A Gospel Parable

Okay, if you would open up your Bibles to Mark chapter 12.

Mark 12 · chapter mention

It's on page 1008 of your Pew Bible.

And I'm going to read this passage for us.

So this is Mark chapter 12, 1 through 12.

Mark 12 · chapter mention

And he, Jesus, began to speak to them in parables.

Quote,

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.

When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them

some of the fruit of the vineyard.

And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.

Again, he sent to them another servant,

and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully.

And he sent another, and him they killed.

And so with many others, some they beat and some they killed,

he had still one other, a beloved son.

Finally, he sent him to them saying,

they will respect my son.

But those tenants said to one another,

this is the heir, come let us kill him,

and the inheritance will be ours.

And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.

What will the owner of the vineyard do?

He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.

Have you not read this scripture?

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.

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.

May God bless the hearing of his word.

Are you familiar with the fable of the tortoise and the hare?

It is a great little story,

and it teaches that slow and steady is better in the long run

than fast and sporadic.

We're familiar with stories that teach lessons.

And that's exactly what a parable is.

It's a made-up story that teaches a lesson.

The difference between a parable and a fable

is a fable usually uses, like, animals as its main characters,

but a parable usually uses people as their main characters.

And Jesus was the parable speaker extraordinaire.

He is well known for his parables.

Maybe you remember this one.

The parable of the treasure hidden in the field.

It's Matthew 13, 44.

There's a guy that goes out in the field,

and he's digging in the field,

and ding, ding, ding, he hits something,

and he finds treasure.

And then Jesus is very clear.

In his joy, he goes and sells all that he has

in order to make that parcel of land and treasure his own.

It's a parable of the kingdom of God about finding salvation.

Maybe you're familiar with Luke 10,

the parable of the Good Samaritan.

It teaches us what a neighbor is, really.

Maybe you've heard Luke 15,

the parable of the prodigal son.

There's a reference to it in one of the songs we sang.

I mean, we're all prodigals, right?

And our great God is a father who's waiting

and then runs to us.

The parable of the soils in Mark chapter 4,

Mark 4 · chapter mention

where this sower sows the seed,

and it's the word of the kingdom.

And it falls upon four different kinds of soils.

Three having like no response, no fruit,

and the fourth being incredibly fruitful.

Jesus was the consummate parable teller.

He used parables to teach people

about God and humanity and salvation,

the kingdom of God.

So the parable of the tenants

is a parable made up by Jesus

to teach a lesson.

One of the things about reading our Bibles

is that sometimes we get bored reading our Bibles.

And one of the solutions to Bible reading boredom

is asking a lot of questions, to be curious.

So let's ask some questions this morning

of the parable of the tenants.

We're going to ask,

when did Jesus speak this parable?

It matters.

Where did Jesus speak this parable?

You're going to be surprised.

Who did Jesus speak this parable to?

And you're going to find out that it was aimed.

And one of the questions maybe you're asking right now

is like, what was this parable all about?

What represents what?

We'll get into the weeds of that.

Why did Jesus speak this parable?

What's he going after?

But there's one other question

that we're going to close on.

That's one of the most important questions

we must answer.

How do we respond to this parable today?

What we're going to see in the parable of the tenants

is actually good news.

This is a gospel parable.

A beloved son is killed for a vineyard.

And it's marvelous in our eyes.

So let's hit question number one.

When did Jesus speak this parable?

And you might be familiar enough

with the life of Jesus

to be able to say,

well, probably March, April 33 AD.

Okay, let's move on.

Well, true.

But the question I'm asking is more,

when in the gospel of Mark

did Jesus speak this parable?

Well, it is towards the end.

True.

There's a word in the gospel of Mark

that gets repeated 41 times.

It's the word immediately.

In terms of the New Testament,

immediately shows up 51 times,

including Mark.

So this is the 80% use

of the word immediately

is in the gospel of Mark.

And it's not distributed evenly

in the gospel of Mark.

The first half of the gospel of Mark,

the word immediately shows up 30 times.

Do you know what that means?

When you're reading through

the gospel of Mark,

you're feeling like you're just being

kind of like moved along

from one thing to the next.

