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 Isaiah's similar parable of the vineyard (Isa 5:1–7) and its unambiguous 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 cherished 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 another prediction of His suffering on the Cross.

But it is no less important to notice how in this parable the Lord portrays the relationship between God, people, and the world in which He placed us. From this perspective one can 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, before God every person is in the position of a tenant in this parable, choosing whether or not to give the Son of God authority over God's vineyard, which is the life of each one of us.