My penultimate sermon in the parable series. Due to my schedule, I had not studied this parable in preparation for the Sunday School class on the parable, but I had the study notes from the person who taught the class. Lots of study material! I was fascinated by the response of the religious authorities to the parable, so I focused most of the sermon on that part of the text. The Bonhoeffer quote on "costly grace" seemed appropriate, but I probably did not spend enough time on it. I think it fit the sermon, but I probably should ahve built it up more in the sermon.
“The Man Planted a Vineyard”; August 24, 2025; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church; Mark 12: 1-12
12 Then he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the winepress, and built a watchtower; then he leased it to tenants and went away. 2 When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard. 3 But they seized him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 And again he sent another slave to them; this one they beat over the head and insulted. 5 Then he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they beat, and others they killed. 6 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this scripture:
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;[a]
11
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes’?”
12 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.
Introduction: A couple of brief comments before we dig into the parable.
This parable is found in all three synoptic gospels, and even found in the Gospel of Thomas, the non-canonical gospel that New Testament scholars use for added insights
This suggests that this parable has an important message for us.
Secondly, the parable, at least as it’s told in Mark and Matthew, ties in with Isaiah’s vision of a vineyard we heard read in the first Scripture lesson.
Those listening to this parable who knew Isaiah’s prophecy would surely have seen the connection.
Move 1: Jesus tells the parable in the Temple, surrounded by his followers, but also in the presence of the temple authorities.
a. Those listening in the Temple that day do not know it, but we know that Jesus has now arrived in Jerusalem, the place of his death.
1. In fact, those listening might still have “hosannas”
echoing in their ears after Jesus’ triumphal entry, when he rode through the streets of Jerusalem while the crowds waved palm branches and shouted “Hosannas”
b. In some ways, the parable is fairly straightforward.
1. The man who planted the vineyard had left it and then sent people back to collect his share of the produce.
2. We would expect those familiar with Isaiah’s prophecy,
and the religious authorities probably fit into that category,
to know that the owner of the vineyard is God.
Maybe even those who were not familiar with the prophet Isaiah figured it out.
3. So God has prepared a vineyard and begins sending people back to collect produce.
Everyone who gets sent back to the vineyard is beaten, or killed, or both.
Finally, the owner sends his beloved Son.
maybe some listening make the connection back to Jesus’ baptism at the River Jordan when the voice from heaven announced “You are my Son, the Beloved;[
But even the beloved son is killed.
4. Jesus then asks, “What will the owner do?”
to which Jesus answers, “he will come and destroy the tenants,
destroy those who have killed off the beloved son,
and give the vineyard to others.
c. if the listeners don’t quite get the point Jesus is making in the parable, the response of the religious authorities makes it clear that they interpret it as being about them.
1. Maybe in the moment Jesus is telling the parable, the rest of the listeners do not get it, but by the time Mark is writing this gospel, the story of Jesus’ crucifixion is known, and the early church understands more fully what Jesus was referring to in this parable.
2. Jesus was the beloved son, the heir, the one who showed up whom the people killed.
3. Of course, given the way the disciples and the followers of Christ betrayed him and turned away, maybe they are a little less willing to see the tenants as just the religious authorities, and they recognize their own willingness to betray or kill the beloved son.
4. But in the moment, the religious authorities hear the parable and understand Jesus was talking about them, or as Tom Long writes, they recognize that this is a parable “hurled against the authorities” (Long, Proclaiming the Parables, 203)
It may be a hard message, but it seems rather straightforward.
As I read and studied this parable, I found myself drawn to and fascinated by the last verse we read about how the two groups of listeners respond to the parable: 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.
Let’s take a look at these two very different responses.
move 2: First, the response of the religious authorities is explicitly stated in the passage.
a. Religious authorities’ response to being called out by Jesus in this parable is to double down on their anger and resentment toward Jesus.
1. No self-reflection that allows them to recognize themselves and hear the call to repent from their actions.
2. No acknowledgement that maybe they are missing something about jesus and they might want to reexamine their resistance to Jesus.
