"1 Jesus began to use stories to teach the people. He said, “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it and dug a hole for a winepress and built a tower. Then he leased the land to some farmers and left for a trip. 2 When it was time for the grapes to be picked, he sent a servant to the farmers to get his share of the grapes. 3 But the farmers grabbed the servant and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Then the man sent another servant. They hit him on the head and showed no respect for him. 5 So the man sent another servant, whom they killed. The man sent many other servants; the farmers beat some of them and killed others. 6 “The man had one person left to send, his son whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 “But the farmers said to each other, ‘This son will inherit the vineyard. If we kill him, it will be ours.’ 8 So they took the son, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 “So what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those farmers and will give the vineyard to other farmers. 10 Surely you have read this Scripture: ‘The stone that the builders rejected became the cornerstone. 11 The Lord did this, and it is wonderful to us.’” 12 The Jewish leaders knew that the story was about them. So they wanted to find a way to arrest Jesus, but they were afraid of the people. So the leaders left him and went away." ~ Mark 12:1-12
Today, we transition into Mark 12 where the Lord Jesus is found teaching the people. He used stories to help His audience grasp the concepts that He was imparting to them. Illustrations, especially real life illustrations, are useful at bridging the gap between the theoretical and the practical. This is largely why we like stories used in messages so much.
In v.1-3 of today's passage we read, "1 Jesus began to use stories to teach the people. He said, 'A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it and dug a hole for a winepress and built a tower. Then he leased the land to some farmers and left for a trip. 2 When it was time for the grapes to be picked, he sent a servant to the farmers to get his share of the grapes. 3 But the farmers grabbed the servant and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.'"
The practice in biblical days for imparting knowledge was largely done through oral means. The teacher would speak and his audience would listen. In fact, they listened more than they read. Even though most people read back then, it was an oral culture. Since the people learned most by listening, the rabbis became adept at telling stories. This is mainly why the Lord Jesus employed this dynamic form of teaching called storytelling.
The word "parable" means "to cast alongside of." It is a contraction of two words: "para" which means "alongside of" and "bolé" which means "to cast." The Lord Jesus cast alongside His teaching a story that illustrated His message. When He did this, the people were aided to understand the message better. In fact, illustrations bridge the gap between the message and the application of that message.
Interestingly, although we are told the Lord Jesus used stories to teach the people, indirectly, He was answering the question that the religious leaders had just asked in the previous chapter. Whereas it looked like the Lord Jesus had shut down the truth to the religious leaders, He continued to subtly offer them truth, even though the religious leaders were constructing a plan to have Him crucified.
In v.4-8 of today's passage we read, "4 Then the man sent another servant. They hit him on the head and showed no respect for him. 5 So the man sent another servant, whom they killed. The man sent many other servants; the farmers beat some of them and killed others. 6 “The man had one person left to send, his son whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 “But the farmers said to each other, ‘This son will inherit the vineyard. If we kill him, it will be ours.’ 8 So they took the son, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard."
The Lord Jesus used this story to illustrate Himself as the owner and the heir of the vineyard. He was the Son sent by the Father. The vineyard illustrated the nation of Israel, and, the landowner represented God. And, the servants were the prophets.
In v.9-12 of today's passage we read, "9 'So what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those farmers and will give the vineyard to other farmers. 10 Surely you have read this Scripture: ‘The stone that the builders rejected became the cornerstone. 11 The Lord did this, and it is wonderful to us.' 12 The Jewish leaders knew that the story was about them. So they wanted to find a way to arrest Jesus, but they were afraid of the people. So the leaders left him and went away."
Through all of the teaching of the Lord Jesus, He made it abundantly clear that the religious leaders "religion" was a false religion. And, their authority was selfish rather than selfless which always presented them with a losing proposition. The Lord Jesus identified the religious leaders as guilty for rejecting the prophets who came from God. And, in the end of the story He was saying that the religious leaders would kill Him.
In this story the Lord Jesus changed metaphors, He began with the imagery of a vineyard and then He changed to the imagery of a cornerstone. He quoted Psalm 118 which was a prophecy of His death. The rejected stone is the rejected son, they are one in the same. As the cornerstone, the Lord Jesus is the most important part of the building. The cornerstone is that large stone that forms the foundation of the building which has to be perfect, because all the other stones are aligned according to the cut of the cornerstone. And so, as the builders would be very particular about how a cornerstone looked, they would reject a number of stones till they got the perfect cornerstone, because the symmetry and the stability of any building depends on how good and how well made that cornerstone is. The Lord Jesus is the perfect cornerstone that was rejected by the religious leaders of Israel.
When the religious leaders rejected God's rule in their lives, it did not end up well for them. In fact, somewhere along the way they rejected the word of God and they ended up losing their minds. The lesson for us is to be diligent daily to yield our wills to God, allowing Him to have His way in our lives. It is not that He is out to get us. In fact, He is out to help us. We were born in the clutches of an enemy who has always wanted to destroy us. He is intent on making us to think that his way is the way to freedom.
The Lord Jesus said, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." It is the truth about the Lord Jesus that sets us free. The religious leaders who rejected the truth were not all that aware that they were in bondage to Rome. They were not aware of the slavery that is far worse than that of the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Assyrians, and the Romans. And, that is slavery to sin which is when we take our lives and futures into our own hands.
Discipleship under the Lord Jesus is the only true path to freedom. It is important to understand that true belief only comes from evidence. We never find real freedom until we examine the evidence that the Lord Jesus is who He claims to be. We must believe Him first, and that means examining the evidence about Him. Hundreds of thousands of people reject the Lord Jesus without ever really examining the evidence for who He truly is.
