READING: MARK 12:1-17

Jesus then began to speak to them in parables: ‘A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall round 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 of Scripture: “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.

Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. They came to him and said, ‘Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the poll-tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?’

But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. ‘Why are you trying to trap me?’ he asked. ‘Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.’ They brought the coin, and he asked them, ‘Whose image is this? And whose inscription?’

‘Caesar’s,’ they replied.

Then Jesus said to them, ‘Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.’

And they were amazed at him.

REFLECTION

There is a good friend of mine who I have known for a good number of years who is not a

Christian. We have talked and talked about faith, about God, about Jesus. We have spent

hours putting the world to rights, diagnosing the world’s problems and offering solutions. On

many topics we share the same opinions… his attitude at many points overlaps with Jesus’

teaching. We agree on so much, he is one of those, ‘very-nearly-a-christian-oh-why-don’t-you-get-it-give-your-life-to-Jesus-you-would-be-such-an-asset-to-the-kingdom’ people. His sticking point? What stops him from taking the plunge?

Well he is a sharp guy… he cannot bring himself to give over control to God. He is strong,

independent and determined. He needs to be in charge, he needs to call the shots.

If we are honest, in many ways we are just like him, perhaps just not quite so honest!

We live in a society that champions the individual. Its about MY rights, MY freedoms, MY

desires, MY choices, MY money, MY career, MY family, MY MY MY!

The story that Jesus tells today is of God’s vineyard… he planted it, he built the walls, he

dug the winepress, he built the watch tower. It is his. He appointed some tenants to work it…

but they get to thinking that it is theirs. They don’t owe anyone anything. They have taken

over, they have taken control… the vineyard - that’s MINE. The fruit - that’s MINE. The wine

- that’s MINE. I own it, I don’t need you. I can do it on my own, thank you very much!

When at last God sends his son… when the son asks for what is his, they reject him… they

kill him to ensure that what they already claim to be theirs, remains theirs forever. Alas, God

more powerful than they could possibly imagine. He still has the deeds. He can give his

vineyard to whoever he wants…

Who gets to tell you what to do? Who’s opinion do you value more than your own? When

you need advice where do you turn? How do you spend the wages that you earn from your

own vineyard: the job that God has provided you with?

THE answer is Jesus… We read his words and we try to live them out, we hear a

challenging talk on Sunday and we respond to the challenge by making a change to the way

that we live our lives. Little by little we allow God to teach us and train us how we should live.

As we trust him, as we listen to his words and put them into practice, that inner trust affects

everything. EVERYTHING!

The great paradox in the Christian life is that we find the greatest freedom when we give

ourselves completely to God. Like a child, safe and secure, we get to play and learn without

worry or fear. We have a dad who will fix it. Whatever comes our way. When we give up

trying to do life our way and embrace God’s way we find peace, joy, hope and that love that

drives out all fear.

What do you need to give up control of today? What is the first step that you can take?

PRAYER

Father, thank you that you are trustworthy. That we can trust you with our whole life. With

our family, our finances, with our futures. We know that it will not be easy, giving up control

never is. Help us to trust you, teach us how to live, how to really live. With you as our dad we

know that we should fear nothing… help us overcome our fears and trust you. Amen

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