* THE TALE OF THE EVIL FARMERS—Mark 12:1-9
Bible Memory Verse
“…The stone the builders have rejected has become the capstone…” Matthew 21:42
“…Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved…” Acts 16:31
Matthew 21:33-46
“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the to some farmers and went away on a journey. (34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
(35 The tenants seized the servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. (36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. (37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
(38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance.’ (39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
(40 Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’
(41 ‘He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,’ they replied, ‘and they will rent the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the share of the crops at harvest time.’
(42 Jesus said to them. ‘Have you never read in the Scriptures: “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.”
(43 Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. (44 He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.’
(45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. (46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.”
Mark 12:1-9
“He then began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey.
(2 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.
(3 But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
(4 Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully.
(5 He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.
(6 "He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, `They will respect my son.’
(7 "But the tenants said to one another, `This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’
(8 So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
(9 "What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. (10 Haven’t you read this scripture:
" `The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;
(11 the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’ ?"
Luke 20:9-18
“He went on to tell the people this parable: "A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time.
(10 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
(11 He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed.
(12 He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.
(13 Then the owner of the vineyard said, `What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’
(14 But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. `This is the heir,’ they said. `Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’
(15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
"What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?
(16 He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others."
When the people heard this, they said, "May this never be!"
(17 Jesus looked directly at them and asked, "Then what is the meaning of that which is written:
" `The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone’ ?
(18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed."
1. Who did the farmer rent his vineyard to? Why did he do that? Where did he go?
2. Why did the farmer send his servants to the tenants?
3. What did the tenants do to his servants?
4. Why did the farmer send his son to them?
5. What does the vineyard represent? The owner? The tenants? The servants who are sent to collect te owner’s portion? Who is the son?
6. What did the people listening to Jesus’ parable say should happen to the tenants when the owner of the vineyard comes?
7. Jesus quoted Psalm 18:22-23: “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.”
Who is the stone? Who are the builders? What does this Scripture mean? Why does it apply to this parable?
8. Who did the chief priest and Pharisees know Jesus was telling this parable about? Why were they unable to arrest him?
9. In what ways did the Pharisees and Chief Priests stumble on the stone and were broken to pieces? In what ways are they crushed by the “falling stone”?
10. When the owner of the vineyard takes away the vineyard from the tenants. Who will he give it to?
11. What is the main principle Jesus is teaching in this parable?
12. How can we detect when our hearts are rebellious against God? What can we do about it?
“The vineyard, along with the fig tree, is almost proverbial for abundant blessing. "Each man under his own vine and fig tree" is repeated over and over in the Old Testament (1 Kings 4:25 2 Kings 18:31 Isaiah 34:4; 36:16 Joel 1:12; 2:22 Micah 4:4 Haggai 2:19 Zechariah 3:10). The vineyard sometimes refers metaphorically to Israel: "The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the house of Israel…." (Isaiah 5:1-7 Isaiah 27:2 Jeremiah 12:10 Micah 7:1).
Jesus’ parable is an allegory, with each part representing something else. A man (who represents God in the parable) plants the vineyard and then rents it to tenants. "Rented" is Greek ekdidomi, "let out for hire, lease."[1]
Like today, tenant farmers are usually paid by allowing them to keep a portion of the harvest, with a fixed percentage going to the owner. But these tenants didn’t want to share.
"At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out." 20:10-12
"Tenant" (NIV) or "husbandman" (KJV) is Greek georgos, which can refer either to the owner of a farm, or, in this case, to one who does agricultural work on a contractual basis, "vine-dresser, tenant farmer."[2] When the owner’s representatives come to claim the owner’s share, the tenants beat and mistreat them. In our passage we see three words that describe this violence: "Beat" is Greek dero, "to beat, whip."[3],"Treat shamefully" is Greek atimazo, "to dishonor, shame," perhaps subject to public ridicule. It is an especially grievous offence in the honor-shame oriented Semitic society.[4], "Wound" is Greek traumatizo, from which we get our word "traumatize."
It’s pretty clear to the disciples who have heard Jesus’ teaching who he is referring to. Recall these verses in Luke:
"Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your forefathers who killed them. So you testify that you approve of what your forefathers did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. Because of this, God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.’ Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world." Luke 11:47-50
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!" Luke 13:34
He sees the current rulers doing the same as their ancestors — killing the prophets who were sent to Israel to correct them and turn their hearts and praises to God as his fruit from his vineyard. So in Jesus’ parable, the tenants represent the unbelieving rulers, while the vineyard is nation of Israel itself.
But in Jesus’ parable this rebelliousness does not only to killing the prophets.
"Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’
"But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him." Luke 20:13-15a
The owner’s son should be offered respect. "Respect" (NIV) or "reverence" (KJV) is the Greek verb entrepo, "have regard for, respect," show deference to a person in recognition of special status.[5] Instead the son meets death. Of course, in this thinly-veiled allegory, the son is the Son of God whose death takes place outside the city on Golgotha. "Kill" is Greek apokteino, literally, "kill," to deprive of life.[6] "Throw out" (NIV) or "cast out" (KJV) is the same Greek verb ekballo that is used when Jesus casts out a demon.
How will the owner respond? With continued patience? Not at all!
"What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others."
When the people heard this, they said, "May this never be!" Luke 20:15b-16
In verse 16, the verb "kill" (NIV) or "destroy" (KJV) is a different verb, apollumi, "ruin, destroy," to cause destruction especially, "put to death."[7] We’ve just studied Jesus’ prediction of the fall of Jerusalem (19:43-44) which took place in 70 AD. This crushing destruction was evidence of the wrath of God upon this rebellious land.
