Latest / Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago / A Plain Parable with Profound Truths | Mark 12:1-12 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series)

Transcript

A Plain Parable with Profound Truths | Mark 12:1-12 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  Well, as I mentioned earlier, today is what is
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  traditionally recognized as the beginning of Holy Week,
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  which is essentially the yearly reflection of the
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  final events leading up to the death and resurrection
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  of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
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  as you're fully aware, it's usually on this day that
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  churches visit the story, the scene of Jesus entering
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  into the city of Jerusalem triumphantly, yet also
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  humbly. While our church was a little
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  early with that message, as you know, a handful of
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  weeks ago, we just through the natural study and the
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  series that we are in and Mark brought us there. And
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  so I'm sure you can agree that it's not probably
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  necessary to revisit that this time around.
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  Nonetheless, what we are going to look
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  at today together is an event that took place
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  during Holy Week, a few days after Jesus entered
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  into Jerusalem, the way that we know that he did.
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  And I want us to turn our
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  attention to that scene together in our Bibles to
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  discover the profound truths in it in Mark chapter 12,
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  where we'll be looking at a parable, parables are not
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  common in the book of Mark. Mark
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  is not too concerned about revealing Jesus as a
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  teacher. He's more concerned about
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  revealing Jesus as a servant. And
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  so with the very little of parables that we have in
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  this gospel account, it says something for us to
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  see allegorical message from the lips of the Savior in
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  our study. And here we find the Lord
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  Jesus in the temple. He has been teaching and
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  preaching the gospel to the masses who have gathered
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  from around the world to observe the Passover feast.
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  But while Jesus is there, he
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  was ambushed by the chief elders and the scribes and
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  the priests who located him because while the people
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  were preparing to celebrate the Passover, these
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  religious leaders were consumed and preoccupied
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  with a plot to get rid of Jesus once and for all.
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  They have reached now to a
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  boiling point. Enough is enough. After
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  that whole spectacle of him coming into the city and
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  the masses celebrating him, they felt as though things
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  were changing quickly and they needed to do something
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  about it just as quickly. And
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  so they were armed with an interrogation and they
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  attempted to surprise the master with a set of
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  questions hoping to catch him off guard and to find
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  some kind of evidence that would be enough grounds to
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  charge him for blasphemy and to condemn him to
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  death. And what we learned last week
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  is that whatever question was brought to him was
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  countered with his own question and Jesus gives a
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  question to them to reveal and to test their honesty
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  and their integrity, which they failed and instead
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  were exposed for their hypocrisy. They
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  were not genuinely asking by what authority do you
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  do these things or who gave you the authority to
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  do them. They were again trying to trap
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  him and the Lord saw through that but he just
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  wanted to show that he knew it and he wanted to
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  show that he can expose it. And
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  so you would think after that interaction, that brief
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  conversation, both parties would go their separate
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  ways and we would move on in this story but that's
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  not what we see. We find Jesus still in the
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  temple courts with the audience of these corrupt
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  religious leaders before him and this is what we find
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  in verse one of chapter 12. And
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  he began to speak to them in parables. A
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  man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and
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  dug a pit for the wine press and built a tower
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  and leased it to tenants and went into another
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  country. When the season came, he sent a
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  servant to the tenants to get from them some of the
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  fruit of the vineyard and they took him and beat him
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  and sent him away empty handed. Again,
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  he sent to them another servant and they struck him
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  on the head and treated him shamefully. And
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  he sent another and him they killed and so with
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  many others, some they beat and some they killed, he
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  had still one other, a beloved son. Finally,
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  he sent him to them saying, they will respect
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  my son. But those tenants said to one
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  another, this is the air come let us kill him and
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  the inheritance will be ours. And
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  they took him and killed him and they threw him out
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  of the vineyard. What will the owner of the
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  vineyard do? He will come and destroy the
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  tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have
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  you not read this scripture? The
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  stone that the builders rejected has become the
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  cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing and
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  it is marvelous in our eyes. And
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  they were seeking to arrest him, but feared the people
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  for they perceived that he had told the parable
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  against them. So they left him and went
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  away. Pray with me. Father,
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  we do ask, oh Lord, we believe that as we're
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  praying, you hear us. And that invokes a set of
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  emotions even. I can't believe you hear us
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  as we pray to you. So we have this awe of you,
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  but we also feel this liberty in knowing that
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  when you look at us, you see bloodbath children who
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  have been accepted in the beloved. We
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  believe you love us. We believe you care for each
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  of us. And we believe that one of the
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  greatest ways you show your care for us is that you've
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  given us your word. We realize that this is your
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  word and we humbly receive it, but help us Lord
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  understand it. Lord, we are but flesh and we're
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  aware that even now in this holy moment, thoughts
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  can race through our minds. Even
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  as we're praying, we could be thinking about something
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  else. So Lord, deliver us from
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  distraction and deliver us from being flustered or
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  being caught up in something else that would
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  rob us of the moment that you have set up for us
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  today. So Lord, help us experience
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  you through your word in a transformative manner. This
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  is our desire and our plea and we ask it with great
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  humility and eagerness. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
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  You know, as Jesus opened up this this parable, I'm
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  convinced that right at the introduction of it, the
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  people here who heard it, namely the Pharisees and
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  the components of the Sanhedrin, understand exactly
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  what he was getting at. Parables
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  tend to be complicated and mysterious, and that's on
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  purpose, but this is one of the clearest and most
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  obvious parables of them all. And
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  the reason why the religious leaders would have
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  been so aware of what Christ was saying is
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  because Christ is borrowing certain truths from the Old
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  Testament that these people especially would have would
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  have been familiar with. In essence, what Jesus is
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  doing is he's building this teaching upon something that
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  the people of Israel would have been very knowledgeable
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  of because, again, what Jesus is saying is
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  strikingly similar, this profile that he is
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  presenting to what Isaiah the prophet said early in
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  his book. And so turn with me to Isaiah
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  5 and look at this with me beginning in verse 1,
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  because when you and I look at Isaiah 5, you know
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  what's going to happen. We too will be able to crack
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  the code of this parable and have zero doubt, zero
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  doubt that what the Lord is speaking about when he
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  is addressing the chief priests, scribes, and
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  elders. Isaiah 5 verse 1, the prophet
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  writes, let me sing for my beloved, my love song
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  concerning his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on
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  a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of
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  stones and planted it with choice vines. He
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  built a watchtower in the midst of it and hewed out
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  a wine vat in it. And he looked for it to yield
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  grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. So
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  here's the prophet Isaiah expressing his longing and
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  his desire, yes, moved by the Spirit to sing for his
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  beloved. And the subject of his song
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  was not just the beloved, but something that the
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  beloved owns. He owned this vineyard. And
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  as you can see and compare the beloved and his
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  handling and his treatment of this property, property
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  is very similar to how Jesus describes this man
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  and the investment that he made with his own vineyard.
