Mark 12:6 Study Bible: He had one left, a beloved son, he sent him last to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'

◄ Mark 12:6 ►

Finally, having one beloved son, he sent him to them. 'They will respect my son,' he said.

He still had one to send
This phrase indicates the patience and long-suffering nature of God. In the parable, the owner of the vineyard represents God, and the "one to send" signifies the last and most significant emissary. The Greek word for "send" is "apostellō," which is the root for "apostle," meaning one who is sent with a purpose. This highlights the divine mission and authority of the one being sent.

a beloved son
The term "beloved" is translated from the Greek word "agapētos," which denotes a deep, unconditional love. This is the same term used at Jesus' baptism and transfiguration, emphasizing His unique and cherished status. The "son" here is a direct reference to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, underscoring His divine filiation and the intimate relationship within the Trinity. Historically, the concept of a "beloved son" would resonate with the Jewish audience, recalling Isaac, the beloved son of Abraham.

Finally, he sent him to them
The word "finally" suggests a culmination or a last resort, indicating that this act was the ultimate expression of God's outreach to humanity. The Greek word "eschatos" is often used to denote the end times or finality, which can be seen as a foreshadowing of the eschatological significance of Christ's mission. The act of sending His son "to them" signifies God's direct engagement with His people, Israel, and by extension, all of humanity.

saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
The expectation of respect is rooted in the cultural and legal norms of the time, where a son, especially a beloved one, would be accorded the same honor as the father. The Greek word for "respect" is "entrepō," which can also mean to be ashamed or to turn in reverence. This reflects God's hope and expectation that His people would recognize and honor His Son. However, the tragic irony is that instead of respect, Jesus faced rejection and crucifixion, fulfilling the prophetic nature of the parable and highlighting the depth of human sinfulness and the need for redemption.

Persons / Places / Events

1. The Vineyard Owner
Represents God the Father, who owns the vineyard and sends his servants and son.

2. The Beloved Son
Symbolizes Jesus Christ, the Son of God, sent to the people after the prophets.

3. The Tenants
Represent the religious leaders of Israel who were entrusted with God's people but failed in their responsibilities.

4. The Vineyard
Symbolizes Israel, God's chosen people, whom He nurtured and expected to bear fruit.

5. The Servants
Represent the prophets sent by God to call Israel back to faithfulness.

Teaching Points

God's Patience and Persistence
God repeatedly reaches out to His people, showing His patience and desire for reconciliation.

The Rejection of Christ
The parable foreshadows the rejection and crucifixion of Jesus by the religious leaders.

The Importance of Bearing Fruit
As God's vineyard, we are called to produce spiritual fruit in our lives.

Respect for God's Messengers
We should honor and heed those whom God sends to guide and correct us.

The Consequences of Rejection
Ignoring God's call and rejecting His Son leads to judgment and loss of spiritual inheritance.

Bible Study Questions

1. How does the vineyard owner's decision to send his beloved son reflect God's approach to humanity?

2. In what ways can we identify with the tenants, and how can we ensure we are producing fruit in our lives?

3. How does the rejection of the son in the parable parallel the rejection of Jesus in the Gospels?

4. What lessons can we learn about God's character from His persistence in sending messengers to the tenants?

5. How can we apply the principle of respecting God's messengers in our church and community today?

Connections to Other Scriptures

Isaiah 5:1-7
This passage describes Israel as a vineyard, providing a backdrop for understanding the parable in Mark 12.

Hebrews 1:1-2
Highlights how God spoke through the prophets and ultimately through His Son, connecting to the sending of the beloved son.

John 3:16
Emphasizes God's love in sending His only Son, paralleling the vineyard owner's hope that the tenants would respect his son.

Matthew 21:33-46
A parallel account of the parable, offering additional insights into the tenants' rejection of the son.

Acts 7:52
Stephen's speech references the persecution of prophets, similar to the servants in the parable.

