Parable of the Vineyard Owner

Today's Three-minute Bible Study
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Title: Parable of the Vineyard Owner
Keyword: “vineyard”
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Passage: Mark 12:1-12*

1. Then He began to speak to them [the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders – Mark 11:27] 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.

2. "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.

3. "And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.

4. "Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated.

5. "And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some.

6. "Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, 'They will respect my son.'

7. "But those vinedressers said among themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'

8. "So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.

9. "Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others.

10. "Have you not even read this Scripture: 'The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone.

11. This was the LORD'S doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes'?"

12. 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.

Questions

1. In your own words, what is the meaning of this parable?

 

2. How does it apply to you today?

 

Practical help

Jesus has just summarized for the Jewish leaders, the history of their own nation. God miraculously brought them out of Egypt and gave them a land of fruit and honey. They were placed in a vineyard for a purpose. As time went on the people became idolaters following other gods and immoral practices. When this occurred, God would send a messenger — a judge or prophet — to speak His words to the people. In spite of their words, the Children of Israel continued to become more and more corrupt.

Now here they are facing off with God’s Son — One who has seen the face of the Father and is in fact God Himself. Jesus foretells what will shortly happen to Him by their hands yet prophesizes that His death will simply be the start of a new building.

How does this apply to you today? Your life is built or being built on some set of ideas. These ideas are your cornerstones for living life. They may be concepts that justify pornography and perpetuate your addictions. Jesus says to you and me, “I offer you life on the basis of myself as your foundation.” So instead of a bunch of clever sounding ideas, Jesus offers us a relationship with Him. Coming to Christ is not simply replacing one set of concepts with another set. It’s leaving the lonely life of trying to go it on our own (which has put us in the miserable condition we find ourselves in) and accepting a relationship with our Creator and our Redeemer.

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*"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. "