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  And that is on purpose because
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  the Lord Jesus here is again drawing from Isaiah 5
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  so that he can make a correlation with his
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  immediate audience. But is there any way that we
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  can know who this beloved is? Is
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  there any way we can know what this vineyard
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  represents? And the answer is yes, the
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  answers are actually found in Isaiah 5 itself. So
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  scroll down to verse 7. For
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  the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of
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  Israel. And the men of Judah are his
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  pleasant planting and he looked for justice, but
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  behold bloodshed for righteousness, but behold an
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  outcry. It's his plainest day. The
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  owner of the vineyard, the beloved in Isaiah's words,
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  that owner is God, the Lord of hosts. And
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  the vineyard that he purchased and he provided
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  for is the house of Israel. And
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  Jesus again, by using this familiar language wants us
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  to see the parable that he presents in Mark 12 with
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  the same lens. The man in his story is God
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  and the vineyard is speaking of the people of
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  Israel. And we're going to fill in the
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  gaps with the other actors in this story. But
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  essentially what Jesus is doing by giving this
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  parable is that he is defining the relationship
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  that God has with Israel at the very moment and his
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  day while also ready to expose even further the
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  religious leaders that were standing before him. Because
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  in this parable in Mark 12, Jesus is going to
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  reinforce, I'm the Son, I'm the Son of God. And
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  he's also going to show them, and I know that
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  you're going to try to kill me. And
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  so this is powerful and we might be tempted to
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  appreciate it from a distance and think, well,
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  this is a parable that's exclusive to the nation of
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  Israel. And that is right in its
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  context, but God has preserved it for us for
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  our benefit as well. Let me pause here and give you
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  like a discipleship point, if I may. If
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  you are eager to learn anything from any passage
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  in the Bible, including the ones that are not directly
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  instructive to you as a follower of Jesus Christ in
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  the New Covenant, you have to be willing to do
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  something. People often ask me, how is it
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  that I can dig and find gold? How
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  can I mine precious jewels in the Bible? How
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  can I go deeper? And my answer in the beginning
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  is always the same, always the same. You
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  have to be willing to have a conversation with the
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  Bible. You say, what do you mean
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  conversation with the Bible? Well,
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  if you want the Bible to speak to you, you got to
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  ask the Bible some questions. And
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  if you're willing to ask the Bible a set of
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  questions, you're going to come out of any reading
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  with something. And those questions vary. The
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  ones that I am often prone to asking are these, are
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  the repeated words in this passage that the author is
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  trying to emphasize a point with? Does
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  this passage complete or does it connect with
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  another passage? Is there a warning in this
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  passage that I am to take heed of? Is
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  there a promise in this passage that I am to
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  enjoy? Is there a sin in this
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  scripture that I am to identify and avoid in my
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  life? Is this an illustration that
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  helps me know and understand even further a
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  new covenant principle or reality that's especially
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  helpful in the Old Testament? Does
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  this point to a gospel truth? Does
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  this point to something that I need to see in the
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  person of Jesus Christ? And here's my all time
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  favorite. Here's my go -to question that I
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  have a conversation with the Word of God with. This
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  is my go -to one. What does this tell me about
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  God? If you ask that question from
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  Genesis to Revelation, you could read through Leviticus
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  and get a lot out of it. What
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  does this tell me about God? Have
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  a conversation with the Bible and I trust that the
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  Bible will say something to you? And
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  that is the exact question. That's
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  usually my first question whenever I read any
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  passage. And that was the question I
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  asked this parable in Mark 12. What
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  is this parable? Yes, it's obviously about Jesus
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  defining the relationship that God has with Israel,
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  the fate of Israel, even the fate of the Son of
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  God. It's something to study. It's
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  something to appreciate concerning who Jesus is and
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  his omniscience and his brilliance. But
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  what does this say about God? And
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  the answers from that question I present to you
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  today, that in this parable about God and Israel, you
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  can learn three things about the character of the
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  Almighty. I want to present those three
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  things to you. You're going to leave this place
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  out of Mark 12, one to 12, with three things about
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  God. And the first one is found in
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  verse one of Mark 12. So let's go back there
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  together. And he began to speak to them
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  in parables. A man planted a vineyard and
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  put a fence around it and dug a pit for it and the
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  wine press and built a tower and leased it to
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  tenants and went into another country. Notice
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  at first the great contribution that this man
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  makes toward his property. These
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  are not insignificant details. We
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  are to send something about the heart of this man for
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  his vineyard, the attention that he gives to it, the
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  funding that he puts into it. He
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  is not a negligent landowner. He
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  is not careless. He is not a thoughtless
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  manager. No, instead you see someone who
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  supplies and provides everything necessary for
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  this vineyard to flourish. And
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  the first thing that we learn here from this
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  parable of this man represents God and vineyard
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  represents the vineyard represents Israel is that
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  this shows us the grace of God. This
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  shows us the grace of God because what this represents
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  is the overwhelming blessings and privileges
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  that the Lord granted to Israel in order for her to
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  bear fruit the way God desired. All
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  the things that he has deposited, all the things
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  that he has brought to their disposal is exactly
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  what Jesus is getting at here. In
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  other words, there was no reason for Israel to live
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  poorly before God. There was no excuse that they
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  could make to reject the Son of God with all the
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  light that they had for thousands of years, with
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  all the heat that they experienced for centuries.
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  It just doesn't make sense.
