The Parable of the Vineyard - Mark 12:1

Mark wrote how Jesus and His disciples, “come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders. And say unto him, By what authority do you these things? and who gave you this authority to do these things? And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me. And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did you not believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed. And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering said unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things”, and in chapter twelve and verse one of his book, Mark shared how Jesus spoke in “parables” where we read:

And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and dug a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.

The verse reads, “And he began to speak unto them by parables.” Mark began with the words, “and he began to speak” which means “and Jesus made a beginning of and initiated utterance, declaration and proclamation” “unto them” or “to the religious leaders” “by parables” which means “through the means of earthly stories with heavenly meanings”. Mark shared how Jesus started to speak to the “religious leaders” with “parables” to convey “heavenly ideas”.

The verse goes on to say, “A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and dug a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.” Mark continued with the words, “a certain man” which means “a particular male human being” “planted a vineyard” or “set out in the earth a field filled with grapevines”, “and set an hedge about it” which means “and placed around the vineyard a fence which separates and prevents two from coming together”, “and dug a place” or “and burrowed into the ground a location” “for the winefat” which means “a vessel placed under a press to receive the expressed juice of the grapes”, “and built a tower” or “and erected, established and constructed a fortified structure rising to a considerable height to repel a hostile attack or to enable a watchman to see in every direction”, “and let it out” which means “and gave the vineyard over, farmed the vineyard out and leased the vineyard” “to husbandmen” or “to tillers of the soil and vine dressers”, “and went into a far country” which means “and traveled to and visited a foreign land”. Mark shared how a particular “man” set out a “field” full of “grapevines”, put a fence around it, a “wine press” within it, “built a lookout tower” within it, leased the property out to vine dressers” and traveled to a “foreign country”.

When we consider Mark's words in this verse, we see how Jesus employed another “earthly story” to convey His ideas about the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus used this story of the “vineyard” to show the “religious leaders” and us what God's Kingdom is like. When we consider His desire is to have all people receive Him as their personal “Savior and Lord”, everyone reading His words should pay particularly close attention to what He has to say. We shall learn more of this “vineyard” and it's owner in the next few verses, but for now let us enjoy the idea that Jesus wants us to know Him and how His Kingdom works.

Next time Mark shares how Jesus said the certain man, “sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard.” so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".