The Lease Broken September 10
Mark 12:2 Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers. 3And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
The landowner, God, leaves the vinedressers to work but expects fruit from those who leased it
The imagery is not far from that of God granting Adam authority to rule over the Garden of Eden as His representative. God is the Creator from Whom all blessings flow. He asks for obedience to the contract implied in delegating authority over the land.
The vineyard is Israel, whose borders are well established and protected by God, the builder. The flow of blessings is directed toward the Temple, whose tower reached toward heaven. The vinedressers leasing the land are the Israelites, a chosen people, under the care of their shepherds, the priesthood.
Those who lease the land owe obedience to the instructions of the owner of the land as the cost of the lease. The time for payment is whenever the Master calls for payment. The “when” is unknown, so continual obedience is required.
All is good, so the owner sends His servant to collect His due. But His servant is beaten and sent away empty handed.
The imagery is a representation of Israel, a land well suited for a prosperous life. But then the parable reveals the duplicity of those who leased the land. They took the land, and used it and its produce for their own purposes.
As Creator, all belonged to God. He expected only the agreed return for the gifts He had provided. But no return came.
Rebellious Tenants September 11
Mark 12:4 Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated. 5 And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some.
God sends His servant, perhaps representing loyal priests. But this servant is beaten and sent away empty handed. Perhaps this also shows how the priesthood has been compromised. Spiritual agreement with God gives way to secular agreement among men. The priesthood fails as an intermediary.
Perhaps the next servant sent is represented by the prophets, many of whom are beaten, and some killed. These also return to God empty handed.
More priests and prophets loyal to God are sent, but they also are rejected, either beaten or killed, or simply ignored as if they were dead to Israel.
Each attempt to collect His due from the tenants is met with increasing violence.
Isaiah says of God’s expectation, “He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.” The shepherds oppress the sheep, and the sheep cry out for help.
And so it is in Jesus’ day, also.
The leaseholders of the land usurp the authority of the landowner. They have neither title nor deed, but they rule the land as if it were their possession. They give no credit to the true landowner who has entrusted them with His bounty.
A cry for justice rings out over the vineyard!
The Son Sent September 12
Mark 12:6 Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those vinedressers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.
Having sent His servants (the prophets), the landowner (God) now sends his son (Jesus) as a last attempt at bringing the tenants (all His people) back into the original agreement (relationship).
The heir, grafted to the vine, has the character of the father. The son also wants restoration of the oneness of the tenants and the landowner, the harmony of the existence of all.
But the leaseholders want to be free of their obligation. They believe they can run the vineyard quite nicely by themselves. Besides, the landowner does not do the work!
We can imagine in Jesus’ parable the men who have leased the land as having sublet the land to others. They now collect proceeds from their own tenants and do not pass along the landowner’s portion to him. These men are now supervisors only, making a show of allocating the landowner his portion, but actually retaining it for themselves.
Indeed, much of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 is Jesus showing how the religious leaders appropriate the guise of righteousness in the eyes of men rather than in the eyes of God. Their giving, praying, and fasting has been for their own benefit, not a return to God enhancing their relationship. They accept praise from people but give none to God.
Killing the son is sending the ultimate message of defiance.
Killing the Son September 13
Mark 12:8 So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.
The tenants recognize the son, and they respect him no more than the servants. They see murder of the son as ending the landowner’s claim upon them, for he has no one else to send. Indeed, we suspect they would kill the landowner if he presented himself.
Murder is the ultimate violent act, and violence is the failure of agape love, the selfless love that flowed from the Creator into all of His Creation.
The parables of both Isaiah and Jesus portray the power structure of Israel as the breakers of the relationship, destroyers of the covenant between landowner and renter, God and His people.
When we consider that the one who leases has no place without the landowner’s land, we see a high level of dependence. When we consider that people do not exist without the world that God created and the life breathed into them by Him, we see the total dependence of people on God.
This parable is a taunt that makes the leaders even angrier. We might even view this parable of Jesus as a goad helping to bring the parable into future reality.
The final indignity to the landowner is casting the dead son out of the vineyard. The body is thrown out into the unsettled land, into the wilderness to be ravaged by scavenger animals.
Replacement Theology September 14
Mark 12:9 “Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others.
Jesus concludes the parable with the owner’s reaction: He will throw out the current tenants and lease to new tenants.
The crucifixion of Jesus and verses such as this one have given rise to a theory called “replacement theology.” This theory states God has replaced the Jews with the Christians as His chosen people.
This reaction sounds very reasonable, and also very human. But do we not expect more from God?
Jesus’ parable might well have concluded with the words from Paul in Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” No exceptions are mentioned.
Or perhaps the parable could end with Jesus’ own words: “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust...” (Matt. 5:43-8). Jesus’ forgiveness of His crucifiers also reinforces the message. (Luke 23:34).
