Our journey through the Gospel According to Mark continues this morning with a step forward into a new subsection of the Gospel that will carry us through the end of Chapter 12. Jesus and his followers and the twelve have arrived in Jerusalem.
We saw in our text last week, how Jesus gives us a real-life parable, as he curses a fig tree, cleanses the money changers and robbers from the temple, and then the next morning, the cursed fig tree is withered up. Mark envelops the account of Jesus clearing the temple with this story of the fig tree.
I mentioned last week how, throughout scripture, that imagery of the fig tree represents Israel -- and, specifically in the context of Mark’s Gospel, it represents the temple and all that is associated with it. Jesus announces his judgment against the temple because it was all leaves and no meaningful fruit. It was all show and no substance.
The purpose of the sacrificial system was to point the people forward to the Lamb of God who would come to die for the sin of the world. Jesus makes clear for us that the entirety of the Old Testament is pointing forward to him -- bearing witness to what he would come to accomplish. And so Jesus brings judgment against Israel, and specifically the temple activities because they weren’t fulfilling the purpose for which God designed them. The entire purpose of their existence was right in front of them and they failed to recognize him.
And it is the temple, and the system that surrounds it, that will be the setting of a series of seven conflicts that will take place between chapter 11:27 and the end of chapter 12. These conflicts will occur between Jesus and the temple authorities, the Pharisees, the Herodians, the Sadducees, and the scribes. We might say that in this section, Jesus shifts his target from Israel and the temple, to the religious leaders specifically.
In this era in history, the Jewish people were ruled by what is called the Sanhedrin. This was the Jewish ruling council and was composed of representatives from the two major religious parties -- the Pharisees and the Sadducees. And it usually consisted of 70 men -- and was led by the High Priest, who, at least during the New Testament period, served as president of the Sanhedrin. This isn’t talked about explicitly at this point in the gospel, but it’s helpful to know this backdrop as we discuss this series of conflicts over the coming week, and as we then step deeper into the events of Jesus' arrest and crucifixion later in the gospel.
Well with that background and context, would you stand as I read our sermon text for today from Mark 11:27 - Mark 12:12.
Just a warning -- this passage is longer than I would prefer to handle in one helping -- but I think it’s preferable, because these passages really are one encounter, to handle them as a whole.
Starting in Mark 11:27:
They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. 28 “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you authority to do this?”
29 Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 30 John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin? Tell me!”
31 They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘Of human origin’ …” (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.)
33 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
12 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.
God, your word is true. We believe it. We acknowledge and confess your authority in all things -- in faith and in life. And so we ask you to speak. We submit ourselves to your word as authoritative and supreme over all things, including over our own wills and desires. Convict us of sin, lead us to the cross. Leave us resting in your grace to sinners. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
As we work through this encounter between Jesus and the Jewish rulers, I want you to see:
First, the Authority of Jesus is Questioned.
V. 28 - “and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?”
This is not the first time in the Gospel that the authority of Jesus has been questioned, and it won’t be the last time.
The word that they use is a fairly common Biblical word. It shows up around 100 times in the New Testament. Let’s do a little math -- the Bible that I use at my desk has 225 pages in the new testament. So -- on average, this word shows up once on every other page of the New Testament or so. That's a fairly high frequency.
If you remember back to chapter 1 of this Gospel, Mark records for us that the people were amazed because Jesus was teaching “as one who had authority.”
And, if you remember in chapter 3, verse 22, the scribes acknowledged Jesus' authority -- but they explained it away by saying that his authority came from Satan.
There is an important denial that is part of their questioning of Jesus. V. 28 “who gave you authority to do this?” They are denying the divinity of Jesus -- and, I would argue that they are denying more than that. The assertion is not only that Jesus isn’t God, but that he isn’t FROM God and he doesn’t speak with God’s authority. This isn’t the sort of passive rejection that we’ve seen from the disciples in the Gospel so far -- it’s much more active than that. It’s essentially saying, “We don’t know who you are, but we know that you’re not from God.”
