Father, as we turn now to the Bible, we pray for your help in speaking and in listening and in understanding. Grant us grace, we pray, so that beyond the voice of a mere man we might hear from you, the living God, and respond to you. For we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Gospel Reading: Mark 12:1-12
In this morning’s Gospel reading we heard one of Jesus’s most challenging and sobering parables, known as the Parable of the Wicked Tenants. It’s a story told during the final week of Jesus’ earthly ministry, spoken to the religious leaders who were rejecting him even as he stood before them. Jesus holds up a mirror to their hearts—but he also offers a message that still rings true today, which is the tragedy of rejecting the Son, but also, the astonishing grace that he continues to extend, even to those who turn their back on him.
What this passage will help us to understand is why some refuse to accept Jesus as the Son of God and the Saviour of the world, and it should serve to encourage us as we seek to share the Good News with them. It will also show us how the Old and New Testaments are linked together, as we’ll see that Jesus quotes from a passage of the Old Testament book of Isaiah, where the prophet Isaiah tells of God’s love for Israel, her rejection of him, and his judgment of her. It’s known as “The Song of the Unfruitful Vineyard”.
The scene opens the morning after the day when Jesus had gone into the temple in Jerusalem and in disgust and anger had overturned the tables of the money-changers and merchants. The chief priests and scribes were afraid of Jesus for they could see many people were following him and so they could see their power and control over them starting to fade away.
When Jesus returned to the temple in the morning this is what took place, “As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?’ (Mark 11:27-28) But Jesus refused to answer their questioning and rather told them a parable.
He began by saying, “‘A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watch-tower; then he leased it to tenants and went to another country.’” Now, in those times, this situation was quite common, large tracts of land, both in Judea and in Galilee, were owned by absentee landowners, who would lease out their property to tenants who then agreed to work it in the absence of the owner. The owner then had a legitimate right to payment, and often the payment was given to the owner in the form of the produce of the property.
Now the scribes and Pharisees and chief priests would immediately recognize that story. Jesus is quoting from the book of Isaiah, where it is written, “My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones and planted it with choice vines; he built a watch-tower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.” Here the nation of Israel is described as a vineyard brought out of Egypt and planted in a choice land. God had dug a pit and built a tower to protect his vineyard and had come looking for good fruit. Those Jewish leaders would immediately understand that this was about them.
Jesus then goes on to say, “‘When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard. But they seized him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. And again, he sent another slave to them; this one they beat over the head and insulted. Then he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they beat, and others they killed.’”
So, the question for us is, “Why did God send servant after servant?” Well, the Bible tells us that God created mankind for a purpose, which is fellowship with himself. Again and again, God reached out to Israel, calling them back to himself, inviting them to bear the fruit of faithfulness. This is a picture of God’s dealings with his people through the prophets; they were the servants which God sent. But time after time, his messengers were rejected. It is also a picture of God’s dealings with the world today. People reject him, resist him, ignore him—and yet he continues to call, to invite, to wait. His patience is beyond our understanding.
The disciple, Peter, knew about God’s patience. Three times on the night of the arrest of Jesus, Peter denied knowing him. Yet, earlier in his ministry, Jesus had promised Peter, “‘And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.’” (Matthew 16:18) And so, after the death and resurrection of Jesus, Peter was able to write in his second letter to the churches in Asia Minor, “The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
After rejecting all the prophets which God sent to Israel, there comes the turning point of the parable. Jesus says, “‘He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally, he sent him to them, saying, “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, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.” The tenants think that if they kill the son of the landowner, they will inherit the land. And here Jesus is describing himself. He is the beloved son, sent last of all, sent by the will of the Father, sent not to condemn, but to save. And yet he is rejected.
So, why did the religious leaders reject Jesus? Not because he was unclear. Not because he lacked authority. Not because his miracles were questionable. They rejected him because accepting him would require surrender—surrender of control, of pride, of self-righteousness. In their hearts, they wanted the vineyard, being Israel, but not the owner. They wanted the blessings of God, but not the presence or the authority of God.
And this remains true today. People often refuse Jesus not because they find him unbelievable but because they find him inconvenient. Accepting him means acknowledging our need, laying down our pride, and entrusting our lives to his care. The rejection of the son in the parable is not just an ancient tragedy—it is the ongoing story of the human heart apart from grace.
Jesus then quotes Psalm 118: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes” The builders, the chief priests and scribes, were turning away from the very foundation God had put in place for salvation. To turn from the Son is to miss the cornerstone on which real life is meant to rest. Jesus cautions that continued rejection carries consequences. He does not say this with harshness, but with truth and love.
Scripture speaks plainly about what follows when people refuse Jesus: a separation that lasts, a hollowness of spirit, a life resting on shifting sand instead of on the solid cornerstone. Yet even this warning is grace, for God is inviting people to come to him while there is still time.
At first glance, this parable ends in tragedy. The son is killed. The tenants lose everything. But in the bigger story, the rejected Son becomes the risen Saviour. The stone the builders cast aside becomes the cornerstone of a new people—drawn not only from Israel but from every tribe and nation. This is the heart of the gospel: the rejected Son becomes the Saviour of the very ones who rejected him. Jesus was not only describing his own death; he was anticipating the salvation that would come through it.
In our own time, people refuse Jesus for many of the same reasons found in the parable: pride; the belief that we don’t need saving, control; unwillingness to surrender our lives, indifference; a life filled with distractions and noise, fear of change, unsure what following Jesus might require. The human heart has not changed since Jesus first told this parable. But neither has the love of God.
When we meet people who reject Jesus, our calling is not to argue them into faith but to bear witness with humility, patience, and love. So, what can we do? First of all, pray with persistence. The owner in the parable kept sending servants. We can keep sending prayers. No heart is too hard for God to soften. Always, live the gospel in our own lives. Many people reject Christianity not because of Jesus, but because of what they see in his followers. When we live with kindness, integrity, generosity, and gentleness, we help remove their misunderstandings.
Offer grace, not pressure. Notice the owner’s posture in the parable: patient, reaching out, holding back judgment until the last moment. We do not coerce; we invite. We point to the beauty and truth of the cornerstone, being Jesus. And finally, trust the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit who opens hearts. Our role is prayer and faithfulness. The results belong to God.
Let us Pray:
Heavenly Father, may we bear witness to the rejected Son who became our Saviour. May we live in such a way that others see his grace in us. And may God, in his mercy, draw many to his son, Jesus who is the cornerstone who will never fail them. Amen