And then in chapter 8,

immediately stops showing up

as frequently.

In fact, in chapters 8 through 11,

it shows up five times.

In chapters 12 through 16,

it shows up six times.

Interestingly enough,

it shows up less

when Jesus starts talking about

in Mark chapter 8,

Mark 8 · chapter mention

that the Son of Man must suffer,

be rejected,

be killed, and be raised.

And the effect of that is this.

As you're reading through

the gospel of Mark,

even though you may not realize it,

you sense the story slowing down.

And as the story slows down,

it actually is designed to

start to emphasize

what you're reading.

And that's where this parable falls.

Chapter 12.

This is a climactic parable.

It's accumulative,

cumulating.

This is going to be

a confrontational parable.

So when did Jesus speak

this parable?

Well, towards the end of his life,

he will see where

in just a second.

But it's significant.

Where did Jesus speak the parable?

Well, you'll notice

chapter 12,

1 through 12,

1 through 12,

it's like there's no explicit reference

to where Jesus is

speaking this parable.

So what does that mean?

You need to be a sleuth of sorts,

a contextual sleuth.

And so you start looking

for passages before and after

that may give hints

of where this is taking place.

And if you look up

into chapter 11, verse 27,

you're given a huge clue

of where this is happening.

First is this,

and they came again

into Jerusalem.

It's they as Jesus

and his disciples.

They're going in and out

of Jerusalem.

And they've come back in.

And then we read,

and as he was walking

in the temple,

the chief priests,

scribes, and elders

come up and say something to him.

So not only in Jerusalem,

which is kind of the center

of Israel,

he's in the temple.

So he's going to speak

this parable in the temple

in Jerusalem.

Now here's what you need

to understand.

There's actually something

more significant going on here.

If you would flip your Bible

over to chapter 11,

verse 15,

something else has happened

here.

And Jesus and his disciples

came to Jerusalem,

and he entered the temple

and began to drive out

those who sold

and those who bought

in the temple.

And he overturned

the tables of the money changers

and the seats of those

who sold pigeons.

And he would not allow

anyone to carry anything

through the temple.

You see,

what happened the day

before he speaks this parable

is he cleanses the temple.

Remember when he comes in

in chapter 1,

1 through 11,

and he comes in on a colt.

In verse 11,

he goes right into the temple.

He's there late.

He looks around

and he leaves without a word.

Do you know why

he leaves without a word?

Because he sees

what's going on

in the temple.

He sees

that the place

of God's dwelling

has been made

into a den of robbers.

Look at verse 17.

And he was teaching them

and saying to them,

again, this is in the temple.

Is it not written,

my house shall be called

a house of prayer

for all the nations,

but you have made it

a den of robbers.

Amen.

The temple had been defiled.

It's being used for things

that it was never intended for.

In fact,

if you take a step back

and you're familiar

with the history of Israel,

the people of Israel

were to be a light

to the nations.

All the nations of the world

were to learn about

the God of Israel

and come to worship Him.

And so when God says,

my house is a house

of the nations,

God has always intended

the nations to come

and worship Him

as the one true God.

But they were using it

for something else.

Money-making venture.

Defiled it.

Greed.

But the thing you need

to understand is that

in order for these businesses

to be taking place

in the temple,

someone had to have approved it.

It had to have been okayed.

So we've seen who or when,

we've seen where,

and now let's talk about

who Jesus is speaking

this parable to.

Jesus has just cleansed

the temple,

and again,

we're not talking

broom and dustpan,

Windex and mop.

What He's doing is

He's getting rid

of the greedy filth

in the temple

for using it

for something

it was never meant

to be used for.

And what happens

in verse 18

is that

after He cleanses

the temple,

the chief priests,

the scribes,

they heard about it,

and they were seeking

a way to destroy Him.

Now who does Jesus

speak this parable to?

Chapter 12, verse 1,

and He began to speak

to them in parables.

Well, who is that?

It's the same people

in verse 10.

Have you not read

the Scripture?

It's the same people

in verse 27 and 28

of chapter 11.

The scribes

and the chief priests

and the elders,

they had just come up

to Him and said,

by what authority

are you doing this?

