A Manager for God: Mark 12:1-12

When I read from the gospels and focus on the parables Jesus spoke to the various crowds and other groups of people, I occasionally wonder how much of the underlying truth in what is shared actually gets understood by those in Jesus’ audience. There are some places in the gospels where we are told that the people would hear Jesus words, but miss understanding the meaning of His message, and this is quoting from an Old Testament Prophecy.

However, there are other parables that don’t seem to be as misunderstood. One example of a parable like this is shared during the week Jesus was crucified, and in some ways, I wonder if this parable helped build confirmation bias in the religious leaders that they needed to get Jesus out of the picture.

This parable and event is recorded in three of the four gospels, and for our time together, let’s focus on Mark’s version of what happened. We will be reading from the gospel of Mark, chapter 12, using the Good News Translation. Starting in verse 1, Mark tells us:

¹ Then Jesus spoke to them in parables: “Once there was a man who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a hole for the wine press, and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to tenants and left home on a trip. ² When the time came to gather the grapes, he sent a slave to the tenants to receive from them his share of the harvest. ³ The tenants grabbed the slave, beat him, and sent him back without a thing. ⁴ Then the owner sent another slave; the tenants beat him over the head and treated him shamefully. ⁵ The owner sent another slave, and they killed him; and they treated many others the same way, beating some and killing others. ⁶ The only one left to send was the man’s own dear son. Last of all, then, he sent his son to the tenants. ‘I am sure they will respect my son,’ he said. ⁷ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the owner’s son. Come on, let’s kill him, and his property will be ours!’ ⁸ So they grabbed the son and killed him and threw his body out of the vineyard.

⁹ “What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do?” asked Jesus. “He will come and kill those tenants and turn the vineyard over to others. ¹⁰ Surely you have read this scripture?

‘The stone which the builders rejected as worthless
    turned out to be the most important of all.
¹¹ This was done by the Lord;
    what a wonderful sight it is!’”

¹² The Jewish leaders tried to arrest Jesus, because they knew that he had told this parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.

As I read the conclusion of this passage, it appears that the Jewish leaders who were in the crowd realized they were the villains in Jesus’ parable, and they did not like it. Some of these leaders even started to move towards Jesus in order to arrest Him before being pulled back by other leaders who were afraid of the crowd’s response.

But what I find most amazing about the leaders hostile response is that it essentially confirms the plotline of Jesus’ parable – and it subtly confirms the character of Jesus as the vineyard owner’s son. Whether they intended to do so or not, the reaction of these religious leaders in Jerusalem validate Jesus’ claim to be God’s Son, while in the same moment incriminating themselves as the hostile tenants.

While it seems strange to think of a landowner killing misbehaving tenants in today’s culture, I wonder if that was not as strange then. Perhaps this translation of the Bible tried to smooth over the idea of these “tenants” actually being slaves who were left with the responsibility of managing the vineyard. In this case, even if it is not politically correct in today’s western culture, killing a slave is not as unheard of.

However, note that regardless of the culture, these tenants or slaves, whichever term we want to use, have shown themselves to not value life or the privilege of managing the vineyard. They were given what some might call a dream job, and they let themselves become arrogant and prideful. While God doesn’t like those who are arrogant or proud, the real issue that we see with the tenants in the vineyard is that they are unwilling to return the owner’s share of the harvest.

In this subtle detail, we see a clue into a big truth that is just as applicable to western, non-agriculture societies as well as the culture Jesus lived in. When a tenant mistakenly believes himself or herself to be an owner, they risk becoming greedy and resentful towards the true Owner. While God isn’t making a statement against the concept of land ownership in this parable, He is instead pointing our attention to the truth that no one truly owns anything in this universe aside from the One who created it.

While we have been gifted with the freedom of choice, and the responsibility of managing various amounts of time, talent, money, stuff, and in some cases, even property, the truth is that we don’t truly own anything the government might claim we own. When we shift our focus onto thinking we are managers instead of CEOs, we have a better frame of reference for handling the times when God asks us to return His portion to Him.

The religious leaders during the generation Jesus walked on the earth might have verbally claimed to serve God. However, the way they acted and the organization they developed themselves into was one that acted like a CEO on spiritual (and non-spiritual) matters, rather than one that acted like a spiritual aid with the aim of helping others. With this mindset, it’s no wonder why God couldn’t step in with the truth that He was still the rightful landowner – the tenants had tricked themselves into believing a lie.

When a tenant mistakenly believes himself or herself to be an owner, they risk becoming greedy and resentful towards the true Owner. But when we shift our focus onto thinking we are managers instead of CEOs, we have a better frame of reference for handling the times when God comes and asks us to return His portion to Him.

As we come to the close of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

Continue seeking God first in your life. Choose to see yourself as a manager who has been entrusted with things God values – things such as your time, talent, wealth, and property, as well as your spouse and children if you have them, and even your attitude. All of these things are things that God has entrusted you with. The challenge is to see yourself as a manager, and be open to God’s leading, guiding, and suggestions where He chooses to insert them.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself so you can better recognize who God is and what He is like. By focusing on learning from God through the Bible, you will be equipped to handle times when the voices of culture try to speak their opinions onto what God has entrusted you to manage, and you will be able to discern the wise suggestions from the foolish speculation. Remember, God is the true Owner, and we are to defer to Him for the best way to manage what we have been blessed with.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never believe yourself to be more or less than the person God created you to be and never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or deviate away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!