Before we get too critical of these folks, we must examine our own hearts. The reality is that if we are honest with ourselves, none of us really want to live under the authority of Jesus. None of us want to hear the things that Jesus has to say to us. If you doubt me, go back and read the account of Jesus’ conversation with the rich young ruler in which Jesus says “sell everything, give to the poor, and then come follow me.” None of us like that because most of us have wealth that we don’t like to admit causes us to place our trust somewhere other than in God alone.
Or, if that doesn’t do it for you, read the sermon on the mount, where Jesus calls you a murderer if you’ve spoken an angry and vindictive word against someone...and an adulterer if you’ve been guilty of lust.
And if that still isn’t enough, go back to last week and hear those words of the need for forgiveness -- if we want to be forgiven. And we could go on and on. None of us actually like to be under the authority of Jesus -- at least our sin nature doesn’t. We like to prop up our righteousness -- like the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable on humility in prayer -- we like to pray “Thank you God that I’m not like that person, or that person, or that person.”
It’s critical, not only that I notice the immediate context of this passage -- the Sanhedrin questioning the authority of Jesus -- but that I also recognize MY tendency to question the authority of Jesus. Perhaps not an active rejection, but a passive one.
We may not say “who gave you the authority”, but instead just ignore his commission. Ignore his call to make disciples. Ignore his persistent reminder that his grace is sufficient. We may not question whether he has the right to do what he does, but instead, become so invested in the affairs of this world that we have no interest or urgency for eternal things.
Seeing the denial of Jesus' authority by the religious leaders should never cause us to roll our eyes and laugh mockingly at their hard hearts -- it should always be humbling. It should serve as a wake-up call that if people who had significant chunks of the Torah memorized could reject the authority of God’s son, My own sin can lead me to the same result. It should always drive me to self-examination and repentance, rather than pride.
Well, now that we’ve discussed the interaction that leads to the parable, let’s explore the parable itself.
So, first, the authority of Jesus is questioned:
Second, Jesus illustrates the actions of the Religious Leaders.
Jesus uses a unique parable to reveal what these religious leaders are doing. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed it or not, but Mark’s Gospel doesn’t contain many parables, at least in comparison to Matthew or Luke. In fact, if I counted right, there are only two major parables contained in the gospel -- and then several minor parables that are probably more accurately described as lessons or examples.
So what is the parable that Jesus tells?
Starting in 12:1 - “A man planted a vineyard…” We will talk about this more in a minute, but suffice it to say that the vineyard represents Israel. We don’t necessarily make the connection, but these learned Jews would certainly understand.
Back to Verse 1 - He rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place.
So the man plants a vineyard, builds the infrastructure that was necessary like a watchtower and wine press -- and then leaves it and rents it out on shares. I should also mention that it becomes pretty obvious as we move through the parable that the man who owns the vineyard represents God in the story.
When it’s time to collect his share of the harvest, the owner sends his servant. And in verse 3 we see that the renters beat him up and send him away with nothing. So he sends another servant and they hit him over the head and treat him dishonorably. He goes back to the owner with his head wound and reports what happened.
It’s important to note that this is the point at which the parable ventures into absurdity.
It’s highly unlikely that a real vineyard owner would send a second servant if the first came back beat up and empty-handed. But CERTAINLY, he would never send a third servant. But, we see in verse 5 that this owner did just that -- and this third servant is killed. And the patient owner continues to send, Mark says, “many others.” Some were beaten, some killed.
We have a train of casualties because of these greedy and self-focused renters. And this is where the parable takes an unexpected twist -- at least to our human eyes. But, let’s be honest, “unexpected” isn’t a strong enough word. This could only be called reckless. The tenant says to himself “surely they will respect my son. And so he sends his son and they kill him as well.
