March 10, 2006
THE SON ENTERS THE VINEYARD
Mark 11-12
Last week I set myself the difficult task of covering an entire chapter in one message. Today I am going to stretch myself even further and attempt to cover two entire chapters! In part, I feel able to do this because the events themselves are so familiar to us that they need little review. Instead what I want to do step back from the canvas, and grasp the panorama, the sweeping view of what was happening and the significance of these important events.
A few moments ago in the Scripture reading (Mark 11:1-11) we read the account of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. It is the first event of what we commonly refer to as Holy Week, the seven days that will climax in Jesus death, burial and resurrection. That means that the entire remainder of the Gospel, fully one third of Mark’s Gospel, is given over to the record of the last week of Jesus’ ministry. Now, to order to understand the triumphal entry and all of the chaotic and confusing events of that final week, I want to start by looking at a parable Jesus told during that final week of his ministry. It is found in Mark 12:1-8. (Read)
The key verse in this parable, I believe, is Mark 12:6. He had one left to send, a son whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, “They will respect my son.”
This verse highlights several truths:
I would like to suggest that this parable provides the outline and describes to us exactly what was going on in the historical account that we read a few moments ago. The Son is entering the vineyard. This is the Son, the Messiah. He is entering the city, Jerusalem, the royal city of David, the capital of the Jewish nation. He has come on behalf of his Father to claim what is his. The Messianic impact of his entry is clearly shown.
The Son has arrived at the vineyard to receive what is due him. He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, “They will respect my son.”
Once in the city, he comes to the temple, the heart and the soul of the nation. If the Son were to be welcomed and honored anywhere in the city, it should be here. This was his Father’s vineyard. This was his Father’s temple. The stage is now set for the interaction between the Son and the keepers of the vineyard.
What did the owner of the vineyard have a right to expect? In Mark 11:17, Jesus quotes from the Old Testament, from Isaiah 56:7: My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations. If the tenants of the vineyard had been doing their job, this is what Jesus should have found. He would have found the Jews at prayer. And what is more, he would have found the court of the Gentiles filled with Gentiles who had been attracted to the one true God.
But what did he find? The religious authorities had turned the Court of the Gentiles into a commercial enterprise, cheating the worshippers, charging exorbitant rates for changing money and inflated prices for so-called “unblemished” animals. Meanwhile trades people were taking shortcuts through the temple premises to take the most direct way out to the Mt. of Olives. As a result, the Court of the Gentiles, the nearest approach for non-Jews to come and find the true God had been turned into nothing more than a huge souk (market) and a corrupt one at that, and a commercial thoroughfare. And it was all done to create greater profits for the temple hierarchy.
So the Son exerts his authority over the vineyard. It’s an unforgettable picture in Mark 11:15-17. He overturned the tables of the money changers, sending the coins cascading across the paving stones. He flung aside the benches of the dove sellers, probably sending the escaping doves in startled flocks into the air. And apparently he stayed there, pacing to and fro, with blazing eyes forbidding those who were trying to use the temple courts as a shortcut – sending them the long way around. And as he did so, he was teaching them the true purpose of the temple. The Son is laying his claim to the vineyard.
Now, sandwiched around this account of Jesus clearing the temple, there is a rather strange account of Jesus cursing a fig tree. (Read Mark 11:12-14) Then we have the account of the temple cleansing. Then we pick the story up again in Mark 11:20-21. (Read)
What is going on? It is a story that seems completely out of character for Jesus. Most scholars agree that this little incident is a kind of acted out parable. The fig tree was used frequently in the Old Testament as a symbol for the nation of Israel. What is more, the way Mark records the event, sandwiching it around the account of the clearing of the temple, seems to indicate a strong link between the two events. In the acted out parable, then, the fig tree is Israel. It is full of leaves, or religious profession, religious show. But when Jesus drew near, he found no fruit. And so, just as he pronounced judgment on the fig tree with his curse, so he pronounced judgment on the religious establishment at the temple through his fierce cleansing of the temple.
The disciples are stunned at the speed with which the fig tree withered. Jesus uses this occasion to give his disciples another lesson on the power of faith and believing prayer. But that is a lesson for another sermon and another day. In this message, I want to focus on the conflict between the owner’s Son and the tenants of the vineyard. We pick up this thread once again in verses 27-28. (Read) In essence they are saying: “This is our vineyard. We are in charge here. Who gave you authority to do what you did? Who do you think you are?”
Jesus doesn’t answer directly. (Read v. 29-30) Why John the Baptist? Remember the parable. Before the vineyard owner sent his son, whom did he send? He sent his servants. The servants represent God’s prophets, God’s messengers. John the Baptist was the last of a long line of prophets. Jesus refers to him as the greatest of the prophets. So Jesus asks these religious leaders: what do you think about John? Was he sent by God or not? Now he has them.
Read v.31-33. In essence he says to them – you rejected the earlier messengers. You aren’t even willing to commit yourself as to the origin of John the Baptist’s authority. If you are not honest enough to take a stand on the authority of John, then you won’t believe me no matter what I tell you. You see, their mind was already made up. They knew what they intended to do. Lest you doubt that, look at the verse 18. (Read 11:18) Murder was already in their hearts. That’s why they understood the parable of the tenants so clearly. (12:12)
And so the battle lines are drawn. The Son has come to the vineyard to claim his Father’s rightful fruit. The tenants of the vineyard have made up their mind to get rid of the Son, to kill him and to keep the vineyard for themselves. Because they fear his popularity with the people, they seek for ways to discredit him in their eyes. The rest of chapter 12 relates a number of such incidents. Yet Jesus masters them at their own game. With quiet authority and with divine wisdom, he answers them without falling into their traps. It is here that we have the question about paying taxes and about the resurrection and others. We won’t look at these, but I encourage you to read them on your own. They make fascinating reading, revealing as they do the process of rabbinic reasoning, and how Jesus met them challenge by challenge. In Mark 12:38-40, he uses words of stinging rebuke for the religious leadership, the tenants of the vineyard. (Read v. 38-40) These verses are a prophetic utterance that gives substance to the conclusion of the parable where we began the sermon in Mark 12:9. (Read)
Let’s go back to the key verse in the parable: (Read 12:6)
We know how the Jewish leaders responded. Now I have a question for you. While the parable and the events we’ve been looking at were of national significance for the Jews, the same issues can be traced in each of our own individual lives. The landowner has sent his Son to claim his rightful place in your life. How have you responded to him? Have you rejected him? Refused him entrance? Thrown him out? Or have you received him as your Messiah and Savior? This is a very personal question that only you can answer. And it is a question that every one of us will answer, one way or another.
John 1:11 says: “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” That is the summary of the events of Mark 11-12. He came to his own people, the Jewish nation. But his own people did not receive him. That was the choice made by the Jewish leaders. The story could have ended there, and for many it does. But it doesn’t have to. John goes on to write in verse 12: “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
That is the choice each of us must face. There were a variety of responses to Jesus as he entered the city of Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. And there are a variety of responses to him today as he continues to offer himself to the world. What is your response? Have you received him? Or are you in the company of those leaders who turned away in rejection and looked for a way to throw him out of their city, their vineyard, their lives.
As Jesus looked down over the city of Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, Luke, in his account, tells us that he wept. He wept because he knew the choice that the nation as a whole would make. And he saw the consequences of that choice. When Jesus looks at you, your past, your present and your future, does he weep, or does he rejoice?