THE BOOK OF MARK SERIES
MARK 12:1-12
Grace, Evangelism, Love
“God Has Been Faithful In Presenting the Salvation Plan.”
REVIEW
For the months of February and March we have been preaching from the Gospel According to Mark.
TODAY’S TEXT Mark 12:1-12 (NKJV)
BACKGROUND OF THE TEXT
• Today’s passage takes place on Tuesday of what we call PASSION WEEK.
• On Sunday before Jesus has already made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, we will commemorate that day on Sunday the 29th Palm Sunday.
• Jesus went into the temple and threw out the money changers and those that were selling in the temple courts.
• He has caused a fig tree to whither and the fig tree represented the decline of the nation of Israel. From that He teaches a lesson on forgiveness and prayer.
When Jesus gives today’s parable He is in the temple speaking to the Chief Priests, scribes, and elders because they were questioning His authority to do the things He was doing.
Let’s listen in to what Jesus has to say to them.
1 Then He began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.
2 Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers.
3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
4 Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated.
5 And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some.
6 Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, 'They will respect my son.'
7 But those vinedressers said among themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'
8 So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.
9 Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others.
10 Have you not even read this Scripture: 'The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone.
11 This was the LORD'S doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes'?"
12 And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them. So they left Him and went away.
JESUS USED PARABLES (STORIES WITH MORAL MEANINGS) TO GET THE MESSAGE ACROSS TO HIS LISTENER’S.
IN THIS PARABLE YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHO ALL THE PLAYERS ARE:
• The man who owns the vineyard is no one but God Himself.
• The Vineyard represents the nation of Israel
(Isaiah 5:1-7)
1 Now let me sing to my Well-beloved A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard On a very fruitful hill.
2 He dug it up and cleared out its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, And also made a winepress in it; So He expected it to bring forth good grapes, But it brought forth wild grapes.
3 "And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard.
4 What more could have been done to My vineyard That I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, Did it bring forth wild grapes?
5 And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
6 I will lay it waste; It shall not be pruned or dug, But there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds That they rain no rain on it."
7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.
• The husbandman or vinedresser was the religious leaders in Israel
• The servants in Jesus Parable where all the prophets. That God sent to the religious leaders who is the vinedressers or if you have a KJV the Husbandman of the vineyard. The leaders had rejected those that had come.
• Finally the man who owns the vineyard sends the best one that He has, His only Son. That is Jesus.
Jesus is telling these religious leaders what they are going to do before they do it. He was charging them with murder before they committed murder.
You are going to kill me, but He was also saying that is not going to be the end.
TAKE HOME POINTS- I love take home points, take home points is what we can take out of this story for us in 2015.
TAKE HOME POINT #1
God provided a plan for us to have a personal relationship with Him.
Mark 12:1 (NKJV)
“Then He began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.”
When I read that verse in preparing to preach this sermon I thought about what God did for mankind in the Garden of Eden.
In Genesis chapter 1, God took six days to create everything.
• The Heavens and the earth
• Light
• Day and night
• The Heavens as we look up and see it.
• Earth and seas
• Grass
• Herbs
• Fruit trees
• Sun
• Moon
• The stars, (When you and I look into the Heavens on a clear night and see the stars of the universe, God spoke those into existence.)
• Creatures in the sea, in fact the Bible says God created Great Sea Creatures.
• Birds in the air
• Created cattle, and all the beasts of the earth.
• On that 6th Day God created the best thing of all, Genesis 1:26, “Let us make man in Our image, according to our likeness;” God created them male and female and gave man dominion over everything else.
• God blessed man
• God gave man a plan to multiply and become fruitful
• God provided man food
• The next thing we find that God does is rest. You know why God rested? It wasn’t because God was tired; it was because He had completed His purpose. He had someone He could fellowship with. That was the whole purpose of creation.
God provided everything man needed to live in this Garden before He ever put man in it. God had relationship with man.
TAKE HOME POINT #2
Man failed to follow God’s plan.
We don’t know how long this Paradise lasted. We don’t know how long Adam and Eve lived in this beautiful garden called Eden. Everything provided for them. Having fellowship with their Creator God Himself, but we do have the account of sin entering the Human race in Genesis chapter 3.
Man’s disobedience God and God having to do what He promised He would do and exiled them out of the Garden of Eden.
HUMOROUS ILLUSTRATION
I love the story that one day Adam and Eve after the fall was taking a walk with Cain and Able and they passed by the Garden of Eden. Adam looked over at the boys and said, Guys there is where your mother ate us out of house and home.
The intimate one on one fellowship with God was gone.
God sent the Law and it was not sufficient and they rejected it.
God sent the prophets and they were rejected.
Finally God sent His Son, Jesus and they even killed Him.
TRANSITION STATEMENT:
God provided a plan for us to have a personal relationship with Him.
Man failed to follow God’s plan.
TAKE HOME POINT #3
God loved man so much He gave the best He had His Son for us to have a personal relationship with Him.
Though they killed Him they could not take His power.
Though they killed Him death couldn’t keep Him.
Though they buried Him in the tomb the grave could not hold Him.
Through the death, burial and resurrection of God’s Son everything we need to go to Heaven is provided.
See Jesus was telling these religious leaders, you are going to kill me, but that is not going to be the end. The owner of the vineyard which is God will come and destroy Israel and give the vineyard to others THERE WE ARE IN THIS PARABLE. WE ARE THE OTHERS! the Gentiles Jesus said to them I will become the chief cornerstone.
Jesus said, “All of this is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes.”
CONCLUSION
Ironically in the Book Hal Perkins there is a name for Jesus for everyday of the month.
Yesterday March 7, “Jesus you are the chief Cornerstone.”
Psalm 118:22, believed to be the Psalm Christ sang with His disciples the night before His death.
“The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone.”
Acts 4:11, Peter declared to them. “This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.”
Ephesians 2:20, “Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.”
1 Peter 2:5-7, 9(NKJV)
6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame."
7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, "The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,"
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
ALTAR CALL
That brings us to a question this morning; do you have a personal relationship with this Jesus?
Have you accepted Him or have you rejected Him?
To reject Him is spiritual death to accept Him is life eternal.
Accepting Him is as easy as saying you’re A, B, C’S
ADMIT
BELIEVE
CONFESS
I am not asking you this morning if you are a church member.
I am not asking you if you are a good moral person.
I am asking you, “Do you know Jesus?”
We are going to stand and sing, open the altar and plead with you to come this morning and accept the cornerstone Jesus Christ into your life.