Who gives you the right

to cleanse the temple?

To mess up our operations?

Jesus is speaking

the parable of the tenants

to the Jewish leadership.

The Sanhedrin.

the leaders of Israel,

the leaders of Israel,

its shepherds,

they okayed

the temple to be used

for greedy purposes.

We're not told explicitly

they were getting kickbacks,

but it's not hard to imagine.

God wants the nations

coming to worship Him,

but the Sanhedrin

has seemed

to have made

the temple complex

more into a lucrative

business venture.

So the parable

of the tenants,

Jesus is speaking

to a select group

of people.

It's aimed.

It's got judgment.

And the Sanhedrin,

you can see in verse 12,

they knew it.

And they were seeking

to arrest Him,

but feared the people,

for they,

the chief priests,

scribes,

and elders,

perceived that He

had told the parable

against them.

So,

this was not good news

to the Sanhedrin,

but what we're going to see,

this is actually marvelous

in our sight.

So we've seen the when,

we've seen the where,

we've seen the who.

Now let's talk about

what is this parable about?

Well,

on the most basic level,

the parable is about

a property dispute.

between a vineyard owner

and tenant farmers

over a vineyard.

The conflict is over

who the vineyard belongs to

and who has rights

to the fruit.

That's,

on the basic level,

surface level,

that's what this is about.

And Jesus has made this up.

He's absolutely brilliant.

So let's walk through it.

Verse 1,

there's this guy

who develops

a bunch of land

into a vineyard

to grow grape vines.

He puts a wine press

in the middle of it.

That's in order

to produce wine.

And so he has kind of

made a turnkey business

opportunity for someone.

And he leases the vineyard

to some tenant vineyard farmers.

These are people

who don't own a vineyard,

but kind of lease it

to use it

to make money.

And there are to be

caretakers

to produce

a grape harvest

in wine.

So that's where

Jesus starts.

In verse 2,

we get a hint

of the agreement.

When the season comes,

the harvest season comes,

he sends a servant

to the tenants

to get from them

some of the fruit

of the vineyard.

So the agreement

between the vineyard owner

and the tenant farmers

would be,

hey,

when the harvest comes,

you give him,

the vineyard owner,

a portion of the harvest

as payment

for the use

of the vineyard.

Because the vineyard

belongs to the vineyard owner.

Okay, so let's

check out the cast

of character so far

in this parable.

It's an elaborate parable.

We have the vineyard owner.

Do you know

who that represents?

God the Father.

We have the bad guys.

The tenant farmers.

Do you know

who they represent?

The scribes,

chief priests,

and elders.

And then there's

the vineyard itself.

Do you know

what the vineyard represents?

If you were to go

in your Bible

to Isaiah chapter 5,

Isaiah 5 · chapter mention

1 through 7,

you will see

Isaiah speaking

a passage

about Israel

that uses

a lot of the same language.

God's people.

That's the vineyard.

And so the cast so far

is

a vineyard owner,

God the Father,

the vineyard,

God's people,

and the tenant farmers

who were

the leadership

of God's people.

And then in

verses 3 through 5,

things start getting tense.

Jesus

inserts tension

into this parable.

Verse 3,

the owner sends

a servant

to collect

some of the produce.

That servant

gets beat up

and sent home

empty-handed.

no fruit

for you.

So the tenant farmers

are actually denying

the vineyard owner

what's due him.

It appears

they're beginning

to think

that the vineyard

actually belongs

to them.

Verse 4,

the owner sends

another servant

who is humiliated

and presumably

sent back

empty-handed.

No fruit

for you.

Denied.

Verse 5,

the vineyard owner

sends

another servant

who's killed.

And then he sends

more servants

who are also

beaten

and killed.

So the cast

of characters

expands.

So,

who are these servants?

Anybody want

to venture a guess?

The prophets.

The prophets

of the Old Testament.

They're sent

by God

to his disobedient

people,

to the leaders

of his disobedient

people,

to call them

again and again

back to him.

Back to him.

What Jesus

is doing here

is absolutely

remarkable.

He's presenting

a parabolic

picture

of Israel's

unfaithfulness

and God's

faithfulness.

