11 October 2026 - Peter van Breda - The Owner is Coming, From Rebellion to Redemption

Oct 11, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: The Landowner’s Relentless Pursuit of Rebels

The parable’s repeated sending of servants reveals a God who refuses to abandon those who reject Him. Despite violence toward messengers, the landowner persists, embodying divine patience that outlasts human rebellion. This patience isn’t weakness but a deliberate choice to offer repeated chances for repentance. The story mirrors God’s dealings with Israel through prophets, yet points beyond to Christ’s ultimate mission. Even when met with fists and stones, love keeps knocking. [54:13]

“He sent another servant, and they threw stones and wounded him in the head… Then he sent another, and that one they killed.” (Mark 12:4-5, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you recognized God’s patient pursuit in your own story? How might His persistence with rebels soften your approach to difficult relationships?

Day 2: From Rejected Stone to Unshakable Cornerstone

The builders’ discarded stone becomes the foundation holding everything together—a paradox mirroring Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. Religious leaders dismissed Jesus as a failed messiah, yet His “defeat” became the pivot of redemption. This reversal still challenges human logic: true power emerges through surrender, glory through suffering. The cornerstone metaphor invites us to rebuild lives on what the world deems unworthy. [55:18]

“The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” (Psalm 118:22-23, ESV)

Reflection: What areas of your life still resist Christ’s foundational authority? How might embracing His “rejected” ways transform a current struggle?

Day 3: Fruit Inspections in God’s Vineyard

Fig trees without figs and vineyards yielding bloodshed provoke divine scrutiny. Fruit isn’t optional decor—it’s the covenant requirement for those entrusted with God’s mission. The parable warns against religious activity devoid of love, justice, or transformed character. As new tenants of the vineyard, believers bear the sweet fruit of repentance: lives that nourish others and honor the landowner. [01:23:10]

“Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.” (Matthew 21:43, ESV)

Reflection: What “fruit inspection” might the Spirit be conducting in your community? How does your daily work cultivate eternal harvests?

Day 4: Pruning Shears and the Pain of Growth

Vinekeepers know: unchecked branches produce leaves, not grapes. God’s pruning—through trials, correction, or surrendered dreams—feels like loss but makes room for richer yields. The process requires trust in the Gardener’s hands. Just as roses bloom brighter after cutting, believers mature when clinging less to comfort and more to the Vine. [01:00:12]

“Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” (John 15:2, ESV)

Reflection: What current “pruning” stretches your faith? How might today’s cutback prepare for tomorrow’s abundance?

Day 5: Working the Vineyard Before Night Falls

Tenants forgot the landowner’s return was certain, not optional. The parable becomes urgent invitation: our generation stewards God’s vineyard between resurrection and judgment. Fields surround us—workplaces, neighborhoods, families—awaiting hands to harvest grace. Time remains, but not indefinitely. The rejected Son now seeks laborers, not assassins, to tend His earth. [01:32:22]

“Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap… As we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone.” (Galatians 6:9-10, ESV)

Reflection: What one patch of vineyard have you neglected? What practical step will you take this week to cultivate it?

Sermon Summary

Mark 12 sets Jesus before chief priests, scribes, and elders who have already set their hearts against him. The vineyard parable draws straight from Isaiah 5: God planted Israel, fenced her, cared for her, and had every right to look for good fruit. The tenants picture Israel’s religious leaders, the servants picture the prophets, and the beloved son is Jesus himself. God’s patience stands out all through the story, because servant after servant is beaten, shamed, and killed, yet the owner keeps sending messengers.

The fig tree with plenty of leaves but no fruit sits behind this parable as a picture of Israel’s spiritual fruitlessness. The temple cleansing exposes the same problem: religion can be busy, public, and full of activity, while still failing to give God the fruit that belongs to him. God does not merely ask for outward leaves. God calls for repentance, relationship, holiness, and lives that bear the marks of Christ.

The beloved son comes last, and the words carry the weight of baptism, transfiguration, Isaac, and John 3:16. Jesus knows that the tenants will kill the heir, throw him outside the vineyard, and seek to take the inheritance for themselves. Christ therefore speaks of his own rejection and crucifixion outside Jerusalem’s walls. The rejection of the Son is not a small mistake or a neutral choice. The rejection of Christ is the refusal of God’s last hope, and judgment surely follows.

