Corona Chronicles - Crown of Thorns

Welcome to Corinne chronicles. We're in Mark chapter 12, and we have got a fantastic story. We have. We we're gonna read today. So the parable of the tenants.

Jesus then began to speak to them in parables. A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it dug a pit for the wine press and built a watch tower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. At harvest time, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.

But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty handed. Then he sent another servant to them. They struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. He sent still another, and that 1, they killed. He sent many others.

Some of them, they beat others they killed. He had 1 left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, They will respect my son, but the tenants said to 1 another, this is the heir. Come let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours. So they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.

What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. Haven't you read this passage of scripture? The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.

Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them, but they were afraid of the crowd. So they left him and went away. Yeah. It it's extraordinary that envy, isn't it? Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. That they knew that the parable was against them. Which is about a farmer, you know, sending all these kind -- Servs. -- servants -- Yeah.

-- and then finally the sun. Yeah. Yeah. And so they knew and they knew parable against them, so they went out to do it. It's crazy You don't have to obey the parable then.

No. No. But but but they did. That's how blind it, doesn't it? That's the thing that's how I mean, they're mad with it, aren't they?

They're not just sort of, you know, confused or they're they're completely mad -- Yeah. -- through power and and and it it's it's, you know, they can't they can't stand the thought that this, you know, scruffy upstart, this 30 year old, you know, he's just out of nappies in their in their guys really, isn't he? That that he's he's challenging their authority. He's actually saying, by the way guys, on on the sun. Yeah.

I mean, he is revealing who that they asked him by what authority and in 1 sense he's telling them, is that I'm the I'm the son. Because what you got here is very clear. I mean, there's a a very similar passage in Isaiah in the old testament, chapter 5. So the farmer is clearly God. Yeah.

The tenants are are are us, your Israel in this case. And, God and his kindness, you know, gives us Yeah. This world and so forth. And then he sends the prophets. So is that there who the servants are.

Yeah. Yeah. It's profit speaking, profit speaking, profit speaking, profit speaking. And looking for fruit, isn't it? Yeah.

So it's right back to the fig tree again, isn't it? There should be fruit or it's right back into the temple. There should be fruit. But they're stealing. That they've they've got in their mind that they don't wanna pay their dues.

And so he eventually says, well, they might listen to my son. Yeah. So this is God, isn't it? Profit profit profit profit Jesus, the son of the of God. This is the son whom he loved as well.

Whom he loved. Yeah. Yeah. And what do they wanna do? They think great.

If we kill the sun, we'll be able to be our own God -- Yeah. -- basically, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And they go out and fulfill it. Yeah. And and they know I mean, it's specifically because this is the heir, you know. They know that, don't they?

And if they know if they kill him, then they can they they the inheritance will be hard. Yeah. You know, it's it's it's completely it's completely mad. Yeah. But, you know So that's what Israel did and that's what you see with the curse and the victory and so forth.

Yeah. But this is what we do as well. You know, God has given us our lives. We're tenants. Aren't we of this world?

Yeah. Yeah. He's blessed us. He's spoken to us. We've not listened and we don't wanna listen to the sun again.

Yeah. Yeah. It's exactly the same thing, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah.

And, you know, in verse 9, we start to find out actually what what will the owner of the vineyard do if we continue down this path and he will come and kill those tenants and give a vineyard to others. Yeah. And it won't be because it it won't be because he's capricious or, you know, unjust. This isn't off the handle anger, is it? Yeah.

We deserve Yeah. I mean, he's given 1 go after another after another. Yeah. It's not off the handle, let's just kill them. What else can you do?

It's like the it's like the template. Of Egypt, you know, it's plague after plague after plague, mourning after warning after warning. Warning after warning. And then I love this little thing, the stone the builders reject. So those that think they're building or rejecting the stone -- Yeah.

-- has become the capstone. They've thrown this 1 away. Oh, sorry, the cornerstone. The Lord has done this as marvelous in his eyes. Yeah.

I mean So the cornerstone is the 1 that -- Yeah. -- actually everything should be built on. You sort of think like, you know, you pick up a brick. That's a bit of It's not great as it's rubbish, throw it away, you know. But actually that -- Yeah.

-- horrible looking brick, that rock Yeah. You know, is is is what it's The foundation stone, a cornerstone. Yeah. Yeah. And everything you take that away and everything will collapse -- Yeah.

-- which is again back to the prayer, wasn't it? That you can say to this mountain -- Yeah. -- with a temple on it. Go away. Yeah.

Because there's a new building. Yeah. And and the very rejection of Israel of Jesus is that there's going to be this new building on the corner stone. And and thinking about thinking about in this sort of time frame for them to they should have been letting the nations into the temple Right? That's what they they turned the the court of the gentiles into the dent, the the the marketplace.

And actually he he's saying now look, this this vineyard is going to go to other. It's, you know, I'm going to let the gentiles in eventually, you know, I want I want the worship of God to be for the whole world, not just for a select group of people, you know. So so you know, don't don't just keep it to yourselves. No. You know, you've you've got to and that's quite a challenge, isn't it to us?

Like, you know, who who do we who would come in if someone came into our church from a different kind of background, you know, someone different someone different to us. What would our response be? Well, I hope it's great. Yeah. Absolutely.

You know, it's a challenges me a brick in the building. Yeah. That's right. But, you know, but it's we've we have to watch ourselves, don't we? Yeah.

You know, because you know, what when when we get those sort of feelings of oh, different different, you know, you're threatening my my patch. You know, you need to you need to remember the the peril with the tenants because you're you're possibly letting you know, religion or your your kind of safe space be invaded. And that's what God's you know, that's what God wants. Yep. He wants He wants the nations to come to come to him.

You know? We've got to finish there, I think, but thank you very much. See you next time. Right?