eceive from the husbandmen of
the fruits of the vineyard. And they took him, and beat him, and
sent him away empty. And again he sent unto them another servant;
and him they wounded in the head, and handled shamefully. And he
sent another; and him they killed: and many others; beating some,
and killing some. He had yet one, a beloved son: he sent him last
unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. But those
husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us
kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. And they took him,
and killed him, and cast him forth out of the vineyard. What
therefore will the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and
destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto
others.--Mark 12:1-9.

The vineyard parable was meant as an epitome of Jewish history. By the
servants who came to summon the nation to obedience, Jesus meant the
prophets. The history of the Hebrew people was marked by a unique
succession of men who had experienced God, who lived in the consciousness
of the Eternal, who judged the national life by the standard of divine
righteousness, and who spoke to their generation as representatives of
God.(6) The spirit of these men and the indirect permanent influence they
gained in their nation give the Old Testament its incomparable power to
impel and inspire us. They were the moving force in the spiritual progress
of their nation. Yet Jesus here sketches their fate as one of suffering
and rejection.

Have other nations had a succession of men corresponding to the Hebrew
prophets?

Are there any in our own national history?

Second Day: The Suffering Servant of Jehovah

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we
did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was
wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities;
the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes
we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned
every one to his own way; and Jehovah hath laid on him the
iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he opened not his
mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that
before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. By
oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his
generation, who among them considered that he