“Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a winepress there (Isaiah 5:1,2). Isaiah’s song must have been been playing in their minds as the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders listened to Jesus tell the parable about a vineyard. The parable that Isaiah had sung ended by saying, “For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry” (Isaiah 5:7).
I imagine that their fists were clenched as Jesus told the familiar story of a vineyard. They already knew from the parable in Isaiah that the vineyard belonged to the Lord of hosts and that the vineyard represented the house of Judah. When Jesus began to speak about the tenant farmers in charge of caring for the vineyard, they knew that He was talking about them. They also understood that the mistreatment of the slaves in the parable was a picture of how the prophets had been treated.
These religious leaders were actively pursuing a way to destroy Jesus. Their eyes must have narrowed when Jesus spoke of the owner of the vineyard sending his son. I can imagine that they were grinding their teeth as Jesus told this simple story that unveiled their plot to seize and kill Him. Jesus’ parable ended with tenant farmers throwing the son’s dead body out of the vineyard. And then He asked this question, “What will the owner of the vineyard do (Mark 12:9)? What the man did was destroy the farmers and give the vineyard to others.
Why did Jesus end this parable by saying, “Haven’t you read this Scripture: The stone that the builders rejected—this has become the cornerstone. This came from the Lord and is wonderful in our eyes” (Mark 12:10)? I think it had to do with an argument over that same Psalm that had taken place the day before. The chief priests and scribes had been indignant when the children in the temple complex had been cheering Jesus by quoting from that same Psalm! “Hosanna to the Son of David.” It’s no wonder that they saw Him as a threat.
As I consider this story I’m left with a question. Is it still possible to be so consumed with religion that we lose sight of God Himself?
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