Lesson Seventeen

The Son of Man Tested

Mark 12

Knowing the Scriptures

Studies in the Gospel of Mark

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW

We have entered Jerusalem with Jesus, seeing His joyful, exultant reception, and now we’ll be following Him through the rest of this final week of His earthly life.  Last week we saw the Son of Man presented as He first entered Jerusalem and the temple complex late on Sunday. Then (presumably on Monday) He fearlessly purified the temple, driving out those who were keeping men shut off from access to God rather than drawing men to Him.  There was the strange incident with the fig tree which was symbolic of the things to come in Israel.   Jesus took time to use this incident as a lesson in faith for His men as well as an instruction in the importance of prayer.  Lastly, the religious leaders questioned Jesus’ authority to do these things but were unable to do anything, humbled by His amazing answer.  This week we’ll see the opposition try to move against Jesus from different angles, and even some strange bedfellows joining together for one purpose: Getting rid of Him!  There is much we can learn from Jesus’ teachings and reactions to those testing Him, and we can  gain an insight into the events coming in Mark 13.  Remember the outline we are following in these last studies in Mark’s Gospel:

Mark 11:  The Son of Man Presented

Mark 12:  The Son of Man Tested

Mark 13:  The Son of Man Returning

Mark 14:  The Son of Man Arrested

Mark 15:  The Son of Man Crucified

Mark 16:  The Son of Man Resurrected

DAY ONE: Parable of the Vineyard

Please carefully read Mark 12:1–12 and answer the following questions.

1.  How did Jesus set the scene of this parable, and how did the tenants treat the representatives that the owner sent? (vv. 1–5)

2.  Mark used many unique expressions in his record of this story.  He used a word for winepress that is used nowhere else in the New Testament, although it was common in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) and in the Greek language;[i] wounded him in the head actually means to bring under heads or to summarize, then to hit on the head, and also is used only here in the New Testament.  The following passages were no doubt very well understood by those who questioned Jesus in Mark 11.  How do the passages clarify who and what the parable referred to?

Psalm 80:8–16; Isaiah 5:1–7
Jeremiah 25:4–7; Matthew 23:34–39

3.  What did the owner then decide to do, and what was the result? (vv. 6–8)

SIDELIGHT: Leviticus 19

According to Leviticus 19:23–25, a farmer couldn’t use the fruit from a vineyard or farm until the fifth year. We don’t know if the Jews still followed this guideline at that time. To retain his legal rights to the property, the owner had to receive produce from the tenants, even if it was only some of the vegetables growing between the rows of trees or vines. This is most likely why the tenants refused to give him anything: they wanted to claim the vineyard for themselves. It also explains why the owner continued to send agents to them; it was a question of authority and ownership.  If Mark 12:2–5 covers the years when the fruit wasn’t used, then it was in the fourth year that the beloved son was sent, the year the fruit was devoted to the Lord (Lev. 19:24).  It also makes sending the son more meaningful. If the tenants could kill the heir, they would have a clear claim to the property, so they cast him out (see Heb. 13:12–13) and killed him. The son’s arrival possibly led to the tenants assuming the owner had died and this son was his only heir. In Palestine at the time, a piece of land could be possessed lawfully by whoever claimed it first if it was ownerless property, unclaimed by an heir within a certain time frame.  They were willing to kill to accomplish their purpose of getting it for themselves.[ii] 

4.  In what dramatic way did Jesus wrap up this parable in verses 9–11, and what prevented the religious leaders from doing anything in retaliation for this? (v. 12)

5.  What are a few other details that Matthew 21:40–46 records for us, and what is the obvious application for all of us in view of it?

Scripture Memory:  This week we will be memorizing Mark 12:29–31a, a bit long but very important!  Review the passage several times throughout the day each day this week, and by the end of the week, you should have it memorized completely.

Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment.  And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'

(Mark 12:29–31a nkjv)