Monday Devotional: Israel is a Vineyard (Mark 12:1-10)

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

Then he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watchtower; then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard. But they seized him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. And again he sent another slave to them; this one they beat over the head and insulted. Then he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they beat, and others they killed. He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this scripture:

‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes’?”

When they realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowd. So they left him and went away.

We can resist the work of God. When we do so, however, there will be consequences. God’s desire is that all shall be saved, but he does not force salvation upon us. He does not compel us against our will to do his. There are always two ways before us: life and death. God invites us to choose life.

As usual, Jesus doesn’t mince words. He is speaking to the chief priests, scribes, and elders, but he shows them no deference, and certainly no fear. They have failed to lead Israel in the ways of righteousness and thus abdicated their authority. The parable he tells condemns them for their unfaithfulness.