The Father's Vineyard

Do you realize that we are living on another person’s land. The earth belongs to God. He created it and He has ultimate authority and sovereignty over it, all of it. We are living on His land. We are living in the Beautiful Vineyard that God planted in this universe.

That background might help us understand this story of Jesus, recorded in the Gospel of Mark.

Mark 12:1 (NLT)

Then Jesus began teaching them with stories: “A man planted a vineyard. He built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country.

God has leased this Beautiful Vineyard out to mankind but let there be no doubt it all belongs to God the Father. God leased the vineyard to us and then departed for heaven. The story of Jesus continues.

Mark 12:2-5 (NLT)

At the time of the grape harvest, he sent one of his servants to collect his share of the crop. 3 But the farmers grabbed the servant, beat him up, and sent him back empty-handed. 4 The owner then sent another servant, but they insulted him and beat him over the head. 5 The next servant he sent was killed. Others he sent were either beaten or killed,

The Father sent messenger after messenger, prophet after prophet to declare His ownership and our accountability regarding the Beautiful Vineyard that we were living on. But the rebellious tenants of the vineyard refused to accept the ownership and their accountability to the Father and claimed the vineyard for themselves.

And finally, the Father sent His Only Son to the Vineyard. Surely, they will believe the Son when He explains that they are all living on the Father’s land. Surely, they will believe the Son when He explains that everyone on the Father’s land is accountable and subject to the Father’s will.

Mark 12:6 (NLT)

until there was only one left—his son whom he loved dearly. The owner finally sent him, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’

The Father could have just destroyed all those tenant farmers, but He didn’t. He didn’t want to kill them; He wanted to save them. So, He sent His Son, thinking, “Surely they will respect my son.” But they didn’t respect the Son that the Father sent to save them.

Mark 12:7-8 (NLT)

“But the tenant farmers said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’ 8 So they grabbed him and murdered him and threw his body out of the vineyard.

These tenant farmers refused to accept the truth that they were trespassers in the Father’s Vineyard. These tenant farmers refused to accept the plea of the Son to accept the truth about the land and the Father’s authority over the land that they were trespassing on. So, they killed the Son and threw Him out of the vineyard.

Before I read this next verse…let me ask each of you a question. What do you think the Father in the story should do to the trespassing tenants that refused to accept the Son and the message of the Father through the Son? What do you think the Father should do to those rebellious and murderous tenants? And by the way, that’s the same question that Jesus asked then and Jesus still asks today.

Mark 12:9 (NLT)

“What do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do?” Jesus asked. “I’ll tell you—he will come and kill those farmers and lease the vineyard to others.

Today, we’re still living on the Father’s land. The Son-Jesus came to the earth 2,000 years ago to tell us that we would be allowed to remain on the Father’s land and tend His Beautiful Vineyard for all eternity if we would accept the message of the Father that was delivered through the Son before the trespassing tenants put Him to death on a tree.

The message of the Son that day was powerful and clear…The Father is going to kill them all and give the Vineyard to others. The question for us today is this. Do you find this story and that statement of Jesus to be wonderful or offensive?

Mark 12:10-12 (NLT)

Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. 11 This is the LORD’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.’” 12 The religious leaders wanted to arrest Jesus because they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.

Maranatha, Hosanna, Hallelujah and Amen,

Terry Cooper