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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Mark 12:9 - 12:12
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The application of the parable:
v. 9. What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others.
v. 10. And have ye not read this Scripture: The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner;
v. 11. this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?
v. 12. And they sought to lay hold on Him, but feared the people; for they knew that He had spoken the parable against them. And they left Him and went their way.
The vivid presentation of Christ in bringing out the cowardliness, greed, and cruelty of the wicked husbandmen must have been most impressive. And so the question which He presented at the climax of the story must have forced the answer in their minds, even if they did not all voice it aloud: He will come and destroy those husbandmen, and give the vineyard to others. The Lord spoke the judgment which His parable forced from the lips of His hearers. Note: The vineyard must not be left desolate after the destruction of the wicked men; it is still capable of producing much fruit if properly cultivated. The evangelists and apostles brought in many a rich result of their labors, even before the destruction of Jerusalem. To bring out the point of His story still more strongly, Jesus refers to a passage of the Psalms, a verse from the great Halley which the Jews sang so proudly at their great festivals, Psa_118:22. The stone which the builders rejected, repudiated, thought of no value for their building, for the Church of God, this very one has become the corner-stone, on which the whole building rests, without which it would be insecure and could not stand. This fact is indeed wonderful in our eyes, just as it is represented by Isa_53:2-3. The Jews rejected Christ, the Messiah, they delivered Him into the hands of the heathen to be killed, but Jesus arose from the dead and thus became the foundation and corner-stone of the New Testament Church. In Him, and in Him only, there is salvation. Trust in Him as the Savior of the world is absolutely essential for membership in the body which is named after Him.
The obvious application of the parable and of the Scripture-passage to which Jesus referred angered the Jewish authorities beyond measure. They tried most anxiously to lay hold upon Him, but their fear of the people restrained them, as on the day before, chapter 11:18. Even this earnest admonition did not have any effect upon their calloused hearts; their hatred of Jesus did not permit any feeling of repentance to arise. They felt the sting of the parable and, being foiled in all their attempts to harm Jesus, they gnashed their teeth in helpless rage and marched off.