Mk 12, 1-12 From “Stone rejected” to “cornerstone”

Mark 12

(Mk 12, 1-12) From “Stone rejected” to “cornerstone”

[1] He began to speak to them in parables. "A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey. [2] At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard. [3] But they seized him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. [4] Again he sent them another servant. And that one they beat over the head and treated shamefully. [5] He sent yet another whom they killed. So, too, many others; some they beat, others they killed. [6] He had one other to send, a beloved son. He sent him to them last of all, thinking, 'They will respect my son.' [7] But those tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' [8] So they seized him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. [9] What (then) will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come, put the tenants to death, and give the vineyard to others. [10] Have you not read this scripture passage: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; [11] by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes'?" [12] They were seeking to arrest him, but they feared the crowd, for they realized that he had addressed the parable to them. So they left him and went away.

(CCC 546) Jesus' invitation to enter his kingdom comes in the form of parables, a characteristic feature of his teaching (Cf. Mk 4:33-34). Through his parables he invites people to the feast of the kingdom, but he also asks for a radical choice: to gain the kingdom, one must give everything (Cf. Mt 13:44-45; 22:1-14). Words are not enough, deeds are required (Cf. Mt 21:28-32). The parables are like mirrors for man: will he be hard soil or good earth for the word? (Cf. Mt 13:3-9). What use has he made of the talents he has received? (Cf. Mt 25:14-30). Jesus and the presence of the kingdom in this world are secretly at the heart of the parables. One must enter the kingdom, that is, become a disciple of Christ, in order to "know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 13:11). For those who stay "outside", everything remains enigmatic (Mk 4:11; cf. Mt 13:10-15). (CCC 386) Sin is present in human history; any attempt to ignore it or to give this dark reality other names would be futile. To try to understand what sin is, one must first recognize the profound relation of man to God, for only in this relationship is the evil of sin unmasked in its true identity as humanity's rejection of God and opposition to him, even as it continues to weigh heavy on human life and history. (CCC 522) The coming of God's Son to earth is an event of such immensity that God willed to prepare for it over centuries. He makes everything converge on Christ: all the rituals and sacrifices, figures and symbols of the "First Covenant" (Heb 9:15). He announces him through the mouths of the prophets who succeeded one another in Israel. Moreover, he awakens in the hearts of the pagans a dim expectation of this coming.