Criminals in the Vineyard (Part C)

So the Son knowingly goes into dangerous territory just like in reality, Jesus Christ came to earth knowing that they were going to kill him to save sinners. Revelation 5, speaking of Jesus Christ, you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

That's how many people are going to be slain. They're going to be saved because of Christ coming to this vineyard knowing they were going to kill him. And now here's Pastor Rick with the conclusion of his message called Criminals in the Vineyard in Mark Chapter 12. He has him in mind when he says the Lord is not slack. He's my Jesus who is God the Son.

He's not slack concerning his promise as some count slackness but his long suffering toward us. Who is us? People. Sinners. Not willing that in he should perish but that all should come to repentance. So in the story God is saying, Jesus Christ is saying, there are these criminals in the vineyard but I'm long suffering. I want to reach these guys. I don't want to just go and execute them. I'm going to give them a chance and it's going to cost my people their blood and shame. Long suffering is an experience of love. That's where it comes from. 1 Corinthians Chapter 13 verse 4.

Love suffers long. Jesus is holding up before them the great mercy and long suffering of God in the face of merciless, violent people. Because sin in this life, sin in this life makes humans do things like this. And God wants us to know that evil, while it is used as a filter of God, is not who God is. God wants us to understand that he is merciful. And he brings this out early on in Israel's experience in Exodus 34. Now Yahweh descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of Yahweh. And Yahweh passed before him and proclaimed Yahweh, Yahweh God.

Now pause there. That name, that covenant name, it means salvation. Bottom line. It's attached to sovereignty and salvation at the same time. And he continues, we read that part. And Yahweh passed before him and proclaimed Yahweh, Yahweh God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgressions and sin, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting iniquity on the fathers upon the children upon the children's children to the third and fourth generation. There's so much in that. God is saying you've got the generation part.

Everybody gets stumped by that. It's not generational sin. Well, my father sinned, so I'm a sinner. By that logic, Israel never would have gotten into the promised land.

Nobody would get forgiven. He's saying sin is nothing to play with. And it will spread from one generation to another generation unless there's a salt of the earth and a light of the world to deal with this.

And what he is emphasizing to Moses so that Moses can go tell the people which he did and puts it in print and the Holy Spirit preserves it to this day is that God is merciful and gracious, long suffering, abounding in goodness and truth. And why is God insisting on this? Because God says life is not this way. Life is vicious. Your heart will be trampled, even torn out from you from time to time. It is a brutal affair because of the curse on mankind. But there's more to this life than what you're suffering.

And I want you to understand there's more to me also. And I don't applaud these things, but I'm going to work through them nonetheless. I will not be deterred. I will filter out from creation a people who will be a new creation and be with me in heaven. And those are the facts.

We have enough of Christ and experience to be able to say, as you wish, Lord, as you will, your will be done no matter how much it hurts. I don't have to like it. I have to know it.

I have to submit to it. Or I become a rebel. Jeremiah, who was, you know, Jeremiah just suffered so much. They almost killed him a few times. If it wasn't for one Ethiopian, he would have Ethiopian going to the king and saying, listen, we don't get him out of this mire. He's going to die.

And they hauled him out. It was just some of his experiences. He writes this. He says, but let him who glories glory in this that he understands and knows me.

Well, what's to know about you? Well, when we New Testament Christians, we look at Jesus Christ, the only begotten son. He has revealed him.

John gets to that point early on in his gospel, the first chapter. Well, that's what Moses was saying. He who glories glory in this that he understands and knows me. Well, what is there to know about you? That you are Yahweh, Yahweh God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, abounding in goodness, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgressions and sin, and by no means clearing the guilty. God has that balance. What is not attractive about that?

Everything is attractive about that. This is the God we want and love, Jeremiah continues, that he knows me, that I am Yahweh, exercising lovingkindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth, for in these I delight, says Yahweh. Remember, Yahweh of the Old Testament is Jesus Christ in the New Testament. That name is a big deal.

Because if you mess with that name, it was a capital offense. And yet, God says in Psalm 139, I will honor my word above my name. That's the scripture. And more, because in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us.

We beheld his glory, full of grace and truth. Verse 6, now that we've got this understanding why in the parable, the owner of the vineyard is sending more men to die, to reach these knuckleheads, it's because God is longsuffering and merciful, but he's not a doormat. Because at the end of the parable, he deals with these guys. Verse 6, therefore still having one son, his beloved son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying they will respect my son. Now of course, a parable is a parable.

And it would have been, in fact, it would have been cruel. You know these guys are killing everybody you send. Why would you send your son? Well, because the parable goes beyond the human experience because of the God factor.

And again, these boys knew it. So the son in the story, the son in the parable would have known, Dad, you're sending me away, they're killing everybody. But he's supposed to have clout, so the son knowingly goes into dangerous territory, just like in reality, Jesus Christ came to earth knowing that they were going to kill him to save sinners. Revelation 5, speaking of Jesus Christ, you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. That's how many people are going to be saved because of Christ coming to this vineyard, knowing they were going to kill him because of all the witness of the martyrs testified, they killed us, they're going to kill you.

But it's worth it. And so he shall see the transgression of his soul and be satisfied, said Isaiah. He shall see the sufferings, he will endure the suffering and the shame, and he'll be satisfied.

Why? Because of his work, out of every tribe, tongue and people and nation, there are those in heaven, in glory, in light forever. That's why.

The focus then shifts. Verse 7, but those vine dressers said among themselves, this is the heir, come let us kill him and the inheritance will be ours. But those vine dressers said amongst themselves, let's kill him. This is deliberate and that's what Jesus is saying. When people behave this way, it's not because they've been out in the sun too long, it's because that's what's in their heart. Or maybe we'll put it this way, because of what is not in their heart. God is not in their heart, a loving, merciful, righteous God, holiness is not in them. Deliberately and out of self-interest, which he is saying here, let's kill him so we can take the inheritance, self-interest, out of that they committed this egregious crime. It is abysmal how people treat truth when it comes to God. In the parable and in Jerusalem and in history to this day, people pull this off. Supposing that they're going to get away with it, supposing that they can exchange their view of deity for Christ or God's revelation of deity, speculation over revelation.

Supposing they'll be better off without him, a tactical blunder, a typical blunder, an eternal one. And God is not going to put up with it forever. He's just going to say, you know, that's that, you've made your choice. God really in this sense doesn't send anyone to hell, he just lets them go where they want to go, as far away from him as they can get and that would be hell. Verse 8, so they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard. Again, what an abysmal choice in the parable.

If you're listening to this you say, who are these people throwing rocks and murdering and wanting to steal the inheritance and having no fear of the owner because they think that they're going to survive the owner. That's casting the son out of his own vineyard. It's in scripture in the book of Leviticus on the day of atonement. According to Leviticus 16, and this was not the only offering, but this was one, the sin offering was to be taken outside the camp. Christ, when he was crucified, was taken outside the city. When you go to Israel they have two suggested sites for Calvary where the crucifixion Golgotha took place.

One is the traditional Roman Catholic site which is in the city, which is not it, and it's not it on multiple levels. And then there is General Gordon's Calvary. Gordon, who was ultimately killed and beheaded by a Muslim.

If you ever watched the movie Cartoon with Charlton Heston, that's the same General Gordon, that character, that was a devout Christian. In Israel, this is where I think Golgotha is. And so if you go to where that Calvary is, there's a bus station there now. The elevations have moved, but there's a wine vat there, which would have been Joseph of Arimathea, and a tomb that is still empty. And the mountain there is the shape of a skull from when they have quarried stone from it centuries ago. That's the spot. And anyway, it's outside of the city. John's Gospel, chapter 19, verse 20. For the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and this is near the city.

Once you leave the city gates, it's a short walk to this Gordon's Calvary. So anyway, it's another interesting thing. There's a tomb stone, not a... There's the stone that you would roll against the tomb that the angels were sitting on when they rolled it back. Well, it's missing if you go to this tomb. But the only known place where there is a stone that matches this is in Jordan up on the mountain somewhere where there are no tombs. What happened?

Did somebody throw it like a Frisbee? I'm not suggesting that's what happened. But I'm not saying it didn't happen either.

Because, I mean, if you were doing detective work, you'd come up with this conclusion. That stone belongs in Jerusalem, not on some hill hundreds of miles away. And I don't know how far it is, so don't quote me on that part.

But you can't walk there easily. Anyway, verse 9. Therefore, what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine dressers and give the vineyard to others. The consequence from the parable. Aimed at the chief priests and the scribes and the elders, those who came to him, who got up in his face.

They agreed with the sentence, that part. Therefore, what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine dressers.

At this point, Matthew tells us, they said, he will destroy the vine dressers. They ring in. In this twisted moral culture that we are being surrounded by, they don't have a fear of hell. They don't have a fear of the judgment to come. I don't know how to get them to fear hell. I know how to preach it. I know how to warn them.

And that's all I'm told to do. The rest is, well, I mean, you keep the witness there, although the little details are important, but it is really the Holy Spirit to convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment to come, as Jesus promised in John 16. And so, this anti-Christ culture, spiritually drugged by hell, shrugs its shoulder at the knowledge of hell, the place they're going to, they don't believe exist. This anti-Christ, anti-God, anti-Christian, anti-holiness, anti-reason culture, spiritually drunk with hell's brew. Revelation 14, verses 9 and 10, Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If anyone worships the beast in his image and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

This is the wrath of the Lamb. How are they going to know this if we don't tell them? I think that it's, you know, fine if you're a Christian, your politics you follow, but when it comes time for combat, this is our sword. They don't need to hear our opinions on politics. They need to hear the scripture. They need us to tell them about a very real hell. In the face of their resistance, as long as they let us speak, speak.

I don't have anything to offer an unbeliever to save their soul except the Word of God. What am I going to do? Did you watch on the news the other day? How come you people are doing this?

Why are you voting for that? I mean, those are important items. But when it comes to face-to-face combat, hand-to-hand, heart-to-heart, it is the scripture. And there are many ways to deliver it. You don't have to, you quote it and you explain it.

You can make it interesting or you can make it point blank, however the Spirit leads you. And the second part of verse 9, when he says, and give the vineyard to others, at this point they object in Luke's gospel. So they agreed with, what will he do with these vine dressers that treated these men this way? He will kill them, they'll judge them.

All right. Then the vine dresser is going to strip it from them and give it to others. Then they saw themselves and they protested that.

Luke chapter 20. They said, certainly not. They're being dishonest with themselves intellectually.

They weren't thinking as honest men. The temple was destroyed along with the leaders in those days. And the land was given to the Gentiles.

And for over 2,000 years, eventually by the time God finished, it started in 70 A.D. and continued to about 135 A.D., when God finished with them, the Gentiles had Israel for 2,000 years. Today, spiritually, Israel is lost as a nation. And her appointed place as light bearer has been temporarily reassigned to the Gentiles, the church. Israel retains her prophetic position on God's calendar, but we are the ones that are preaching the truth now. Verse 10, that will change.

It's a temporary arrangement. It will be a mutual assignment in the millennial reign. Gentiles will be preaching because there are going to be a lot of people born in the millennial reign, and death won't be taking them out.

So they're going to be multiplying like millennials. In the millennial reign, in that sense. Verse 10, have you not read this scripture? The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.

The metaphor for himself, he is the stone. And the builders are the Jewish people, the religious leaders, and they're rejecting him. And the crucifixion is the evidence of that. The resurrected Christ is the chief cornerstone, made clear in Acts chapter 4 verses 10 through 11. Nor is there salvation in any other name. There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Here, in verse 10, he challenges their lack of scriptural maturity. These guys are supposed to be the custodians of the word. He's saying, you don't get it.

You can't make application. You can quote scripture, you can write it down, but you can't apply it. Why?

Because you know your hands are dirty. He's quoting Psalm 118. And he is also assuming the fulfillment of that messianic verse.

He is saying, I am the chief cornerstone, nobody else. And he leaves them dumbfounded murderers that they are. He does not try to convert them because it's just now too late for that.

They can still be converted by the parable. He's not going to cast pearl before swine. He yielded nothing to them. He went after them.

He put his ship alongside their ship and traded blows and won. And their killing him just fulfilled the prophecy. We're going to wait until we get to the part when they say, let's not kill him during the Passover. And he dies during the Passover.

Well, I'm looking forward to that. Because the scripture is just superior. And it's composition of truth. Anyway, when they rejected Christ, they rejected the one who completed God's plan for humanity. Verse 11, this was Yahweh's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. They weren't impressed. The righteous are impressed by it, emotionally moved. These men weren't. You come across people that read about themselves in the gospels and they're not moved by it. Yeah, I don't care.

I don't believe it. These boys here. As far as we know, only Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea really got it in those days. And that means the others had no excuse.

Because God could say, well, if Nicodemus got it, what's your problem? Verse 12, 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. They wanted to kill him on the spot.

They were just, man, this guy can't stand this man. John writes in John 11, if we let him alone like this, everyone will believe in him. Oh, man. You want to be in this guy's sandals on Judgment Day? And the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation. What about your soul? What does it profit you if you gain the nation and your place and lose your soul?

Again, what happens to the vineyard? The church assumes it and Israel forfeits it for a time. I struggled going through this again, having preached on it enough times in life and read it enough times. But how do facts, facts enough, not crush the sway of Satan?

How is that? John, in his first letter, he writes, we know that we are of God and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. Okay, why does not the truth of Scripture stop this? How can anyone be so blind and remain blind when the cure is being handed to them?

Well, they're stiff-necked, I know. It leaves us with a broken heart. Here's one answer, Proverbs, this will be the last verse, then one short comment. Proverbs chapter 1 verses 30. I'm not sure about the verse, but anyway, Proverbs 1, you can read the whole Proverb.

They would have none of my counsel and despised my every rebuke. This is wisdom talking in Proverbs, this personified wisdom. Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way and be filled to the full with their own fancies. Okay, we understand that in middle-aged people, men and women. What about our youth?

Why are they stiff-necked? Why are they quick to turn on their pastor and their parents and other parishioners who've done nothing but love them and drink out of the cesspools of the world? Our hearts should break over this. It should not just be an intellectual disconnect. It should not just be, yeah, well, they're going to hell.

Well, we know that if they continue that course. I think there's, you know, I don't want to judge anybody. Well, I do kind of like it sometimes, but I think our hearts should break more over sinners. We should be more mindful over lost souls and the value of the church to confront it as a group who are individuals. We are a group right now, we are one body, and we leave here as individuals. We are supposed to assault the enemy's positions. You can't take him from his position if you don't attack, and you can't attack without orders and succeed. And so we have our work cut out for us this week, do we not, and every week to get with God and say, Lord, here I am, send me.

And remember, when he sent the prophet, it was not a pleasant message. When you subscribe, you'll be notified of each new edition of Cross-Reference Radio. You can search for Cross-Reference Radio on your favorite podcast app. That's all we have time for today, but we hope you'll join us next time as Pastor Rick continues to teach through the book of Mark, right here on Cross-Reference Radio.