Mark 12:1-12 – Co-laboring with God

When Jesus told this parable, He probably had Isaiah 5:1-7 in mind. In this story the Lord was addressing the chief priests, scribes and elders. The Lord did not mince His words, He gave it to them straight between the eyes. They could immediately identify that this story was about them and the vineyard was referring to Israel.

This parable was in answer to the question that they asked earlier about His authority. The Lord pointed out to who they were explicitly and then pointedly told them that He was the rightful owner of the vineyard. In essence, Jesus said to them, “I am the Son, the rightful owner of this vineyard, whom My Father had sent.” He told them forthrightly that they had killed the prophets and had beaten up and even stoned those whom God had sent earlier. Now finally God had sent His only Son, and here was Jesus. Instead of accepting the offer of goodwill and then change, they had the Son beaten, killed and cast out of the vineyard. But despite what He would soon undergo, God still has the final answer. So He asked them the question, “What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine-growers and will give the vineyard to another.”

Here in this account, Mark shows that it was the Lord who answered His own question. In Matthew 21:41, we are told that the religious authority themselves answered the Lord. The Lord here said to them:

“The stone which the builders rejected,
This became the chief corner stone;
This came about from the Lord,
And it is marvelous in our eyes?”   

This account reveals to us the interplay between Divine sovereignty and human responsibility. While God is perfectly in control of the affairs of men, He would not violate the human will. He would rather that we collaborate with Him in the outworking of His scheme to make right humanity. Remember we are all invited to play a role in God’s scheme, to make right the world that Adam had made wrong. We must not let pride prevent us from working with God, first to make right our lives, then to help to make right the world for His glory.