The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD'S doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes

 

 Then they came again to Jerusalem.  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 men 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'?"

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.  

 

- Mark 11:27—12:12 

 

Yesterday we read that, when Jesus and the disciples had come out from Bethany, He was hungry.  And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it.  When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.  In response Jesus said to it, "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again."  And His disciples heard it.  So they came to Jerusalem.  Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple.  Then He taught, saying to them, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'?  But you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"  And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching.  When evening had come, He went out of the city.  Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.  And Peter, remembering, said to Him, "Rabbi, look!  The fig tree which You cursed has withered away."  So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God.  For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.  Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.  And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.  But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses."

 

  Then they came again to Jerusalem.  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."   Here is the great concern of the religious leaders:  authority.  Since Christ is not a Levitical priest, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders challenge His authority to cleanse the temple (see yesterday's reading, above).  But Christ is careful not to reveal Himself to scoffers.  So He confounds them with a different question about John.  Both the elders' question and Christ's question require the same answer, my study Bible comments, and therefore would lead a person to confess that Jesus has come from heaven.  By not answering them directly, my study Bible notes, Christ teaches us not to answer people who come asking about holy things with a malicious intent.  

 

 Then He began to speak to them in parables:  "A men 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'?" 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.  In this parable, my study Bible explains, the man represents God the Father, and the vineyard refers to God's people.  The vinedressers are the religious leaders who were entrusted to care for the people.  Each servant sent by the owner stands for an Old Testament prophet who comes to call people back to God, while the one son, his beloved is a reference to Christ Himself.  When the Son is killed and cast out of the vineyard it may be understood various ways.  Christ was killed outside of Jerusalem, and He was crucified by foreign soldiers rather than those of His own "vineyard."  He was cast out by the religious leaders and rejected at His trial before Pilate.  The others who will later receive the vineyard are the Gentiles brought into the Church.  Jesus quotes Scripture from Psalm 118:22-23.

 

It's interesting to consider Christ's use of Scripture here, after He tells the parable of the Wicked Vinedressers.   Clearly the religious leaders -- as the text of the Gospel tells us -- understand that Jesus has told this parable against them.  But in quoting these verses from Psalm 118, Jesus is doing more.  He is the fulfillment of the Scripture; He is the stone which the builders rejected, and which will moreover become the chief cornerstone.  That is, He is the One who will determine the foundation of an entirely new "building" and one which will replace the old, although having been rejected by the builders.  In this sense, the Psalm forms a kind of prophecy, to be fulfilled through the spiritual history of the people, and we are meant to understand it this way.  In fact, our reading for today has many overtones of prophecy in it, as it begins by Jesus using the image of John the Baptist to demand an accountability on the part of the chief priests, scribes, and elders who question Him about His authority in the temple.   The suggestion of John the Baptist as a person of authority to practice his baptism comes from Jesus as a reminder to these religious leaders of the authority of a prophet.  John the Baptist was recognized throughout the Jewish communities as a holy man and treated with that kind of reverence.  Like the Old Testament prophets before him, he "spoke truth to power" as the modern saying goes, and was eventually martyred for criticizing the marriage of King Herod Antipas for being outside of Jewish law.  So the figure of John -- in the context of the Church -- comes to us as the last and greatest in the long line of the Old Testament prophets.  And among the people of his own time, he was widely recognized for his holiness, as people came from all over the Jewish territories for his baptism.  He is the one whom the Church calls the Forerunner, because he himself was also the fulfillment of prophecy.   When St. John the Baptist appears in the Gospels, it is presented in fulfillment of earlier prophecy by Malachi and Isaiah.  St. Mark's Gospel begins, "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  As it is written in the Prophets: 'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.' 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight" ' " (Malachi 3:1; Isaiah 40:3).  So, when Jesus asks where the authority for John's ministry of baptism came from, He is asking the religious leaders to consider the authority of God's grace by whom gifts of prophecy come.  These leaders, whether or not they accepted John, would not speak up before the people who listen, for the people all regarded John with the authority of a holy figure.  So John the Baptist, last in the line of Old Testament prophets, the prophets who came before him (and whose prophecies he fulfilled), all the prophets suggested in the parable of the vinedressers as the prophets killed before John by those in the same positions of authority these men hold to whom Jesus speaks, and Christ Himself as fulfillment of prophecy in the Psalm of David  -- all these come by the power, grace, and authority of God, Jesus suggests here . One after the other, they come "in the name of the Lord," and one after another have been questioned as to their authority to speak, and persecuted in turn, as the parable suggests.  Jesus is the beloved Son, who in fact speaks with greater authority, and the consequences of His rejection and death will be much more far reaching for the descendants of these authorities in the temple.  Jesus is, of course, much more than a prophet, but He is a figure about whom many wondered in His own time if He was "the Prophet," a figure prophesied by Moses (see Mark 6:15; Deuteronomy 18:15).  The importance of prophecy and its fulfillment, and most particularly the authority carried by the grace of God the Holy Spirit plays a great part on many layers in today's reading.  This is the authority of Christ the Lord, and is carried by the rest to whom that grace of true prophecy is given, as well as the figures who form the fulfillment of prophecy.  But let us remember that Jesus has also taught that "a prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house," a saying so important that it appears in all four Gospels (Matthew 13:57; Mark 6:4; Luke 4:24; John 4:44).   Let us respect the power and grace of God, which works through all things in ways that are surprising, despise the efforts of rejection and manipulation to do otherwise.