Mark 12:9-11: What will the owner do?

Daniel Amari

9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.

-          What will the owner do? The tenants lived their lives in such a way that the owner was non-existent. To them the owner’s legacy consisted of annoying messengers that must be silenced at any cost and an heir to be dealt with. For them, that should have been the end of the legacy of the owner. Now, it is an era of celebration and freedom in which they would enjoy the vineyard without any further disturbance, annoyance, and inconvenience.

-          The fact that owner had a response was unthinkable. This is where their worldview meets reality. It is remarkable that some feel that all they have to do is silence their critics and their worldview will be justified. The correctness of their worldview is dependent on silencing their critics. Some might not resort to violence to silence other worldviews, but they resort to other means to achieve the same result such as intimidation, imprisonment, personal attacks, and many others.

-          In this parable, greed was one of the clear motives behind the tenant’s actions. It was never any sort of conviction or belief that their worldview was absolutely correct. Their views were built on greed, and that is the reason the owner’s perspective was seen as a threat to them.

-          Yet, silencing other worldviews does not mean their worldview is correct. But more importantly, it does not mean that there will not be later consequences to their actions.

-          What will the owner do?

o   First, He will come and destroy the tenants. If there was any clear trait of the owner is extreme patience. The owner is extremely patient. He is more patient than a human being. This is because the owner represent God. This explains why certain statements and actions can only be attributed to God alone. Only God can be that patient. And that is the problem. In the worldview of the tenants, kindness and patience are weaknesses. It is unthinkable that such a weak owner will come and destroy them. Sadly, this is a common worldview: might makes right. The tenants thought they were indestructible due to the weakness of the owner. They thought that fear of the owner is a prison because the owner will not come back and will not destroy them. And therefore, if they continue to think that, it is that exact thought that will enslave them. Yet the owner returned and destroyed. So that thought about the owner returning is correct. Being liberated from that thought is not freedom. It is the utmost destruction and irresponsibility.

o   Whether a worldview is correct or not is not determined immediately. One cannot shout to the sky and proclaim if their worldview is incorrect, let them find it right away. God is intentionally patient. The purpose of the patience of God is love. God desires that all of us are given a chance to return back to him in repentance. We should not judge God’s delay as a confirmation of a worldview built on the assumption that God is weak.

o   Second, the owner will give the vineyards to others. Those tenants never thought they were replaceable. They thought they were irreplaceable . They assumed that because they were the tenants, it meant that they were the best to do the job, and no one else can do the job better than them.

o   When it comes to the ministry of God, everybody is replaceable. And therefore, we always need to remind ourselves of that fact. We should never take the attitude that God’s patience imply that we are irreplaceable. We always have to walk in humility and with the attitude that God has the right to replace us without notice.

10 Have you not read this Scripture:

                 “‘The stone that the builders rejected

                                has become the cornerstone;11                this was the Lord’s doing,

                                and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

-          Third, those tenants never thought that vineyard will flourish without them. It is not just that we are easily replaceable but also the ministry can flourish without us. This is because God is the one who brings growth and success. We should never attribute success of the ministry to us. It is God who is behind growth, not us.

Copyright 2017 by Daniel Amari. All Rights Reserved.

 “Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”