Mark 12:10-12 “Have
you not even read this Scripture: ‘The stone which the builders rejected has
become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’? And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them. So they left Him and went away.”
And it is marvelous in our eyes’? And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them. So they left Him and went away.”
Continuing the Bible Study
lesson and commenting on yesterday’s the parable of the tenants in Mark
12:1–12, one author notes how the sovereign providential rule of God is evident
throughout the story. We see it operative at the parable’s beginning, when
Jesus refers to the owner, who represents the Lord, building the vineyard,
setting up a protective wall, and appointing tenant farmers. Similarly, God’s
providential rule includes His establishing this reign in the creation of the
universe and His calling of Israel in the exodus from Egypt to be His people.
Of course, the mismanagement
of the vineyard on the part of the tenant farmers (the Jewish leaders) and
their mistreatment of the owner’s emissaries (the prophets) and murder of the
owner’s son (Christ) might raise questions about the extent of the Lord’s
mastery. With such willful violation of His rule by the leaders of the old
covenant community, could we really say that He was fully in control? The
answer, provided in today’s passage, is a resounding yes.
Psalm 118:22-23 “The
stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
This was the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.”
Jesus quotes Psalm 118:22–23 in Mark 12:10–12 to show that despite appearances to the contrary, God
was in control even of those who rejected His prophets and is in control of
those who will kill His only begotten Son. It is the Lord’s plan that the stone
be rejected so that He can make it the “cornerstone.” The term translated
“cornerstone” refers to a capstone placed at the top of a corner where two
walls come together. It is a piece of the building essential to its integrity
that holds the entire structure together. Jesus is saying that though the
Jewish leaders reject Him, that does not mean the end of the vineyard; instead,
it is the occasion for faithful tenants to take the place of the faithless
tenant farmers. A new structure is coming into place that has continuity with
the old one—the vineyard remains, and it still has tenants and is protected by
walls—but is also different in important ways—its leaders will include
Gentiles, and Christ Himself will be known by all as its guardian and sustainer.
The parable of the tenants,
then, points to the glory and power of God in orchestrating the rejection and
exaltation of His Son and the continuation of His kingdom (“this was the Lord’s
doing”). In this, it greatly encourages us when we see the church under attack
from professed leaders who are really wolves in sheep’s clothing. Whatever may
be the contrivances of men, God has at the same time declared, that in setting
up the kingdom of Christ, His power will be victorious.
It is easy for us to be
discouraged when we see the enemies of God seem to prevail against us and
against the church. But the parable of the tenants, as well as many other
biblical passages, tells us that every up and every down of history is under
God’s control. We can be confident for the future because we know that nothing
happens outside of the Lord’s sovereign plan for all things.
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