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  And that's exactly, that's
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  precisely the point that even Isaiah makes back in
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  chapter five. So listen, we read verses one
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  and two of Isaiah five. Look
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  at verses three and four of Isaiah five. I
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  should have mentioned you should have stayed in
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  Isaiah five as well. So stay there. In
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  Isaiah five, three and four, look at what Isaiah
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  says. After describing what Jesus
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  similarly describes in his day, the things that were
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  dug up, the things that were built, the things that
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  were used, and now, a inhabitants of Jerusalem and
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  men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What
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  more was there to do for my vineyard that I have
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  not done in it? When I looked for it to yield
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  grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? Pretty
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  straightforward, isn't it? So
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  the Lord in Isaiah five invites a jury and he's
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  asking, hey, can you guys, I'm curious to know your
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  ideas, maybe you're smarter than I am. Is
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  there anything else I could have done for my people in
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  order for them to be inspired to live in the
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  way that I desire? Let me know. And
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  Paul tells us that even this people were privileged
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  above all other nations for, again, thousands of
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  years, the covenants that they received, the miracles,
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  the manifestations of glory, the law, all these things
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  that were brought to them, the connection that they
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  had with God left them with no excuse to be the
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  way that they were. And that grace continues that
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  God showed into the life of Jesus Christ as he
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  stands before a stubborn crowd, a stubborn clergy
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  who would not believe and accept him as the Messiah.
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  What more could have Christ done
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  to convince them that I am indeed the Messiah that
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  you've been anticipating? What
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  other miracles could Jesus have done? What
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  other authority could he have performed over nature,
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  over demons, over sickness? Was
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  not his sinless life enough? And
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  that is precisely what we see here. Jesus
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  getting to this crowd the same way Isaiah did. Can
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  you point out what more I could have done for you to
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  surrender and to joyfully serve me? Let's
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  not just apply this Israel because God has made a new
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  people in Christ. That's you. That's
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  me. And it's no less true that he
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  has provided so much for us. I
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  would say we have less excuses than Israel did
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  because according to Ephesians one, we have been
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  enriched with every spiritual blessing because
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  we are in Christ Jesus. Here's
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  what that means practically. There's
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  no excuse or blame from a bloodbought Christian to not
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  be able to overcome lust, to not be able to defeat
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  rage, to not be able to conquer impatience, to not
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  be able to be delivered from envy, addiction,
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  profanity, worldliness. We have every divine resource
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  at our disposal in order to love, forgive, serve,
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  commit with the standard, even the standard that God
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  has in mind for us. You know a verse came to mind
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  while I was driving here in light of this thought.
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  There's much debate about Paul's
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  words and arguments from Romans chapter seven. I
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  do the things that I don't want to do and the things
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  I don't want to do, I do. Remember
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  that passage? And here's the debate among
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  Christians. Is that Paul speaking about
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  his struggle as a born -again believer? Or
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  is that Paul describing his struggle as an unregenerate
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  person? Do you understand the debate?
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  Is this Paul speaking about
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  his struggle as a saved individual? Or
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  is this Paul describing his struggle unsaved? And
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  people bring up different points, you know? People
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  love to use the words of Paul because Paul is deep
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  to come up with different conclusions. Here's
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  my answer and we'll get to Romans, I don't know when,
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  but we'll get to it eventually. But
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  I always tell people to just kind of limit the
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  back and forth. Whatever you believe about Romans
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  seven, you got to read Romans eight. Because
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  what happens in Romans eight is that Paul then
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  describes life in the spirit. So
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  lend where you will with Romans seven, but you have
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  to keep reading into Romans eight. And
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  here's what he says among other things, the victorious
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  life in the spirit. Verse 12 of Romans eight. So
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  then brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh.
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  We're not debtors to the flesh
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  to live according to the flesh. And
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  this is what he says in verse 13. For
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  if you live according to the flesh, you will die.
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  But if by the spirit you put
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  the death, the deeds of the body, you will live.
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  If you put the death, the
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  deeds of the body, how? If you bang your head on the
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  wall long enough? If you jump through religious
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  hoops? If you slavishly try to
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  observe aesthetic ways of dealing with your body and
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  its impulses? No. If you put to death the
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  deeds of the body by the spirit. If
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  you don't know what it means to live in the
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  spirit, if you don't know how to tap into the
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  resource known as the Holy Spirit, you'll never know
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  victory over the flesh. And I am promised victory over
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  the flesh because of the spirit who is mine in
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  Christ Jesus. So there's just one sliver to
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  show that God has dispensed in our lives everything
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  that we need to know fruit bearing future. That
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  is not to say that these characteristics will be
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  developed in one day in the same way that none of
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  us expect natural fruit to be grown in its maturity
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  overnight. But it does mean that we are
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  set on the path for growth and transformation. That
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  is totally possible no matter who you are because
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  of what God has given you freely and generously, which
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  brings us to our next point. This
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  is not just speaking about the grace of God. We
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  also learn in this parable about the patience of God.
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  So come back to Mark 12 and
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  look at verse two. When the season came, he sent a
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  servant to the tenants to get from them some of the
• 22:18
  fruit of the vineyard. And they took him and beat him
• 22:21
  and sent him away empty handed. Again,
• 22:24
  he sent to them another servant and they struck him
• 22:26
  on the head and treated him shamefully. And
• 22:29
  he sent another and him they killed. And
• 22:32
  so with many others, some they beat and some they
• 22:34
  killed. What you see here is the
• 22:37
  magnificence of God's long suffering. How
• 22:42
  patient he is and it's manifested in a couple of
• 22:45
  ways. The first way is in the timing
• 22:48
  that the owner seeks to retrieve a harvest. Look
• 22:51
  back at verse two again. When
• 22:53
  the season came, when what season came, when the
• 22:58
  expected fruit should arrive, you know what that
• 23:00
  tells me about this owner? He's
• 23:02
  not unrealistic. He's not hurried. He's
• 23:06
  not impatient. He is someone who fully
• 23:10
  understands that fruit takes time. That
• 23:15
  development can face some delays. And
• 23:21
  that's something that you and I have to understand
• 23:22
  concerning ourselves, because in the same way this man
• 23:24
  came at a realistic time, the Lord also graciously
• 23:29
  understands your growth in the spirit. He
• 23:33
  does. We should be glad that this
• 23:36
  truth is proclaimed on the heels of learning that God
• 23:38
  has made a great investment in us and he is expecting
• 23:41
  a return. Yes, he has empowered you.