When we think of the vineyard as heaven on earth, the vineyard is open to all. God does not have to cast the rebellious tenants from heaven on earth, for they have removed themselves. They have no understanding that the value of their leasehold is based on relationship more than vines. Apart from the leaseholder, they hold only empty acres of dirt.
God and Jesus love even the leaseholders, Jonah’s Assyrians, the unrepentant Jews, and Christians with murder in their hearts.
Cornerstone September 15
Mark 12:10 Have you not even read this Scripture:
‘The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
11 This was the Lord’s doing,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
The imagery of a cornerstone is important in both the Old and New Testaments. Jesus is quoting Ps. 118:22-23, but we must go to Is. 28:16 to learn the nature of the cornerstone:
16 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.
17 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.
The “tried stone” is strong enough to withstand every test. This stone is the firm anchor of justice and righteousness, the cornerstone upon which everything in the universe is built. Another name for this point is agape love.
The cornerstone stands at the joint of two straight lines forming a right angle. One line flows in from the past, and the other flows out to the future. Living in the present of the cornerstone, at peace with what exists at the moment, is the essence of faith.
This stone is also a stumbling block, for it will cause offenders to trip and fall (Is. 8:14, Rom. 9:33, 1 Peter 2:8, etc., and Peter referenced this to the Sanhedrin, Acts 4:8-12).
No one can break the cornerstone. They only can break themselves against it.
Impotent Rage September 16
Mark 12:12 And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them. So they left Him and went away.
Jesus charges the unholy trinity before Him with stumbling over this rock of offense, the standard of justice and righteousness.
More enraging to those who have stumbled is that Jesus’ ministry is an assertion that He is that rock, the cornerstone of justice and righteousness.
The Man before them is shaking the infirm foundation of their religious system. Built on theory and practicality, their manmade doctrine cannot withstand the force of the spoken words of truth.
In the realm of truth as presented by Jesus, the priests, scribes, and elders have no exalted standing. Indeed, heaven on earth cannot admit their belief system, for their creed mischaracterizes God. Their god is caged in the Temple of Israel for the Israelites, for those of the chosen people who make their sacrifices and offer their prayers through the priests and rituals of the Temple.
Impotent rage is the most deadly. The anger that cannot be vented is both a self-condemnation to those who are angry for their powerlessness, and a festering wound that will not be healed until the insult is avenged.
That they cannot engage successfully in debate but must resort to violence is further proof of the weakness of their position.
The accusers leave the court, guilty but unrestrained. Unrepentant, they retreat to return to battle under more favorable conditions.
Next day
Mark 12:2 Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers. 3And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
The landowner, God, leaves the vinedressers to work but expects fruit from those who leased it
The imagery is not far from that of God granting Adam authority to rule over the Garden of Eden as His representative. God is the Creator from Whom all blessings flow. He asks for obedience to the contract implied in delegating authority over the land.
The vineyard is Israel, whose borders are well established and protected by God, the builder. The flow of blessings is directed toward the Temple, whose tower reached toward heaven. The vinedressers leasing the land are the Israelites, a chosen people, under the care of their shepherds, the priesthood.
Those who lease the land owe obedience to the instructions of the owner of the land as the cost of the lease. The time for payment is whenever the Master calls for payment. The “when” is unknown, so continual obedience is required.
All is good, so the owner sends His servant to collect His due. But His servant is beaten and sent away empty handed.
The imagery is a representation of Israel, a land well suited for a prosperous life. But then the parable reveals the duplicity of those who leased the land. They took the land, and used it and its produce for their own purposes.
As Creator, all belonged to God. He expected only the agreed return for the gifts He had provided. But no return came.
Rebellious Tenants September 11
Mark 12:4 Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated. 5 And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some.
God sends His servant, perhaps representing loyal priests. But this servant is beaten and sent away empty handed. Perhaps this also shows how the priesthood has been compromised. Spiritual agreement with God gives way to secular agreement among men. The priesthood fails as an intermediary.
Perhaps the next servant sent is represented by the prophets, many of whom are beaten, and some killed. These also return to God empty handed.
More priests and prophets loyal to God are sent, but they also are rejected, either beaten or killed, or simply ignored as if they were dead to Israel.
Each attempt to collect His due from the tenants is met with increasing violence.
Isaiah says of God’s expectation, “He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.” The shepherds oppress the sheep, and the sheep cry out for help.
And so it is in Jesus’ day, also.
The leaseholders of the land usurp the authority of the landowner. They have neither title nor deed, but they rule the land as if it were their possession. They give no credit to the true landowner who has entrusted them with His bounty.
A cry for justice rings out over the vineyard!
The Son Sent September 12
Mark 12:6 Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those vinedressers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.
Having sent His servants (the prophets), the landowner (God) now sends his son (Jesus) as a last attempt at bringing the tenants (all His people) back into the original agreement (relationship).
The heir, grafted to the vine, has the character of the father. The son also wants restoration of the oneness of the tenants and the landowner, the harmony of the existence of all.
