The Verses
And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country.
When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed.
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.’ And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.
What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this Scripture:
“‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
(All verses taken from the ESV translation)
My Thoughts
Mark is a very clear, to-the-point book. He doesn't add all the details like Matthew and Luke or draw out imagery like John. He presents concise facts and leaves interpretation to readers.
Maybe that's why I'm starting to love this book so much. XD
Something else I've noticed as I've read through Mark is how rare it is for him to include parables. Before chapter 12, I can only think of one chunk where he used parables (in chapter 4), and even then he only recorded a few and then goes on to say, "With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it."
Instead of parables and teachings, Mark seems to prefer focusing on Jesus' actions. From miracles to day-to-day life, Mark shows us a Jesus who lived out all the things he teaches in the other Gospels. A Jesus who walks the talk. A Jesus we should copy.
But I digress. My purpose in this is to share my newfound translation of the Parable of the Tenants, not analyze Mark's writing structure. XD
This parable has never really intrigued me. It's seemed obvious that the owner of the vineyard is God and humanity is the tenants. But as I read it a couple months ago, I realized that the symbolism goes so. much. deeper.
Allow me to provide a list. ;)
Symbolism
The owner of the vineyard represents... | God the Father |
The vineyard represents... | The world/Jerusalem |
The tenants represent... | Still could be humanity as a whole, but based off of verse 12, I think it's actually Jewish religious leaders. |
The three servants represent... | Old Testament prophets (and John the Baptist) |
The owner's beloved Son represents... | God the Son (Jesus) |
The Son's death represents... | The crucifixion |
The Son being thrown out represents... | Jesus' burial outside of Jerusalem |
And the owner's wrath and giving of the vineyard to others represents... | God taking the Jews' status of "God's chosen people" and sharing it with Gentiles as well as believing Jews. The "bad tenants" or unbelieving Jews are cast out of the family and destroyed. |
Summary
Do you see how deep this parable actually is? Jesus presents a compact, 11-verse summary of the Bible's entire story line: from Creation to Israel chosen as God's people to the time of the prophets who heralded the harvest of the world to the coming of the Messiah to his death and burial to salvation through his death and resurrection for all peoples.
We go from Creation to the present time in eleven verses.
I think I like parables... XD
Have you ever noticed these things about this parable? What is one of your favorite parables? Your favorite Gospel? Do you like all the heavy symbolism in stories or do you prefer a more factual, compact version that leaves interpretation up to you?
Until next time,
Take courage, pursue the Son, and smile while you still have teeth!! ;P
-Joelle
(P.S. Don't forget about the short story contest I'm running right now! You can submit your story here. Also, if you would like a post where my characters answer whatever questions you happen to have, fill out this quick form here. Thank you! :))
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