• 23:46
  Listen, he has empowered you and
• 23:47
  I. This is not something to be
• 23:48
  condemned about. This is something to leap for
• 23:50
  joy about. He has empowered you for a no
• 23:54
  excuse sanctification. And yet at the same time, he's
• 23:58
  also aware of the addemic limitations that we face
• 24:03
  daily. The things that would cause
• 24:06
  setbacks, the things that would cause shortcomings in
• 24:09
  the process, our God is aware of those things. He
• 24:13
  does always remember that we are but dust. And
• 24:16
  this is something extremely comforting, not to those
• 24:19
  who abuse the idea of God's grace, but to those
• 24:22
  who long to live like Jesus, but find themselves
• 24:26
  tripping along the way. And the truly righteous can
• 24:33
  often be tempted to be deeply discouraged,
• 24:36
  especially when they find themselves in a trap,
• 24:39
  something that they thought they were able to overcome
• 24:41
  and dodge, something that they thought that they
• 24:43
  dealt with. And here are these flare up of
• 24:46
  the flesh. Have you not experienced that
• 24:48
  ever? You had a good three -day track
• 24:51
  living like Christ. And all of a sudden you're in
• 24:55
  a situation where there's pressure, whatever the case
• 24:57
  may be, and something comes out of your mouth and
• 24:58
  you're like, why did that come out of my mouth? Or
• 25:01
  you act in a certain way. Why
• 25:02
  am I acting this way? Why am I reacting this way?
• 25:06
  And there you are now convicted
• 25:07
  and you feel like you want to just crawl away into
• 25:10
  some corner and reconsider God's love for you,
• 25:14
  reconsider God's use of you. There
• 25:16
  are righteous people who feel that way. And
• 25:20
  this is how they view them. This
• 25:22
  is how they view God, rather, that when they do
• 25:25
  find themselves there in the flesh for a moment and
• 25:28
  they slip, here's God now looking over the balcony of
• 25:32
  heaven, crossing his arms and turning his back on
• 25:34
  you, when instead the way you should be seeing God
• 25:37
  at all times, even in your sin, is that when you are
• 25:42
  in a place where you shouldn't be, when you're
• 25:44
  doing something that you shouldn't be doing, when
• 25:45
  you have been acting the way you should not have
• 25:47
  been acting, the master is on a stool with a towel
• 25:50
  in his hand ready to wash your feet. See,
• 25:57
  that sounds almost scandalous. That's
• 26:00
  the grace of God. God's grace didn't begin and end
• 26:04
  at the cross. He told his disciples, I have
• 26:07
  washed you, but your feet need still washing. Meaning
• 26:12
  you're saved, but as you traverse through this world,
• 26:14
  you're going to pick up some dust. And
• 26:17
  I'm just as eager to wash those feet as I did when
• 26:19
  I initially washed you. Do you believe that about
• 26:23
  Jesus? You should. Here
• 26:27
  we see this man, patient. God
• 26:32
  is patient with us. He's patient with your growth.
• 26:37
  Yes, he expects something. Yes,
• 26:39
  periodically, we should be able to see advancement,
• 26:44
  but oh, everything in between. And
• 26:46
  even when there are seasons where there is great
• 26:49
  stalling, the one who saved you is waiting for you and
• 26:55
  ready to wash you and empower you again. That
• 26:58
  is the grace of God shown through his patience, but
• 27:02
  it's not just through coming at the right season,
• 27:05
  so to speak. It's also in the repetitive
• 27:08
  sending of his messengers. You
• 27:10
  saw it, right? Verse three, he sends one of his
• 27:12
  servants. Verse four, he sends another of
• 27:15
  his servants. Verse five, he sends another, and
• 27:17
  then it summarizes that he sent many. And
• 27:19
  do you notice the progression of the
• 27:20
  aggression of the tenants? The
• 27:23
  tenants who were given the land are getting more
• 27:26
  hostile and aggressive as the man sends more of his
• 27:30
  representatives. So they strike one, and then
• 27:34
  the next one, they strike him on the head, and then
• 27:36
  finally they start killing some of them. Look,
• 27:40
  if I was an owner trying to collect rent and I send
• 27:44
  one person to go and collect that rent for the
• 27:46
  month, it wouldn't take more than one case of
• 27:49
  abuse for me not to send another one, but to send
• 27:52
  the police, to send legal authorities, to arrest such
• 27:57
  people. And what you see here instead
• 27:59
  is that the man is sending another empty -handed, pure
• 28:04
  -hearted, submissive servant to get what is the owner's
• 28:09
  rightful due. And it's not difficult to see
• 28:15
  who these servants represent. All
• 28:18
  you have to do is look at Israel's history, and
• 28:20
  Jeremiah summarizes it so well in Jeremiah 7, verse
• 28:24
  25 -26. You don't have to turn there,
• 28:26
  just listen to these words. From
• 28:29
  the day that your fathers came out of the land of
• 28:31
  Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my
• 28:36
  servants, the prophets, to them day after day. Yet
• 28:42
  they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but
• 28:44
  stiffened their neck. They did worse than their
• 28:48
  fathers. Show that to somebody who says
• 28:51
  that God is not gracious in the way that he is to
• 28:55
  be even more informed about how God is extremely
• 28:59
  merciful, even under the old covenant. I've
• 29:02
  sent prophets to you day after day for hundreds of
• 29:04
  years. And what were these people
• 29:07
  doing in the meantime, sacrificing babies to false
• 29:10
  gods, among other things. And
• 29:13
  instead of sending judgment after 10 years, after 100
• 29:15
  years, no, I'm just, I'm going to send more of my
• 29:17
  messengers to get your attention and to hopefully
• 29:20
  get you to come to repentance. You
• 29:23
  know what this parable shows us? It
• 29:24
  shows us that humanity's response to God's patience
• 29:27
  is one of two ways. His undeserved kindness will
• 29:31
  either move you to surrender to it, or it
• 29:35
  will encourage you to remain an even worse sin
• 29:38
  in your sin because you translate God's patience as
• 29:43
  his permission to sin. One of two ways. Either
• 29:47
