Mark 12:1-27--Part 1

Well.  This post was supposed to be up on Friday.  I worked on it some Saturday, also.  Simply too much to chew on.  May break it up into a few chunks.  Pray that God really wows us this week with the crucifixion and resurrection.

South's SOAP of the Day
S-Mark 12:1-27.
O-If we reject Jesus, we are like the tenants.
A-Realize that all we have was given to us by God. It is not ours.
P-Pray that you place proper ownership on things in your life

Ok.  Another large chunk of Scripture to talk about.  And, now that I read this new section, I realized that I missed an exchange between Jesus and the chief priests in the temple with the crowd around them.  We must back track a little, since it totally feeds into our section of scripture today.

Jesus and his disciples have returned to the temple for the third day.  Day one, triumphal entry and visit temple.  Day two, curse tree, visit temple, run the people out of the temple, make house of prayer/den of robbers statement.  Day three, come back to the temple and see what else you can get into.  Makes sense to me.

This time, its others that begin the ruckus.  Mark tells us that the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him--the ones he has predicted will rebuke and kill him.  Jesus took it to them yesterday, calling the institution they oversee and run a den of robbers.  Its there turn.  They have had the evening to plot and figure out how to kill Jesus.  They have come to trap him.  "By what authority do you do these things, and who gave you that authority?"  Does this apply to what he said yesterday in condemning the temple?  Or is it looking back farther, like to one of his first healings when he forgives sins in addition to healing the lame man lowered down through the roof.   They ask Jesus about his power in hopes that he will claim that his authority is from Heaven, which it it.

Jesus doesn't play their game.  Rather than step into their trap, Jesus pushes with a question--a question about John the Baptist's baptism--a question that they don't want to answer because either answer would be bad for them.  Mark explains their predicament and tells us that they don't answer the question.  Jesus has won the discussion.  The tension is building.  The excitement/anxiety is growing.  What else could happen?  Its about to get really ugly.

Remember, its the the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders there in front of him, plus the whole crowd.  One would assume this is a large crowd.  All those that shouted Hosanna are probably on edge watching Jesus, waiting for him to become their Messiah.  They were probably there in the temple yesterday to witness the condemning of the temple.  They've just came to Jesus to show him up from yesterday's exchange, but Jesus has out witted them.  Is the steam coming out of their ears here in this scene?  I would think it was a combo frustration, anger, and maybe fear or confusion.  I can see them looking at one another and silently communicating, "Ok, that didn't go as planned.  Now what?"

As soon as this exchange is done, Jesus takes over the conversation and pushes the leaders further by sharing a parable about a man and his vineyard.  You've read the parable.  The man buys land and plants a vineyard--which represents God's relationship with Israel.  He puts farmers/tenants in charge of it--the people of Israel.  Some scholars say the original hearers, i.e. the crowd, would have thought Jesus was talking about Rome for a moment.  They were the ones really in charge of the land of Israel at this point.  This fits in with the want for the national hero Messiah.

When it is time for harvest, the owner sends a servant/steward to tenants to get some of the harvest.  At this point, the scholars say the hearers would have started to remember scripture from the OT.  Prophets in the OT were called servants.  They know that a parable/story has deeper meanings, and as good Jews, they are always in tune to things in parallel an referencing the OT.  The crowd and the leaders arguing with Jesus quickly come to the realization that Rome isn't the bad guy in this story.  Its the leaders standing there...and referencing all the leaders of Israel through the ages.  They did not heed the warnings of the servants/prophets.  They ignored them and killed them, as Jesus draws out in the parable.

The first servant they beat and sent away without any fruit (a reference back to the fig tree and yesterday's scene).

The second servant they "struck on the head and treated him shamefully."  Some scholars feel this may reference back to John the Baptist, who was beheaded at the call of Herod.  Jesus just referenced him in the previous conversation.  It makes some sense, though it doesn't make sense in the order of servants...one they beat up, the second one they hit in the head and shamed him.  Then the third servant they killed.

Mark tells us that the owner sent other servants.  All he sent were mistreated in some way.  He didn't give up. He continually is seeking fruit from the farmers.  Their role in the story has totally side stepped the harvest.  Its lost in the story because of the heinousness of the farmers.

Then, the owner decides to send his son, whom he loves.  This echoes back to Jesus' baptism and God's confession to James, John and Peter on the mountain when Jesus was transfigured.  The owner says, "They will respect my son."

Yet, the farmers see the heir coming to them.  Its their chance to take ownership of the land, or so they think.  They kill the son and throw him out of the vineyard.