But the leaseholders want to be free of their obligation. They believe they can run the vineyard quite nicely by themselves. Besides, the landowner does not do the work!
We can imagine in Jesus’ parable the men who have leased the land as having sublet the land to others. They now collect proceeds from their own tenants and do not pass along the landowner’s portion to him. These men are now supervisors only, making a show of allocating the landowner his portion, but actually retaining it for themselves.
Indeed, much of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 is Jesus showing how the religious leaders appropriate the guise of righteousness in the eyes of men rather than in the eyes of God. Their giving, praying, and fasting has been for their own benefit, not a return to God enhancing their relationship. They accept praise from people but give none to God.
Killing the son is sending the ultimate message of defiance.
Killing the Son September 13
Mark 12:8 So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.
The tenants recognize the son, and they respect him no more than the servants. They see murder of the son as ending the landowner’s claim upon them, for he has no one else to send. Indeed, we suspect they would kill the landowner if he presented himself.
Murder is the ultimate violent act, and violence is the failure of agape love, the selfless love that flowed from the Creator into all of His Creation.
The parables of both Isaiah and Jesus portray the power structure of Israel as the breakers of the relationship, destroyers of the covenant between landowner and renter, God and His people.
When we consider that the one who leases has no place without the landowner’s land, we see a high level of dependence. When we consider that people do not exist without the world that God created and the life breathed into them by Him, we see the total dependence of people on God.
This parable is a taunt that makes the leaders even angrier. We might even view this parable of Jesus as a goad helping to bring the parable into future reality.
The final indignity to the landowner is casting the dead son out of the vineyard. The body is thrown out into the unsettled land, into the wilderness to be ravaged by scavenger animals.
Replacement Theology September 14
Mark 12:9 “Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others.
Jesus concludes the parable with the owner’s reaction: He will throw out the current tenants and lease to new tenants.
The crucifixion of Jesus and verses such as this one have given rise to a theory called “replacement theology.” This theory states God has replaced the Jews with the Christians as His chosen people.
This reaction sounds very reasonable, and also very human. But do we not expect more from God?
Jesus’ parable might well have concluded with the words from Paul in Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” No exceptions are mentioned.
Or perhaps the parable could end with Jesus’ own words: “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust...” (Matt. 5:43-8). Jesus’ forgiveness of His crucifiers also reinforces the message. (Luke 23:34).
When we think of the vineyard as heaven on earth, the vineyard is open to all. God does not have to cast the rebellious tenants from heaven on earth, for they have removed themselves. They have no understanding that the value of their leasehold is based on relationship more than vines. Apart from the leaseholder, they hold only empty acres of dirt.
God and Jesus love even the leaseholders, Jonah’s Assyrians, the unrepentant Jews, and Christians with murder in their hearts.
Cornerstone September 15
Mark 12:10 Have you not even read this Scripture:
‘The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
11 This was the Lord’s doing,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
The imagery of a cornerstone is important in both the Old and New Testaments. Jesus is quoting Ps. 118:22-23, but we must go to Is. 28:16 to learn the nature of the cornerstone:
16 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.
17 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.
The “tried stone” is strong enough to withstand every test. This stone is the firm anchor of justice and righteousness, the cornerstone upon which everything in the universe is built. Another name for this point is agape love.
The cornerstone stands at the joint of two straight lines forming a right angle. One line flows in from the past, and the other flows out to the future. Living in the present of the cornerstone, at peace with what exists at the moment, is the essence of faith.
This stone is also a stumbling block, for it will cause offenders to trip and fall (Is. 8:14, Rom. 9:33, 1 Peter 2:8, etc., and Peter referenced this to the Sanhedrin, Acts 4:8-12).
No one can break the cornerstone. They only can break themselves against it.
Impotent Rage September 16
Mark 12:12 And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them. So they left Him and went away.
Jesus charges the unholy trinity before Him with stumbling over this rock of offense, the standard of justice and righteousness.
More enraging to those who have stumbled is that Jesus’ ministry is an assertion that He is that rock, the cornerstone of justice and righteousness.
The Man before them is shaking the infirm foundation of their religious system. Built on theory and practicality, their manmade doctrine cannot withstand the force of the spoken words of truth.
In the realm of truth as presented by Jesus, the priests, scribes, and elders have no exalted standing. Indeed, heaven on earth cannot admit their belief system, for their creed mischaracterizes God. Their god is caged in the Temple of Israel for the Israelites, for those of the chosen people who make their sacrifices and offer their prayers through the priests and rituals of the Temple.
Impotent rage is the most deadly. The anger that cannot be vented is both a self-condemnation to those who are angry for their powerlessness, and a festering wound that will not be healed until the insult is avenged.
That they cannot engage successfully in debate but must resort to violence is further proof of the weakness of their position.
The accusers leave the court, guilty but unrestrained. Unrepentant, they retreat to return to battle under more favorable conditions.
Next day