  it dawns on you that I've been a rebel against God
• 29:51
  since I could remember, and now I will fully surrender
• 29:55
  to him because all he's done is given me grace
• 29:58
  upon grace upon grace. It's so undeserving, but here I
• 30:02
  am willing to receive this cup of friendship. Either
• 30:04
  that or it's, it seems like God is okay with
• 30:09
  this. It seems like God is fine
• 30:12
  with this. There's no divine interruption in
• 30:14
  my life. And as Ecclesiastes eight says
• 30:17
  that sinners plunge into deeper darkness and run
• 30:21
  even harder after sin because there is delayed
• 30:23
  judgment. Where are you? Which
• 30:28
  one are you? Ask yourself that question. How
• 30:33
  many promises have you made to God while being away
• 30:36
  from him? Oh Lord, if you just get me
• 30:38
  out of this mess, I'll come back to you. I'll
• 30:42
  give my life to you. Do you know how I know people
• 30:44
  ask that? Because I used to. I
• 30:48
  used to as a kid who knew enough about Christianity,
• 30:52
  but who also loved the world and knew that living
• 30:56
  in the world would get you in trouble from time to
• 30:58
  time. But there's Jesus ready to get
• 31:00
  you out of the mess whenever you call upon his
• 31:02
  name. It's so cute. So
• 31:06
  which one are you? How many loosed vows have you
• 31:10
  made to God? Young men, young lady, where are
• 31:16
  you at? How are you interpreting God's
• 31:18
  patience? Because here you are coasting
• 31:20
  through your life with all your plans and desires and
• 31:22
  dreams and there's something in your peripheral, in your
• 31:26
  conscience there and the corridor on the side about
• 31:30
  God wanting to save you and redeem you and use
• 31:33
  you. But you ignore and you visit
• 31:35
  it from time to time, especially when you're in
• 31:37
  trouble. But are you not baffled yet by
• 31:41
  how through your prolonged delay of surrendering to
• 31:46
  him, God has not struck you, that God has not
• 31:50
  wounded you, that instead he showers blessing upon
• 31:53
  blessing on you? Maybe today can be the day where
• 31:58
  the script changes for your life, where this is yet
• 32:02
  another thunder clap of God saying, hey, I'm trying to
• 32:09
  get you to understand that I want to forgive you and
• 32:11
  cleanse you and fill you with my spirit and name
• 32:14
  you among the redeemed. Enough
• 32:16
  is enough. Here's another message. Here's
• 32:20
  another Bible study. Here's another friend, a coworker
• 32:22
  coming into your life and is reminding you of the
• 32:25
  gospel. Can you pause and think about
• 32:31
  all the messages that you've heard, all the
• 32:33
  messengers that you've encountered throughout your
• 32:35
  lifetime, has it not yet convinced you that God is
• 32:39
  trying to allure you to himself? I
• 32:41
  pray today that's you, that today would be the last
• 32:43
  day where you translate his patience as false permission
• 32:47
  and that you would fall in love with the Prince of
• 32:49
  Peace and give God, if you thought that the patience
• 32:56
  of God has reached the limit here and if you
• 33:00
  haven't been pulled in your affections yet, look what
• 33:04
  was says here in verse six. He
• 33:09
  had still one other, a beloved son. Finally
• 33:15
  he sent him to them saying, they will respect
• 33:18
  my son. So after all his employees
• 33:24
  either came back bruised or never came back again, what
• 33:28
  is the solution of this man at this point where
• 33:32
  the rebellion of these tenets are only getting,
• 33:34
  it's only getting worse and worse, defying this man's
• 33:38
  kindness, defying his mercy, defying his patience, I'm
• 33:43
  going to send my son and notice the great tribute
• 33:48
  that the Father makes for his son, regardless of how
• 33:52
  great those other servants were, how faithful they
• 33:55
  were, they do not compare to the loveliness of the
• 33:59
  son and so great is the loveliness of the son in
• 34:03
  the eyes of the Father, that he even expresses how
• 34:07
  he is such a treasure that perhaps even the wicked
• 34:10
  will be able to perceive the treasure that he really
• 34:13
  is. They will respect my son surely?
• 34:20
  And so instead of sending
• 34:23
  servants of God, God arrives on the scene
• 34:26
  himself. The son now comes and how did
• 34:31
  these tenets receive the son? Look
• 34:33
  at the justification for their premeditated murder in
• 34:37
  verse seven. But those tenets said to one
• 34:41
  another, this is the air, come, let us kill him and
• 34:47
  the inheritance will be ours. So
• 34:51
  here's what these men foolishly believed. If
• 34:54
  we get rid of the air, then perhaps the man, the
• 34:59
  owner would just surrender and give up and give up
• 35:04
  even the land to these tenets. That's
• 35:07
  how foolish these men really were in thinking
• 35:12
  that by removing the son from the scene, we can
• 35:15
  actually keep what it is that we want to keep. And
• 35:20
  what Jesus is getting at is he is exposing not just
• 35:23
  the plot of these Jews that are ready to kill
• 35:26
  them in a few days, but the reason why. These
• 35:30
  tenets wanted to secure what they believed,
• 35:33
  prospered them, empowered them, benefited them, and
• 35:37
  they saw the son as a threat. Is
• 35:40
  that any different with the religious leaders? They
• 35:43
  have known the religious respect of the masses, of
• 35:47
  the general population of Israel. And
• 35:49
  here comes this rabbi from Nazareth now, and he is
• 35:53
  sweeping everybody off their feet. And
• 35:56
  now it's only getting more intense where you're having
• 35:58
  on this great holiday known as the Passover people
• 36:01
  celebrating his name while we're being pushed back in
• 36:05
  the crowd. We rather gruesomely murder
• 36:09
  this man than surrender what we believe to be our
• 36:13
  right. We want to secure our
• 36:16
  positions. We, yes, want a political
• 36:19
  Messiah, but not a spiritual king. We
• 36:24
  occupy the office of spiritual authority. Who's
• 36:27
  this man think that he is? So
• 36:30
  in the same way as described in the parable,
• 36:32
  let's get rid of the son and we can keep this for
• 36:34
  ourselves. And what about people today?
