Mark 11:27-12:12
If the tenants in this passage killed the owners previous messengers, I'm not sure I would send my son to deal with them. Of course not only was Jesus speaking about the chief priests, scribes and elders, he is speaking about all of us. Considering how we lived (and sadly , how we continue to live) why would God send his only son to redeem us? Forget about "What would Jesus do" for the moment, what did we do? We killed Jesus. OK, so you can say the Jews killed him but really, that's pretty lame. We all killed him. We continue to 'kill' Jesus and make God ache with every stone we throw, bomb we drop or word of anger we utter.
The amazing part is that Jesus would do it again for us. How is it that we just don't get it? When Jesus speaks of a thick necked people, is he speaking about us today as well? When will we open our hearts and minds to his love? When will we realize how much God loves us and how worthy we are?
We are so intent on protecting our little parcel of earth, our grandiose lifestyles, our 'right' to rape the earth, our arrogant surety that we know the real so called revealed truth, that we are willing to risk our souls on hate, misleading and hurtful speech and wars. Sure, we absolutely kill Jesus over and over. When will we realize our own loved status while simultaneously realizing God loves 'them' just as much because they are unique and loved too. This is not an exclusive club of us or them, It is us and them.
This might seem hopeless if you look at the world around us and the wars, the bombs and the hate. What are we to do? First we can have hope. God does love us and continues to shower his love upon us. Each and every one of us should count our blessings and love as best we can in our little portion of the world. We can shape, convert and change the world by the love we foster in our self, our families and in our immediate world. I'll say it again, 'preach the Gospel at all times, use words if needed'.
I have said this before too, we need to be more thankful, more humble, open to learn and especially, open to love.
Jesus’ Authority Is Questioned
Again they came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in
the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things? Who
gave you this authority to do them?’ Jesus said to them,
‘I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I
do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven,
or was it of human origin? Answer me.’ They argued with
one another, ‘If we say, “From heaven”, he will say, “Why then did you not
believe him?” But shall we say, “Of human origin”?’—they
were afraid of the crowd, for all regarded John as truly a prophet. So they answered Jesus, ‘We do not know.’ And Jesus said to
them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.’
Again they came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?’ Jesus said to them, ‘I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin? Answer me.’ They argued with one another, ‘If we say, “From heaven”, he will say, “Why then did you not believe him?” But shall we say, “Of human origin”?’—they were afraid of the crowd, for all regarded John as truly a prophet. So they answered Jesus, ‘We do not know.’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.’
The Parable of the Wicked Tenants
Then he began to speak to them in parables. ‘A man
planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and
built a watch-tower; then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to
collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard. But they seized him, and beat him, and sent him away
empty-handed. And again he sent another slave to them; this
one they beat over the head and insulted. Then he sent
another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they
beat, and others they killed. He had still one other, a
beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, “They will respect my son.” But those tenants said to one another, “This is the heir;
come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.” So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the
vineyard. What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He
will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this scripture:
“The stone that
the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s
doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes”?’
When they realized that he had told this parable
against them, they wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowd. So they left
him and went away.
“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes”?’
When they realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowd. So they left him and went away.
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