Psalm 118 then changes the picture from a vineyard to a building. The stone the builders rejected becomes the cornerstone. God wins even when it looks, for a fleeting moment, like he has lost. The empty tomb proves that the rejected Son is the victorious Son, and redemptive history reaches its glorious victory in him.

The vineyard now belongs to a people who will produce fruit. The fruit includes growth in holiness, the fruit of the Spirit, service in the body, prayer, generosity, evangelism, missions, and the ordinary faithful use of gifts and talents. God has placed every believer somewhere in the vineyard. The question is not whether there is a place to serve, but what field God has given each person to cultivate.

God’s patience should lead to repentance, not presumption. The messengers God sends should be heard, not shot down. Christ remains the hero of the story, because his willing death gives forgiven sinners the power to become eternally and infinitely fruitful.

Key Takeaways

1. God expects fruit from his vineyard. The vineyard was planted, protected, and supplied at great cost, so fruit was never an optional extra. God’s grace does not leave a person standing in a doorway without growth. The fruit God seeks appears in repentance, Christlike character, and a life given away for his kingdom. [83:30]
2. God’s patience calls for repentance. The owner keeps sending servants, revealing a patience that rebellious hearts continually abuse. God’s long suffering is not permission to delay obedience or drift from him. God’s patience is meant to bring a person into honest repentance and a short account with him. [90:31]
3. The beloved Son must be honored. Jesus is not merely another messenger in the line of prophets. The beloved Son comes bearing the authority, love, and claim of the Father himself. To receive Christ is to receive the One who sent him, while rejecting Christ is spiritual insanity. [75:25]
4. The rejected stone now stands victorious. The cross looked like the triumph of wicked tenants, but God turned rejection into the cornerstone of redemption. The empty tomb declares that God will win, even when darkness seems to have the final word. Christ’s victory gives the church courage to labor faithfully in its own time. [82:12]
5. Every gift belongs in the vineyard. God has given intelligence, health, strength, talents, and spiritual gifts as a trust, not as private possessions. Service can look like prayer, hospitality, worship, accounting, small groups, evangelism, or opening a home for Alpha. God calls each believer to find a field and cultivate it for the Master.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[53:09] - Beginning a Series on Parables
[53:32] - Reading the Parable of the Vineyard
[55:40] - Mercy and Judgment Must Stay Together
[57:50] - God Demands Fruit
[60:46] - The Context of Mark 12
[62:33] - The Fig Tree and Temple Cleansing
[64:23] - God’s Incredible Patience
[68:19] - Israel as God’s Vineyard
[71:19] - Prophets Rejected and Killed
[75:09] - The Beloved Son
[78:24] - Judgment for Rejecting Christ
[80:09] - The Rejected Stone Becomes Cornerstone
[82:46] - Producing Fruit in the Vineyard
[88:54] - Accountability for Every Gift
[90:31] - Listen to God’s Messengers
[93:41] - Prayer for Faithfulness and Fruit

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Mark 12:1-12
“And he began to speak to them in parables. "A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' But those tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this Scripture: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?" And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away.” [53:32]

Isaiah 5:1-7
“Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!” [01:09:10]

Psalm 118:22-23
“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” [01:20:18]

Observation questions

What details show the vineyard owner’s care and investment in the vineyard in Mark 12 and Isaiah 5? [01:09:10]
How do the tenants respond to the servants the owner sends, and how does their treatment grow worse over time?
What do the chief priests, scribes, and elders understand about Jesus’ parable, and how do they respond to it? [01:08:14]
What two pictures does Jesus use in Mark 12—the vineyard and the rejected stone—and what happens to each? [01:20:18]

Interpretation questions

If the vineyard represents Israel and the tenants represent its religious leaders, what does the parable reveal about the difference between being entrusted with God’s things and truly honoring God?
Why is the owner’s repeated sending of servants such a strong picture of God’s patience? What does the tenants’ response show about the danger of treating patience as permission to continue in sin? [01:12:32]
Jesus calls himself the beloved Son, not simply another servant. How does this shape the seriousness of receiving or rejecting Christ? [01:15:38]
Psalm 118 says that the rejected stone became the cornerstone. How does Jesus’ death and resurrection turn what looked like defeat into God’s victory? [01:22:12]