• 36:41
  Why do people metaphorically
• 36:44
  kill God in their unbelief? Or
• 36:49
  as many, many years ago, not too far back, the
• 36:54
  culture declaring that God is dead. Why
• 36:58
  do you think that is? Because
• 37:01
  they want to protect their ridiculous right to be
• 37:04
  their own God. That's why. If
• 37:08
  we get rid of the author of life from our worldview,
• 37:12
  then we can be the owners of our own lives. Isn't
• 37:15
  it the same train of thought? Get
• 37:17
  rid of the son and we get to keep this. Get
• 37:19
  rid of Jesus Christ. Get rid of the exclusive claims
• 37:21
  of the gospel. Get rid of the infallibility of
• 37:23
  the word of God. And we get to be our own
• 37:26
  owners. Foolish, foolish in the same way
• 37:32
  that the owner of this vineyard is so clear and
• 37:36
  obvious. You are not the owner of your
• 37:40
  own life. Someone made you, someone created
• 37:45
  you in his image. And as we're about to find out
• 37:49
  with that whole argument about paying taxes to
• 37:51
  Caesar, because his image is on you, you belong to
• 37:56
  him. You do. Do
• 38:01
  you believe that? Or do you believe that Jesus
• 38:04
  is helping you be the king of your own life? That's
• 38:07
  not what Jesus is all about. Jesus
• 38:09
  is king of your life and you serve him. He
• 38:12
  doesn't serve you. He doesn't serve you in how
• 38:16
  you want to do this thing called life. No,
• 38:18
  you realize he gave me life. He
• 38:20
  died for my life, not just in this life, but in the
• 38:23
  life to come. I throw myself at his feet.
• 38:29
  So you either receive Christ
• 38:32
  and acknowledge him as the rightful owner, or you kill
• 38:37
  him in your rejection and denying him. And
• 38:43
  that's what lead us to our third and final point of
• 38:45
  what this reveals about God. This
• 38:46
  parable doesn't just teach us about the grace of God.
• 38:48
  It doesn't just teach us about
• 38:49
  the patience of God. It shows us the justice of
• 38:51
  God. Look at verse nine with me.
• 38:59
  What will the owner of the
• 39:01
  vineyard do? He will come and destroy the
• 39:04
  tenants and give the vineyard to others. He
• 39:08
  will come and destroy the tenants. That
• 39:14
  is the fate of those who also reject the Son. You
• 39:21
  say, well, this is intense. Well,
• 39:24
  don't forget the intensity of his patience. That
• 39:29
  day after day and providential moment after
• 39:33
  providential moment and sermon after sermon. An
• 39:37
  invasion of his grace after invasion of his grace. When
• 39:40
  a person keeps resisting and hardening their hearts,
• 39:43
  their fate is set in the same way that these men's
• 39:45
  faith were set. Destruction is on its way. Destruction
• 39:50
  is on its way for all those who do not receive
• 39:53
  the Son. That's part of the gospel, by the
• 39:57
  way. Holy week as we come to Good
• 40:01
  Friday, as we come to resurrection Sunday. What
• 40:04
  do you think? Jesus just came to die for what?
• 40:07
  He came to save you from
• 40:08
  what? From the wrath of God. That's
• 40:11
  from what? I know you don't hear it
• 40:14
  that much these days. I don't care. It's
• 40:17
  what the Bible says. It's what God has revealed. It
• 40:20
  makes the gospel that much more glorious than instead
• 40:23
  of the right, righteous wrath of God being poured
• 40:28
  out on us. It's the love of God that's
• 40:30
  poured out on us through his Son Jesus Christ.
• 40:33
  That's the truth of the gospel
• 40:34
  and you have a choice to make. And
• 40:39
  these men clearly decided the wrath of the owner.
• 40:44
  And so wrath shall be. But
• 40:47
  what's unique about this particular verdict about
• 40:50
  these people, these tenets, is not the destruction
• 40:55
  that's coming. It's not the eventual
• 40:57
  retribution. It's the transfer of ownership
• 41:00
  for the tenants. The lease is going to change.
• 41:04
  Look at verse nine again. What
• 41:05
  will the owner of the vineyard do? He
• 41:07
  will come and destroy the tenants. Okay,
• 41:08
  we understand that, but notice this and give the
• 41:11
  vineyard to others. This is unique to Israel. And
• 41:16
  this is the immediate context. So
• 41:18
  the vineyard is going to be now given. It's
• 41:21
  going to be now given over to a different group of
• 41:23
  people. And we know that to be what?
• 41:26
  The Gentiles. So
• 41:28
  this is a prophetic forecast that Jesus is
• 41:31
  making about the faith of the Jewish people, that in
• 41:33
  light of their denial of the Messiah, this is going
• 41:36
  to now make way for the Gentiles to enter in and
• 41:39
  enjoy the spiritual blessings and treasures that
• 41:42
  the nation of Israel forfeited. That
• 41:45
  is why the church today is the light of the world.
• 41:49
  That is why the church today is
• 41:50
  a royal priesthood. That is why the church today
• 41:53
  are the ambassadors of Christ. That
• 41:55
  is why the church today is the pillar and buttress of
• 41:58
  the truth. That is not to say that God
• 42:01
  has now forsaken completely the people of Israel. Read
• 42:04
  Romans 11 and you'll come to that clear conclusion.
• 42:08
  But what it does mean is that
• 42:09
  the people of Israel, even up to this day, have
• 42:11
  forfeited so much in the meantime. They
• 42:16
  were originally called to be the light of the world
• 42:18
  under the old covenant. And ultimately through the
• 42:21
  rejection of the Son of God. Now
• 42:23
  that responsibility and that privilege has been given to
• 42:25
  you and to me. We now shine the light of the
• 42:28
  truth of God's Word and truth. And
• 42:31
  so this is what he's saying. You
• 42:32
  gave it up. This is it. There
• 42:36
  is nothing left after what you did with the Son. What
• 42:39
  you do with the Son will determine your faith. True
• 42:42
  for this moment and true for you and I. We
• 42:44
  are not waiting for any other messenger. We're
• 42:47
  not. Sorry to disappoint those who
• 42:49
  believe in Joseph Smith. We're
• 42:51
  not waiting for anybody to complete this revelation.
