Key Passage
“Then the man sent another servant to the farmers. The farmers hit this servant on the head. They showed no respect for him. So the man sent another servant. The farmers killed this servant. The man sent many other servants to the farmers. The farmers beat some of the servants and killed the others. The man had one person left to send to the farmers. This person was his son. The man loved his son. But he decided to send the son to the farmers. The son was the last person he could send. The man said, ‘The farmers will respect my son.'”
— Mark 12:4-6 ERV (Read Full Text)
Key Thought
As this story of Jesus unfolds, we begin to get the picture. God (the owner of the vineyard) had sent servant after servant (all God’s prophets) and they had been abused, battered, and even killed. So surely, if the owner (God) sent his dearly loved Son, he would be respected and loved by the farmers. But we know the way this story ends, don’t we. The Son is killed by those who want to maintain control of the vineyard. The Son wasn’t respected, but rejected. Suddenly, this story of Jesus is filled with emotion and with warning. For those of us who know the end of the story, we can only stand in awe of the love of God and fall on our knees aghast at the short-sided brutality of petty religious leaders. God spare us from such as these.
Prayer
O Father, my heart breaks at the thought of your gift of love being so rejected and abused. Forgive us for our petty, selfish, and brutal ways and use the sacrifice of your Son to touch hearts around the world. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Related Scriptures
Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son. God gave his Son so that every person that believes in him would not be lost, but have life forever. God sent his Son into the world. God did not send his Son to judge the world guilty. God sent his Son so that the world could be saved through his Son.
— John 3:16-17
Then Jesus began to teach his followers that the Son of Man must suffer many things. Jesus taught that the Son of Man would not be accepted by the older Jewish leaders, the leading priests, and the teachers of the law. Jesus taught that the Son of Man must be killed and then rise from death after three days.
— Mark 8:31
Surely you have read this Scripture : ‘The stone that the builders did not want became the cornerstone.
— Mark 12:10
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