Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Why People Rebel Against God | Mark | Mark 12.1-12

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to Tim Minna Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. My name is Patrick Miller. And I'm Keith Simon. If this podcast has been helping you in your walk with God, would you take five seconds to help us? Hop onto Twitter and follow our new Twitter account at TMBT Podcast. If you go there, you can see our latest episodes. You can also follow Keith and I and send us messages. We'd love to follow you back and see what's happening in your life. Right now, we're asking, who is Jesus? On the first day teaching his class of 250 college freshmen, the professor, R.C. Sprole,

Starting point is 00:00:44 carefully explained the assignments of three term papers. Each paper was due on the last day of September, October, and November, respectively. Sprole clearly stated there would be no extensions. So at the end of September, some 225 students turned in their papers, while 25 students were scared to death. We are so sorry, they told the professor. We didn't make the proper adjustments from high school to college, but we'll do better the next time. Please, please give us another chance. Okay, said the professor, one more chance. Then the end of October rolled around, and this time about 175 of the 250 students turned in their papers on time. More this time showed up empty-handed.

Starting point is 00:01:28 Oh, please, it was homecoming weekend. We ran out of time. And Sproll, the professor, was trying to be kind, He said, okay, one more warning, but this is it. No excuses next time, or you get an F. The end of November came, and this time only 100 students turned in their paper on time. The rest told the professor, we'll get it to you pretty soon. Sorry, Sprole replied, it's too late now. You get an F. The students howled in protest. That's not fair. Okay, Professor Sprole replied, you want fair? You want justice? Here's what's just. You'll get an F on all three papers that were late. That was the rule, right? Sprole reflected on it later and said the students had quickly taken my mercy for granted. They assumed it. And when justice suddenly fell, they were unprepared for it. It came as a shock and they were outraged. I think that story parallels our relationship with God. God is merciful and patient with us, but we take it for granted. We begin to presume upon it. And when judgment comes, we're shocked. I think that when God is patient with us, we begin to begin to wonder whether he's really holy, whether all the warnings in Scripture are a bit exaggerated.

Starting point is 00:02:40 Maybe there really aren't consequences for our sin. In March chapter 12, we see that it is dangerous to presume on God's goodness and patience. Jesus tells a parable about a landowner who planted the vineyard and then rented it out and moved away. At the harvest, the landowner sent one of his servants to get his share of the fruit that was produced. but the people who rented the land beat that servant up and sent him away empty-handed. He sent many other servants that they either beat up or killed. Finally, the landowner sent his own son who he deeply loved, thinking the people would surely listen to him,

Starting point is 00:03:18 but the people killed him too. Mark 12. 9. What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. Then the chief priests and the teachers of the law and elders 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. The Jewish religious leaders understood that Jesus was retelling the story of Israel. God had blessed them by calling them together as a nation. God gave them leadership. He delivered them from slavery in Egypt. He protected them

Starting point is 00:03:55 from their enemies. He gave them the promised land. And yet when God expected to see the fruit of his relationship with Israel, they rejected him. He sent them prophets and they ignored them. Or worse, they mistreated them. Jeremiah, the prophet, was put in stocks. The prophet Elijah, was driven into the wilderness. The prophet Eurya killed by the sword. The prophet Zechariah was stone to death near the altar. John the Baptist was beheaded. Isaiah 65, God says, all day long I've held out my hands to an obstinate people who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations, a people who continually provoke me to my very face. God is patient with people because he wants them to repent of their sins and to surrender their

Starting point is 00:04:42 life to him. In the parable, it says, he still had one other, a beloved son. Finally, he sent him to them, saying, they will respect my son. When you read that verse, you wonder, what farmer, what landowner in his right mind would surrender his own son to such tenants? The inexhaustible love of God is on full display when God sends his son to a stubborn people. The son was the only person other than the owner who possessed legal claim over the vineyard. That's why the vineyard owners said they will respect my son. The son goes as the father's representative with the father's authority to the father's property to claim the father's

Starting point is 00:05:29 due, the son doesn't just represent the father's legal claim, but also his compassion, for God so loved the world that he gave his son. The son differs from the servant, just like Jesus differs from the prophets that have come before. They were many, but he is the only son. They were servants, but he is the son and the heir. They were forerunners, but he is the last and final word of the father. But above all, the son is beloved, but they kill him too. Up to this point, Jesus has been using this parable to tell Israel how their former leaders treated God's prophets.

Starting point is 00:06:12 But now he's using the story to tell them what they are going to do to him in a few short days. Verse 9. What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. Maybe we think that God is a foolish landlord who will never demand an accounting. Maybe we think that there are no consequences to rebelling against God. God is patient, but judgment is coming for those who resist his will. Of course people do not like this aspect of God's character, his righteous indignation against human sin, his punishment for our rebellion. People don't like the idea of being caught and punished for their sins. No one does. No one breaks the law expecting to be caught, and they resent the punishment when it comes. When I was 16, I got a speeding ticket. I was doing 90 miles an hour when the speed limit was 55 miles an hour. I looked all proud when I was driving, but when the police officer pulled me over, I wasn't proud

Starting point is 00:07:21 anymore. When I got fingerprinted and my mugshot taken and had to get bailed out, I wasn't feeling so hot about myself. If someone had said to me, look, you can do what you're about to do, but you will pay for it. You will get the wrath of your parents. You'll be hauled into jail. There'll be a big fine. If someone had said that to me, I don't think I would have done what I did. I don't think I would have been speeding, at least not that fast. But I really didn't think I would get caught. I expected to get away with it. And of course, that's why so many people live the way they do.

Starting point is 00:07:58 It's why so many people resist God. It's why so many people rebel against God. They don't expect to have to answer for their unkindness or their indifference to the needs of others or their preoccupation with themselves. They don't think that they're going to have to answer for their indifference. difference to God. And so God's judgment catches them off guard. We shouldn't be caught off guard. God has told us that Jesus came offering salvation, but that he will come again and judge those who have resisted him. Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe and

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Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Why People Rebel Against God | Mark | Mark 12.1-12

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