Sermons

God's Last Arrow	Alexander Maclaren	Mark 12:6
A Guilty Conscience		Mark 12:1-12
Christ Ungratefully Treated		Mark 12:1-12
Cruelty to Christ	D. L. Moody.	Mark 12:1-12
God the Proprietor of All	H. W. Beecher.	Mark 12:1-12
God's Care of His Church	G. Petter.	Mark 12:1-12
God's Dealings with the Jews are Signified in This Parable	G. Petter.	Mark 12:1-12
God's Forbearance	Otto Funcke.	Mark 12:1-12
God's Longsuffering	C. H. Spurgeon.	Mark 12:1-12
God's Love in Sending His Son	H. W. Beecher.	Mark 12:1-12
Obligation to God		Mark 12:1-12
Parable of the Vineyard	J.J. Given	Mark 12:1-12
Pursued by God's Mercy	Mother's Treasury	Mark 12:1-12
Rejected and Chosen	The Preacher's Monthly	Mark 12:1-12
Rejection of Christ a Common, But Most Unreasonable Iniquity	President Davies.	Mark 12:1-12
Reverence Claimed for Christ	J. Burns, D. D.	Mark 12:1-12
The Builders Overruled by the Great Architect	R. Finlayson, B. A.	Mark 12:1-12
The Church Divinely Protected	H. M. Luckock, D. D.	Mark 12:1-12
The Evil Husbandmen	E. Johnson	Mark 12:1-12
The Head of the Corner	C. S. Robinson, D. D.	Mark 12:1-12
The Headstone of the Corner	Anon.	Mark 12:1-12
The Parable of the Vineyard	H. M. Luckock, D. D.	Mark 12:1-12
The Parable of the Vineyard	A.F. Muir	Mark 12:1-12
The Parable of the Vineyard; Or, Unfaithfulness and its Reward	R. Green	Mark 12:1-12
The Pleading of the Last Messenger	C. H. Spurgeon.	Mark 12:1-12
The Rejected Stone	M. F. Sadler, M. A.	Mark 12:1-12
The Reverence Due to the Son of God	G. Phillips.	Mark 12:1-12
The Son Rejected	C. M. Southgate.	Mark 12:1-12
The Stream of Mercy Directed into Another Course	William Arnot.	Mark 12:1-12
The Vineyard, or the Visible Church Transferred to the Gentiles	E. N. Kirk, D. D.	Mark 12:1-12
The World's Ingratitude	M. Denton.	Mark 12:1-12
They Will Reverence My Son	H. Clay Trumbull.	Mark 12:1-12

People

David, Herodians, Isaac, Jacob, Jesus

Places

Jerusalem

Topics

Beloved, Dearly, Dearly-loved, Finally, Loved, Respect, Reverence, Saying, Treat, Wellbeloved, Well-beloved, Yet

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Mark 12:6

     1513   Trinity, mission of
     2218   Christ, Son of God
     2357   Christ, parables

Mark 12:1-8

6231 rejection of God

Mark 12:1-9

     4464   harvest
     5438   parables
     6710   privileges

Mark 12:1-11

     2309   Christ, as judge
     4538   vineyard
     6223   rebellion, of Israel
     7512   Gentiles, in NT

Mark 12:1-12

7135 Israel, people of God

Mark 12:1-17

7552 Pharisees, attitudes to Christ

Mark 12:6-8

5701 heir
5705 inheritance, spiritual

Library

God's Last Arrow
'Having yet therefore one son, his well-beloved, he sent him also last unto them.'--Mark xii. 6. Reference to Isaiah v. There are differences in detail here which need not trouble us. Isaiah's parable is a review of the theocratic history of Israel, and clearly the messengers are the prophets; here Christ speaks of Himself and His own mission to Israel, and goes on to tell of His death as already accomplished. I. The Son who follows and surpasses the servants. (a) Our Lord here places Himself in …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Dishonest Tenants
'And He began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. 2. And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. 3. And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. 4. And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Not Far and not In
'Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.'--Mark xii. 34, 'A bruised reed He will not break, and the smoking flax He will not quench.' Here is Christ's recognition of the low beginnings of goodness and faith. This is a special case of a man who appears to have fully discerned the spirituality and inwardness of law, and to have felt that the one bond between God and man was love. He needed only to have followed out the former thought to have been smitten by the conviction of his own sinfulness, and …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Marvels of Holy Scripture, --Moral and Physical. --Jael's Deed Defended. --Miracles vindicated.
Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the Scriptures, neither the power of God. ON a certain occasion, the Son of Man was asked what was thought a hard question by those who, in His day, professed "the negative Theology [588] ." There was a moral and there was physical marvel to be solved. Both difficulties were met by a single sentence. The Sadducean judgment had gone astray from the Truth, (planasthe our Saviour said,) from a twofold cause: (1) The men did not understand those very Scriptures …
John William Burgon—Inspiration and Interpretation

