Prevails the refuge of lies Mark 12:1-12
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As we walked through last week we had seen the triumphal Entry of Christ the build up to His entry. The rising fame among the commoners and the rising hatred of the religious leaders. As the people shouted words attributing to Christ the Messiahship the angry religious leaders proclaimed to Jesus that he should silence them. Jesus replied if they didn’t even the rocks would begin to cry out.
We see that though the spiritual elite of the day didnt give credit to Jesus as the Messiah didnt remove from Jesus his deity or messiahship. Just because the world doesnt believe our report about Christ doesnt not mean that we should grow weary but rather press on. For even the spiritual elite in Jesus’ day had it wrong. Listen to what Isaiah tells us....
Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scornful men,
Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
And with Sheol we are in agreement.
When the overflowing scourge passes through,
It will not come to us,
For we have made lies our refuge,
And under falsehood we have hidden ourselves.”
Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation,
A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;
Whoever believes will not act hastily.
Also I will make justice the measuring line,
And righteousness the plummet;
The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
And the waters will overflow the hiding place.
Your covenant with death will be annulled,
And your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
When the overflowing scourge passes through,
Then you will be trampled down by it.
As often as it goes out it will take you;
For morning by morning it will pass over,
And by day and by night;
It will be a terror just to understand the report.”
Here is a generation like the one in which we live who has made lies their refuge and under falsehood have hidden. This is a foolish thought for one to find hope in lies. Though this is a reality for many in our day. But God has testified that one is coming that is his chief cornerstone that they themselves have rejected and who will also reveal their lies.
Isaiah 28:14-
Lies are not a refuge but a shaky tower awaiting the judgment of truth that will bring this tower down to the ground. Falsehood cannot hide oneself but rather exposes them all the more before God as guilty. For the sins of the people continually come before the throne of God. So do not find strength in the lies of the world because they will fall flat. Truth will prevail.
This is a passage in Isaiah that points to the coming Messiah and the religious leaders in Jesus day where testifying if the Messiah was to come then He certainly would have been endorsed by them. But this Jesus, they said, is far from it but rather we are going to put him to death. They were clinging to falsehood and lies as their refuge and they therefore missed the truth.
Read .
Pray.
As we see here in this parable that Jesus reveals the gracious and loving acts of God to send his messengers unto his people but one day time will be up. In this day the wicked vinedressers were being cast out and new were being put in their place. This reveals the mystery that Paul talks about in Ephesians where the gentiles were going to be grafted in to the royal family of God.
The vineyard of God in .
Came expecting good grapes and what i found was wild grapes.
The law in .
As we see here in this parable that Jesus reveals the gracious and loving acts of God to send his messengers unto his people but one day time will be up. In this day the wicked vinedressers were being cast out and new were being put in their place.
The Long Suffering, Gracious, and Loving acts of God.
The hardness of the hearts of the people
Truth will prevail.
Judgment will come.
Time was up. It was time to pay the piper.
The Long Suffering, Gracious, and Loving acts of God in comparison to the hardness of hearts of the people.
If you were to go through the old testament what you see time and time again a stiffnecked and rebellious people. Alot like us right. Caring more about pleasing themselves rather than pleasing God. They would rather bow down to an image that they had molded than to bow before the heavenly throne of God. For it is in those times that they could decide what was right and wrong. How to manage their bodies.
Messengers were constantly sent yet they rebelled against them.
1 kings 19:1-5 Elijah was driven into the wilderness by the monarchy. Even to wish that he would die. Thinking that he alone was left as a follower of God.
According to tradition Isaiah was sawn asunder
Zechariah was stoned to death near the altar
John the Baptist was beheaded
They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.
And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again.
Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.
Hebrews 11:32
Hebrews 11:37-38
Ultimately to the death of Gods son.
Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;
Acts 2:
They had even killed the very son of God of which was graciously foretold them by the prophets.
This we certainly see in our day. We have made the gods ourselves and withhold no pleasure from our bodies.
What feels good do it.
