Mark 12:1-17 - March 3, 2024

Some of Jesus’ narratives are hard to love, and this parable, in my mind, falls into that category. It's one of those “Jesus stories” that leaves one scratching their head, wondering what in the world is going on and how it fits into our lives. 

Jesus tells the story of a landowner who plants a vineyard, fences it in, installs the right equipment, hires some people to manage it, and then leaves for another country. Harvest time rolls around, and the distant landlord expects to receive a percentage of the harvest. It is his vineyard, after all. So, he sends a slave to go and get his share.

This slave goes and faces the tenants, but instead of giving him grapes, they give him a beat down. This servant’s trip ends up fruitless. Did the landowner learn anything from this incident? Nope. He sends a second, different messenger, and guess what? Same story, different day. This slave gets beat over the head - with insult added to injury. 

Surely, this time the landowner learned something, right? Nope again. The stubborn landlord just sends another slave off as if nothing has happened. This time, the servant doesn’t come back. How does the landowner know he was killed? Maybe at this point, he just assumes the worst.

At any rate, Jesus tells us that the landowner just keeps sending people out to the vineyard, one by one, “many of them.” Some come back with bruises from beatings; others don’t come back at all.

But there is one other - one trump card remaining: a beloved son. The tenants dare not hurt him, right? (I wonder if the son felt the same way.) The tenants, however, do dare to hurt this son. They grab him, kill him, and throw his dead body out of the vineyard.

Word makes its way back to the landowner. What will the owner of the vineyard do? That’s the big question, but it appears to be rhetorical because Jesus answers it himself. This landowner will make the trip to the vineyard himself, “destroy” the tenants, and give the vineyard to others.

This story is simply unrelenting in its illogical events and violent encounters.

To add a few more wrinkles to it, there are other things to note, too.

First, when a biblical text talks about a vineyard, it is more than just rows of grapes on the side of a hill. “Vineyard” comes with a whole long story attached to it, and as such, the vineyard is a character in and of itself here. “Vineyard” means “people of Israel.” Jesus wants to make sure we don’t miss that fact by practically quoting a text from Isaiah which explicitly connects Israel and the vineyard. 

With that in mind, the rest of the characters fall pretty easily into place: God is the stubborn landowner, the slaves are the prophets, the tenants are the corrupt leaders, and the “beloved son” is Jesus. And while pretty obvious, it isn’t all that comforting.

Second, the parable also portrays a reality that first-century hearers would’ve recognized. Absentee landlords always demand a hefty percentage of the harvest from those who actually do the work. While the details of the parable might seem odd, the overall message resonated with those of the day. They could identify with the different characters, despite the flaws and complexities.

Do you identify with the slaves? The landowner is reckless and only cares about getting what is his.
Do you identify with the tenants? They are ruthless, for sure, but perhaps they are prophets in their own right, fighting to overthrow an unjust system.
Do you identify with the landowner and his son? You might feel indignation - how dare they! - or satisfaction - they will get what they deserve. 

But still, these characters leave us with a lingering sense of unease. It’s not a particularly pious pantheon of holy people. 

On the one hand, it’s hard to find what this has to do with us. Where are we in this story? Are we uncared-for servants, sent to do a crazy guy’s bidding? Are we ruthless tenants? Do we own vineyards in some faraway land? (If so, we should talk.)

Maybe we are those “others” the landowner will give the vineyard to. Which sounds good at first, but just remember to pay up. Don’t skimp out on your grape-giving. You know what? Maybe give a little bit extra juice, just in case. We want to stay on this guy’s good side, otherwise he may come and “visit.” This sounds like walking on eggshells and slippery slopes all in one. 

While we may not see ourselves directly in this parable (or don’t want to see ourselves), it’s not too hard to see how this scenario plays out in our world. There is always someone wanting their stuff, others who think that person already has too much stuff, and there for sure is violence and even killing over stuff. It’s kind of what our world does: fight about stuff.

None of this is very hopeful, is it? 

But maybe it’s not meant to be. Maybe Jesus is just trying to tell a story about how things are. Because particular to the Gospel story, this entire parable foreshadows what is about to happen. The vineyard, the prophets, the beloved son… It is Jesus naming the conflict that is brewing. This is Jesus openly challenging and cryptically evading the religious leaders… for now. Because the time will come when the son is indeed killed. 

The parable itself points plainly to death and rejection, and yet Jesus hints that there is more to the story than death and destruction. He continues his allegory past the parable and points a little further down the road. “The stone that the builders rejected becomes the cornerstone.”

This stone goes from rejection to exaltation. This rejected rock points to a future hope. This cornerstone is the foundation of a whole new way of life.

In the parable, the father is outraged; the son is dead, and his body is who knows where. But the cornerstone… this odd addendum to the parable says that the story isn’t really over. Not by a long shot. 

Death will happen, betrayal and rejection will happen, but that is not the final word. God will come, yes, but instead of rejecting everything outright, God will build something new. Instead of violence and selfishness, God will begin something new. Instead of death being the end, God will raise up something new.

So, while we can liken the parable to our world or to Jesus’ situation, when it comes to God, there is always a little bit more. God doesn’t reject us and destroy us; instead, God comes to lay a cornerstone. While in the parable God is the landowner, the trait that comes through most is persistence - stubbornly persistent in coming, sending, giving. God is persistent in love. God is persistent in laying new foundations to create something more. God will keep coming, sending messenger after messenger after messenger. And when all else fails, God sends the beloved son. 

And this Son shows us a God who loves us beyond our understanding and imagination, no matter where - or if - we find ourselves in this parable.

God sends the Son to us. To show us how to live. To teach us about the kingdom. To feed us in the meal. To wash us clean. To convince us that God’s ways are the best ways. To die, to rise, to build something new. To keep coming, to keep building, to keep raising us up. Now and forever.