Daily Lesson for April 13, 2022

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Mark chapter 12 verses 1 through 11:

Then he began to speak to them in parables. ‘A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watch-tower; then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. 2When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard. 3But they seized him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4And again he sent another slave to them; this one they beat over the head and insulted. 5Then he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they beat, and others they killed. 6He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, “They will respect my son.” 7But those tenants said to one another, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.” 8So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10Have you not read this scripture:

“The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;*

11 this was the Lord’s doing,

and it is amazing in our eyes”?’

We are still making our way through the last week with Jesus, and we come now to the what is perhaps Jesus' most provocative parable -- told just the day before he was arrested, and most certainly what he said that sealed his fate.

The parable can be troubling for us because it speaks of destruction. This is hard to square with Jesus' commitments to nonviolence.

But perhaps it is helpful to remember that in his speech on the steps of the Alabama Capitol, at the end of the march from Selma to Montgomery, Dr. King used similar prophetic imagery when he recited some of the more bellicose lines from The Battle Hymn of the Republic.

In both cases, both Jesus and Dr. King were referring to God's use of force in the cause of justice. I see this as different from violence, strictly speaking.

In both cases also, however, the lives of Jesus and Dr. King were cut short, due to the power of their prophetic speech.

We are nearing the end. Tomorrow night Jesus will taste the bitter herb at the Passover.

The Exodus will happen, and again the lamb will not be spared. As Jesus said in his parable, the son will be killed, much to the vineyard owner's heartache and sorrow.

Ryon Price is Senior Pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.