'He began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey. At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent them another servant. And that one they beat over the head and treated shamefully. He sent yet another whom they killed. So, too, many others; some they beat, others they killed. He had one other to send, a beloved son. He sent him to them last of all, thinking, ‘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 and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. What [then] will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come, put the tenants to death, and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this scripture passage: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes’?” They were seeking to arrest him, but they feared the crowd, for they realized that he had addressed the parable to them. So they left him and went away (Mk. 12:1-12).'
This parable is about the Jewish leaders and their hostility towards Jesus and previous messengers of God, the Prophets. Jesus provided truths about his life through this parable. The owner is God; the Vineyard is Israel (Is. 5:1-7); the tenant farmers are the religious leaders; the servants are the prophets; the Son is Jesus. The hedge was designed to keep animals out, the winepress was used for pressing grapes into wine, and the tower was a shelter and place for the watchmen to keep watch. Landlords often leased out their vineyards in those times. The landlord sent his servants to collect some of the wine at the proper time (Lev. 19:23-25) but they received successively more and more severe punishment including death. God then sent his beloved son (Mk. 1:11; 9:7) whom they also killed. God encouraged the chosen people, the Israelites, to bear fruit for the kingdom but they refused to do so. God then gave his vineyard to ‘others’ by including the Gentiles, and God’s people changed from Israel to both Jews and Gentiles - the Christian Church. Jesus the Christ was the cornerstone upon which God’s Church was built.
Almighty God, you invited us as Gentiles to participate in the Kingdom of God and we pray that we will respond to your call and be ready to account for all the underserved grace you have given us through the Holy Spirt. Grant that we may continue to build upon the cornerstone as you inspire us so that all those you have called by name will hear your Word and receive their just reward at the proper time. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen,
References:
Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, & Roland E. Murphy, (Eds.). (1990, 1968). The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentis Hall, Inc.
Jose M. Casciaro, Santiago Ausin, Gonzalo Aranda, Claudio Basevi, Vincente Balaguer, Francisco Varo, James Gavigan, Brian McCarthy & Thomas McGovern (Eds.). (2017). The Navarre Bible - New Testament. Dublin 8, Ireland: Four Courts Press.
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