Anyway you want it thats the way you get it.
Its your hearts desire.
We turn on our t.v.s and say make me laugh.
We put in our ear buds and say pump me up or calm me down.
We open the apps on our phones and say entertain me.
We would view pornography that our pleasures may be fulfilled.
Yet we have the audacity before God to proclaim on our news stations we are a liberated people, advanced above all our kind.
If this is liberation then we are certainly cling to lies as our refuge.
If this is liberation then we are certainly cling to lies as our refuge.
if this is freedom these chains have taken odd form.
Our homes are a wreck.
Our children are confused on their sexuality.
Marriage has been obliterated
Integrity and faithfulness has gone out the window for pleasure
Our daughters are being sold as sex slaves and the fathers are paying to see it.
Yet God in his longsuffering has not sent brimstone from heaven but rather a message of redemption. A proclamation of adoption.
In the face of humanity’s refusal to receive God’s love, he persisted and persisted and persisted. One representative after another of God was abused and slain. “If I were God,” cried Martin Luther, “and the world had treated me as it treated Him, I would kick the wretched thing to pieces.” No doubt Luther would have!
But instead of turning his back on the world, God continued sending servant after servant. Rebuffs, insults, beatings did not stop him, and finally he sent his Son. Spurgeon 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.”
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
This not that we have loved God but rather that he had loved us. Why you might ask? I don’t know through human reason we could rightly answer that question but i am blessed to proclaim to you their is hope.
Ultimately these religious leaders were denying the truth and seeking to take for themselves the vineyard of God. But it wasnt going to happen. They were cleaving to lies as their refuge and it came crashing down.
Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, “What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. 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.”
John 11:
What they sought for evil God used for good.
The truth revealed.
Though all the world may be led astray doesn’t make it true.
Popularity is certainly not a sure sign of truth.
Just because everyone believes it does it make something right. Rather it compounds to even greater degree the lie and the penalty for it.
These religious leaders should have seen first the signs of the times but rather were blind to it. Altogether wrong.
Have you never read in the Scriptures? We must remember what we said a little before, that, as the priests and scribes kept the people devoted to them, it was a principle current among them, that they alone were competent to judge and decide as to the future redemption, so that no one ought to be received as Messiah, unless he were approved and sanctioned by their voice. They therefore maintain that what Christ had said is impossible, that they would slay the son and heir of the proprietor of the vineyard. But Christ confirms his statement by the testimony of Scripture, and the interrogation is emphatic, as if he had said, “You reckon it highly absurd to say that it is possible for the vine-dressers to conspire wickedly against the Son of God. But what then? Did the Scripture () foretell that he would be received with joy, and favour, and applause; or did it not, on the contrary, foretell that the rulers themselves would oppose him?”
Calvin, J., & Pringle, W. (2010). Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke (Vol. 3, p. 32). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
.
He changes from a vineyard to a building.
The stone which the builders rejected.
This stone being christ and the builders being the religious leaders of their day.
This comes from that david had penned which was attributed as a prophecy of the future messiah which proves to be true by jesus here applying it himself. Though this is the case David and his life were certainly a foreshadowing of the coming messiah and seeing the psalm through the eyes of david will help us understand more fully the application to Christ.
David was a man chosen by God to become king over Israel as a young man one day while he was out tending the sheep. This was after God had rejected Saul who was the current king over Israel for disobeying God. David didn’t take the throne until he was 30 and was certainly met with great opposition before and during his reign.
The Jewish religious leaders had not accepted what John had taught, so why should God say anything more to them? Had they obeyed John’s message, they would have gladly submitted to Christ’s authority, for John came to present the Messiah to the nation.
The Jewish leaders were caught in a dilemma of their own making. They were not asking “What is true?” or “What is right?” but “What is safe?” This is always the approach of the hypocrite and the crowd-pleaser. It certainly was not the approach of either Jesus () or John the Baptist (). Jesus did not refuse to answer their question; He only refused to accept and endorse their hypocrisy. He was not being evasive; He was being honest.