Jesus is skillfully

linking

the Sanhedrin,

the present

leaders of Israel,

to the past

shepherds

of Israel.

There's a passage

in Jeremiah

Jeremiah 23 · chapter mention

chapter 23.

I'm going to read

it for you.

It's verses 1

through 6.

Jeremiah,

God through

Jeremiah

is speaking

to Israel's

leadership.

He's not

calling them

tenant farmers

though.

He's calling

them shepherds.

Hear this.

Woe to the

shepherds

who destroy

and scatter

the sheep

of my pasture,

declares the

Lord.

Therefore,

thus says the

Lord,

the God of

Israel,

concerning the

shepherds

who care for

my people,

you have

scattered my

flock and

have driven

them away.

You have

not attended

to them.

Behold,

I will

attend to

you for

your evil

deeds,

declares the

Lord.

Then I

will gather

the remnant

of my

flock out

of all the

countries where

I have

driven them,

and I

will bring

them back

to their

fold,

and they

shall be

fruitful and

multiply.

New shepherds

over them

who will

care for

them,

and they

shall fear

no more,

nor be

dismayed,

neither shall

any be

missing,

declares the

Lord.

Behold,

the days are

coming,

declares the

Lord,

when I

will raise

up for

David a

righteous

branch,

the Messiah,

the good

shepherd,

the son of

man,

the son of

God,

the Christ.

God's

been sending

prophets to

his disobedient

shepherds for

a long time,

God.

And Jesus

is just

very skillfully

making all

these connections

in parabolic

form while

he's in the

temple in

Jerusalem.

God has

sent Isaiah,

Jeremiah,

Ezekiel,

Hosea,

Amos,

Zechariah,

Malachi,

just to name

a few.

They were

beaten,

they were

killed,

they were

humiliated.

They were

God's servants

faithfully

proclaiming God's

word to a

disobedient

people.

So like

Israel's

leaders of

old,

Israel's

present

leaders,

the Sanhedrin,

had claimed

God's

people for

themselves,

the vineyard

czars.

Forgetting that

they were

caretakers,

they thought

they were

owners.

And so

in verse

six,

we have

a dramatic

shift in

the story.

He had

still one

other,

the vineyard

owner had

one more,

a beloved

son.

We've

come across

those two

words in

Mark before.

The first

time is

chapter one,

verse 11,

at Jesus'

baptism,

the heavens

open up,

the Spirit

of God

descends on

Jesus,

and then

there is

this voice

as loud

as thunder,

this is

my beloved

son,

in whom I

delight.

The gospel

of Mark

has already

told us

who this

is.

And the

other time

it's

Mark chapter

nine,

verse seven,

Jesus'

transfiguration.

God

has been

transfigured,

his disciples

are dumbfounded,

they're saying

weird things,

cloud,

and out of

the cloud,

God speaks

again.

This is my

beloved son.

Listen to

him.

God the

father asserts

the authority

of God the

son.

Respect

him.

Obey

him.

And

so this

beloved son,

we've

already

heard about.

Isn't it

ironic?

Here is

Jesus,

the beloved

son of God

declared by

God himself,

speaking a

parable,

referring to

himself in

the third

person as

a beloved

son.

And he's

going to

talk about

himself as

being sent

to the

vineyard

by his

father,

and he

will be

killed by

the tenant

farmers.

See what

Jesus is

doing here?

This is

the gospel.

The vineyard

owner in

verse 6

says,

he sends

him,

they will

respect my

son.

Verse 7,

the complete

opposite

happens.

The

tenants,

they see

him,

this is

the heir,

come let

us kill

him,

they do

not respect

his son,

and the

inheritance

will be

ours.

This is a

property

dispute.

This parable

is a

property

dispute

between

the owner

and the

tenant

farmers,

and the

owner has

gone to

great lengths

in order

to appeal

to the

tenant

farmers,

hey,

just give

me some

fruit.

It's my

vineyard.

What a

contrast

between

respect

my son

and the

heir,

let's

kill him.

Verse 8,

they take

him,

they kill

him,

they cast

him out

of his

inheritance.

inheritance.

