GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 12:8
Immunity
When representatives of the United States serve outside the United States, they enjoy the full authority and protection of the United States, a privilege known as diplomatic immunity. In theory, wherever a diplomat steps, the whole nation steps. However, many ignore that principle for one reason or another and show no regard for the United States or its representatives. Eight United States ambassadors and dozens of Foreign Service Officers have died while serving the United States in the line of duty.
In Jesus’ parable about the vineyard, the vineyard owner lived away from the vineyard; the wording suggests that he lived in a foreign country, away from his people. He sent messengers to the tenant farmers to collect the payment. The rebellious farmers, however, beat, dishonored, and even killed some of the owner’s representatives. Jesus said, “He still had one, a beloved son. Last, he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those tenant farmers said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ And seizing him, they killed him, and they threw him out of the vineyard.” (Mark 12:6-8)
Jesus’ parable had an eschatological significance whereas the death of United States Foreign Service Officers has an existential significance; both, however, have the parallel idea of a life given in the service of another.
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