better loved and appreciated when we see it in contrast with God’s wrath.

This is especially true when we look at two central moments in the life of Jesus…the incarnation and the crucifixion. Christmas must always be celebrated in light of Easter. In the parable of the wicked tenants we see all of these things, as Jesus tells a story of judgment and mercy, grace and wrath, Christmas and Easter. The meaning can hardly be missed…God sent His son and we rejected and killed him.

Jesus often taught in parabolic form, it was a way of teaching that, in a veiled way, clearly portrayed truth. Sometimes it’s hard for us today, so far removed from the times of Jesus to get the meaning of certain parables. This parable being set in an agricultural world was full of things that the people in Jesus day plainly understood. So what I want to do this morning to is look at three things the parable reveals about Israel, Jesus, and the leaders of Judaism.

So to make sure we know who is being represented where in the parable, those in Jesus day hearing this parable picked up immediately on what Jesus was getting at as it says in verse 12, the religious leaders knew Jesus had told this parable against them. So we know who’s who in the parable...

The owner of the vineyard is God the Father

The vineyard is Israel, the people of God

The vinedressers [or tenants] are the religious leaders of Israel

The servants are the prophets God had sent to Israel throughout history

The son is Jesus

First we’re going to look at what this parable reveals to us about Israel.

Israel we see…

In this parable we see Israel as a chosen people that God gave everything to produce fruit for His glory. God lavished everything needed upon Israel for her to be able to produce the fruit of righteousness for God’s glory. Verse 1, God planted Israel, a chosen people, remember what God promised Abraham? I will make you a great nation, those who once were not a nation, now by the good purpose and will of God will become the people of God. Notice the detail in verse 1...

set a hedge around it for protection…think of all the times in Israel’s history people wanted to destroy Israel completely but God protected them and preserved them. He dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower. So not only did He plant this vineyard, He gave everything need for the vineyard to be fruitful.

This is a picture of God’s grace lavished on a people of His choosing, they didn’t do anything to deserve it…God gave it freely…God planted, protected, and provided for His people…is that not a picture of God’s amazing grace.

We see Israel in the hands of leaders who, throughout her history, God expected to lead them in right living and witnessing for Him. Verse 1, the owner leased the vineyard to vinedressers [tenants/caretakers]. These caretakers were suppose to lead Israel in following God and witnessing for Him. Throughout Israel’s history there were leaders who did what they were supposed to and there were leaders who did not. The major pattern was a people lead by those who did not do as God said. All you have to do is walk through the history of Israel in the OT and you’ll see the pattern of failed and wicked leadership. Especially after king Solomon, wicked rulers who split Israel into two and drove them to be scattered and destroyed.

We see Israel receiving various messengers [prophets] sent by God to encourage the production of righteousness for Him to receive and enjoy. God always provided Israel with messengers to encourage them to be fruitful, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum, Zechariah, etc. to name a few, the list goes on and on and in some cases we don’t even have the names of certain prophets, for example in the books of the Chronicles some prophets sent aren’t even named.

But these faithful witnesses of God to His people were treated poorly by their own people. Jeremiah was beaten and put in stocks. Most believe Isaiah was sawed in two. Zechariah was stoned to death in the temple. In it says, “but they [Israel] were disobedient and rebelled against God. They put the law of God behind their backs and killed your prophets whom you sent to warn them to turn back to you.

Notice in the parable how Jesus describes this. The owner sent a servant [v.2] they took him and beat him [v.3] and sent him away. the owner sent another servant [v.4] again they stoned him. Again the owner sent a third servant this time they killed him [v.5] and so the pattern of beating, killing, and rejecting began [v.5] Notice what we see here besides the pattern of rejection??? God’s gracious patience…extended repeatedly to rebellious sinners who resisted His wooings. Here’s a practical truth gleaned from this…if you resist and reject the wooings and promptings of God it’ll harden your heart toward Him. The more you resist God’s call on your life the harder your heart becomes toward Him…this is the pattern of Israel. And so...

We see Israel under perverse leaders who in fact led Israel in mistreatment of those messengers, establishing a pattern of rejection. Notice in the parable how Jesus describes this. The owner sent a servant [v.2] they took him and beat him [v.3] and sent him away. the owner sent another servant [v.4] again they stoned him. Again the owner sent a third servant this time they killed him [v.5] and so the pattern of beating, killing, and rejecting began [v.5] Notice what we see here besides the pattern of rejection???

