Do We Owe God?
Mark 11:27-12:12
Message #44
This morning we pick up back in Mark after the lesson on the Fig Tree. That message was called, “We Need Real Faith.” And, today, Jesus enters Jerusalem again with the Disciples and he comes into the city ready for a no holds barred, cage fight to the death. Jesus is going into the ring with the religious leaders of the day and it is a cage fight to his death.
And today, Jesus starts this final spiritual boxing match by just throwing a few jabs (to get under their skin). But he’s letting them know, right up front, the gloves are off, and the championship fight for who is truly King has begun. And guys, us putting ourselves in this section of scripture is really, really good for us, so get ready.
I’m just going to read straight through our first section today, just so you can see the religious leaders come at Jesus with a half-hearted swing. And Jesus lands his first jab right on the nose of these guys.
Mark 11:27–33 (NLT)
27 Again they entered Jerusalem. As Jesus was walking through the Temple area, the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders came up to him. (the entire group that will orchestrate his death)
28 They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right to do them?” (referring to the cleansing of the Temple)
29 “I’ll tell you by what authority I do these things if you answer one question,” Jesus replied. (that’s a Jab)
30 “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human? Answer me!” (notice the Exclamation Point)
31 They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why we didn’t believe John.
32 But do we dare say it was merely human?” For they were afraid of what the people would do, because everyone believed that John was a prophet.
33 So they finally replied, “We don’t know.” And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Baam! Round one goes to Jesus and he wins it with one punch. The religious leaders stumble back into their corner to put an ice pack on their noses.
As round two begins, the religious leaders are standing in their corner getting angrier and angrier.
Mark 12:1 (NLT)
1 Then Jesus began teaching them with stories (parables): . . .
Only the NLT uses the phrase, “teaching them” all other versions say, “speaking to them” because Jesus was speaking to the religious leaders but they certainly weren’t learning anything.
So, Jesus speaks to them in a parable. For those not familiar with parables, it is a story with a central, profound meaning. The parables are some of the most incredible truth-telling that Jesus does. This parable would be a “sucker punch,” knocking the wind out of them for round two. This is the first parable that sets the religious leaders toward Jesus’ death.
(continuing in verse 1) 1 . . . “A man planted a vineyard. He built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country.
Now, you may not immediately know that Jesus is using a common illustration of God and Israel. But I assure you, the religious leaders knew immediately because Jesus was referring to the national symbol of Israel’s relationship with God. In fact, on the gates leading into the Temple Proper (the gate called “Beautiful”) was a massive, seventy-foot tall grapevine and throughout the Old Testament, Israel is referred to as God’s Vineyard. So, the religious leaders knew immediately Jesus was talking about God and them.
But please listen to me very carefully right here. We are also God’s people today grafted in as spiritual sons and daughters of Abraham. We must put ourselves in this parable or it will mean nothing to us. And so, this is no longer just a sucker punch for the religious leaders in Jesus’ day. Now, this confrontation parable could knock the wind out of us – so I’m just going to start saying “us.”
So, verse 1 says God has gone to great lengths to prepare the vineyard of our lives. Verse one says,
He planted the vineyard of our lives
He hemmed it in on all sides
He made a way to bring fruit out of our lives
And he built a watchtower to protect it from the enemy
And then, God gave the vineyard of our lives to us for us to manage.
And we have to know with all that God did for the Nation of Israel, today (from a spiritual standpoint), God has done so much more for us, hasn’t he? We may have no “living prophets” quite like Israel did, whom Israel routinely rejected, but we have the Living Word of God that we may routinely reject – just like Israel rejected the prophets.
And even more, if we have put our faith in Jesus Christ today, Romans Chapter 8 makes it clear that we have the power of the Holy Spirit living in us, and the Holy Spirit brings the Word of God to life in our hearts.
And so, God has made the soil of the vineyard of our lives actually far richer spiritually than that of the religious leaders of Israel. And we can reject what we owe to God just like the leaders of Israel did, can’t we?
