Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do?

 

 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.  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.  And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.  Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated.  And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some.  Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, 'They will respect my son.'  But those vinedressers said among themselves, 'This is the heir.  come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'  So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.  Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do?  He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others.  Have you not even read this Scripture:

'The stone which the builders rejected

Has become the chief cornerstone.

This was the LORD' s doing, 

 And it is marvelous in our eyes'? "

 

- Mark 12:1–11 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus and the disciples came again to Jerusalem (the day after the cleansing of the temple).  And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him.  And they said to Him, "By what authority are You doing these things?  And who gave You this authority to do these things?"  But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things:  The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men?  Answer Me."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' " -- they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed.  So they answered and said to Jesus, "We do not know."  And Jesus answered and said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

 

  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.  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.  And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.  Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated.  And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some.  Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, 'They will respect my son.'  But those vinedressers said among themselves, 'This is the heir.  come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'  So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.  Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do?  He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others."    My study Bible explains that in this parable, the man represents God the Father, and the vineyard represents God's people.  The vinedressers are the religious leaders who have been entrusted to care for the people, and to produce spiritual fruits.  Every servant sent by the owner is another Old Testament prophet, coming to call people back to God.  The man's beloved son is Christ.  The beloved son killed, and cast out of the vineyard, is understood on two levels.  First, Jesus was killed outside of Jerusalem (Golgotha was outside the city walls); and second, that Jesus was crucified by foreign soldiers and not those of His own vineyard.  The others to whom the vineyard is given later are the Gentiles brought into the Church. 

"Have you not even read this Scripture: 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.  This was the LORD's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'? "  Jesus quotes from Psalm 118:22-23.  In St. Luke's Gospel, Jesus adds this caveat:  "Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder" (Luke 20:18).  St. John Chrysostom interprets this as illustrating the two ways of destruction:  those who fall on the stone are people who suffer the effects of their own sins while still in this life; but those on whom the stone falls are the unrepentant who become powder in the final judgment.  

If we think carefully about a vineyard, we might come up with various ways to look at this parable and understand more of Jesus' meanings than what strikes us on the surface.  A vineyard is not simply a decorative object, something to own that is beautiful.  Certainly the vines are beautiful, and in an arbor they give much needed shade in the hot weather of many places they are grown.  Grapes are delicious foods to eat, with lots of nutrition (including antioxidants in the dark skins), and plenty of sweet energy and moisture for the body.  But a vineyard is also for making wine, and that's the purpose of the wine vat that the man built for his vineyard.  The process of making wine depends upon fermentation and especially enzymes -- the energies that work in an almost mysterious and hidden way to create the finished product out of those sweet sugars in the grapes.  It is similar in that sense to Christ's parable of the leaven (Matthew 13:33; Luke 13:20-21).  The enzymes/energies work in mysterious, hidden ways to create a final product.  In the case of the vineyard, the wine that is produced is symbolic of covenant, just as at a wedding.  Wine is essential in this sense, and features in this way in the Gospels.  Perhaps this is most strikingly clear in the story of Christ's first sign of the Kingdom in John's Gospel, the wedding at Cana and the water that was turned to wine (John 2:1-12).  One cannot have a wedding feast without wine, without this sign of celebration of the Bridegroom and the Bride -- and in the case of Christ, the eternal marriage of God and God's people.  But it takes work to make this wine, for it is truly the spiritual fruits that are necessary to make this Kingdom and to make this covenant.  Without those spiritual fruits, the wedding feast of God and God's people, the eternal story of the New Jerusalem cannot happen (Revelation 21:1-5).  This cosmic joy awaits the spiritual fruits of all those who came before and of those who enter into the labors of the ones who've worked for this Kingdom (John 4:38).  All the servants sent by the owner of the vineyard in the parable are prophets who've come before, into whose labors we enter when we live faithfully for the Kingdom.  They are those who have suffered, as indicated in the parable, who've given their lives, who've been martyred for this Kingdom, who sought to serve God.  But these vinedressers still use this vineyard for their own purposes, and they do not bring to the owner the harvest at the vintage time.  Their own corruption is what they are serving, without producing the spiritual fruits asked by the Lord.  They say, "This is the heir.  come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours," as if this vineyard is just another possession they can own and exploit, rather than something living to cherish and to treasure and care for.   The people are not led in good faith, and so prophets like John the Baptist are sent time and time again to inspire with their holiness, to call people back to God.  The people who are deeply thirsty for this vintage respond to them -- just as we have read in our recent readings, and particularly in yesterday's reading (above) when Jesus quizzed the religious leaders about John.  So the owner of the vineyard sends His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to come to collect the vintage at harvest -- but that is not forthcoming either.  For these vinedressers resort to murder rather than do what they're meant to do honestly, and produce the spiritual fruits of this people.  As spiritual leaders, they have failed and see the Son only as obstacle.  And so, the job of tending this vineyard will go to others who will hopefully produce the wine of the covenant for the cosmic wedding feast.  If we think about this tremendous promise of the New Covenant and the New Jerusalem, we start to get a sense of how each of us are called to play our role as a servant in this vineyard.  Through the whole passing of time of this world as we await Christ's return, we are all called to do our part, to work the works of God, the faith in Christ (John 6:28-29).  All those who have come and are called, all the servants, the entire communion of saints, the living and the dead and those to come, all the faithful who are known and unknown to us, an entire cosmic order is part of the vineyard and participates in its vintage at harvest time, for we all enter into these labors.  Let us consider the gift of the vineyard and our part in it, and how we are called through prayer and worship -- even as we await the commemoration of Resurrection, through all things and all time.  For we participate in something living and real, our very lives become essential and cherished in this endeavor, with the mysterious action of the Spirit participating in us.