Jesus

is a

master

worker.

He's

essentially

re-speaking

what he's

been saying

multiple

times all

along.

The son

of man

must suffer,

be rejected,

be killed,

and be

raised.

831,

same thing

in 931,

same thing

in 1033

and 34.

This is

a parable

about God

sending his

son to

reclaim a

people.

Sophisticated.

And it

culminates in

the sending

of the

beloved son.

And you'll

be killed

for the

vineyard.

It's a

gospel

parable.

It's good

news.

It's good

news for

us because

we see

in this

a persistent

loving

God going

after what

is his,

his vineyard.

But it's

not good

news for

the Sanhedrin.

So if

you're to

ask what

is this

parable

about,

on one

level,

hey,

it's a

property

dispute,

but really?

this

parable

is

God's

plan

for

salvation

that

culminates

in the

sending of

his son,

Jesus,

to die

for his

people.

And it's

taking place

in Jerusalem

in the

temple.

And he's

speaking it

to the

very people

who are

going to

kill him.

So why

did Jesus

speak this

parable?

In verse

9,

Jesus asks

a rhetorical

question.

In the

parable,

he's kind

of bringing

it home.

He says,

what will

the owner

of the

vineyard

do?

He will

come and

destroy the

tenants and

give the

vineyard to

others.

So he's

going to

do two

things.

The owner

is going

to visit

judgment

and destruction

on the

tenant

farmers.

And the

second thing

he's going

to do

is he's

going to

entrust

the

vineyard

to

another.

Do you

know what

happened in

70 AD?

judgment came

to Jerusalem.

The Roman

general

Titus

destroyed the

city,

raised the

temple,

scattered

countless

Jews to

the nation's

judgment.

It happened.

But God's

people weren't

destroyed.

The vineyard

wasn't

destroyed.

Now prior

to 70 AD,

God began

planting and

growing a

new and

expanded

vineyard of

Jews and

Gentiles who

had been

radically changed

by the risen

Jesus Christ.

In April

33 AD,

Pentecost

happened.

And the

new vineyard

was born.

The church.

God's

vineyard in

Jesus.

And God

has been

growing and

expanding this

vineyard ever

since.

If you want to

line that up with

some other things

of the kingdom

of God we've

been learning,

this is Daniel

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7,

13 and 14.

This is the

son of man who

has been given

a dominion,

a kingdom,

kingdom that

is everlasting

and indestructible,

made up of

people from

all nations.

Why did

Jesus speak

this parable?

To show

he has

authority.

In verse 28,

by what

authority do

you do these

things?

It's being

asked by the

chief priests,

scribes,

and elders,

and Jesus

answers them

with a

parable.

I'm the

son.

I'm the

beloved son.

He's saying,

I have

authority because

I was sent

by the

vineyard owner.

Second,

this is,

why did Jesus

speak this

parable?

It's judgment.

Judgment on

the disobedient,

evil shepherds

of the day.

Third,

it's

fulfillment.

Did you

see Psalm

118,

22,

and 23?

Speaking to

these religious

leaders,

he says,

do you not

know what

your Bible

says?

The stone

that the

builders rejected

has become

the cornerstone.

He's referring

to himself,

and so there's

been a metaphor

changed.

Jesus is now

talking,

no longer

talking about

himself as a

beloved son,

but now is

some kind

of a stone

that gets

rejected by

the builders,

the builders

being the

leaders,

Jesus being

the stone.

His rejection

ultimately culminates

in his

crucifixion.

That's the

stone that

was rejected.

But that

doesn't end

there,

because that

stone that

was rejected

has become

the cornerstone.

And if we

apply it to

the gospel,

do you know

what the

becoming of

the cornerstone

is?

His

resurrection.

And being

placed

placed as

the most

important stone

to build a

new building,

the people

of God.

This is a

gospel parable.

It's a

gospel.

It turns out

that this

parable,

though bad

news for

the Sanhedrin,

for us,

it is really

good news.

this Jewish

Messiah

is our

king.

He died

and was

raised so

that we

could be

grafted

into his

vineyard.

Why did

Jesus speak

this parable?