3. Instead, they want to arrest Jesus, and when they decide to wait because of the crowds, they go away to make plans against Jesus.
plans, which ultimately lead to Jesus’ death.
b. It has me wondering what we do when we discover we have it all wrong,
What do we do when we hear Jesus’ call to repent?
1. I think the human tendency when hearing parables or listening to Jesus is to identify ourselves with the ones who get it right.
2. But sometimes, we get it wrong.
3. Sometimes, we are King David, who uses his power to steal Bathsheba from Uriah’s and then plots Uriah’s death.
Sometimes, we are Peter, who turns away and denies Jesus at a critical moment.
Sometimes we are the disciples who fall asleep when Jesus has asked them to stay awake.
Sometimes, we get it wrong.
b. When we do, can we hear the judgement, recognize our missteps, and change our ways?
1. or, like the religious authorities, do we dig in and refuse to hear the judgment,
ignore the opportunity to repent,
and double down on the path we are already taking?
2. The religious authorities cannot find a way to change.
Maybe they have too much power and prestige they want to hang on to.
Maybe they just cannot conceive that Jesus’ accusations are correct.
maybe they cannot imagine what their world would be like if they acknowledged that Jesus was the Son of God and heard his call to change their ways.
3. We do not know exactly why the religious authorities resist Jesus and plot his death,
but I suspect we sort of know,
because we are human and know how difficult it is to recognize hard truths;
how difficult it is to admit we are wrong,
how challenging it is to repent and change our ways.
But Jesus tells the religious authorities,
Jesus tells us this parable!
move 3: we also notice the response of the rest of the listeners.
a. Actually, we are not explicitly told what the rest of the crowd thought about the parable Jesus told,
But we can read into the fear the religious leaders have of the crowds that the crowds were hearing something from Jesus that they liked.
something that made them connect with him.
something that gave them hope.
something that made them want to follow him.
b. What is the good news they heard from Jesus that day?
1. I think they heard Grace abounds - God will not be stopped.
2. The owner of the vineyard will find others to share the bounty of the vineyard.
Do not miss the point - it is shared produce.
The people sent back by the owner are to take their share.
The owner shares with the tenants.
God invites us to a shared life,
shared ministry.
We are not in the world working on our own - God has an ongoing, shared interest in us and in the world.
3. And the owner will continue to find other tenants.
God will continue to find others.
no one, no matter how bad or how harshly they treat the son has the final say.
only God does, and God keeps working,
keeps extending grace,
keeps finding others
because God’s yes to us
God’s yes to the world, as the apostle Paul might say it,
overcomes all the Nos the world might have.
c. . When the tenants plot to kill the son, they ironically echo the words of Joseph’s brothers when they turn against him, “Come now, let us kill him” (Gen. 37:20). (Brandon Scott, Hear Then the Parable, 404)
1. The story of Joseph connects us to the God who will persevere to save God’s people.
2. You remember the story.
Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers;
Joseph is betrayed by Potiphar’s wife and put in prison in Egypt.
But Joseph escapes prison by interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams.
Joseph comes to power in Egypt and is then in a position to save all of his family and all of Israel when drought and starvation threaten their survival.
And Joseph gives all the credit to God.
the God who was at work through all the years, the mishaps, and the misfortune;
The God who could not be stymied or stopped as God worked to save God’s people.
3. As the listeners who are not in a position of authority hear this parable, they hear the good news of the God who will not even let the killing of the Beloved Son keep God’s grace from being at work in the world.
4. it is grace, but not cheap grace, to use a Dietrich Bonhoeffer term. in Cost of Discipleship, Chap. 1:“cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance....cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”
in contrast, costly grace is “costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life.”
God is not done. God will find those who will follow and join in the work.
5. Somehow, when the religious authorities hear the parable, they interpret it as a threat to be resisted,
But the other listeners hear it and recognize the God of grace who makes a claim on their lives.
Conclusion: What do you hear?
No comments:
Post a Comment