• 42:53
  There is no other final
• 42:55
  messenger, including Muhammad. Jesus
• 42:58
  Christ has come and Jesus Christ is the final
• 43:03
  revelation of who God is and the complete one at
• 43:05
  that. And so we see here that he
• 43:09
  says the tenants will be destroyed and the vineyard
• 43:13
  will be given over to others. And
• 43:16
  as the Lord is ready to now close this parable, he
• 43:19
  assures his audience then and now that the death of
• 43:23
  the Son is not the punctuation mark to the
• 43:26
  story. Because that's what you heard,
• 43:28
  right? That's what you saw. That
• 43:29
  they killed the Son and in verse eight they threw him
• 43:31
  out of the vineyard. So this is even a degrading
• 43:34
  death. It was an honorable in any
• 43:37
  way. They left them out to the field
• 43:39
  to be open to the elements and animals. That's
• 43:43
  ultimately a picture of what they would do to
• 43:44
  Christ, the brutality of his death. But
• 43:47
  Christ wants to end this by assuring that again, the
• 43:52
  death of the Son is not where it ends. Notice
• 43:56
  what he says here in verse 10. Have
• 43:58
  you not read this scripture? Isn't
• 43:59
  that like offensive to guys who teach the Bible? These
• 44:04
  guys memorize the scriptures, like books of
• 44:06
  the Bible. These guys apparently teach and
• 44:08
  he goes, have you not read this scripture? I
• 44:11
  wish I could have seen some of those faces squirm.
• 44:14
  Have you not read this
• 44:16
  scripture? And then he quotes Psalm 118,
• 44:18
  verse 22 and 23. The stone that the builders
• 44:21
  rejected has become the cornerstone. This
• 44:25
  was the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our
• 44:28
  eyes. So now Christ goes back to
• 44:32
  the book of Psalms and he pulls out a messianic
• 44:35
  Psalm, a Psalm that predicts the Messiah to
• 44:37
  come. But he still stays within the
• 44:40
  lane of the theme of rejection. So
• 44:42
  in the parable here of the tenants, they rejected the
• 44:45
  Son. So he's still there because in
• 44:47
  this, in the Psalm, there is a rejection of the
• 44:50
  stone. And why he's coming to this
• 44:54
  text is because in this promise, the people who
• 44:58
  rejected the stone should now expect a great
• 45:00
  reversal. Because what you have rejected,
• 45:04
  according to the Psalm, is going to return. The
• 45:08
  stone that you've rejected is going to come back and
• 45:10
  it's actually going to become a cornerstone, the
• 45:12
  most important piece of the foundation of a building
• 45:15
  that would set the alignment and the strength
• 45:18
  of the rest of that structure. You
• 45:20
  rejected the stone, but the stone is going to come
• 45:23
  back and build something new. In
• 45:29
  other words, Jesus is telling these leaders of
• 45:32
  Israel by using this scripture that though they
• 45:35
  will kill him, he knows it. He's
• 45:36
  like, I know you're going to kill me. You're
• 45:38
  going to kill me, but you will not be able to thwart
• 45:40
  the eternal purposes of God. Do
• 45:43
  you know how Jesus ends this parable? This
• 45:45
  is how he's doing. If I can translate it in a
• 45:48
  way that will be memorable, providence will prevail.
• 45:55
  God's providence will prevail. And
• 45:58
  that's why he goes into verse 11, which is also
• 46:01
  part of Psalm 118. Look at Mark 12, 11 again. This
• 46:04
  was the Lord's doing. This was the Lord's doing. And
• 46:10
  look at this. And it is marvelous in our
• 46:12
  eyes. How can you interpret a
• 46:17
  murderous rejection as being marvelous? Only
• 46:22
  if you understand God's providence that your
• 46:25
  rejection will ultimately lead to resurrection and
• 46:30
  will lead to redemption. So the truth here is that
• 46:34
  this is God declaring that no matter what you're
• 46:36
  coming up with, you Pharisees, God's going to
• 46:40
  come out victorious. And this is a declaration of
• 46:45
  God's sovereignty. And the brilliance of God's
• 46:47
  sovereignty is not that he makes robots in his
• 46:50
  creation to do his bidding without a choice of their
• 46:53
  own. The splendor of his sovereignty
• 46:57
  is that even through man's autonomy, even in their
• 47:00
  horrific sinful defiance against the will of God,
• 47:04
  God's still going to get his will done. So
• 47:09
  plot what you want, do what you want, fret all
• 47:12
  you want, plan all you want. God's
• 47:16
  will will be done, even if you kill the Son. And
• 47:22
  in this case, Israel's rejection is going to
• 47:25
  become the world's redemption. How
• 47:29
  do they respond to this? This
• 47:30
  is brilliant. This is amazing. The
• 47:35
  parable is so plain. And he made it plain on
• 47:39
  purpose so that they can understand by being sucked
• 47:43
  into this story, because Jesus was such a profound
• 47:45
  storyteller. And if you read in the other
• 47:47
  gospel accounts in Matthew and Luke, they get so
• 47:49
  sucked into it, Jesus asks, what should be done about
• 47:52
  these tenets? The Pharisees themselves says,
• 47:54
  kill them. And then at some point, they
• 47:58
  donned on them. Uh -oh. He's
• 48:01
  talking about us. And that's why you read in
• 48:05
  Luke's version where he asked the question. They
• 48:07
  go, surely not. So when you marry all these
• 48:11
  texts together, they did admit their own guilt. But
• 48:13
  at some point, they're like, no, no, no, no, no,
• 48:15
  actually, we change our mind. And
• 48:18
  this is what we see in verse 12, how they truly
• 48:21
  responded. And they were seeking to arrest
• 48:23
  him, but feared the people. For
• 48:26
  they perceived that he had told the parable against
• 48:29
  them, so they left him and went away. Human
• 48:37
  depravity is an awful thing. You
• 48:43
  know what you take away from this is that man can
• 48:45
  be confronted with God's truth about themselves. Man
• 48:48
  can be left undone and unable to deny that what
• 48:52
  they just heard from God's word applies to them
• 48:55
  personally, and they are still capable of hardening
• 48:58
  their hearts. When just a second ago, before
• 49:04
  the and you felt in that wooden pew, I think the
• 49:14
  sky and it's not this guy is speaking right to me.
