Tag Archives: vineyard

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – THE PLOT THICKENS

Bible Study, ,

CHAPTER 12

THE PLOT THICKENS

​1 Jesus then began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 2 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.
6 “He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
7 “But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
9 “What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture:
“‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
11 the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
12 Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away. Mark 12:1-12

Another parable but this time designed to reveal the plot, the story of the Bible in a nutshell. This time His story was very blunt. To the religious leaders, it was so clear that they immediately got the point. But instead of responding thoughtfully with the view to changing their attitude, they became even more murderous in their hearts. Jesus was slowly turning the tables on His tormentors. They had been hounding Him since the beginning of His ministry. Now He was exposing them and they didn’t like it. They couldn’t get away fast enough because the common people were always around and they, the religious leaders, were losing face by His exposure.

This parable was not difficult for them to understand. Since the Jews read (or heard) a story for identification, they easily identified the villains of the plot. There is also familiar symbolism in the parable. The Old Testament prophets used the vineyard as a symbol of Israel, e.g., Isaiah 5:1-7. In this story, the emphasis is not on the nature of the vineyard or the quality of the crops but rather on the ones responsible for caring for the vineyard and the landowner’s right to the harvest.

Although one does not necessarily interpret every detail in a parable, there are some details that are hints that bring a greater understanding of the kingdom, e.g., the landowner’s absence and his entrusting his vineyard to farmhands who would manage it for him. According to Genesis 1:26ff God has entrusted His creation to man to manage.

In this case, the farmhands would be the spiritual leaders who were entrusted with the care of God’s people – the vineyard. Instead of carrying out God’s instructions, they exploited the people for personal gain (see Mark 11:15-18). The servants sent to collect the farmer’s share of the profits would no doubt have been His prophets and the son obviously Jesus. The religious leaders immediately recognised their own identity in the story and rose up in anger against Him but, once again, they were afraid of the mob at this point. This was not the time to take action against Jesus. They would have to be subtle to win the people over.

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – THEY WILL RESPECT MY SON!

Bible Study, , ,

THEY WILL RESPECT MY SON!

“Jesus told another story to the people. ‘A man planted a vineyard. He handed it over to farmhands and went on a trip….In time he sent a servant back to the farmhands to collect the profits, but they beat him and sent him off empty-handed….’

“Then the owner of the vineyard said,’…I’ll send my beloved son. They are bound to respect my son.’

“But when the farmhands saw him coming, they quickly put their heads together.’…This is the heir! Let’s kill him and have it all to ourselves.’ They killed him and threw him over the fence…

‘What do you think the owner of the vineyard will do? Right. He’ll come and clean house. Then he’ll assign the care of the vineyard to others…’“.’” Luke 20:9-16a.

What a daring story! Although Jesus was not afraid of outright exposure, which He sometimes used to strip off the masks of the religious frauds who tried to make out that they had impeccable religious performance records, a story like this one did the job just as well. Since parables were a rabbinical device to be heard or read for identification, they would have had to get the point, which did nothing to endear Jesus to them!

There is both symbolism and character portrayal in this parable. The vine was often used in the Old Testament as a symbol of Israel. “I will sing for the one I love a song about His vineyard: My loved one has a vineyard on a fertile hill…” Isaiah 5:1 (NIV).

“Israel was a spreading vine; he brought forth fruit for himself. As his fruit increased, he built more altars; as his land prospered, he adorned his sacred stones.” Hosea 10:1 (NIV).

Both Isaiah and Hosea saw Israel as God’s vineyard, planted in their own land and tenderly cared for but treacherously unfaithful to their Creator.

In this story, the focus is on the leaders of God’s ‘vineyard’. The owner entrusted his vineyard to caretakers while he was away. He expected the farmhands to care for it faithfully and to give him the profits which rightfully belonged to him. Instead, the farmhands treated the property as though it were theirs and drove off any attempt to retrieve what was his.

