Flashback Episode — Accepting His Messengers: Mark 12:1-12

As we continue reading Mark’s gospel, and while we are looking at how Mark leads up to Jesus facing the cross, we come to a parable Mark includes that challenged the religious leaders in a very clear way. However, before thinking that we are off the hook with this parable being given back then, this parable also has a strong challenge for us living today as well.

Let’s read what happened, before unpacking why I believe this parable is just as relevant today as it was in the first century. This parable and our passage are found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 12, and for our time together, we will read it from the Good News Translation. Starting in verse 1:

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.

In this parable, Jesus gives a strong message against those living in the first century. In this parable, we see messenger after messenger coming to ask for the owner’s share of the harvest, but the tenants outright refuse all requests. The owner lastly sends his own son hoping and believing that the tenants would accept him. However, the tenants believe that killing the owner’s son would then mean that the property would become theirs.

But when we logically summarize this parable, these evil tenants are not thinking rationally. These tenants have a strictly inward focus and they have lost sight of what they were hired to do. While it is possible that the vineyard would become the owner’s sons when the owner passed away, there is no guarantee that this would be the case. The owner could sell the land off and leave money for his son instead.

Part of me also wonders if the tenants believed the owner to have died already and that the son was now the rightful owner. While not accurate at all, it could explain why the tenants decide to kill the son and believe that they would then inherit the land they were actually only hired to manage.

But the thought process these tenants have is not rational or logical. It does not make sense in my mind that killing someone’s child would make them like you or want to keep you around. If jail wasn’t in the picture for someone today who murdered another person, it would be illogical for an employer to keep an employee hired after the employee had killed the employer’s child. Nothing these evil tenants do in this parable makes them worthy of staying hired.

After sharing the parable portion, Jesus attaches this parable to an Old Testament scripture that wasn’t written as a prophecy, but was turned into a prophecy that symbolized Jesus’ ministry. The stone that had been set aside as the corner stone those building Solomon’s temple believed to be worthless. However, when they reexamined their plans, they realized it was the most important stone of all.

In the exact same way, Jesus, who many of those in the first century believed was worthless and a nuisance, turned out to be the most important Person in history. Most of the religious leaders in the first century rejected Jesus and plotted His death. The first century Jews rejected Jesus and they rejected Jesus’ followers after Jesus returned to heaven. The first century Jews rejected the One who is the most important of all like the builders of Solomon’s temple rejected the stone that had been cut as the cornerstone.

When we look at Jesus’ parable, it is easy for us to look back and conclude that this parable represents the Jewish nation over the generations. God had sent prophet after prophet and messenger after messenger to help lead the people back to Him, but these prophets and messengers were killed, abused, and rejected by the Jewish leaders at the time God sent them. Since this parable concludes with the owner sending his own son, it is tempting to conclude that this parable was only for the Jews. However, this would be a mistake.

The big conclusion in this parable and the transition statement Jesus makes emphasizes a more lasting truth. In verse 9, Jesus asks and answers the question: “What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do?” He will come and kill those tenants and turn the vineyard over to others.” This is because the tenants refused to return His portion of the harvest to Him.

In this parable, there is no indication that the next tenants would be any better. All it says is that the current tenants were evil. It is very reasonable in my mind to conclude that another set of tenants, if they turned out to be evil as well would be rejected and a third, forth, or even fifth set of tenants would be chosen. I suspect that this could continue forward until the owner actually found tenants who were both responsible and mature.

While I’d hope the owner of the vineyard ultimately finds tenants that are not evil and tenants who return His portion of the harvest to Him, looking at the history of the Christian church doesn’t paint a great looking picture.

However, the key in this parable and in the prophecy Jesus points back to, is how we respond to the messengers God sends our way and what we do with God’s Son Jesus. Will we stay focused on Jesus and pay attention to the messengers God sends? Will we return God a portion of what He has blessed us with? This is what we are challenged to do in this parable, prophecy, and promise.

While the first century religious leaders rejected the owner’s Son Jesus, we don’t have to. While the Jewish people rejected God’s messengers throughout the years leading up to Jesus, we don’t have to reject those messengers or any current messenger God sends our way. The messengers that God sends our way today will all have one set of things in common: The messengers God sends will point people back to what Jesus did on the cross for us, they will amplify what the Bible teaches us about God, they will call us to repent and rededicate our lives to God, and they will remind us to look forward to Jesus’ return.

This is the role of God’s messengers today. God’s messengers lift God up and they don’t seek their own fame or glory. God’s messengers give God the glory. God’s messengers have their focus fixed on living for eternity!

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

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to pay attention to what He is doing in the world today. When God sends us messengers, pay attention and let the presence of a messenger prompt us to return to God. Even if false messengers come, take the opportunity to open your Bible and rediscover what God teaches us in and through His Word.

This is why I always also challenge you to pray and study the Bible for yourself. Only by praying and studying the Bible for yourself will you discover what the Bible really teaches. When eternity is at stake, the most dangerous thing you can do is assume truth based on what someone else has said or done. Don’t let anyone else filter the Bible for you. Study the Bible in prayer personally and discover what God wants to teach you about Himself in your life today!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, 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!