Mark 12:1-9 “And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. 2 And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. 4 And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled. 5 And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some. 6 Having yet therefore one son, his well-beloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. 7 But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. 8 And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. 9 What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others.”
Mark 12:1-9 is a powerful picture of a neglected and abused stewardship. Jesus has just finished with a very direct confrontation with the religious leaders of Jerusalem and through this parable He shifts to an entirely different dimension of confrontation. After having silenced the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders, Jesus now uses this parable to speak to their sinful and hypocritical condition. He is not content to simply deflect their attempt to discredit Him. This parable is Christ going on the offensive. This parable is Christ exposing the reality of who these men are before God. They are the neglectful and abusive stewards!
There is very little that is significantly veiled within this parable. The focus of its revelation is the vineyard that the Lord has carefully established and the stewards who have been entrusted with its care. The clear message is that the problems that exist are not because of the vineyard owner but because of the corruption of the stewards. This parable is a distinctly prophetic parable as it reflects that which was, is and is to come. The parable presents the beginning state of the Lord’s vineyard; that it was good and well provided for. However, the story progresses to identify that when the Lord of the vineyard began to look for the return that was due on the investment He had entrusted to His stewards they abused the master’s servants repeatedly and sent them away empty handed even killing some of the master’s servants as they sought to keep for their own benefit those things that rightfully belonged to the master.
In this parable Jesus continues on to make a powerful and revealing reference to Himself in one of His more direct. After describing the mistreatment of the master’s servants, Jesus continues on to speak of the master’s son. The inferences to Himself are clear as He describes the son. This son is the owner’s one and only son. This son is his well-beloved. This son is the heir of all that belonged to the master. Each of these references is taken up elsewhere in the scriptures in such a way that is clearly pointing towards the Messiah, and in many cases also towards Jesus Himself. Through this parable Jesus clearly identifies Himself as the Son of God for those who have an ear to hear.
As Jesus points the people listening to the knowledge of their condition and who it is that is before them this prophetic parable then predicts both the coming death that He will suffer at their hands and the judgment that awaits those who are guilty of this betrayal. Many parables that the Lord told throughout His ministry convey rich and valuable truths but this particular parable enters into a realm of prophetic declaration unlike most of the others. It is an unveiling of who He is, the mistreatment that He will face at the hands of the people and the judgment that awaits.
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