Isaiah 5:1, The Lord’s Vineyard

//Isaiah chapter 5 is a song about a vineyard in a fertile land. This vineyard is clearly identified as Israel, with this verse:

The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress. –Isaiah 5:7

With that scriptural foundation, then, we are able to interpret the parable of the vineyard in Mark 12. In that story, a man (God) plants a vineyard (Israel) and leaves it in the care of others (the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders – see verse 12). But the caretakers want the vineyard for themselves, so they kill the servants of the owner, and eventually kill even the owner’s son (Jesus). The story ends like this:

“What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” –Mark 12:9

The end of the parable predicts the end of Israel, as God did indeed come and destroy the Temple and the city of Jerusalem forty years later, giving the vineyard to others.