What an exposure of the attitude of Israel’s spiritual leaders! They treated the people, not as a trust, but as their possession, teaching them falsehood and leading them astray so that they could maintain power over them. They resented Jesus’ intrusion because His passion was to show His people what God was really like and to set them free from these unscrupulous overlords.

They respected neither the prophets who were sent to challenge their power and their false teaching, nor the Son Himself who came from the Father to set the record straight and to restore His people to the Father. They had only one intent – to kill the Son so that they could retain the power to dominate His people.

Spiritual leadership is a sacred trust from God and those who are appointed to lead are both responsible and accountable to God because the people are His. What happens to them is the outcome of who leads and how they lead. Leaders and people are bonded together for one purpose – to be a reward for the sacrifice Jesus made to rescue us from the clutches of the devil and to reconcile and restore us to the Father.

“Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account…” Hebrews 13:17a (NIV).

Israel’s religious leaders forgot their sacred trust and were treated accordingly. To those of us who lead comes the reminder that we do not own the people. Our task is to be faithful imitators of our Rabbi so that we can attach them to Him, not to ourselves, for the eternal reward is His, not ours.

Our reward will be to hear His words, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant…”

Another Nail In His Coffin

Bible Study, , , ,

ANOTHER NAIL IN HIS COFFIN

Jesus then began to speak to them in parables: ‘A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place.

At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.

He had one left to send, a son whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, “They will respect my son.” But the tenants said to one another, “This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.” So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. Haven’t you read this passage, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this and it is marvellous in our eyes”?’

Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest Him because they knew He had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left Him and went away (Mark 12: 1-12).

Clever guys! You got the message! But did they?

Why did Jesus tell a story like this against the religious leaders? Was it to alert them to the fact that He knew what they were up to? Was He warning them not to do it because there were serious consequences for them if they did? Was He giving them an opportunity to change their minds?

Remember that this story followed the cleansing of the temple and their enquiry about His authority to do that. They must surely have got the message, loud and clear that He had done what He had done to the merchants and money-changers because He was acting on authority given to Him by none other than God Himself. If that was so, then the story He told about them, concealed in the parable of the vineyard and the unscrupulous tenants, came from the same source of authority as His action in the temple.

But these men were stubborn, just as stubborn as their forebears who refused to submit to God’s authority. In spite of the retribution that fell on them time and again, the Israelites had never learned the lesson. Disobedience to God’s Word carries penalties – not because God is cruel or vindictive, but because there are natural consequences to transgressing the laws which keep the universe functioning in harmony with the nature of God.

Let’s look at the parable. There are some clear lessons in it, for them and for us. Jesus often told a story to address a problem; leaving the hearers to discern the answer for themselves. It was up to the hearers to identify with one or more of the characters in the story. There are four groups of people in this story; the owner of the vineyard, the tenants, the owner’s servants and his son.

What was the issue? The vineyard was the property of the landowner – the tenants those who worked the vineyard and owed some of the harvest to the landowner. They were stewards of property not their own.

The owner of the vineyard had a right to collect some of the harvest, but the tenants acted as though they had a right to it all. When the landowner sent servants to collect what was rightfully his, they rejected his claim and abused his servants. They refused to honour the rightful heir, murdering him with the idea that, if he were out of the way, they could lay claim to the vineyard and keep the profits.

Their thinking was faulty for the following reasons:

  1. The vineyard did not belong to them. They were stewards responsible for working it for the landowner.
  2. The profits did not belong to them. The owner had the right to claim his share.
  3. They were under the authority of the landowner. They were obliged to do what he requested.
  4. They were servants, not sons. They had no right to the inheritance.

The religious leaders got the message, loud and clear, but they did not receive it. Their response was the same as the tenants – kill the messengers and in that way negate the message, so they thought.