Sound familiar?  At this point, the leaders that are there have to be flipping out inside.  They are doing everything they can not to flinch.  But how could they not?  The crowd has to be a bit on the edge too.  They've come to see the duel, but this is getting intense!  My mind wonders how much the crowd in general has sensed the tension between Jesus and the Jewish leaders?  How many of them have seen an earlier exchange?  How many of them have heard of the tension through the proverbial grape vine?  I would guess that even in the last few days as Jesus has become vocal and public with what he thinks, the tension is known by most.  There is now way that it couldn't.  There's the expectation of this Jesus becoming the Messiah.  He has the ear of the crowd...and of the leaders, the former waiting to see what happens, the latter wanting to eliminate him and keep the current system in place.

Jesus pushes further by asking the question, “What then will the owner of the vineyard do?"  I wonder if he paused here a little to let everyone contemplate in their minds what the owner, God, might do?  It certainly would have been effective!  Jesus doesn't wait for an answer, though.  He answers the question himself:

He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture:

‘The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;
  the Lord has done this,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

Boom!  Jesus drops the hammer.  The owner, God, won't sit by idly like it seems he was in the story.  No.  he is active in the story.  He was patiently waiting for the tenants to produce fruit and treat his servants and son well.  They did not.  He will intervene, kill them, and give the vineyard to someone else.

Jesus is coming to set a new order, a new covenant.  The Jewish leaders have not lead the Jewish people well.  The system of the temple, its sacrifices, its role in their faith, has become defunct.  The way of life it was to bring about has been lost.  Jesus is putting forward a new way of life.  One where the sick and the broken are given hope and healing.  One where forgiveness is given freely.  One where the Good News changes lives because the presence of God is there.

For a finality to his words, Jesus quotes from Psalm 118.  Read that Psalm and think about what is going on.

The Psalm itself is calling out the failure of following men, rulers, and earthly things.  It states that God is the refuge.  It talks about the rejection that some will have against the Good News of God.  Those verses, which Jesus quotes here are verses 22 and 23.  Following those verses is a verse that the crowd shouted a few days before at Jesus' triumphal entry--"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" (Psalm 118:26).

Think of all the people that were present at the triumphal entry.  Certainly the Jewish leaders were there.  Mark doesn't tell us that, but the other gospels do.  The leaders even interact with Jesus, telling him to quiet down the crowd because they are afraid that the noise and excitement is going to attract too much attention from the Roman rule.  One would think that both the leaders and the crowd has heard the quoting of Psalm 118.  Psalms to them were like our hymns.  Everyone knew them all by heart.  Just like, if I said, "Amazing Grace", you would think, "how sweet the sound" along with all the other verses.

Jesus is using Scripture said by the crowd in this parable a few days later, to show that he understands who he is and what is about to happen.  Without specifically saying it, he has called out the Jewish leaders as the evil ones who have rejected God and has affirmed the words that the crowd called out--that He is in fact the Messiah.

One would think that with all of this going on, the Jewish leaders would get a clue.  They would go, "OK.  We get it now.  We need to repent because we are horrible and follow Jesus!"  Unfortunately, this is not their response.  Nope, not at all.  Mark tells us what they are thinking:

Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away.

They get that Jesus has taken aim on them. Yet, in their pride, they think they are still right.  They must kill this Jesus to keep control.

I wonder what the disciples are thinking at this point?  Do they get it?  Is the light bulb flicking on for them?  Did it come on for the crowd?

What about us?  If we allow ourselves into this story, into the sandals of those involved here, we must really come to grips with reality and ask some questions.

What in my faith hinders the good news?  What in my faith helps the good news?  How is my life showing that the good news is alive and advancing?

Those are hard questions.  When I began this journey of journaling through Scripture I never imagined having such hard questions put in my mind.  I never thought that this reading through Mark, which I have done many times before, would really dig at my own soul and my ministry the way that it is.  I wonder how it is digging at your life.

To be honest, I've become comfortable in doing ministry.  I do what I think I need to do to keep the church moving forward.  The problem is, that moving forward is for the church.  That is not necessarily wrong.  But, what am I doing to shine outside the church?  What are we doing as a church to BE the church, the salt that Jesus talks about to the world.  If we are simply being salt to be salt, we aren't doing what we are called to do.  We aren't allowing the Good News to drive us, we are driving ourselves.

The Jewish leaders put themselves in a place where they couldn't ask, "How can we change?"  They were so far in they simply couldn't let go of who they were.  I don't think we are that far in.  I think if we are honest with one another, we can change and move and BE on the way with Jesus.

If you are a member of South, pray that we have open eyes and ears as we head into the next few weeks.  We are going to challenge ourselves to be more than we have been in the past.  If you are not a a part of South, allow the above questions to challenge your heart.  make changes and live out the good news.

God, help us to dive into the next few weeks here at South.  Allow those who are coming to this blog and reading to be challenged.  May we change and be your kingdom here and now.  May we be a place where the world can experience your love, your forgiveness and your healing.  Use us. Give us the boldness to change.  Give us the tenacity and love for the world that you have.  May we be empowered by your Holy Spirit!