6. THE WICKED Mark 12:1-12 (Matthew 21:33-46; Luke 20:9-26) 1 And he began to speak unto them in parables.--This is a continuation of his work in the temple on Tuesday, April 12. A man planted a vineyard,--[The vineyard is a piece of land planted in vines to produce grapes and make wine.] and set a hedge about it,--[It is fenced, or hedged, to protect the vines from destruction by beasts, or being robbed by marauders. Sometimes a vineyard was protected by both a fence and a wall. (Isaiah 5:5.) A common way of inclosing fields in Judea was either with a fence of wood or stones, or more probably with thorns, thickset and growing.] and digged a pit for the winepress,--[The winepress--the winevat, as it is frequently written--was the pit dug in which the juice from the presses would flow.] and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen,-- [The tower was the building in which the husbandmen dwelt, and sometimes under it the vats for grapes were placed one above the other. In the upper one they were trod out; in the lower one was the must. From this the juice descended into the winevat in the earth. The owner let out his vineyard, with all its fixtures, to husbandmen. They were to give him his rent at the proper seasons. He took rent or tithes in the product of the vineyard. "A man planted a vineyard." This is intended to represent that God planted a people in the land of Canaan. He hedged it around by the divine order and the divine protection. We do not know that every point of the vineyard represented something of the kingdom--at least we cannot certainly point out the thing represented. The wine-vat is sometimes said to be the sacrifices typical of the sufferings of Jesus, and the tower the temple in which God is worshiped. He intrusted its cultivation and management to the priests and Levites, of whom the scribes were the leaders. When these were appointed, Jesus left it to their management, under the general direction of his laws and precepts. They were to be accountable to God for the faithful teaching of these laws.] and went into another country.--Literally, in our style, "moved away." Luke adds "for a long time," indicating that the parable goes far back in the years in its application. We shall fail to get all the practical good from this lesson if we confine it to the Jewish people. Again God has let out his vineyard to husbandmen, to the professed followers of Jesus Christ. The kingdom of God is now within us. Each of us has a part of God's vineyard possessions to cultivate. He has fenced us round with promises and precepts, and given us the means for fruit. 2 And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruits of the vineyard.--That is, to collect the owner's part of the produce; or as we often say, "collect the rent." The servant was sent as the agent of the master. [When the proper season for the fruit of the vineyard came, he sent to the husbandmen a servant to receive his portion--the rentals due him for the use of the vineyard and the winepresses. During the Jewish dispensation God sent his prophets to warn his people of their departure from his law, and to demand of them the obedience and the worship that were his dues. God had especially provided for the well-being of the Jewish people. Deuteronomy 6:10-12. 3 And they took him, and beat him, and sent him away empty.--Three steps taken--"took," "beat," and "sent away empty." [So these husbandmen did to the messengers sent to receive the fruits due the Lord; so the Jewish people, often led by the priests and Levites, did to the prophet sent of God.] 4 And again he sent unto them another servant; and him they wounded in the head, and handled shamefully.--[The Lord sent still other servants demanding his due for his own vineyard that he had planted, hedged, and fitted up with the winepress. They treated this one worse than the first. One step in rebellion and sin prepares for another. Evil men and seducers wax worse and worse.] 5 And he sent another; and him they killed:--Their wickedness increases under the patience of the owner. The climax was now reached, and the rest is merely the statement of repetition of outrage and continuance of refusal to render fruit. and many others; beating some, and killing some.--[It is probable Jesus in his different descriptions had in mind particular leading prophets that had suffered, that he pointed out to them, in the history of the Jewish nation, and that they recognized them, but which we, in our ignorance of the facts, do not recognize. Some writers attempt to point out the different ones referred to in the different verses. There is too much uncertainty in this to be of profit. Jesus charges upon them the blood of all the prophets: "Therefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: some of them shall ye kill and crucify and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city: that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation." (Matthew 23:34-36.) That is, one step after another in the path of crime has been taken that shall in this generation culminate in the sum of all crimes--the killing of the Son of God. These former servants were typical of Jesus.] 6 He had yet one, a beloved son:--The rest were servants, literally bond servants, slaves, in the Greek, but this is his own son. he sent him last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son.--They will so respect and reverence my son so as to heed what he says and pay the rent on the vineyard. [The Lord of the vineyard having one only and beloved son, determined to send him as a final resort, saying, "They will reverence my son." The truth here represents God as the great lord of the vineyard who sends his only Son to warn the people of the dishonor and shame they bring upon God, and of the ruin they bring upon themselves in refusing to honor God. He here, while portraying the depth of wickedness, the extremity to which a course of wickedness brings the people, foretells his own death speedily to happen, and he holds out the thought that these religious teachers will do it.] 7 But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir;--The son of the landlord and to whom the ownership of the vineyard will finally go. come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours.