Mark 12:1-12

1 Then He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.

² Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers.

³ And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.

⁴ Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated.

⁵ And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some.

⁶ Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

⁷ But those vinedressers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’

⁸ So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.

⁹ “Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others.

¹⁰ Have you not even read this Scripture: ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.

¹¹ This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

¹² And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them. So they left Him and went away.

Also found in Matthew 21:33-46 and Luke 20:9-19.

The chapter division here is unfortunate, since the parable arises out of the challenge of the chief priests. Its scope is remarkably comprehensive, covering the centuries of Israel’s past history, depicting the present situation of conflict, and pointing to its future issues. As a national symbol of Israel, the vineyard was familiar from the Old Testament (e.g. Isaiah 5:1-7) and would quickly be so understood. The hedge to give protection from wild animals, the pit for the wine press, a vessel or trough to gather the juice of the pressed grapes, and the tower, a wooden booth on a high platform for a watchman (all of them words represented in the LXX of Isaiah 5), are all necessary elements in the story exhibiting collectively the care bestowed by the landlord. — Guthrie, page 876.

__________

Our Lord was accusing the spiritual leaders of Israel of being the future murderers of the Messiah, and this in the presence of the crowd. His purpose was to expose the true character of the hostility of the Sanhedrin. The vineyard was a recognized symbol of Israel itself as the covenant people, and both the members of the Sanhedrin and the better-taught among the crowd, could not but understand the symbolism. The wine vat referred to the receptacle into which the wine ran after it had been pressed out of the grapes. The man who planted the vineyard is God, the vinedressers, the spiritual leaders of Israel. The hedge speaks of God’s protecting care over Israel and His blessings upon the Chosen People. — Wuest, page 228.

receive some of the fruit (v.2) — The payment of the lease was to be with wine.

servant (v.2) = bondslave

The servants sent by the vineyard owner are the Old Testament prophets sent to Israel.

They threw stones (v.4) — not in the best manuscripts, but the abuse heaped upon the second servant in the rest of the verse is.

The Greek text [of v.5] reads, “Yet he had one,” that is, one person to send, after all his bondslaves were either maltreated or killed. He reasons that the vineyard men would not dare to harm his son. … But to the owner any other result was inconceivable, and the parable sets forth the improbability from the human point of view, of such an issue as the incarnation actually had. All of which means that mankind does not have any proper conception of the utter and complete depravity of the fallen race, nor to what lengths it will go to hold on to its sin. In using the words “beloved son,” our Lord may have had in mind, the words of the Father at His baptism, “This is My Son, the beloved One, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). — Wuest, page 229.

__________

They really knew who [the Son, Jesus] was. They felt, at the very least, that into His hands should pass all the authority and power they had so long monopolized; “This is the Heir; come let us kill Him and the inheritance shall be ours.” — Chadwick, page 322.

__________

The “casting out” [v.8] speaks of the act of Israel’s leaders excommunicating our Lord. He was treated as excommunicate when He was condemned as a blasphemer and handed over to the Romans for punishment. Our Lord’s crucifixion outside of the walls of Jerusalem symbolized this expulsion from the community of Israel. — Wuest, page 230.

give the vineyard to others (v.9) — Of course, my commentaries all say that the “others” here are the Church, the Body of Christ. But that can’t be right because Paul clearly says that the Church was a mystery (Colossians 1:24-27) which God didn’t reveal until He revealed it to Paul. Therefore, Jesus did not refer to it in His ministry. So, the “others” can only be the “little flock” of Luke 12:32 — the kingdom saints, or Jews trusted Christ as the Messiah. See my notes on the Matthew passage.

The quotation [vs.10-11] is from Psalm 118:22-23. It is quoted again in Acts 4:11, and 1 Peter 2:4, 7. The stone is the Messiah, the builders, the spiritual leaders of Israel. The word “rejected” is apokokimazo. The simple verb means “to put to the test for the purpose of approving.” The prefixed preposition means “off, away from.” This tells us the story of Messiah’s rejection by Israel. Israel was looking for its Messiah. Jesus of Nazareth claimed to be Messiah. The leaders of Israel investigated His claims, found them to be true, substantiated by the miracles He performed (John 3:2), yet with all this evidence, rejected Him as Messiah because He did not meet their specifications. They were looking for a Messiah who would deliver Israel from the despotism of Rome, not from the dominion of sin. But this Messiah will some day become the King of Kings and Lord of Lords over the earth as the Head of the Millennial empire. — Wuest, page 230.

This was the second time (Mark 11:18) that the leaders wanted to arrest Jesus in the Temple but their fear of the people prevented them.