Mark 12:1

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Summary

And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.

He began

A certain

Matthew 21:33

Luke 20:9

Planted

Luke 13:6

John 15:1

Romans 11:17

And set

Acts 7:38

Romans 3:1

Romans 9:4

And went

Bible References

He began

He taught the people many things using parables [to illustrate His lessons]. In His teaching He said to them,

Jesus' disciples came and said to Him, "Why are you speaking to them [i.e., the large crowds] by using parables?"

But what do you think [about this]? A man had two sons; He went to the first one and said, 'Son, go to work in my vineyard today.'

Jesus again spoke in parables to them [i.e., the Jewish leaders], saying,

And He said to them, "You [disciples] are being given an understanding of the secrets of the kingdom of God, but the rest of the people [are being told] in parables, so that [even though they appear to be] seeing, they will not [actually] see; and [even though they seem to] hear, they will not understand.

And they said to Him, "Where do you want us to prepare [for it]?"

A certain

"Listen to another parable [i.e., a brief story used to illustrate His teaching]: There was the owner of a farm who planted a vineyard and built a fence around it. He constructed a grape squeezing device, built a [lookout] tower [near it], leased it to tenant farmers and then went to another country.

Then Jesus began speaking to the people. [Note: And perhaps to the religious leaders as well. See Mark 11:18 with 12:1]. He told them this parable: "A man planted a vineyard, then leased it out to tenant farmers and went to another country for a long time.

Planted

Then He told them this parable: A certain man had a fig tree [which had been] planted in his orchard. When he came looking for figs on it, he did not find any.

[Jesus continued], "I am the real vine, and my Father is the owner of the vineyard.

But some of the branches [of a cultivated olive tree] were broken off [i.e., God's rejection of the Jews] and you [Gentiles], representing a wild olive tree [branch], were grafted into it. So then, you [Gentiles] were able to benefit from the roots and sap of the olive tree, along with the Jews.

And set

This is the man who was with our forefathers and with the assembly [of Hebrews] in the wilderness [after] the angel had spoken to him at Mt. Sinai. He [is the one] who received the living messages [from God at Mt. Sinai] and gave them to us.

What advantage then does the Jew have [i.e., over the Gentile]? Or what value is there in circumcision?

the Israelites. These people are God's adopted children; they have [experienced] His glorious presence; they have [received] His Agreements; they have been given the law of Moses; they possess the [Temple] service and the promises [of God].

And went

It is like a man who left his house on a trip to another country. [Before leaving] he put his servants in charge of his affairs, giving each one a [particular] job to do, then he ordered the gatekeeper to stay alert [i.e., while he was gone].

"For the kingdom of heaven is similar to a man who planned to go on a trip to a distant country, so called his servants and entrusted to each of them a large sum of money [Note: The narrative that follows suggests that the man was turning over some of his assets to financial managers to invest for him].

And a few days later, this younger son gathered everything together and traveled to a distant country where he squandered his possessions in wild living.

So, He said, "A certain distinguished gentleman went to a distant country to receive a royal appointment [i.e., as king over a territory] and then return. [Note: This is the only parable of Jesus' that correlates with a known incident; that of Herod's son Archelaus going to Rome to receive from Caesar Augustus an appointment to rule over Judea, Samaria and Idumaea in