And God has been so patient with us – hasn’t he? Just like he was (and still is) with the Nation of Israel.
And so now God sends a servant to collect the fruit from the vineyard of our lives.
Mark 12:2–3 (NLT)
2 At the time of the grape harvest, he (the vineyard owner, representing God) sent one of his servants to collect his share of the crop.
3 But the farmers grabbed the servant, beat him up, and sent him back empty-handed.
Could this really be us? Could there be a time when God has sent his servant to us to collect the fruit that should be coming from the vineyard that God has created in our lives but when the servant gets to our lives, we don’t gratefully give God the fruit he deserves? Instead, we bear the servant up and send him back empty-handed. No fruit for you, God! Instead, we have only anger or frustration toward God.
But God is so merciful and so patient, isn’t he?
Mark 12:4–5 (NLT)
4 The owner then sent another servant, but they insulted him and beat him over the head.
The fruit that we are talking about, I will list shortly. But what if this servant is a person? Just put this in your mind for me, we’re going to come back to it. What if God sends you a servant that you owe forgiveness to? It’s really forgiveness you owe God but the servant who’s coming to collect is a servant that you owe forgiveness to.
5 The next servant he sent was killed. Others he sent were either beaten or killed,
There is historical record of this actually happening during the time of Jesus. But the religious leaders knew Jesus was actually talking about them spiritually because this is exactly the way they treated the prophets who were the Word of God to them.
And we have the Living Word of God that God has sent to us, don’t we? Is there a chance that we are treating the Living Word of God the same way Israel treated the prophets who spoke the Word of God?
Is there a chance we are treating the Living Word of God and the Living Testimony of the Holy Spirit in the same way the farmers in the parable were treating the servant sent by the vineyard owner?
And why did the farmers reject the servants who were sent from the vineyard owner to collect what rightfully belonged to the owner? Don’t you think it was because they viewed their vineyard (meaning their life) as their own and not belonging to the One who gave it to them? And so, they felt justified in doing with their lives whatever they wanted to do with their lives and they felt no obligation for what they owed to the one who gave it all to them.
And so, they had no problem rejecting, insulting, beating, and killing the servants who came to collect the fruit that was rightfully owed to the Owner of their lives.
And so, finally, the vineyard owner sent his own Son. Now, I know when we read this, you’re going to think about Israel rejecting Jesus Christ, and that is certainly true. But – can you try to see with me how this may relate to our lives?
So, the owner had sent all his servants, and then we read in Mark 12:6-8,
Mark 12:6–8 (NLT)
6 until there was only one left—his son whom he loved dearly. The owner finally sent him, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’
7 “But the tenant farmers said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’
8 So they grabbed him and murdered him and threw his body out of the vineyard.
That is graphic and hard to read. But remember for us, the estate is a picture of our lives and the Son is coming to collect the fruit from the life God has created for us.
And the picture here is this. Though Jesus Christ is the rightful heir to our spiritual lives, instead of bearing the fruit that he created us to bear, we radically remove him from our lives so that we can have our lives to ourselves and not have to give him the fruit we owe him. So we don’t have to forgive. So we don’t have to unconditionally love. So we don’t have to sacrificially serve. So we don’t have to lay our lives down.
No, no, no. All I have to do is get rid of the heir to my life. All I have to do is get rid of Jesus Christ and I can do what I want. We can live our own lives.
So, can I ask you to ask God a really hard question right now and be ready to listen for the answer? Here in the room, and at home, can we just bow our heads and get ready to talk to God for a minute? We’re going to ask God a hard question and then really listen for him to answer.
Here is the hard question. What is the fruit that God expects from me? What is the fruit that God expects to receive from the abundant spiritual life he’s given me?
Lord, what fruit do I owe you from the life you’ve given me?
From all that you’ve created in me
From all that you’ve done for me
From all that you’ve prepared my life to produce
What fruit are you expecting to receive?
