Sermon Text: Mark 12:1-12
Outline
BIG IDEA: Those that presume upon God’s patience by rejecting His Son will one day face His wrath.
God is patient with sinners (1-5)
God sent His beloved Son and we should honor Him (6-8)
God will judge those who refuse to honor His beloved Son (9-12)
Verses Referenced (sermon order):
Isaiah 5:1-7; Jeremiah 7:25-26; 25:4; 25:7; Matthew 21:43; Psalm 118:22-23
Context
Mark 11-16 covers Jesus’ final week. This is sometimes called Passion Week. Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and inspected the temple affairs. On Monday Jesus cursed the fig tree and cleaned house. On Tuesday Jesus’ authority was challenged by a delegation of the Sanhedrin, the powerful Jewish religious council consisting of Pharisees, Sadducees, and others.
Summary
We pick up again on Tuesday of Passion Week. In our sermon text (Mark 12:1-12) Jesus uses a parable to pronounce judgment on the Jewish religious leaders. The parable is rich with Old Testament imagery (see especially Isaiah 5:1-7).
In the parable, Jesus speaks of a landowner who planted a vineyard. The landowner planted the vineyard and leased it to tenants. When harvest came, the landowner sent many servants to collect his portion of the harvest. Shockingly, the tenants beat and killed the servants, refusing to render the landowner his fruit. Finally, the landowner sent his beloved son. The tenants killed the son, hoping to acquire the land and its profits for themselves. Jesus speaks of the wickedness of the tenants and the wrath that will be poured out on them by the landowner.
Contextually, the meaning of the parable becomes clear. The parable speaks of God’s (the landowner) provision for the nation of Israel (the vineyard), the wickedness of its religious leaders (the tenants), the prophets (the servants) who were mistreated despite speaking God’s words, and Jesus (God’s Beloved Son) who was sentenced to die three days later by the Sanhedrin. These wicked tenants will eventually experience God’s wrath for their rejection of his beloved son. In addition, God will give the vineyard to others that produce spiritual fruit (Matt 21:43; John 15:8). That is, God’s blessings will not longer flow through ethnic Israel but spiritual Israel – the church which consists of Jews and Gentiles who like Abraham believed the promise of God (see Galatians 3-4).
Thankfully, God’s shows us great patience and offers sinners a the wonderful salvation in the sending of his son Jesus Christ. To receive this gift, we must repent of our sins and trust in the person and work of Jesus.