God’s gracious patience…extended repeatedly to rebellious sinners who resisted His wooings. Here’s a practical truth gleaned from this…if you resist and reject the wooings and promptings of God it’ll harden your heart toward Him. The more you resist God’s call on your life the harder your heart becomes toward Him…this was the pattern of Israel, this is true for us today. And so...

We see Israel in Jesus time, following that very same pattern of mistreating and rejecting God’s messenger. notice verses 6-8 in the parable the same pattern is established in Israel in the time of Jesus. They reject John the baptist, they reject Jesus, they will reject the disciples as well and Jesus will establish a new age of His people in the church to be fruitful and witness of the good news of the gospel.

The parable reveals things about Jesus...

Jesus we see...

We see Jesus as God’s unique, beloved Son, sent as a last resort to attempt to bring forth from God’s people the fruit He designed and He deserved. Notice verse 6 the language Jesus uses, having One son, beloved son. the phrase “beloved Son” has great biblical and theological significance. A.T. Robertson said, “Jesus had in mind the language of the Father at Jesus’ baptism” , the term is used at the transfiguration of Jesus, it recalls when God told Abraham to take his beloved son Isaac and sacrifice him. It draws us to that wonderful passage in the bible , “gave his only beloved Son” it echos that wonderful Christmas verse , for unto us a child is born…who’s name is wonderful counselor, mighty God, eternal father, prince of peace.

We see Jesus representing God Himself, and having His authority from God. Unlike the other prophets sent by God Jesus is special in several ways that prophets were not, we see this truth brought out in the parable…for example, the servants were many…the son is the unique One. The servants were hirelings…the son was the Heir. The servants were forerunners…the son was the last one. In verses 1-5 we see conveyed the hope of God for His people…verse 6 conveys the faithful love of God for His people. The Father sent His son as an act of grace.

We see Jesus rejected by the very leaders of Judaism who saw themselves as upholding the ways of God and who ought to have welcomed Jesus. The thing with these leaders in Judaism was, with their familiarity with the scripture…they should have recognized Jesus for who he is and they should have welcomed him, but instead they rejected him thinking they were upholding the ways of God. These leaders were deceived, full of envy and vanity and not seeing the will of God, but consumed with man-made rules and tradition.

We see Jesus slated to be put to death by them in a final act of rejection. In a final act of rejection they conspire to kill Jesus. The parable draws this out for us as well. Notice in the parable the tenants thought if they killed the heir the vineyard would be theirs. How foolish these leaders were, to think they could wield their own wills over God’s will. In the parable, as Jesus reveals this to them, it also shows…Jesus knows what these clowns are up to. Jesus knew what His destiny was, we’ve already seen this many times in Mark’s gospel…Jesus came to die for our sins.

We see Jesus represented also as the key building-stone which the builders had rejected, sure to take His rightful place [rise from death]. Not only will Jesus die, but upon His resurrection we see Him placed as the very key, cornerstone-to which everything else is built around; the capstone-the thing that holds all together. The One rejected is the center of everything!

Leaders of Judaism we see...

The leaders of Judaism we see fulfilling the pattern of their forefathers in rejecting Jesus and His ministry. Just like those before them, who rejected God’s prophets and forced God’s hand of judgment…these fellows are fulfilling the same pattern. Instead of listening to God through God’s servants these guys followed the same pattern as so many before, hard-heartedness and disobedience. These men in Jesus day, are standing face to face with God’s final word to them and what do they do? Dismiss Him and seek to destroy Him.

The leaders of Judaism we see confusing the truth of God with man-made religion that they were commited to uphold. Instead of upholding God’s word, which is what they were supposed to be doing, they were more concerned with their own set of rules, which they had deemed on the level with God’s word. They would not repent, they would not turn away from their wicked ways and turn to Christ…therefore...

The leaders of Judaism we see confusing the truth of God with man-made religion that they were commited to uphold.

The leaders of Judaism we see doomed to destruction by God, and to be replaced by an entirely different set of “tenant-farmers”. In verse 9 of the parable, Jesus asks a question about the parable? It’s interesting in Matthews account it says the people responded, i.e. the answer was obvious, what do you do with that kind of wickedness…you destroy them…but not just destroy…replace with others. This is the real rub on the religious leaders. It’s not just they are going to be removed but replaced. This idea was more than they could stand, so we see...

