ON YOUR MARK: WEEK 11 DAY 3

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. 2 When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. 6 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this Scripture:

“‘The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;

11 this was the Lord's doing,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

12 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.

If we look back at yesterday’s reading, Jesus left the chief priests, teachers of the law, and the elders without an answer. In today’s reading, however, He answers them clearly, and they understand.

This parable is explained well in the Believers Bible Commentary: “The man who planted a vineyard was God Himself. The vineyard was the place of privilege then occupied by Israel. The hedge was the Law of Moses, which separated Israel from the Gentiles and preserved them as a distinct people for the Lord. The vinedressers were the religious leaders, such as the Pharisees, the scribes, and the elders. Repeatedly, God sent His servants, the prophets, to the people of Israel, seeking fellowship, holiness, and love. But the people persecuted the prophets and killed some of them. Finally God sent His beloved Son. Surely they would respect Him. But they didn’t. They plotted against Him and finally killed Him. Thus the Lord predicted His own death and exposed His guilty murderers.”

This parable is still relevant today. The story is about God and mankind and His pursuit of the ones He loves. The story is about our heart posture. What will He find when He looks at our heart? Resistance, worship, surrender, entitlement? It is easy to view this parable in the past, as “those” who rejected Him, however, we still push Jesus aside today. There are many times and days when we only partially submit to His authority. 

Jesus is coming back to inspect His vineyard and when He does He will ask for fruit! What will we have to offer Him? What is our heart posture?

Pray today that God would soften your heart, and show you areas where you need to surrender to His Lordship.