Did it work for them? Not according to Jesus. What would actually happen and what they thought would happen were poles apart. Israel was God’s “vineyard”. He had done everything for them to guarantee fruitfulness, and entrusted it to appointed leaders who were to care for His people under His directions. But instead they had led the people astray. Time and again He sent His prophets to call the people back to Himself but they were ignored, rejected and abused and some were even murdered.

Then He sent His one and only beloved Son. What would they do with Him? The custodians of God’s “vineyard” were already scheming to kill Him. Would they get the message? The outcome was already determined – and Jesus indicated in the conclusion to His parable that He knew what it was. Would they heed the warning? There were consequences in it for them if they didn’t.

Their response indicated that they were like the hard soil of the footpath. The more they were warned, the harder their hearts became, strengthening their resolve to get rid of the landowner’s son.

What is the condition of your heart?

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

 

 

They Will Respect My Son!

Christian Life, , ,

THEY WILL RESPECT MY SON!

“Jesus told another story to the people. ‘A man planted a vineyard. He handed it over to farmhands and went on a trip….In time he sent a servant back to the farmhands to collect the profits, but they beat him and sent him off empty-handed….’

“Then the owner of the vineyard said,’…I’ll send my beloved son. They are bound to respect my son.’

“But when the farmhands saw him coming, they quickly put their heads together.’…This is the heir! Let’s kill him and have it all to ourselves.’ They killed him and threw him over the fence…

‘What do you think the owner of the vineyard will do? Right. He’ll come and clean house. Then he’ll assign the care of the vineyard to others…’“.’” Luke 20:9-15. (The Message).

What a daring story! Although Jesus was not afraid of outright exposure, which He sometimes used to strip off the masks of the religious frauds who tried to make out that they had impeccable religious performance records, a story like this one did the job just as well. Since parables were a rabbinical device to be heard or read for identification, they would have had to get the point, which did nothing to endear Jesus to them!

There is both symbolism and character portrayal in this parable. The vine was often used in the Old Testament as a symbol of Israel. “I will sing for the one I love a song about His vineyard: My loved one has a vineyard on a fertile hill…” Isaiah 5:1 (NIV). “Israel was a spreading vine; he brought forth fruit for himself. As his fruit increased, he built more altars; as his land prospered, he adorned his sacred stones.” Hosea 10:1 (NIV).

Both Isaiah and Hosea saw Israel as God’s vineyard, planted in their own land and tenderly cared for but treacherously unfaithful to their Creator.

In this story, the focus is on the leaders of God’s ‘vineyard’. The owner entrusted his vineyard to caretakers while he was away. He expected the farmhands to care for it faithfully and to give him the profits which rightfully belonged to him. Instead, the farmhands treated the property as though it were theirs and drove off any attempt to retrieve what was his.

What an exposure of the attitude of Israel’s spiritual leaders! They treated the people, not as a trust, but as their possession, teaching them falsehood and leading them astray so that they could maintain power over them. They resented Jesus’ intrusion because His passion was to show His people what God was really like and to set them free from these unscrupulous overlords.

They respected neither the prophets who were sent to challenge their power and their false teaching, nor the Son Himself who came from the Father to set the record straight and to restore His people to the Father. They had only one intent – to kill the Son so that they could retain the power to dominate His people.

Spiritual leadership is a sacred trust from God and those who are appointed to lead are both responsible and accountable to God because the people are His. What happens to them is the outcome of who leads and how they lead. Leaders and people are bonded together for one purpose – to be a reward for the sacrifice Jesus made to rescue us from the clutches of the devil and to reconcile and restore us to the Father.

“Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account…” Hebrews 13:17a (NIV).

Israel’s religious leaders forgot their sacred trust and were treated accordingly. To those of us who lead comes the reminder that we do not own the people. Our task is to be faithful imitators of our Rabbi so that we can attach them to Him, not to ourselves, for the eternal reward is His, not ours.

Our reward will be to hear His words, “Well done, good and faithful servant…”