Now, this is where understanding the cultural practice of land rent would be helpful. Renting out land was a common practice then, just as it is in our area today. The main difference is that if you were renting land and you died without an heir, the renter would likely inherit the property.
In V. 7 they say “come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.”
These bright Jewish minds might have jumped back to the story of Abraham and Isaac when they heard the phrase “beloved son.” Others in Jesus’ company likely thought back to the words of the father at Jesus’ baptism -- and on the Mount of Transfiguration.
It is an absurd parable. We might find ourselves thinking “that’s crazy, no tenant would be stupid enough to act like that -- and certainly no landowner would be that reckless so as to get his own son murdered.”
And, of course, if that’s our reaction, that is exactly Jesus’ point. Truly the only thing more absurd than the parable is the fact that it all played out in real life.
God, in his patience, sent prophets to warn and call the people to repentance, but Israel kept rejecting and wounding them. And when it seemed like God should probably just smite them all for what was done, he recklessly sent his beloved son. And, as expected, they had him killed.
Jesus perfectly illustrates the actions of the religious leaders, and the patient and, dare we say, reckless Love of God.
Jesus steps out of the parable with a question for those listening: What then will the owner of the vineyard do?
The authority of Jesus is questioned,
Jesus illustrates the actions of the religious leaders: and:
Third, God pronounces his Judgement upon the Religious leaders because of their Unbelief.
Verse 9 “What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”
It’s important to realize that Jesus doesn't just pull this parable out of thin air. The imagery of a Vineyard representing Israel, or, perhaps, more accurately, the believing people of God, is well established. Listen to how the Prophet Isaiah spoke of this -- and I think you’ll recognize almost all of the imagery that Jesus uses in his parable:
Isaiah 5:1-7
I will sing for the one I love
a song about his vineyard:
My loved one had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside.
2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones
and planted it with the choicest vines.
He built a watchtower in it
and cut out a winepress as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
but it yielded only bad fruit.
3 “Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
4 What more could have been done for my vineyard
than I have done for it?
When I looked for good grapes,
why did it yield only bad?
5 Now I will tell you
what I am going to do to my vineyard:
I will take away its hedge,
and it will be destroyed;
I will break down its wall,
and it will be trampled.
6 I will make it a wasteland,
neither pruned nor cultivated,
and briers and thorns will grow there.
I will command the clouds
not to rain on it.”
7 The vineyard of the Lord Almighty
is the nation of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are the vines he delighted in.
And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed;
for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.
I think it’s safe to say that Jesus leans on Isaiah’s prophecy for much of his parable. Now, you can’t just take Isaiah and set it over top of the parable of the tenants and expect it to explain everything. But it does help us see the language and the imagery. It gives us a sense of what Jesus is doing.
God was looking for a good crop -- for good fruit to come from his people -- but all he found was bad grapes. It’s helpful imagery, isn’t it? Have you ever gone to the produce drawer in the refrigerator, pulled out that bag of grapes, and realized that you left them in there a few days longer than you should? Shrunken, soggy, probably fermenting. Isaiah says that God was looking in Israel for good fruit but only found bad.
And did you notice the reaction of the religious leaders? V. 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.”
They want so badly to put an end to this disrespectful, backwackwards rabbi from Nazareth -- they want to shut him up.
What the Sanhedrin can never understand is that Jesus is going to take their hatred of him, their rejection of his identity -- and he is going to use it to save the world. Jesus is going to use their rejection of him as the hammer that will nail him to the cross.
Or to use Jesus’ quote of Psalm 118 - “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone…” Jesus would be the cornerstone of an eternal kingdom. You see, this is where the Sanhedrin and the disciples were both wrong. Both of them were thinking of Jesus and evaluating Jesus in terms of earthly power and authority.
