Unheeded warning
Reading for Wednesday April 12
Scripture portion: Book of Mark chapter 12: 1-11
A very simple story, but too pointed for the liking of the hearers. About the owner of a vineyard who rented his vineyard out to farmers and went away on a journey. At harvest time he sent to collect some of the fruit (Tenant farmers pay a portion of the harvest to the owner of the land) The man he sent was beaten and sent away empty handed, continually the owner sent servant after servant, asking for fruit from the vineyard; some were beaten, some were killed. The owner had only one person left to send, his own son, he loved his son, he was the last one to be sent and the owner said, “Surely they will respect my son.”
The tenants took the son, killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. The owner will come and kill the tenants and give the vineyard to others. The meaning of the story was too clear to the religious leaders who were trying to discredit Jesus and had not succeeded. It became clear to them that Jesus must be stopped; the best way to stop him was to arrest him. But Jesus was popular with the regular people, so they could not arrest him in day light. He must be arrested at night, when the people were asleep.
Jesus had finished his story with a quotation from the Psalms. The stone the builders rejected has become the key stone, this is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous to us. That quotation ends with the words, 'This is the day the Lord has made, we will be glad and rejoice in it.' Jesus did not quote the end, because the words refer to the day of salvation, and the day of salvation would start when he was resurrected from death.
Do people kill the doctor who tells them that they have cancer? Do nations kill the weather forecaster who tells them that a tornado is headed their way? Yet these leaders, wanted to kill Jesus because he pointed out that God was angry with them. Even to day when a person feels guilty before God most people will become angry, defensive and destructive. There are other people who when they hear that God is angry about their sins are able to turn to Jesus and ask him to be their peace-maker with God. That, says Jesus, is why he came. He is the beloved Son with whom the Father is well-pleased. He will die, willingly, in order to take upon himself the consequence of our sins and carry them away forever.
Jesus Christ, our sin offering, has died. He has been raised from the dead and lives forever. Just as our sins were transferred to him and he bore the consequence of sin which is death, in the same way, his rightness with God is transferred to us and we receive as a free gift the consequence of his rightness which is life, now and forever. Jesus remained in Jerusalem, the hostility of the religious increased towards him. The possibility of his arrest became more and more certain, and yet Jesus stayed in the city and remained visible.
Scripture portion: Book of Mark chapter 12: 1-11
A very simple story, but too pointed for the liking of the hearers. About the owner of a vineyard who rented his vineyard out to farmers and went away on a journey. At harvest time he sent to collect some of the fruit (Tenant farmers pay a portion of the harvest to the owner of the land) The man he sent was beaten and sent away empty handed, continually the owner sent servant after servant, asking for fruit from the vineyard; some were beaten, some were killed. The owner had only one person left to send, his own son, he loved his son, he was the last one to be sent and the owner said, “Surely they will respect my son.”
The tenants took the son, killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. The owner will come and kill the tenants and give the vineyard to others. The meaning of the story was too clear to the religious leaders who were trying to discredit Jesus and had not succeeded. It became clear to them that Jesus must be stopped; the best way to stop him was to arrest him. But Jesus was popular with the regular people, so they could not arrest him in day light. He must be arrested at night, when the people were asleep.
Jesus had finished his story with a quotation from the Psalms. The stone the builders rejected has become the key stone, this is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous to us. That quotation ends with the words, 'This is the day the Lord has made, we will be glad and rejoice in it.' Jesus did not quote the end, because the words refer to the day of salvation, and the day of salvation would start when he was resurrected from death.
Do people kill the doctor who tells them that they have cancer? Do nations kill the weather forecaster who tells them that a tornado is headed their way? Yet these leaders, wanted to kill Jesus because he pointed out that God was angry with them. Even to day when a person feels guilty before God most people will become angry, defensive and destructive. There are other people who when they hear that God is angry about their sins are able to turn to Jesus and ask him to be their peace-maker with God. That, says Jesus, is why he came. He is the beloved Son with whom the Father is well-pleased. He will die, willingly, in order to take upon himself the consequence of our sins and carry them away forever.
Jesus Christ, our sin offering, has died. He has been raised from the dead and lives forever. Just as our sins were transferred to him and he bore the consequence of sin which is death, in the same way, his rightness with God is transferred to us and we receive as a free gift the consequence of his rightness which is life, now and forever. Jesus remained in Jerusalem, the hostility of the religious increased towards him. The possibility of his arrest became more and more certain, and yet Jesus stayed in the city and remained visible.
posted by Jessie Coates at 11:43 PM
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