There was a rising hatred in Sauls heart against David and reckons him a rebel of the kingdom of Israel. As one who conspires to kill the king.
Now it happened, when Saul had returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, “Take note! David is in the Wilderness of En Gedi.” Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel, and went to seek David and his men on the Rocks of the Wild Goats.
David cuts off a corner of his robe.
So it was, when David had finished speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. Then he said to David: “You are more righteous than I; for you have rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded you with evil. And you have shown this day how you have dealt well with me; for when the Lord delivered me into your hand, you did not kill me. For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him get away safely? Therefore may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. And now I know indeed that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. Therefore swear now to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants after me, and that you will not destroy my name from my father’s house.”
So David swore to Saul. And Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.
Now the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding in the hill of Hachilah, opposite Jeshimon?” Then Saul arose and went down to the Wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the Wilderness of Ziph. And Saul encamped in the hill of Hachilah, which is opposite Jeshimon, by the road. But David stayed in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness.
1 samuel 26 David spares sauls life a second time. by taking his speart and his jug of water that waw by his head while he slept.
Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David. For I will harm you no more, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Indeed I have played the fool and erred exceedingly.”
The chief leaders and nobles of the land sought to kill David that his son Absalom may reign. They reckoned God to have rejected David and now casting judgement upon him.
Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Now let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue David tonight. I will come upon him while he is weary and weak, and make him afraid. And all the people who are with him will flee, and I will strike only the king. Then I will bring back all the people to you. When all return except the man whom you seek, all the people will be at peace.” And the saying pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel.
The one chosen by God to be king and is still king is now having to flee for the nation has risen against him. Yet God preserved him. The promise that God had given him that his throne will be established forever God has determined to fulfill and did so through Christ.
commentary:
The stone which the builders rejected. In these words David boldly pours contempt on the calumnies with which he was unjustly and undeservedly assailed. As there was something ominous in his being condemned by the entire assemblage of the nobles, and all those who were invested with authority, and as the opinion was prevalent, that he was a wicked and rejected man; this error he deliberately refutes, and vindicates his innocence in the face of the principal men among them. “It is of little importance to me that I am abandoned by the chief men, seeing I have been visibly chosen by the judgment of God to be king over Israel.
Though operating under falsehood and led astray by lies…though they sought to terminate his ministry they actually fulfilled it.
Before they had opportunity to escape, He told them a parable that revealed where their sins were leading them. They had already permitted John the Baptist to be killed, but soon they would ask for the crucifixion of God’s Son!
Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 151). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
‘When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as uncircumcised. Three years it shall be as uncircumcised to you. It shall not be eaten. But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, a praise to the Lord. And in the fifth year you may eat its fruit, that it may yield to you its increase: I am the Lord your God.
would this be on their minds as Jesus is speaking this parable to them.
As well refer to:
Now let me sing to my Well-beloved A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard:
My Well-beloved has a vineyard
On a very fruitful hill.
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;
So He expected it to bring forth good grapes,
But it brought forth wild grapes.
“And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard.
What more could have been done to My vineyard
That I have not done in it?
Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes,
Did it bring forth wild grapes?
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.
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.”
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.
Hughes, R. K. (1989). Mark: Jesus, servant and savior (Vol. 2, p. 96). Westchester, IL: Crossway Books.
Hughes, R. K. (1989). Mark: Jesus, servant and savior (Vol. 2, p. 96). Westchester, IL: Crossway Books.
THink in when the religious were fearful of Jesus rise of fame and how it might cost them the nation and their positions
From earth level, Palestinian level, the motivation for these men’s action was easily discernible. They supposed in seeing the master’s son come alone that the master was dead. Therefore, if they killed the son, they would command the property. They wanted the proceeds of the vineyard all for themselves. They wanted to be God!
In three days Jesus’ malevolent listeners would haul him before their own authorities and condemn him. They would then arrange for his death outside the city (symbolically, outside the vineyard). This was their final indignity, the desire of their hearts—that the vineyard be theirs alone.
