Seventh Day Baptist
Christian Education Council
PO BOX 1678
Janesville, WI 53547
—Mark 12:1-12
by: Jerry Johnson.
The details of this parable are complicated, but the central meaning is clear. Just as Galilean estate owners put their farms in the hands of tenants, God had entrusted his covenant to the nation Israel. They repeatedly failed to meet their obligations, continually rejecting the prophets that God sent with messages of repentance and restoration.
Jesus, the final attempt, would be killed, too! Just as the landowner would have no choice but to look elsewhere for tenants, God would take the spiritual vineyard away from Israel. These religious leaders had rejected the "chief corner stone," and they would be judged accordingly.