Obedience to God the Way to Faith in Christ.
"When Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, He said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God."--Mark xii. 34. The answer of the scribe, which our blessed Lord here commends, was occasioned by Christ's setting before him the two great commandments of the Law. When He had declared the love of God and of man to comprehend our whole duty, the scribe said, "Master, Thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but He: and to love Him with all the heart, and with …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

The Unity of the Divine Being
"There is one God." Mark 12:32. 1. And as there is one God, so there is one religion and one happiness for all men. God never intended there should be any more; and it is not possible there should. Indeed, in another sense, as the Apostle observes, "there are gods many, and lords many." All the heathen nations had their gods; and many, whole shoals of them. And generally, the more polished they were, the more gods they heaped up to themselves. But to us, to all that are favoured with the Christian …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

For the Candid and Thoughtful
It strikes me that this scribe was half-hearted in the work of tempting our Lord, even at the first. I should imagine him to have been a very superior man amongst his fellows, a man of greater light and discernment than the rest, and of greater ability in statement and discussion. Possibly for this cause his brother scribes selected him, and put him forward to ask the testing questions. Now, it will sometimes happen that a man is thrust forward by others to do what he would never have thought of …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 26: 1880

The First and Great Commandment
It is "the first commandment," again, not only for antiquity, but for dignity. This command, which deals with God the Almighty must ever take precedence of every other. Other commandments deal with man and man, but this with man and his Creator. Other commands of a ceremonial kind, when disobeyed, may involve but slight consequences upon the person who may happen to offend, but this disobeyed provokes the wrath of God, and brings his ire at once upon the sinner's head. He that stealeth committeth …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 3: 1857

Observing the Offerings and Widow's Mites.
(in the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, a.d. 30.) ^B Mark XII. 41-44; ^C Luke XXI. 1-4. ^b 41 And he sat down over against the treasury [It is said that in the court of the women there were cloisters or porticos, and under the shelter of these were placed thirteen chests with trumpet-shaped mouths into which offerings might be dropped. The money cast in was for the benefit of the Temple. An inscription on each chest showed to which one of the thirteen special items of cost or expenditure the contents would …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

A Serious Persuasive to Such a Method of Spending Our Days as is Represented in the Former Chapter.
1, 2. Christians fix their views too low, and indulge too indolent a disposition, which makes it more necessary to urge such a life as that under consideration.--3. It is therefore enforced, from its being apparently reasonable, considering ourselves as the creatures of God, and as redeemed by the blond of Christ.--4. From its evident tendency to conduce to our comfort in life.--5. From the influence it will have to promote our usefulness to others.--6. From its efficacy to make afflictions lighter.--7. …
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul

The Cross as a Social Principle
Social Redemption is Wrought by Vicarious Suffering DAILY READINGS First Day: The Prophetic Succession And he began to speak unto them in parables. A man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and digged a pit for the winepress, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into another country. And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruits of the vineyard. And they took him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. …
Walter Rauschenbusch—The Social Principles of Jesus

Whether to the Words, "Thou Shalt Love the Lord Thy God with Thy Whole Heart," it was Fitting to Add "And with Thy Whole Soul, and with Thy Whole Strength"?
Objection 1: It would seem that it was unfitting to the words, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy whole heart," to add, "and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength" (Dt. 6:5). For heart does not mean here a part of the body, since to love God is not a bodily action: and therefore heart is to be taken here in a spiritual sense. Now the heart understood spiritually is either the soul itself or part of the soul. Therefore it is superfluous to mention both heart and soul. Objection …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