But instead of turning his back on the world, God continued sending servant after servant. Rebuffs, insults, beatings did not stop him, and finally he sent his Son. Spurgeon 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.”
Here we are reminded that the Incarnation and the death of Christ were acts of love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Son dwelt with the Father and Holy Spirit in inconceivable glory—so inconceivable that I tremble at trying to describe it. They were co-equal, co-eternal, possessing all the fullness of Deity. They were always proceeding toward one another in fellowship. In sending the Son, there was nothing more God could do! Jesus was God’s ultimatum! In consequence, nothing remains when Christ is refused!
God’s love is still coming even to those who have cast his messenger aside. In fact, the Son is coming to them right now, persistent in his love for them.
To deny that Christ is, in a sense, God is to kill him. Some have been killing him this way all their lives. They may find some twisted pleasure in hearing about Jesus and in consciously rejecting him. If they continue to do so in this life, they will succeed in killing themselves forever. This is a great tragedy.
There can even be a strain of this in the believer who does not consider Christ worthy of his or her attention. “You put your finger in the eye of God, when you slight His Son.”
Jesus persists in reaching out to a person until death. We must urge others to not toy with his love, for there does come a day when it is too late, and then there is only the severity of God.
Hughes, R. K. (1989). Mark: Jesus, servant and savior (Vol. 2, pp. 96–97). Westchester, IL: Crossway Books.
Have you never read in the Scriptures? We must remember what we said a little before, that, as the priests and scribes kept the people devoted to them, it was a principle current among them, that they alone were competent to judge and decide as to the future redemption, so that no one ought to be received as Messiah, unless he were approved and sanctioned by their voice. They therefore maintain that what Christ had said is impossible, that they would slay the son and heir of the proprietor of the vineyard. But Christ confirms his statement by the testimony of Scripture, and the interrogation is emphatic, as if he had said, “You reckon it highly absurd to say that it is possible for the vine-dressers to conspire wickedly against the Son of God. But what then? Did the Scripture () foretell that he would be received with joy, and favour, and applause; or did it not, on the contrary, foretell that the rulers themselves would oppose him?”
Calvin, J., & Pringle, W. (2010). Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke (Vol. 3, p. 32). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
The scribes and priests reckoned it incredible that Christ should be rejected by the rulers of the Church. But he proves from the psalm, that he would be placed on his throne by the wonderful power of God, contrary to the will of men, and that this had already been shadowed out in David, whom, though rejected by the nobles, God took to give an instance and proof of what he would at length do in his Christ.
The scribes and priests reckoned it incredible that Christ should be rejected by the rulers of the Church. But he proves from the psalm, that he would be placed on his throne by the wonderful power of God, contrary to the will of men, and that this had already been shadowed out in David, whom, though rejected by the nobles, God took to give an instance and proof of what he would at length do in his Christ.
Calvin, J., & Pringle, W. (2010). Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke (Vol. 3, p. 33). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
This should strengthen our hearts believer.
For if God is for us who can be against us?
Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke Matthew 21:33–46; Mark 12:1–12; Luke 20:9–19
First, that we may not be perplexed by the wicked attempts of men, who rise up to hinder the reign of Christ, God has warned us beforehand that this will happen. Secondly, whatever may be the contrivances of men, God has at the same time declared, that in setting up the kingdom of Christ, His power will be victorious. Both ought to be carefully observed by us. It appears to be monstrous that the Author of salvation should be rejected, not by strangers, but by those who belonged to his own household,—not by the ignorant multitude, but by the rulers themselves, who hold the government of the Church. Against such strange madness of men our faith ought to be fortified, that it may not give way through the novelty of the occurrence. We now perceive how useful that prediction is, which relieves godly minds from the terror that would otherwise be produced by the mournful spectacle. For nothing is more unreasonable than that the members should rise up against the head, the vine-dressers against the proprietor, the counsellors against their king, and that the builders should reject the foundation of the building.
