“Lessons from the Vineyard” Mark 12:1-12

Parables are often described as the teachings Jesus presented in the form of stories. On the surface they were about things that people understood - farming, families, animals - but they always had a deeper meaning beyond the surface as well - one that could shock the hearers into a new frame of mind or new understanding. In fact, when we think we know the meaning of parables, we often miss the point.

This evenings scripture is the last parable found in the Gospel of Mark. A man took care to plant a vineyard. To pick out the choice crop. To tend to the vines. Built walls to protect the coming years of harvest. He took every step to cultivate and protect it. He then entrusted it into the hands of some local farmers - renting it to them, with the understanding that he would receive some of the proceeds. 

I recently finished reading Margaret Feinberg’s book Scouting the Divine, where she traveled around the country to learn from master vineters, shepherds, bee-keepers, and farmers about how their vocation relates to the Biblical text. When she spent time with a local farmer, she found that his set up was very similar to that described in the parable of the tenants - he rented land from other farmers who have retired, with the understanding that they would receive a certain percentage of the profit from the crops. It made the retired farmers continue to pour resources in the land he was using, continue to give him pointers about how best to care for the crop, because they were invested in the outcome.

The land-owner in the parable sent a servant to collect what he was due, but he was killed. Then he sent another servant for the same purpose, only he was killed as well. Finally, he sent the son he loved best, but he was killed as well.

What was Jesus talking about in this parable? On the surface, it looks like a disagreement in terms between the land-owner and the tenants, a feud if you will, but to look deeper into this parable you have to remember who Jesus was teaching and their history. Jesus was teaching a Jewish audience. As soon as he mentioned “vineyard” their minds probably went to thinking about the vineyards in their local area as well as the teaching found in Isaiah chapter 5 - where God through the prophet Isaiah spoke of planting a vineyard on a fertile hillside. God cleared it of all obstacles and only planted the best vines. God did everything to help the vines comes to bear the best fruit, but instead they only bore bad fruit. The people would remember that the teaching from the prophet was about the very people of Israel, chosen by God, but who often strayed.

The tenants in this parable were the people of Israel and their leaders, who had misused their status as children of God and the power the comes with that claim. A caution, over the yeas, this parable has been misused by some Christians to say horrible things about our Jewish brothers and sisters. We have to remember that Jesus was speaking to a Jewish audience because these were his people. Christians did not exist yet, as we have been learning from the book of Acts, but this parable is just as true today about Christians misusing their status and power as children of God. We have dishonored God the times we, too, have mistreated others because they were not Christian. Or the times we have not cared about our own Christian brothers and sisters in places like Rawanda, because we didn’t think it was our problem. We too have disgraced the vineyard.

So who are the servants that are being killed? The prophets of God. Those that God has sent to get people back on the right path - the Micah’s and Isaiah’s and Hosea’s - those who were sent by God with the purpose of reforming the people, only to be slain because they people did not hear what they wanted to say. During the time of the prophets, the health of the people of Israel was often linked with the health of the vineyard, under the belief that God would bless the people with a good crop if they were obedient. But there were times, even during the time of Jesus, when the vineyards were struggling and it was often linked to disobedience and injustice. In fact, those hearing this parable straight from Jesus’s lips probably were thinking about those in religious and political power who were unjustly buying up parcel after parcel of land for vineyards and linking them together - in order to displace the peasants who worked on the margins in-between parcels of land.

We too have modern day prophets who have been killed for their message. Preachers like Martin Luther King Jr and Dietrich Bonhoffer. But this evening I want to focus on the story of a prophet you may not be as familiar with - Oscar Romero. Oscar Romero who was an Arch Bishop in El Salvador. Upon his appointment, Romero was favored by the government, but after a period of time he could no longer stay silent and complict. Instead, he started to speak out about the injustice, poverty, assinations and torture. In the end, he was murdered while offering mass in 1980. He too, tried to reform the people he was placed to serve, and it led to his assinations.

In the parable before us, it was not just the servants who were killed, but also the beloved son. The tenants killed him on the mis-belief that they would inherit all that was his upon his death. Jesus was speaking of his own upcoming death - and the people who called for his death, would be misguided as well - thinking that by killing his body his message would be silence and they would have all of their power back, but of course this isn’t what happened, as the people desecrate Christ’s message are still alive and preaching over 2,000 years later.

And what was the response of the land-owner? To kill the tenants and leave the vineyard in tact, but in the hands of someone else - an act of justice not vengeance or revenge. Jesus was effectively telling the religious leaders of the day that they either needed to reform their ways and act justly, or they would be replaced. Of course, they did not like this teaching at all, just as we don’t like hearing it today, if we are using our religion for our own gain in power and prestige. 

Sometimes we need to have Jesus speaking the parables to us in order for us to see ourselves clearly. For when we are not careful we can become blinded by our own desires - just like the religious leaders in Jesus’s day, the people in Jesus’s day, the government and its followers during the days of Oscar Romero. Using our status as Christians to foster our own gain, isn’t the point. It isn’t the type of life that Jesus modeled with his sacrificial leadership either. Instead, we are called above all to honor God. To bear fruit that is worthy of the Kingdom. To act justly and love mercy. To be the hands and feet of Christ. Why do you follow the Christ today and who are you seeking to honor with your faith - yourself or Christ? Amen.