Category: devotional

Today’s reading is from Mark 12:1-12. Begin with a prayer to the Lord and then read the verse from your Bible.

If you have been following my podcast for length of time, you know this would be the point when I would ask you questions for you to answer for yourself and then I would answer the same questions. While we will still ask ourselves those some of questions, the approach to these passage is a little different. 

When reading scripture, we have to remember what type it is that we’re reading. While up to this point, we have been reading about Jesus and the things he was doing. But here Jesus is telling us a parable, a story, to make a point to his listeners.

So ask yourself, who in this story is Jesus mentioning and who do they represent? Who is Jesus telling the story to? 

Where is this story taking place and what does it represent? 

What is this story about? Why is Jesus telling this story?

Who is Jesus telling the story to? He is talking to the religious leaders, which means Jesus is addressing them about an issue. Within the story we have: vineyard owner, farmer or tenants, servants, and the beloved son. Each of these character represented someone else in real life. The owner was God, the farmers/tenants were the religious leaders, the servants were all the past prophets and others sent by God, and of course the beloved Son is Jesus himself. 

We know that the setting of this story is the vineyard. And the vineyard represented Israel. We know this because in Isaiah 5:1-7 God refers to Israel as his vineyard, and the religious leaders knew this.

I’m not gonna ask the How question, because we know that the this point Jesus is trying to make is being illustrated through this parable. What is happening and why? The owner of the vineyard gave charge to the farmers/tenants to take care of the vineyard, the land. This wasn’t an uncommon practice in the day where the owner would entrust his vineyard to caretakers, leave, and the return to reap the benefits. But in this story, the farmers would not give what belonged to the owner. In fact their behavior was horrible because they would beat or kill the servants. Eventually they even beat and killed the owner’s own son. So Jesus was calling out the religious leaders telling them what they had done and what they were going to do since they were already making plans to kill Jesus. He was also warning them that their actions would not go unpunished. 

What does all of this mean and how does this apply to you and me? Jesus basically is telling the religious leaders that they had an assignment to take care of the nation of Israel, and that they were to be the ones to help lead Israel to God. Instead, the religious leaders stood in the way of that plan and killed or silenced anyone who was trying to fulfill God’s plan. Their pride, arrogance, and possessiveness hinder the people from receiving from God.

Because of what the religious leaders did, Jesus told them that they would no longer be in charge of the vineyard known as the nation of Israel and that it would be given to others according to verse 9. It’s the promise of salvation would be given to others. Who are the others? The Gentiles. That is you and me. The promise of salvation that was intended only for Israel has been made available to ALL. But Jesus didn’t stop there, he continued in verse 10 & 11. He said that the stone that the builders rejected was now going to become the cornerstone of the new building, metaphorically speaking. Jesus was telling them that He is the stone that was rejected and that now he will become the cornerstone. For some background knowledge, the cornerstone is used at the base of a building to make sure the other stones of the building were straight and leveled. Jesus’ life, his teachings and even his death and resurrection would be the Church’s foundation. So we are to build the church, our faith, and our lives on Jesus!  Let me ask you this question, are you building your life on Jesus? Take a moment and ponder that question, journal it out, but more importantly, have a conversation with Jesus about it.