Though all the world may say that we are wrong and fools for following Christ, their verdict doesn’t have the ultimate say but rather God does.
This is why God says do not fear men but rather fear me.
Though ten thousand surround me, i will not fear. I lay down and slept and you sustained me.
IF you truly believe in the sovereign hand of God then this would bring great strength to your mortal steps. If you are a child of God you can greatly rejoice in this truth just as David did and as well Christ.
having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,
Though rejected by the world He became the chief corner stone.
This is what gives me hope for the coming judgment. That when God sees me He will not see all the wrongs that i have done but rather the precious blood of Christ which is shed on calvary in my place.
I have unworthily been clothed in the righteousness of Christ. My sins have been cast as far as the east is from the west.
The coming Judgment.
: vineyard given to others.
Matthew
They said to Him, “He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.”
The Lord is at hand and can return at anytime to judge the world of righteousness.
This we ultimately see the mystery hidden from mens eyes that is unveiled now that paul talks about in ephesians that Jesus is the Christ and salvation has come to the gentiles.
Ephesians 2:20
having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,
As it is written:
“Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense,
And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
Though rejected by the world He bacame the chief corner stone.
Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture,
“Behold, I lay in Zion
A chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”
The stone which the builders rejected. In these words David boldly pours contempt on the calumnies with which he was unjustly and undeservedly assailed. As there was something ominous in his being condemned by the entire assemblage of the nobles, and all those who were invested with authority, and as the opinion was prevalent, that he was a wicked and rejected man; this error he deliberately refutes, and vindicates his innocence in the face of the principal men among them. “It is of little importance to me that I am abandoned by the chief men, seeing I have been visibly chosen by the judgment of God to be king over Israel.” The similitude which he employs is appropriate, comparing himself to a stone, and the principal rulers of the Church to master-builders. It might, indeed, appear most irrational on his part to assert that the heads of the realm, to whom the government of the Church was intrusted, should be deprived of the Spirit of God, and divested of a sound judgment. Hence, in opposition to their perverse and erroneous judgment, he places the grace of God, declaring that he was placed by the purpose and power of God to sustain the whole building. In a word, he shows that splendid titles and high rank, in which his enemies glory, are no obstruction to him, because, relying upon the call of God, he possesses a glory superior to the verdict of the whole world. It being a difficult matter to persuade them of the truth of this, he magnifies and enlarges upon the grace of God, in order that its authority might suppress all evil speaking and clamorous surmises.
Calvin, J., & Anderson, J. (2010). Commentary on the Book of Psalms (Vol. 4, pp. 388–389). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Now let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue David tonight. I will come upon him while he is weary and weak, and make him afraid. And all the people who are with him will flee, and I will strike only the king. Then I will bring back all the people to you. When all return except the man whom you seek, all the people will be at peace.” And the saying pleased Absalom and all the elders of Israel.
1 Samuel 17.
Now it happened, when Saul had returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, “Take note! David is in the Wilderness of En Gedi.” Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel, and went to seek David and his men on the Rocks of the Wild Goats.
1 Samuel 24:1-
David cuts off a corner of his robe.
So it was, when David had finished speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. Then he said to David: “You are more righteous than I; for you have rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded you with evil. And you have shown this day how you have dealt well with me; for when the Lord delivered me into your hand, you did not kill me. For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him get away safely? Therefore may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. And now I know indeed that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. Therefore swear now to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants after me, and that you will not destroy my name from my father’s house.”
So David swore to Saul. And Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.
1 Samuel 24:16-
Now the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding in the hill of Hachilah, opposite Jeshimon?” Then Saul arose and went down to the Wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the Wilderness of Ziph. And Saul encamped in the hill of Hachilah, which is opposite Jeshimon, by the road. But David stayed in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness.
1 Samuel 26:1-
1 samuel 26 David spares sauls life a second time. by taking his speart and his jug of water that waw by his head while he slept.
Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David. For I will harm you no more, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Indeed I have played the fool and erred exceedingly.”
1 Samuel 26: