TEXT: MARK 12:9 KJV
“What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. ”
Discussion
Today’s devotional shall focus on one of the parables of the Lord Jesus Christ. The text explains what the owner of the vineyard will do to the wicked husbandmen. We shall discuss the parable in context and also consider some moral lessons we can learn for our day-to-day lives.
Jesus referred to the owner of the vineyard as God, the husbandmen as the chief priests, the scribes, and the Pharisees, and the vineyard as the earth. God gave the earth to man and sent His own Son to the earth, yet they hated Him and killed Him. Because they wanted to inherit the vineyard, when the Lord comes back, He will judge them and destroy the wicked husbandmen. It is becoming increasingly obvious that we are in the end times, and we must be prepared.
This parable is very straightforward, and the Pharisees knew that He was talking directly to them. I also believe there are lessons and wisdom we can draw from this parable as believers—not necessarily only in its immediate context, but also from the principles contained in the parable as we carry out our responsibilities as God’s stewards on the earth.
What are the lessons we can extract as believers from the parable?
1. DO NOT BE THIS HUSBANDMAN
These were wicked people who were so greedy that they wanted to take what did not belong to them. They were hired to work, but they were interested in taking everything that belonged to the owner.
As believers, people must be able to trust us with their possessions. They must be able to trust that we are true Christians. They must be able to say, “I know it is in safe hands.” Can people trust us with things that are very dear to them?
We must realize that no matter what we see today, nothing on this earth will last forever. Therefore, we must do everything we do as unto the Lord.
2. TEST BEFORE YOU COMMIT
The owner of the vineyard committed everything into their care and left for a far country. Before you commit something that is important to you to any person, please ask God to reveal who they are. Test them with little and seek wisdom and counsel, because some people can be very wicked and may seek to take advantage of the owner’s absence, just like the husbandmen in our text today.
3. DON’T GO TOO FAR AWAY
If you commit anything valuable to people, don’t go too far away. If you go too far away for a long time, it may become easy for them to assume ownership, and it can become difficult to break that mentality.
If you will be going far away for a long time, you must create a system that will help the husbandmen understand that you will return and that they are only stewards of what has been entrusted to them.
There are many lessons we could extract from this parable, but I pray that the Holy Spirit Himself will teach us how to live wisely and, most importantly, how to live ready for the day Jesus shall return for His own.
Declarations:
I shall not be a wicked servant. I shall be a productive servant for the Master. I shall be wise in all kingdom assignments and in all that the Lord puts in my care, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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