What fruit do you come seeking from me out of the abundant spiritual life you’ve given me? Forgiveness? Mercy? Grace? Long-suffering? Faith? Trust? Contentment?
What is it Lord, that you have prepared my life to produce? What fruit are you expecting to receive from my life? Is it righteousness? Is it holiness in a specific area of my life?
Please don’t lose focus. Stay in this place with God until you know what specific fruit the Lord is expecting to receive from your life today.
Jesus Christ is coming to our life to receive the fruit that God created us to produce. And for all the times that we have rejected him, Charles Spurgeon said these words. “If you reject him, he answers you with tears; if you wound him, he bleeds out cleansing; if you kill him, he dies to redeem; if you bury him, he rises again to bring resurrection. Jesus is love made manifest.”
And Jesus will continue to come to the vineyard of your life until your last breath in this vineyard. But there is a day when it becomes too late. Speaking to those who never receive the Son who God sends,
Mark 12:9 (NLT)
9 “What do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do?” Jesus asked. “I’ll tell you—he will come and kill those farmers and lease the vineyard to others.
The parables are some of the most graphic teachings of Jesus because Jesus is seriously trying to get the truth across to us and I think that verse gets it across.
But then comes the ultimate triumph in this cage fight between Jesus and the religious leaders.
Mark 12:10–11 (NLT)
10 Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.
11 This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.’”
The religious leaders would reject Jesus and put him to death but Jesus would become the cornerstone of the eternal, spiritual, Temple of God. And Philippians Chapter 2 says, one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
And right here R. Kent Hughes tells us [The Religious Leaders] had heard an eloquent description of the hope of God, the kindness of God, the severity of God, and the triumph of God. They had heard all this from the most authentic voice that ever spoke . . . And what was the result?
Mark 12:12 (NLT)
12 The religious leaders wanted to arrest Jesus because they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.
The religious leaders of Israel rejected the Son of God when he came to receive what was rightfully hid and they did it to their eternal loss.
May we, instead, receive Jesus Christ as the Lord of the vineyard of our lives, and may we bring to him the fruit that he created our lives to produce.
And today, Jesus starts this final spiritual boxing match by just throwing a few jabs (to get under their skin). But he’s letting them know, right up front, the gloves are off, and the championship fight for who is truly King has begun. And guys, us putting ourselves in this section of scripture is really, really good for us, so get ready.
I’m just going to read straight through our first section today, just so you can see the religious leaders come at Jesus with a half-hearted swing. And Jesus lands his first jab right on the nose of these guys.
Mark 11:27–33 (NLT)
27 Again they entered Jerusalem. As Jesus was walking through the Temple area, the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders came up to him. (the entire group that will orchestrate his death)
28 They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right to do them?” (referring to the cleansing of the Temple)
29 “I’ll tell you by what authority I do these things if you answer one question,” Jesus replied. (that’s a Jab)
30 “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human? Answer me!” (notice the Exclamation Point)
31 They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why we didn’t believe John.
32 But do we dare say it was merely human?” For they were afraid of what the people would do, because everyone believed that John was a prophet.
33 So they finally replied, “We don’t know.” And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Baam! Round one goes to Jesus and he wins it with one punch. The religious leaders stumble back into their corner to put an ice pack on their noses.
As round two begins, the religious leaders are standing in their corner getting angrier and angrier.
Mark 12:1 (NLT)
1 Then Jesus began teaching them with stories (parables): . . .
Only the NLT uses the phrase, “teaching them” all other versions say, “speaking to them” because Jesus was speaking to the religious leaders but they certainly weren’t learning anything.
So, Jesus speaks to them in a parable. For those not familiar with parables, it is a story with a central, profound meaning. The parables are some of the most incredible truth-telling that Jesus does. This parable would be a “sucker punch,” knocking the wind out of them for round two. This is the first parable that sets the religious leaders toward Jesus’ death.