• 49:21
  You can be given a perfect
• 49:22
  diagnosis of your sinful condition and be moved by
• 49:26
  the Holy Spirit to realize that you were guilty before
• 49:28
  God. And at the end still say,
• 49:30
  we're nothing to do with this. That's
• 49:34
  what they're doing. They perceived that they were
• 49:37
  being addressed. They even made an honest verdict
• 49:41
  according to Matthew's account. And
• 49:43
  what happens? They still say, we'll come back
• 49:47
  for you. We're coming back for you. And
• 49:54
  so in the same way that you and I can interpret
• 49:56
  God's patience of one or two ways, it's the truth
• 50:00
  about the conviction of God as well. And
• 50:06
  so if your heart is convicted today, even now
• 50:09
  in this reading of the word and this proclamation
• 50:11
  of the word, here's my final exhortation. Let
• 50:17
  your heart not be hearted. If
• 50:22
  it's sensitive right now, if it's been touched, if
• 50:24
  you're moved in an unusual manner, even if you've been
• 50:27
  through so many services, so many holy weeks, so
• 50:30
  many Good Friday, so many resurrection Sundays, but
• 50:32
  some for some reason now you're here and you're
• 50:36
  thinking and you're feeling to yourself, I feel drawn
• 50:40
  to this. You have the power to walk
• 50:44
  further into that and to know the glories of it or
• 50:47
  to cut it off and perhaps never feel it again. And
• 50:54
  so I beckon you today. If you're a visitor here, we
• 50:56
  welcome you, we rejoice in that, but we really believe
• 51:00
  what we preach here. And we really believe that this
• 51:02
  story that Jesus has given us that God has preserved
• 51:05
  for us for the ages applies to man today, and
• 51:08
  that you can know this Christ that has been
• 51:11
  proclaimed. And believers, because this is
• 51:14
  not an evangelistic meeting, so I'm speaking to also
• 51:16
  the family of God, you've been redeemed, you're
• 51:18
  secured in the hand of the Father. Let
• 51:21
  me remind you today through this parable of the grace
• 51:23
  of God, he has made every investment he could make
• 51:25
  for you to flourish in Christ, to be the husband
• 51:31
  that God has called you to be. I
• 51:33
  know it's hard, I know it's hard. I
• 51:35
  know it's hard. It was probably hard this
• 51:36
  morning on your way to church. I
• 51:37
  know. Wives, I know. Mothers,
• 51:41
  I get it. In this crazy age, I get it.
• 51:44
  But remember now, God has given
• 51:46
  you everything to be victorious and to know
• 51:50
  steady success in this. And even as you stumble and
• 51:56
  fall, even as you maybe even backtrack a little
• 51:59
  bit, understand the patience of God, for centuries he
• 52:02
  was patient with the people who killed the very
• 52:05
  messenger of God. Holy man, he was still willing
• 52:08
  to work with them. How much more you, after you
• 52:10
  accepted his Son Jesus Christ, why do you doubt
• 52:14
  his love for you? Why? Why do you question if
• 52:18
  he's going to use you? Why do you think that he puts
• 52:21
  you in a penalty box even after you repented and
• 52:24
  asked for forgiveness? He's patient toward you. He
• 52:30
  cares for you. He's aware of the limitations
• 52:34
  that you face. And he's day by day, second by
• 52:38
  second, ready to work with you. Be
• 52:40
  patient with your own growth as long as you're
• 52:44
  set on growing. And lastly, the justice of God,
• 52:48
  the justice of God. Here's how you, family of God,
• 52:52
  can be comforted even by that truth. The
• 52:54
  justice of God has been dealt with 2000 years ago.
• 52:58
  You never have to question or
• 53:00
  fear destruction from God because Jesus drank your
• 53:04
  destruction. It's done. And
• 53:08
  he will never, ever, ever transfer you into the place
• 53:11
  of the condemned. Never. He will keep you until the
• 53:16
  end. You're hearing this today and
• 53:20
  you're not a Christian. You're
• 53:21
  wondering, this is too good to be true. This
• 53:24
  is the gospel. It's called the gospel because
• 53:27
  it means good news. And you're invited to share in
• 53:30
  that destiny today. Do you see how I'm like
• 53:33
  leaning over the pulpit? Do you see this? Because
• 53:35
  I'm trying to, trying to compel you and convince you
• 53:38
  that you can actually today know new life in Christ.
• 53:42
  You can't today. Today.
• 53:44
  I would cancel my lunch plans to make that right.
• 53:46
  I would. I
• 53:48
  know you probably have a nice lovely dinner waiting
• 53:50
  for you, but I would, I would cancel everything to
• 53:54
  make sure that you know for certain that you have
• 53:58
  Christ, Christ's favor over your life. If
• 54:03
  you repent and believe, it can all change. It
• 54:06
  can all change. What we thank you for the
• 54:09
  service today. Thank you for helping us
• 54:15
  understand this parable and how it reveals something
• 54:19
  about your heart. Thank you for Lord, these
• 54:23
  precious people who have gathered here on a Sunday
• 54:26
  afternoon to hear the word of God and to give you
• 54:29
  praises Lord, even with a word like this, as sobering
• 54:32
  as it is, we ask and pray that there would be joy
• 54:35
  because there's joy in the truth. Because
• 54:37
  your word says my truth shall set you free. And
• 54:41
  so Lord, even now, God, if there has been any
• 54:43
  interference with the truth being deposited in us,
• 54:46
  Lord, give us mercy and help us leave here with
• 54:50
  something. Let us not be forgetful. Let
• 54:55
  us not be stubborn and believing and Lord, for the
• 54:57
  person that doesn't know you, we ask with great
• 54:59
  intense desire that there would be a testimony for
• 55:03
  them leaving this place. Thank
• 55:05
  you for your grace. Thank you for your patience. And
• 55:08
  yes, even thank you for your justice in Jesus name
• 55:11
  we pray. Amen. Church to stand and worship
• 55:15
  the Lord together.