The leaders of Judaism we see filled with hatred of Jesus and determined to have Him slain. Filled with hatred we see them...

The leaders of Judaism we see planning things in such a way that they could avoid arousing the people, and thus acting not on principle but in selfish interest. They want to remove Jesus from the picture without disturbing the crowd, so that their positions will not be in danger…selfish interest. Covetousness makes humans want what they should not have. It makes them think this desire should be fulfilled at all costs. Other people become things we exploit and our desires become our gods. Many think that by erasing God from their lives they can then take control of their own destiny…that is nothing but sinful rebellion against God. As Spurgeon said, “man says, let us get rid of this troublesome talk of religion, and then we can live for ourselves.” How foolish that is...

So what are we to take away from this parable???

Practical lessons gleaned from this parable

1. If people do not produce the fruit for which God has designed them, He will deal with others. Israel was about to be replaced by the “new Israel” known as the church. In Jesus time God was going to replace with a new people made up of Jew and Gentile [all people] that have repented and believed in Jesus as Lord and Savior.

If you want to think this through read and you’ll see how Paul unfolds for us that the rejection of the Jew has meant salvation for the Gentile, therefore the Gentile has been grafted into the family of God and a day will come when there will be a great resurgence of Jews who will embrace Jesus as Lord for the purpose of God’s unfolding purposes in history…it’s a great story. i.e. it’s not like God said I’m done with the Jewish thing and moving on to the Gentile thing, it’s God’s saying “I reject those who reject my Son” To reject the Son is to reject the Father who sent Him.

You can’t say, “I’m OK with the God thing, but I’m not sure about the Jesus thing.” There is only one way to the Father and that is through faith in the One in whom the Father sent…Jesus.

We need to take note of this section in Mark, the last few weeks we’ve seen Jesus expects His people to be fruitful. i.e. God expects His people to produce fruit of righteousness for His glory and purpose. Sometimes as the church we can get in this rut of, “I went to church this week, I did my part for God” So is that what’s it’s all about, giving up an hour or two of your time to honor God? As if you have done God some great service by gracing Him with your presence? Some act as if that’s to much to ask on a consistent basis.

2. It is easy to fool ourselves into thinking that we are guarding the faith when we may be just trying to preserve our own place in religion. i.e. I’ll do the bare minimum to keep my status as deacon, church member, Sunday school teacher, pew sitter, whatever it is

3. Religion itself can wind up deceived and deceiving, not producing the righteousness God expects; when there is nothing to religion but a set of rules, righteousness does not result. If our idea of a follower of Christ is only go to church consistently, maybe do a good thing from time to time, help with a church event a few time…but not too many times, etc. if it becomes a check off list as opposed to a way of life we are deceiving ourselves.

You’ve heard people say “God comes first in my life.” and He should, but better than first is, “God should be at the center of all my life.” Everything in your life your spiritual life, your family life, your vocational life, your recreational life…Christ should be at the center of all of it…it’s not broken up in compartments…Christ should be the center of everything in our life! but you see often...

4. The pattern of those who have gone before us may affect us more than we think; we can unwittingly fall into that tradition. The tradition of the same thing over and over again, “well this is the way we’ve always done it.” That doesn’t mean that’s the way it should be done. We’re tempted to, when we get stuck in the rut of doing the same thing, and to resist the prompting and pleading of the Spirit. When the prompting of the Spirit is not responded to in faith it actually hardens our hearts toward God. We reject God when we do not respond to Him.

5. But God has a way of overturning human rejection of Himself as the rejected stone has become the head of the corner. I love what Charles Spurgeon said in his book, “The Pleading”..he said, “If you reject Jesus, He answers with tears. If you wound Jesus, He bleeds out cleansing. If you kill Jesus, He dies to redeem. If you bury Jesus, He rises again to bring us resurrection. Jesus is love manifest!”

The rejection, humiliation, and crucifixion of Jesus was a tragedy in our eyes…but God’s purpose for it was greater than we could imagine. In a great reversal, God takes that which was rejected and despised by man and uses it to save and redeem man back to Himself??? This can only be explained by what is said in verse 11… “this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.”

How marvelous, as C.S. Lewis said, “there once was a cross in our world, and the one that hung on it was greater than our whole world…this is surely marvelous in our eyes!” Have you turned to this most marvelous one in repentance and faith?