(continuing in verse 1) 1 . . . “A man planted a vineyard. He built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country.
Now, you may not immediately know that Jesus is using a common illustration of God and Israel. But I assure you, the religious leaders knew immediately because Jesus was referring to the national symbol of Israel’s relationship with God. In fact, on the gates leading into the Temple Proper (the gate called “Beautiful”) was a massive, seventy-foot tall grapevine and throughout the Old Testament, Israel is referred to as God’s Vineyard. So, the religious leaders knew immediately Jesus was talking about God and them.
But please listen to me very carefully right here. We are also God’s people today grafted in as spiritual sons and daughters of Abraham. We must put ourselves in this parable or it will mean nothing to us. And so, this is no longer just a sucker punch for the religious leaders in Jesus’ day. Now, this confrontation parable could knock the wind out of us – so I’m just going to start saying “us.”
So, verse 1 says God has gone to great lengths to prepare the vineyard of our lives. Verse one says,
He planted the vineyard of our lives
He hemmed it in on all sides
He made a way to bring fruit out of our lives
And he built a watchtower to protect it from the enemy
And then, God gave the vineyard of our lives to us for us to manage.
And we have to know with all that God did for the Nation of Israel, today (from a spiritual standpoint), God has done so much more for us, hasn’t he? We may have no “living prophets” quite like Israel did, whom Israel routinely rejected, but we have the Living Word of God that we may routinely reject – just like Israel rejected the prophets.
And even more, if we have put our faith in Jesus Christ today, Romans Chapter 8 makes it clear that we have the power of the Holy Spirit living in us, and the Holy Spirit brings the Word of God to life in our hearts.
And so, God has made the soil of the vineyard of our lives actually far richer spiritually than that of the religious leaders of Israel. And we can reject what we owe to God just like the leaders of Israel did, can’t we?
And God has been so patient with us – hasn’t he? Just like he was (and still is) with the Nation of Israel.
And so now God sends a servant to collect the fruit from the vineyard of our lives.
Mark 12:2–3 (NLT)
2 At the time of the grape harvest, he (the vineyard owner, representing God) sent one of his servants to collect his share of the crop.
3 But the farmers grabbed the servant, beat him up, and sent him back empty-handed.
Could this really be us? Could there be a time when God has sent his servant to us to collect the fruit that should be coming from the vineyard that God has created in our lives but when the servant gets to our lives, we don’t gratefully give God the fruit he deserves? Instead, we bear the servant up and send him back empty-handed. No fruit for you, God! Instead, we have only anger or frustration toward God.
But God is so merciful and so patient, isn’t he?
Mark 12:4–5 (NLT)
4 The owner then sent another servant, but they insulted him and beat him over the head.
The fruit that we are talking about, I will list shortly. But what if this servant is a person? Just put this in your mind for me, we’re going to come back to it. What if God sends you a servant that you owe forgiveness to? It’s really forgiveness you owe God but the servant who’s coming to collect is a servant that you owe forgiveness to.
5 The next servant he sent was killed. Others he sent were either beaten or killed,
There is historical record of this actually happening during the time of Jesus. But the religious leaders knew Jesus was actually talking about them spiritually because this is exactly the way they treated the prophets who were the Word of God to them.
And we have the Living Word of God that God has sent to us, don’t we? Is there a chance that we are treating the Living Word of God the same way Israel treated the prophets who spoke the Word of God?
Is there a chance we are treating the Living Word of God and the Living Testimony of the Holy Spirit in the same way the farmers in the parable were treating the servant sent by the vineyard owner?
And why did the farmers reject the servants who were sent from the vineyard owner to collect what rightfully belonged to the owner? Don’t you think it was because they viewed their vineyard (meaning their life) as their own and not belonging to the One who gave it to them? And so, they felt justified in doing with their lives whatever they wanted to do with their lives and they felt no obligation for what they owed to the one who gave it all to them.
