NOTES for Mar 12:1-12

For those to whom the Lord addressed His parable of the vineyard, the most important thing was its parallel with the prophet Isaiah's parable of the vineyard (Isa 5:1-7) and its unequivocal rebuke of Israel's religious leaders. Speaking on behalf of the Almighty, Isaiah concludes the parable with the words, “The vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His pleasant planting. He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, a cry.” The Lord Jesus' words about the stone rejected by the builders make this parable of His yet another prediction of His suffering on the Cross.

But it is no less important for us to notice how the Lord depicts in this parable the relationship between God, people, and the world in which He has placed us. From this perspective, we must see both the command to “till and keep” the Garden of Eden and the words that the heavenly Father sent the Son into the world “that the world might be saved through Him.” In essence, every person stands before God in the position of the vinegrower in this parable, choosing whether or not to give the Son of God authority over the divine vineyard that is each person's life.