Just Renters

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

JUST RENTERS

Mark 12:1-11

12:1 He then began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. 2 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed. 6 "He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, 'They will respect my son.' 7 "But the tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' 8 So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 "What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Haven't you read this scripture: "'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; 11 the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?" 

NIV

This is a long parable and we just cannot break it up into small little devotions so we must take it in its entirety. Of course we know, because later those who he told this too, knew he was talking about them and how they were thinking about trying to kill him. But what does it speak to us today? Does Jesus speak this parable against us in anyway? Are we in any way guilty of what the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders were guilty of? Has Jesus planted us in a vineyard or should we say planted a vineyard and rented it to us? Could we say the world is his vineyard and he as rented it to us and we are supposed to produce a crop and give him a portion, or in reality all, of the harvest? We could certainly say that those people who refuse to accept Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Savior of the world, surely have, at least in a spiritual sense, desire to put the son, the heir, to death, so they can have the vineyard, the world, all to themselves. But do we have to be concerned about this parable in any sense? Have we, by our lives, rejected the son of the landlord? Have we adopted any of the philosophies of the world, seeking the inheritance for ourselves? Do we not give God the glory for all we have and give him that portion which is due when he sends his servant to collect, especially when he sends his son? What is that which he desires to collect from us, the tenants of his vineyard? It would seem clear that would be our tithe, but maybe that is not the case here. What is the harvest of the vineyard? It is not the fruit of the vine? If he is the vine and we are the branches then we should be the ones bearing much fruit, and the harvest is the fruit we bear. We could also say that the vineyard is the world and the harvest is souls. Have we produced a harvest for the landlord, or do we desire to keep that harvest for ourselves? That is to say, some priests, teachers and elders would rather gather a following of their own, then point people to Jesus. We have to make sure whatever the harvest is, we always remember the harvest belongs to the landlord, in fact, the whole vineyard belongs to the landlord. We are just renters.