There is a fascinating conversation that happens between Jesus and his disciples in Acts 1 that makes this clear -- this is the very last recorded conversation with Jesus before he ascends into heaven:
The disciples say: 6 Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
Think about that question. Ok, Jesus, you died for the sin of the World, and God raised you from the dead, conquering sin, death, and satan. NOW CERTAINLY it must be time for you to get on with the work of restoring the kingdom to Israel.
7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The disciples are still focused on Jesus as an earthly king. Short-sighted. Missing the big picture. And It’s as if Jesus says “you're asking the wrong question.” The question isn’t “when will the kingdom be set up in Israel, but, rather, ‘What is God at work doing next and what is my part in it?”
And you can’t blame the disciples -- they just watched what had happened to Jesus and they want to be rescued. They want Rome to be conquered and Jesus to establish his kingdom so that they won’t suffer the same fate. I can’t blame them for that at all.
But God has another plan. The parable tells us that the vineyard owner isn’t just going to destroy the tenants -- he’s going to give the vineyard to others. Unlike Isaiah’s prophecy when God comes and destroys the vineyard, making it a wasteland...Jesus says that he will simply destroy the tenants -- the renters -- those tasked with leading and caring for his kingdom -- and he will give it to others.
These wicked tenants are the leaders of Israel. Those called to lead Israel into faithfulness but instead led them to fruitlessness. And, of course, as I mentioned last week, within a generation Roman armies would descend on Jerusalem and destroy the temple and scatter any semblance of what they had previously known.
We might do well to think of John 1:11 - “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
Now, we want to be careful to have good theology -- to have a robust understanding of God. In the parable, God seems to be reactionary -- to be constantly just responding to the actions of the tenants. But we know that God foresaw all that would take place. God foreknew the rebellion and the hard hearts and the fruitlessness of Israel.
God didn’t send his son out of desperation like the vineyard owner -- but out of deep and steadfast love.
For God so loved the WORLD, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
This encounter with the religious leaders, and the Parable of condemnation that follows it, aren’t just a message for the religious in the 1st Century -- but a call to repentance for you and me today.
This message is intended to give us a glimpse, not only of the rebellion and fruitlessness and unbelief of those in Jerusalem but of us in Dickinson.
God sent his son. And his son was rejected. And his son was killed. And God did bring about the destruction of those wicked tenants. And that’s where this allegory in our text diverts from reality -- because the grand and unexpected plot twist in real life is that the Son doesn’t stay dead. The vineyard owner, by his own authority and power, raises the son back to life. And here’s the best part -- when the son rises from the dead, he makes available the promise of resurrection for all who will believe -- EVEN THOSE WHO KILLED HIM.
You see, the Son wasn’t just a helpless victim sent by a reckless land-owner. He was a willing sacrifice for the sins of the Jewish leader, for your sin, and mine. And so we rejoice today as recipients of the abundant grace and steadfast love of God.
Jesus came offering something that the religious leaders of his day couldn’t accept -- free, abundant, no-strings-attached, nothing-you-can-do-to-earn-it, amazing grace.
As the old hymn says:
Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,
Freely bestowed on all who believe!
And for millennia, people have been stumbling over this cornerstone because it seems too good to be true. Even many professing Christians can’t believe that it’s ALL by faith. That Jesus did it all. As Paul says, it’s a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to gentiles.
Just believe. Just receive. The son was sent by God -- the son died in your place -- the son rose again guaranteeing that you too might rise one day. Wherever you are at in your faith journey today, just repent and believe the Gospel.
God, we are grateful for this encounter that Jesus has with the religious leaders, and the story that he tells that follows it. God, protect us from ever patting ourselves on the back for our faithfulness when we see examples of other’s doubt and unbelief. Humble us, Lord. We know that we are just as prone to doubt as anyone else.
Lord, lead us to repentance today. Keep us at the foot of the cross. We are so grateful that your kingdom was opened to us. That the gospel was preached to us. That you loved us while we were your enemies.
We worship you for sending your son to die for us, in our place. We are grateful for your reckless love and abundant grace. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