And so, they had no problem rejecting, insulting, beating, and killing the servants who came to collect the fruit that was rightfully owed to the Owner of their lives.
And so, finally, the vineyard owner sent his own Son. Now, I know when we read this, you’re going to think about Israel rejecting Jesus Christ, and that is certainly true. But – can you try to see with me how this may relate to our lives?
So, the owner had sent all his servants, and then we read in Mark 12:6-8,
Mark 12:6–8 (NLT)
6 until there was only one left—his son whom he loved dearly. The owner finally sent him, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’
7 “But the tenant farmers said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’
8 So they grabbed him and murdered him and threw his body out of the vineyard.
That is graphic and hard to read. But remember for us, the estate is a picture of our lives and the Son is coming to collect the fruit from the life God has created for us.
And the picture here is this. Though Jesus Christ is the rightful heir to our spiritual lives, instead of bearing the fruit that he created us to bear, we radically remove him from our lives so that we can have our lives to ourselves and not have to give him the fruit we owe him. So we don’t have to forgive. So we don’t have to unconditionally love. So we don’t have to sacrificially serve. So we don’t have to lay our lives down.
No, no, no. All I have to do is get rid of the heir to my life. All I have to do is get rid of Jesus Christ and I can do what I want. We can live our own lives.
So, can I ask you to ask God a really hard question right now and be ready to listen for the answer? Here in the room, and at home, can we just bow our heads and get ready to talk to God for a minute? We’re going to ask God a hard question and then really listen for him to answer.
Here is the hard question. What is the fruit that God expects from me? What is the fruit that God expects to receive from the abundant spiritual life he’s given me?
Lord, what fruit do I owe you from the life you’ve given me?
From all that you’ve created in me
From all that you’ve done for me
From all that you’ve prepared my life to produce
What fruit are you expecting to receive?
What fruit do you come seeking from me out of the abundant spiritual life you’ve given me? Forgiveness? Mercy? Grace? Long-suffering? Faith? Trust? Contentment?
What is it Lord, that you have prepared my life to produce? What fruit are you expecting to receive from my life? Is it righteousness? Is it holiness in a specific area of my life?
Please don’t lose focus. Stay in this place with God until you know what specific fruit the Lord is expecting to receive from your life today.
Jesus Christ is coming to our life to receive the fruit that God created us to produce. And for all the times that we have rejected him, Charles Spurgeon said these words. “If you reject him, he answers you with tears; if you wound him, he bleeds out cleansing; if you kill him, he dies to redeem; if you bury him, he rises again to bring resurrection. Jesus is love made manifest.”
And Jesus will continue to come to the vineyard of your life until your last breath in this vineyard. But there is a day when it becomes too late. Speaking to those who never receive the Son who God sends,
Mark 12:9 (NLT)
9 “What do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do?” Jesus asked. “I’ll tell you—he will come and kill those farmers and lease the vineyard to others.
The parables are some of the most graphic teachings of Jesus because Jesus is seriously trying to get the truth across to us and I think that verse gets it across.
But then comes the ultimate triumph in this cage fight between Jesus and the religious leaders.
Mark 12:10–11 (NLT)
10 Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.
11 This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.’”
The religious leaders would reject Jesus and put him to death but Jesus would become the cornerstone of the eternal, spiritual, Temple of God. And Philippians Chapter 2 says, one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
And right here R. Kent Hughes tells us [The Religious Leaders] had heard an eloquent description of the hope of God, the kindness of God, the severity of God, and the triumph of God. They had heard all this from the most authentic voice that ever spoke . . . And what was the result?
Mark 12:12 (NLT)
12 The religious leaders wanted to arrest Jesus because they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.
The religious leaders of Israel rejected the Son of God when he came to receive what was rightfully hid and they did it to their eternal loss.
May we, instead, receive Jesus Christ as the Lord of the vineyard of our lives, and may we bring to him the fruit that he created our lives to produce.