The Tribute Money
"And they send unto Him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, that they might catch Him in talk. And when they were come, they say unto Him, Master, we know that Thou art true, and carest not for any one: for Thou regardest not the person of men, but of a truth teachest the way of God: Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? Shall we give, or shall we not give? But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye Me? bring Me a penny, that I may see it. And they brought …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

Christ and the Sadduccees
"And there come unto Him Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection: and they asked Him, saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man's brother die, and leave a wife behind him, and leave no child, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. There were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed; and the second took her, and died, leaving no seed behind him; and the third likewise: and the seven left no seed. Last of all the woman also …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

The Discerning Scribe
"And one of the scribes came, and heard them questioning together, and knowing that He had answered them well, asked Him, What commandment is the first of all? Jesus answered, The first is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. The second is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

David's Lord
"And Jesus answered and said, as He taught in the temple, How say the scribes that the Christ is the Son of David? David himself said in the Holy Spirit,-- The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand, Till I make Thine enemies the footstool of Thy feet. David himself calleth Him Lord; and whence is He his son? And the common people heard Him gladly. And in His teaching He said, Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and to have salutations in the marketplaces, and chief …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

The Widow's Mite
"And He sat down over against the treasury, and beheld how the multitude cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a poor widow, and she cast in two mites, which make a farthing. And He called unto Him His disciples, and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, This poor widow cast in more than all they which are casting into the treasury; for they all did cast in of their superfluity; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living." MARK …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

Talks with Bohler
I asked P. Bohler again whether I ought not to refrain from teaching others. He said, "No; do not hide in the earth the talent God hath given you." Accordingly, on Tuesday, 25, I spoke clearly and fully at Blendon to Mr. Delamotte's family of the nature and fruits of faith. Mr. Broughton and my brother were there. Mr. Broughton's great objection was he could never think that I had not faith, who had done and suffered such things. My brother was very angry and told me I did not know what mischief …
John Wesley—The Journal of John Wesley

The Room was Like and Oven
Sunday, 8.--We were at the minster [21] in the morning and at our parish church in the afternoon. The same gentleman preached at both; but though I saw him at the church, I did not know I had ever seen him before. In the morning he was all life and motion; in the afternoon he was as quiet as a post. At five in the evening, the rain constrained me to preach in the oven again. The patience of the congregation surprised me. They seemed not to feel the extreme heat or to be offended at the close application …
John Wesley—The Journal of John Wesley

The Morality of the Gospel.
Is stating the morality of the Gospel as an argument of its truth, I am willing to admit two points; first, that the teaching of morality was not the primary design of the mission; secondly, that morality, neither in the Gospel, nor in any other book, can be a subject, properly speaking, of discovery. If I were to describe in a very few words the scope of Christianity as a revelation, [49] I should say that it was to influence the conduct of human life, by establishing the proof of a future state …
William Paley—Evidences of Christianity

Prophecy.
PROPHECY. Isaiah iii. 13; liii. "Behold, my servant shall deal prudently; he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonished at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: so shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? …
William Paley—Evidences of Christianity

In Reply to the Questions as to his Authority, Jesus Gives the Third Great Group of Parables.
(in the Court of the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, a.d. 30.) Subdivision C. Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen. ^A Matt. XXI. 33-46; ^B Mark XII. 1-12; ^C Luke XX. 9-19. ^b 1 And he began to speak unto them ^c the people [not the rulers] ^b in parables. { ^c this parable:} ^a 33 Hear another parable: There was a man that was a householder [this party represents God], who planted a vineyard [this represents the Hebrew nationality], and set a hedge about it, and digged a ^b pit for the ^a winepress in it …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Links

Mark 12:6 NIV
Mark 12:6 NLT
Mark 12:6 ESV
Mark 12:6 NASB
Mark 12:6 KJV

Mark 12:6 Commentaries

Bible Hub