2.12.17 3.19.2023 Mark 12.1-12 Beginning with Rejection
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Start:
Entice: In a real sense, this passage I am about to read summarizes Jesus’ whole earthly ministry. Jesus’ coming was the final act in the drama of salvation.
Everything we read in the OT,
every
tale told,
tale told,
song sung,
song sung,
prophecy proclaimed
prophecy proclaimed
and
ritual recorded
ritual recorded
anticipates this moment,
when
The beloved Son,
the Unique Son,
The Only Son
comes to stake God’s claim on His creation, and those entrusted as stewards killed the heir presuming to replace Him. Only God and His Christ can steal triumph from this tragedy.
1 And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country.
2 When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.
3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
4 Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully.
5 And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed.
6 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’
8 And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.
9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.
10 Have you not read this Scripture: “ ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;
11 this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
12 And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away.
Engage: I’m certainly not a counselor but a couple of personal questions are in order given the emotional and immersive nature of this text. How does this text make you feel?
Embarrassed?
Embarrassed?
Angry?
Angry?
Indignant?
Indignant?
Grateful?
Grateful?
It is a very direct passage. Jesus is calm, but His voice has a hard edge to it. It is not John 3.16 or Ephesians 2.8. It’s not short and sweet. It’s not easy to memorize. It is not simple to recite. Yet this may be the single best passage from the whole Bible that summarizes the entire plot of scripture. This passage also helps us understand how Jesus
handled scripture,
framed His Kingdom message,
and
confronted the usurpers in His Father’s vineyard.
Expand: Today we read of Jesus telling a compelling and immersive parable, it is fresh narration of a familiar story, fully derived from scripture and immediately recognizable to all who heard it that day. Unlike other parables, He is hiding nothing. He segues from the parable which alludes to a passage from Isaiah, to directly quoting Psalm 118.22-23, then to immediate application of these powerful texts to His main antagonists who understood perfectly well what He meant, who He was talking about, and the consequences they faced for opposing the Son and Heir. Combining His favorite teaching technique and a shared deference to Scripture, Jesus restates God’s claim on His vineyard and promises that the Kingdom will be given to others. Right here in Grayville, this very morning I am addressing a small portion of that precious vineyard built upon the promises of God’s redeeming presence in the Beloved Son.
Excite: Of course, they wanted Him arrested! What else do the proud and arrogant do to persistent prophets and other truth-tellers. Get them off the streets so that they don’t influence the common rabble. Their method became their madness when they found Jesus and His message so objectionable that they actually acted out the parable—killing Him outside of the city walls, compelling God to finally come and tear down those walls, the walls of their holy city and to finally remove the physical temple in order to replace it with the new temple; the Body of Christ in which His Spirit dwells. They listened and did not learn. Rather than recognizing the Son and repenting of their pride they resented and rejected Him losing everything.
There are many lessons in this passage. Be like Jesus. DO not be like the stewards of the vineyard. Build on the cornerstone. Repent rather than resist the claims of God upon His vineyard.
Explore:
The resentment, rejection, and humiliation of the Son were necessary for Him to become the foundation stone for the Kingdom.
The resentment, rejection, and humiliation of the Son were necessary for Him to become the foundation stone for the Kingdom.
Expand: Before the whole sordid passion story plays out, here in this story Jesus asserts His rightful claim over the vineyard.
Body of Sermon: First He asserts His claim by
1 TheWord He confirms.
1 TheWord He confirms.
1.1 A framework for understanding.
1.1 A framework for understanding.
The scriptures. The Bible. God’s word puts everything into proper perspective when it is diligently studied and rightly applied.
The Word helps us understand our World, environment, family, church—everything. And it’s all essentially His. We are only tenants. As believers we understand that we are always, only stewards.
So, we must stay on the plot…traditional, believing Bible study has usually kept us on course. Not always. Periodically the Church has repeated the errors of prior lessees of the Vineyard. At times I fear that entrenched interests in the W-I-C have herded evangelicalism toward the peripheral aspects of scripture putting us at risk of repeating the poor stewardship of Pharisee, Scribe, Herodian, and the Sadducees.
The Bible rightly read and understood provides a framework for understanding everything else and gives us
1.2 A framework for responding.
1.2 A framework for responding.
Next, Jesus asserts His claim over the Vineyard through
2 The Work He Completes.
2 The Work He Completes.
What the Father began the Son and heir now comes to claim and complete. Though the rightful Lord of God’s estate His claim upon it will only be fully proclaimed from the cross.
This work of the beloved Son deals with
2.1 Creation.
2.1 Creation.
All creation is His. The NT uses a series of metaphors to describe God’s reign: Kingdom, building, vineyard, temple, flock, body, family. In the end, the Kingdom will come, the Vineyard will be in the possession of the Beloved Son, the flock will be safe, the body unified, and the temple of God will be erected: His Spirit-filled people, you and I being built up into that temple for His glory and honor.
The work of Christ is a project of
2.2 Reclamation.
2.2 Reclamation.
His sacrificial death is central to God asserting ownership of His vineyard.
Through the resurrection and the taking of the vineyard from the evil tenants His life, ministry, and purpose receive
2.3 Vindication
2.3 Vindication
Finally, Jesus announces His ownership of the vineyard by
3 The Wonder He Creates.
3 The Wonder He Creates.
“This thing is from the LORD! And it is wonderful in our sight!”
“This thing is from the LORD! And it is wonderful in our sight!”
His people should rejoice because...
3.1 From rejection comes rebirth.
3.1 From rejection comes rebirth.
His people should celebrate because...
3.2 From violence comes victory.
3.2 From violence comes victory.
His people should praise Him because...
3.3 From His sacrifice comes our salvation.
3.3 From His sacrifice comes our salvation.
This is what the LORD has done…and it is wonderful in our sight!
Shut Down
Jesus was resolute as heir to His Father’s estate. His opponents were stubborn in their rule as usurpers and squatters. Even to this day the world is divided between those who are a part of the vineyard-temple built upon the foundation stone, and those who oppose Him, resenting His rightful claim over His people. Each of us, still today, must decide where we stand in this vineyard dispute.
When you stand with Jesus, the heir to the Father’s fortune He extends that inheritance to you, setting you apart as a part of the Temple He is building in His Spirit.
The choice is not always easy, but it is always clear. The way is not always smooth, but we are never alone. Like Him we will be opposed, misunderstood, alienated, and cast out.
Yet He will
mold us into His vineyard,
include us in His Kingdom,
and build us up as His new temple.