GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 12:12
A Terrible Person
A prominent minister said, “I am a thief, I am a liar, I am a murderer, I am an adulterer.” He was speaking hyperbolically, however, in order to make a point about human nature outside the redemption of Christ. One of the things that prevents liars, thieves, murderers, and adulterers from acting on those behaviors is the laws society has enacted that allow people to live together in a communal society. The speaker’s point, however, is that a person still has those inclinations, making him a terrible person, even though the laws impel him to keep those inclinations chained. His point was that the redemptive work of the Holy Spirit changes an individual’s nature, instilling kingdom values.
The speaker’s point was well illustrated in Mark’s account of the audience’s reaction to Jesus’ parable about the vineyard spoken in the temple court. Jesus’ story involved a man who planted a vineyard and let it out to tenant farmers who refused to pay their rent. The terrible tenants abused and killed the owner’s messengers sent to collect the rent, even killing the owner’s son, thinking they would possess the vineyard. In the end, the tenant farmers were destroyed, and the vineyard was given to other tenant farmers.
In Jesus’ audience were the religious leaders, likely dressed in the elegant attire of the Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, and elders of the day. “And they sought to seize him, and they feared the crowd, for they knew that he spoke the parable against them, and leaving him, they went away.” (Mark 12:12) Underneath the trimmed beards, perfumed bodies, and official clothes, they were haters and murderers; however, they did not act on those hateful inclinations because “they feared the crowd.” Jesus’ parable had hit the mark; he had exposed their nature. Instead of repenting and asking Yahweh to change their nature, they went away, hating and seeking to do great bodily harm.
The laws are wonderful things. One philosopher said the laws are like our parents; they give life, education, and protection; therefore, they deserve obedience. But laws, even religious laws, do not change human nature, which only comes through the redemptive, renewing work of the Holy Spirit during regeneration, or conversion.
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