1 Jesus began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a pit for the wine press, built a tower, rented it out to a farmer, and went into another country. 2 When it was time, he sent a servant to the farmer to get from the farmer his share of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 They took him, beat him, and sent him away empty. 4 Again, he sent another servant to them; and they threw stones at him, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated. 5 Again he sent another; and they killed him; and many others, beating some, and killing some. 6 Therefore still having one, his beloved son, he sent him last to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those farmers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 They took him, killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. 9 What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the farmers, and will give the vineyard to others. 10 Haven’t you even read this Scripture:

‘The stone which the builders rejected,

the same was made the head of the corner.

11 This was from the Lord,

it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

12 They tried to seize him, but they feared the multitude; for they perceived that he spoke the parable against them. They left him, and went away.

Mark 12:1-12 - World English Bible

In Mark 12, Jesus spoke in familiar images to his opponents. But, like many of his stories, he turned social convention on its head in the parable of the tenant farmers. The vineyard was Israel (Isaiah 5) and the owner was YHWH. However, the owner was a foreign (Gentile) rich man; the juxtaposition of the God with a hated pagan set up the dissonance that carried through the rest of the parable. The religious elites were the tenant farmers who had sympathy from the general populace as downtrodden victims; now, they were the antagonists, guilty of killing the prophets (the rich man's servants) and, finally, the Son, in the mistaken belief that, without an heir, they would take possession of the nation (the vineyard). Of course, justice demanded punishment for the leadership (the farmers), but that should not be the outcome in the popular mind. After all, Israel was God's Chosen people; they were supposed to be the winners in the conflict. Jesus had another message in mind when he quoted Psalm 118:22-23. God chose the loser to be the cornerstone of his new, living Temple, the new Israel.

Where do you fit into the new people of God?