Mark 12:1-12 A parable of the Jewish Priesthood
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Joel and Mary Nadel, Covenant Church
Joel and Mary Nadel, Covenant Church
From J.C. Ryle’s “Expository Comments on the Gospels - Mark”
From J.C. Ryle’s “Expository Comments on the Gospels - Mark”
House Rules: Phones, Respect, Stay on the Text
House Rules: Phones, Respect, Stay on the Text
Pray
Background
Background
Approaching the end of Jesus earthly ministry
First part was Him establishing His purpose for God’s people - that He/the Son of God, has come to save His people from their sins - Repent for and believe the Gospel
Next
He continues to teach God’s will
He continues to address the cost of discipleship
He continues to explain His mission to save His people
He continues to prepare His followers for what will happen in Jerusalem
Now in Jerusalem, He is engaged in the work that will inevitably lead Him to His death
Today: Jesus shares a parable that explains the history of God’s plan for His people.
And He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard and put a wall around it, and dug a vat under the wine press and built a tower, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. “At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive some of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers. “They took him, and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. “Again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. “And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others. “He had one more to send, a beloved son; he sent him last of all to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ “But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ “They took him, and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. “What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine-growers, and will give the vineyard to others. “Have you not even read this Scripture: ‘The stone which the builders rejected, This became the chief corner stone; This came about from the Lord, And it is marvelous in our eyes’?” And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the people, for they understood that He spoke the parable against them. And so they left Him and went away.
A historical parable
A historical parable
The history of the Jewish nation, from the Day Israel left Egypt until the time of the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, is shared with us by the Lord Jesus
Using the symbology of a vineyard and its tenant farmers, the Lord tells the history of how God dealt with His people for 1500 years.
Lets look at it carefully, and see how it may apply today
God blessed and showed special kindness to the Jewish people and nation
God blessed and showed special kindness to the Jewish people and nation
He gave them special privileges - He blessed them as a man might take a piece of land that He separates out and fences in “a vineyard”
He gave them good laws
He put them in a wonderful land and kicked out seven nations to make room for them
He blessed them above greater countries, like Egypt, Assyria, Greece and Rome - showing mercy to a few million people in Palestine
The vineyard of the Lord was the house of Israel - no family ever received so many wonderful blessings as the family of Abraham
Can we, as Americans say that we have never received any special blessings from God? No way
Why is it we are not a heathen or pagan country like China, or India?
Its certainly not for our goodness, but only of God’s free grace that we are what we are among the nations of the world
We need to be grateful for our blessings and know who they come from
We cannot be prideful and arrogant; we need to humble or we may provoke God to take our blessings away.
If Israel had special privileges, so do we
As Americans, we need to take note of this example, in hopes that what happened to Israel should not happen to us
God showed great patience toward Israel
God showed great patience toward Israel
The entire history of Israel, in the OT, is a record of Israel rebelling against God and then getting forgiven
A whole line of prophets was sent to them bringing warnings, but the Jewish people blew them off
One servant after another came to the vineyard of Israel and asked for fruit, only to be sent away empty-handed - they provided no fruit to the glory of God
2 Chron. 36:16 “but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, until there was no remedy.”
No group of people was as patiently dealt with by God, as Israel
Those of us who live in the US - should we be thankful for the patience of God?
Clearly, we have great reason to say that the Lord is patient
He doesn’t deal with us according to our sins or reward us according to our wickedness (abortion, sexual sin, criminal activity, drunkenness, corruption in high places)
We have often provoked Him to deal with us as He dealt with the USSR, Nazi Germany, WWII Japan, Babylon and Rome
Yet He continues to be patient with us
We need to be careful not to push His goodness too far - we need to bear fruit and to seek the fruit that alone makes a nation great
Prov. 14:34 “Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a disgrace to any people.”
Everybody needs to realize how blessed we are of God so that everyone can praise Him
The Lord shows how wicked we are, by using the history of Israel as an example
The Lord shows how wicked we are, by using the history of Israel as an example
The way that Israel dealt with God’s messengers, as shown in the parable, is striking proof of this truth
He sent prophet after prophet - miracle after miracle, without any effect on them
He sent His Son at last, and they did not believe Him
God Himself came in the flesh, lived among them, and they killed Him
The Bible says the human heart is desperately wicked, but few seem to believe this
This parable is a standing proof of that fact
In it, we can see what men and women are capable of, with all the special blessings - in the presence of the Son of God Himself
Rom. 8:7 “because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,”
The only time anyone ever saw God face to face, was when Jesus came and lived on the earth
They saw a man holy, harmless, sinless, going about doing good - but they wouldn’t have it - they rebelled against Him and killed Him
We need to get rid of the idea that men and women, in their hearts, are basically good
Let’s get rid of the idea that just seeing and knowing what is good is enough to make us Christian
Like Israel, we could have prophets and miracles and even Christ Himself come in the flesh, but in the end it would do no good
John 3:7 “‘You must be born again.’”
People may be bothered by their conscience, but they may be stubborn in their sin
People may be bothered by their conscience, but they may be stubborn in their sin
The Jewish leadership, when they heard this parable from Jesus, saw clearly that He was talking about them
They knew that they and their ancestors were the tenant farmers who had responsibility for the vineyard (Israel), and they should have provided fruit to God
They were the ones who refused to pay the Master of the vineyard his share of the prophets, they had shamefully treated His servants, beating some and killing others
At the moment Jesus told this parable, they were already planning their last act of wickedness - they were going to kill the beloved son and throw “him out of the vineyard”
They knew all this perfectly and they knew that “He spoke the parable against them”
They knew all this, but they would not turn from their evil plan
Though they were bothered by their consciences, they were hardened by sin
We need to know that knowledge and conviction alone will not save anyone
It is possible to know that we are wrong, be unable to deny it, yet stubbornly hold on to our sins and go to hell.
We all need a change of heart and will and we need to pray for it fervently. We can’t rest until we have this
Until we have it, we will never be real Christians and we will not get to heaven
Without the change of heart, we may live all our lives, like those ancient Jews, knowing we are wrong and yet, like them, continue in our own way, and die in our sins
The Gospel
The Gospel
1 Corinthians 15:3–4 (ESV)
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
Romans 10:9 (ESV)
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Prayer requests/Lord’s Prayer
Questions
Questions