Well,

there's multiple

reasons.

But it's

marvelous in

our eyes.

It's

how do

we

respond?

Here's the

big question

for us.

How are you

going to

respond to

this this

morning?

We're

2,000 years

after Jesus

spoke this.

Does it

matter?

What

difference does

this make?

I mean,

does it

make any

difference for

us today

that Jesus

spoke this

parable?

Yes.

First is

behold your

king.

Behold

him.

Behold

him in

the temple

in Jerusalem

speaking these

words to

these men

that he'd be

rejected and

killed and

eventually raised

for the

vineyard.

That the

new leadership

would be the

apostolic

shepherds.

we marvel.

We marvel

at him.

If you

have yet to

become a

Christian, a

follower of

Jesus, it's

simply acknowledging

your sin and

acknowledging what

God through

Christ has done.

He was killed

and he was

raised to

bring you into

his family.

And what you

do is you

simply say,

I will receive

your gift and

I will

gladly enter

your family

and I

will follow

you.

So behold

your king,

he's the

beloved son.

The second

way we

respond to

this is we

follow the

beloved son.

We follow

our king.

This Jesus

who's saying

boldly these

things,

you know

what?

he's worth

everything.

He's worth

everything to

follow.

He's worthy

of it all.

He's the

treasure hidden

in the field.

And in joy,

we give

everything we

can have to

acquire it.

He is,

he's,

he's it.

Did you

notice all the

suffering that

happens in this

parable?

All the

servants,

they suffer.

So the

servants are

like small

s suffering

servants.

But Jesus,

a beloved

son,

is the

capital

s suffering

servant.

Which means

if you're

going to

follow Jesus,

expect to

suffer for

Jesus.

People make

fun of you

for being

narrow-minded.

People make

fun of you

for basing

your life

on a book.

People think

that you're

ignorant.

People think

that your

religion is

a crutch.

Jesus is

totally worth

it.

Third,

behold your

king,

follow your

king,

take heart

wayward

one.

Was anyone

shocked

shocked by

God's

faithful and

persistent

sending of

prophets to

his wayward

people?

Is anybody

else shocked

by that?

What a

God in

his steadfast

love and

faithfulness.

So if you

were a

wayward

Christian who

happened in

into the

sanctuary,

I am really

glad that you

came.

God,

he wants

you back.

He wants

you back

and he

wants you

back with

his people.

So come,

let's follow

Jesus together.

Together

following Jesus.

Finally,

last application

is for the

Christian leaders

in the room.

Be sober,

Christian

leader.

The most

grievous

mistake in

this parable,

the sin,

are these

tenant

farmers who

mistakenly

thought that

the vineyard

belonged to

them.

It's

presumptuous

and prideful.

Christian

leadership is

like tenant

farming.

We don't

own the

vineyard.

Christ the

King Church

doesn't belong

to the

pastors and

elders of

Christ the

King Church.

The church

doesn't exist

to serve

its leadership.

The church's

leadership

exists to

serve

Christ's

vineyard,

his church.

So elders,

deacons,

life group

leaders,

ministry

directors,

and teams,

we are

caretakers

of God's

people,

of the

vineyard,

the blood

bought of

Jesus.

It's a joy

and a

privilege.

And we

will be held

accountable

for it.

Let's take

that to

heart.

the

tortoise

and the

hare is

a fable

about being

slow and

steady.

The

parable of

the tenants

is a

parable of

the gospel.

A beloved

son

killed

to reclaim

his vineyard.

stone.

He's the

stone that

the builders

rejected and

he's become

the corner

stone.

Our

corner

stone.

So this

morning,

Christ the

King

Church,

behold your

king.

God's plan

of salvation

has always

been to

send his

beloved son

for us.

And it is

marvelous in

our eyes.

Let's pray

together.

God in

heaven,

thank you

for this

parable.

And we

take it

as from

you

into our

hearts.

We want

to be

good soil

that this

seed falls

into.

God,

would you

make us

fruitful?

Would you

help us to

live for

you,

Lord Jesus?

Live for

you humbly.

You are

marvelous in

our eyes.

In your

name we

pray.

Amen.