Day One Mark 12:1-12
12 Then Jesus began teaching them with stories: “A man planted a vineyard. He built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country. 2 At the time of the grape harvest, he sent one of his servants to collect his share of the crop. 3 But the farmers grabbed the servant, beat him up, and sent him back empty-handed. 4 The owner then sent another servant, but they insulted him and beat him over the head. 5 The next servant he sent was killed. Others he sent were either beaten or killed, 6 until there was only one left—his son whom he loved dearly. The owner finally sent him, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’
7 “But the tenant farmers said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’ 8 So they grabbed him and murdered him and threw his body out of the vineyard.
9 “What do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do?” Jesus asked. “I’ll tell you—he will come and kill those farmers and lease the vineyard to others. 10 Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures?
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.
11 This is the Lord’s doing,
and it is wonderful to see.’”
12 The religious leaders wanted to arrest Jesus because they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away. – Mark 12:1-12 (NLT)
Discover
1. Read Isaiah 5:1-7 for an Old Testament prophecy Jesus’ audience would have been familiar with.
2. What is the meaning of the parable Jesus tells? What does everything represent (the vineyard, the owner, the tenant farmers, the owner’s servants)?
3. Why do the religious leaders want to arrest Jesus and why don’t they (v. 12)?
Respond
God planted His vineyard, Israel, to be a nation and a people who would be His representatives; a people who would love and bring justice and a message of salvation to those who did not yet know Him or believe. Instead, the very people who were charged with leading the nation became greedy and possessive to the point of killing and silencing those who remained faithful. Jesus was their last hope for redemption, but their hardened hearts rejected Him as well. Spend a few minutes now checking your own heart. If you are a follower of Jesus, God has given you the same mission to love, administer justice, and bring a message of hope to people who don’t know Him. Tell God you don’t want to miss His purpose for your life because you are pursuing wrong things.
For Further Learning: Who Does God Think He Is? podcast from pastor Chris Brown
*TPCC does not necessarily endorse all For Further Reading/Learning sources. They are simply meant to be a helpful tool.