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Lent 2009

 

Murder He Wrote

By Rick Allison
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Scripture Verses
Mark 12: 1-12 (NIV)

1He then began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. 2At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. 5He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.
 
6"He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, 'They will respect my son.'

7"But the tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' 8So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

9"What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10Haven't you read this scripture:
   " 'The stone the builders rejected
      has become the capstone[a];

11the Lord has done this,
      and it is marvelous in our eyes'[b]?"

12Then they looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away.


Devotion
Isn’t it captivating to read a murder mystery novel or even better yet go to the movies and be captivated by the story line, all the while you trying to figure out ”who did it?”

The author of this murder mystery knows the entire plot start to finish, yet wants to keep us intrigued and on the edge of our seats by using underlying sub-plots along the way. As the plot thickens, we can see that the author is sending his hero to save the world. Our excitement heightens as we can foresee the answer to the plot and then, to our utter amazement and disappointment -  BAM! -  the hero is murdered. What now? We thought this was the answer. How can this be? As we read on or watch with intent it finally becomes clear what the author revealed through the hero. The hero exposed the plot against him for his murder and the circumstances that would follow those for their actions.

As we leave the theater or close the book our minds go over and over the story leaving us with the thoughts of what the hero represented, the good that he stood for, the hope for the future, and that the hero became the cornerstone for a new foundation, the foundation of a future that would be built upon him.

God is our great author and he sent us a hero in Jesus. We must not overlook what Jesus represents with his life of perfection, his ageless teachings, outstanding sacrifices and everlasting love. We must stay in the word to learn all we can, for if we reject him, we are rejecting God.

Just as the plot played out in our murder mystery there will be those who do not believe the teachings by the prophets, nor the truth spoken by our hero Jesus and they will be punished for their sins against God. Let us discover the truth for ourselves and bring in the fruit of the vineyard.


Prayer
Dear God,
Help us to know you, the author who sent his son, our hero, to save us and to be the cornerstone of the vineyard that we may be fruitful and bring glory to you.
Amen.