--[The husbandmen to whom he had intrusted his vineyard, when they saw the son--the heir--plotted to kill him, and then the inheritance will be theirs. As Jesus put forth higher claims to be the Son of God than others, so their bitterness against him was correspondingly greater. Very generally it is supposed that the priests and scribes persecuted Jesus because they thought him an impostor, but many of them did it with a knowledge of the truth that he was a divine personage.] 8 And they took him, and killed him, and cast him forth out of the vineyard.--Here, as in verse 3, three steps are taken. Luke says: "And they cast him forth out of the vineyard, and killed him." So also Matthew and Luke give the facts and not the order in which they occurred. [The priests and scribes were responsible for the death of Jesus. They urged others to crucify him, and were as responsible for his death as if they had done it with their own hands. "Cast him forth out of the vineyard." They rejected him and his teaching as having no place in the dominion of God.] 9 What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do?--The design of this question was that they might condemn themselves, and admit the justice of the punishment that was soon coming upon them. he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others.--[In view of this repeated rebellion, these successive steps in rebellion, each increasing in heinousness against the Lord of the vineyard, what shall he do? The answer to that question reveals what God will do to those who have departed from his laws, set aside his appointments, and fought against his servants throughout the Jewish dispensation. He will come and destroy the husbandmen, and give the vineyard unto others. Matthew (Matthew 21:41) says: "He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will let out the vineyard unto other husbandmen, who shall render him the fruits in their seasons." In its application God will destroy these husbandmen--the religious teachers of the Jewish people--who have disobeyed him and led the people to sin, and will deliver his vineyard to other husbandmen who will be more faithful and true to him. Their destruction prefigured the more terrible destruction that awaits those who reject Christ.] 10 Have ye not read even this scripture: The stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the head of the corner;--This and the next verse is a quotation from Psalms 118:22. [This was first spoken of David, who was rejected of his parents, or passed over, but who was chosen of God, and became the builder of the kingdom of Judah. It is said to be based upon a fact that when the temple of Solomon was being built, there was an unshapely stone that was rejected of the builders as unfitted for service until they were about completing the building, and it was seen that this stone would so fit in the main arch as to be a key that would hold in position and give strength to the whole arch. Whether this is true or not, Jesus was rejected by the elders and the chief priests (his forerunners and types were rejected);yet he became the head of the corner--the central truth of the whole system of the divine government. The whole Jewish system is meaningless without Christ as the end and culmination of it. It is also the great central truth of the Christian system. The Jewish system is a type in its true development of the Christian system, and so this parable finds its more complete fulfillment in the Christian system than in the Jewish; and it is true that the religious teachers more than others pervert the will of God, and reject his divine authority by substituting ways of their own for the things commanded by God and sealed with his blood. His spiritual body now exists in which his laws, institutions, and commandments, sealed by his blood, are to be observed. When men turn from these laws sealed by his blood, and substitute other appointments for them, they as much reject Christ as the fountain as did the priests and elders his fleshly person. It is as true now as it ever was that men may reject Christ and turn from his laws while professing to follow him, and yet he is the only foundation of the true kingdom of God. To him every tongue shall confess and every knee bow.] 11 This was from the Lord, And it is marvellous in our eyes?--[The so ordering things that the stone which was rejected of the leaders and teachers became the head of the corner was of God's overruling and controlling, and the whole development is a marvel and a wonder to the world. It is yet, the strong and wise provisions of men must come to naught. God chose the foolish things of the world, that he might put to shame them that are wise; and God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame things that are strong. "And the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, did God choose, yea and the things that are not, that he might bring to nought the things that are."] 12 And they sought to lay hold on him;--This expresses the effect the parable had upon them. and they feared the multitude;--They saw the hour was not auspicious. There were too many of the enthusiastic Galileans present. for they perceived that he spake the parable against them and they left him, and went away.--[The scribes and Pharisees saw it was aimed at them as the leaders and teachers of the people, who misled them, who persecuted the servants of God, and who were then fierce and bitter against him, anxious to destroy him, but fearing the people who regarded him as a prophet. The people most anxious to persecute are the most cowardly.]