Notice how the listeners respond: "May this never be!" (20:16). They must understand something of what Jesus means in this parable. The key idea of vineyard may have tipped them that Israel was the subject. Perhaps the plots swirling around Jesus and the people’s belief that he was the Messiah contributed to their understanding. Even Jesus’ enemies "knew he had spoken this parable against them" Luke 20:19.
But Jesus, amazingly, rejects the people’s spur-of-the-moment merciful impulse:
"Jesus looked directly at them and asked, ‘Then what is the meaning of that which is written:
"The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone"? (20:17)
Jesus is clear that scripture must be fulfilled with the destruction of God’s enemies. Let’s examine this thoroughly, since the passage is quoted several times in the New Testament.
There are several Old Testament passages that the Jews identified with the Messiah. Daniel’s vision is most striking, and attracted considerable Rabbinical comment:
"While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth…. In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever." Daniel 2:34-35, 44-45
Isaiah 28:16 was also interpreted messianically, as is clear from the rendering of the Septuagint. It is quoted in 1 Peter 2:6 and Romans 9:33; 10:11.
"See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation;[8] the one who trusts will never be dismayed." Isaiah 28:16
There are also Messianic references in the Rabbinical literature to the plumb line in the hand of Zerrubabel (Zechariah 4:10) and the stones in Isaiah 8:14, which is particularly germane:
"And he will be a sanctuary; but for both houses of Israel he will be a stone that causes men to stumble[9] and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare." Isaiah 8:14
Two passages that were not interpreted Messianically in Jesus’ time were the rock of Horeb and Psalm 118:22, which Jesus quotes in the lesson we are studying today:[10]
"The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone. the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:22-24
Given this background of understanding of the identification of the Messiah with the Stone, Jesus cites a passage they probably haven’t looked at that way before.[11]
"Jesus looked directly at them and asked, ‘Then what is the meaning of that which is written: "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone"?’ " Luke 20:17
"Builders" is a participle of the Greek verb oikodomeo, "build," construct a building. It is also used in a transcendent sense for building up the Christian church (Matthew 16:18 Romans 15:20 1 Peter 2:5).[12] Here, Jesus extends it to the builders of Judaism, the leaders who have become his arch enemies. The word "rejected" is apodokimazo, "reject (after scrutiny), declare useless."[13] The rulers didn’t just make a quick judgment error on the spur of the moment. This word indicates they had a chance to examine the "stone" carefully and then reject it after reflection.
The exact role of the stone in this passage has been disputed. KJV translates the Greek literally, "head of the corner," that is, the cornerstone of a building, one of the first building blocks placed in a building. Others consider it to be the capstone above the door or the porch.[14] Whichever the word refers to, the point is that while it was rejected by the builders, it ultimately was placed by God in the key position of the entire building.
"Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed." ‘ Luke 20:18
Having established Psalm 118:22 as messianic, Jesus connects it with two other messianic verses about the stone. Isaiah 18:14-15 refers to stumbling on that Stone and Daniel 2:34-35, 44-45 refers to being crushed by it.
Jesus’ choice of words concerning the destruction of the Messiah’s enemies is a sober one. The word translated twice in this verse as "falls" is the common Greek verb pipto. The word translated "broken to pieces" is Greek sunthlao, "crush (together), dash to pieces," to crush in such a way that an object is put in pieces.[15] The word translated "crushed" or "grind to powder" is the Greek verb likmao.[16] These words portend a fate for the Messiah’s enemies.
Jesus’ dispute with his enemies has gone beyond the philosophical stage. It has become deadly serious:
"The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people." Luke 20:19” Taken from Internet
* THE TALE OF THE EVIL FARMERS—Mark 12:1-9
Divide the audience into four groups and assign each a part. They speak their lines whenever the word that describes them is mentioned in the story. If desired, have them stand to say their part. Teach each part, adding actions if desired. Explain the cue words for each group. Lesson on Isaiah 5:1-7
ORCHARD OWNER (deep voice, cupping mouth): “We’ll grow some green grapes!”
SERVANTS (sounding stupid, offer cup): “Duh, would you like some water?”
FARMERS (evil laugh, moving head back and forth with laugh) “We’ll have the vineyard to ourselves! Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha”
VINEYARD (itty, bitty grape voice, pointing finger until squished): “Oh, no! Don’t step on me. Ahh! (squish)
Once upon a time there was an ORCHARD OWNER who planted a VINEYARD. He put up a wall, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower.
Then he went away on a journey and rented it to some FARMERS.
At harvest time the ORCHARD OWNER sent a SERVANT back to the FARMERS to collect some of the fruit of the VINEYARD. But they took him and beat him!
And threw him out of the VINEYARD.
So, he sent another SERVANT. And another SERVANT. And still another SERVANT! Some were beaten, others were killed by those wicked FARMERS.
Finally, the ORCHARD OWNER said, “I’ll send my son. Surely those wicked FARMERS won’t hurt him!”
But, when the son arrived, the FARMERS said, “If we kill him, we will forever own the VINEYARD!” So they took him, and killed him, and threw him out of the VINEYARD.
Jesus said, “What then will the ORCHARD OWNER do? He will come and kill those FARMERS and give the VINEYARD to others.”
Jesus was telling this parable to say,
That the kingdom of God will be taken away
From the wicked church leaders who didn’t believe
And given to those who choose Jesus to receive.
Jesus wants us to share the fruit of the kingdom
And tell of His love so others may have freedom.
ORCHARD OWNER
“We’ll grow some green grapes!”
SERVANTS
“Duh… would you like some water?
FARMERS
“We’ll have the vineyard to ourselves. Ha, Ha, Ha”
VINEYARD
“Oh, no! Don’t step on me… Ahh!”