Application questions

The fig tree had leaves but no fruit, and the temple was full of religious activity while lacking true devotion. Where might it be possible to appear spiritually active while avoiding repentance, holiness, or a growing relationship with Christ? [01:02:41]
God’s patience is meant to lead to repentance. Is there an area of sin, compromise, bitterness, or delayed obedience where God may be patiently calling for a clear response today? What would keeping a “short account” with God look like this week? [01:30:35]
A wise person receives godly correction humbly, while a proud person “shoots the messenger.” How do you normally respond when someone lovingly raises a concern about your life? What could help you listen more openly? [01:31:12]
Fruit includes Christlike character in everyday places such as marriage, family, work, and stressful moments. Which part of the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, or self-control—does God seem to be growing in you right now? [01:23:40]
Everything we have—abilities, health, resources, time, and spiritual gifts—belongs to God and is entrusted to us. What “field” has God placed you in, and what is one practical way you could cultivate it for his kingdom? [01:28:54]
Christ’s rejection was not the end of the story; the risen Christ is the cornerstone. Where do you need courage to remain faithful because God can bring victory even when circumstances look discouraging? [01:22:12]

Sermon Clips

44s

#FaithfulStewardship

“Everything that you have, your intelligence, your body, your health, your strength, your talents, your gifts, everything you have in this life has been given to you by god, and he will hold you accountable. He will ask you on judgment day, what did you do with it? But, you know, you can't bear fruit until your sins are forgiven. But once that happens, now what? He wants you active in personal holiness and in the spread of the gospel to all.”

40s

#EmptyTombVictory

“The parable is clear. God will win even when for a fleeting moment it seems that he's lost. Because, you see, for you and I, the empty tomb proves that god was victorious. Redemptive history reaches a glorious climatic victory in this beloved son, the rejected stone. And so what's the application for you? And I hope I haven't been too stringent today or too hard on you because I know you are the faithful.”

43s

#GrowingInChrist

“You see, it's not just good enough to give our hearts to the Lord. That's about the forgiveness of sins, and that gets us into heaven. It's like that door over there. When you give your heart to the Lord, you've opened the door and you've stepped into the doorway, but how many people either go backwards out of the door or just stand there? What god wants is for you and I to have a growing vital relationship with him where daily daily you and I are conformed more and more to his image and produce fruit.”

42s

#GodsPatientGrace

“We're surrounded by a wall. God's protecting us. There's a watchtower. He's watching over your life. He'll not let you be tempted beyond that which you can bear. He's protecting you so that you can be fruitful. Marvel at god's patience with you. You know, I marvel at that. How god has been patient with me all these years. Even when I was unfaithful, he was faithful. God's patience, we are told, will lead us to repentance.”

43s

#ListenToGod

“Don't shoot the messenger. If somebody comes to you and talks to you about your life, accept because maybe it's the lord speaking to you. A wise man listens, is humble, and makes changes. A prideful person shoots the messenger in one form or another. One of the ways you can shoot this messenger this morning is not come back to church. So the key moment in this parable is when God speaks to you and sends you messengers, listen to them. And then honor and revere the son of God that he sent and the one that he loves.”

52s

#ChristlikeLiving

“You see, these things in yourself, in your marriage, in your parenting, in your work lives, in everything you do, that's the fruit that he wants. Now it doesn't mean you become a doormat to other people or for other people to wipe their feet on you, but it does mean that we display the attributes of Christ to the world out there. That there is something different by us and with us. So that when they see us, maybe they will stop and say, you know, that girl or that guy is different. There's something different about them.”

33s

#TrueRepentance

“True repentance is met instantly with genuine forgiveness. I said it last time I was speaking. We need to keep a short order with God. We don't need to make excuses for the actions we do. Oh, but my wife. Oh, but my boss. Oh, but this whatever. We need to keep a short order with God because God has called for us to be accountable to him and also to bear fruit.”

54s

#CornerstoneOfFaith

“They rejected the stone and cast it aside as worthless of no value, but that stone became the capstone of a column, a keystone in an arch, or a foundation cornerstone. Sadly, those religious leaders were blind to it all. How many people do we know today that are just blind to this? They live their lives the way they want, not understanding that there's gonna be a judgment one day. With premeditated malice, they move ahead with their sinister plan to murder the son sent by god. What Herod failed to do to Mary and Joseph's baby, they accomplished outside the city walls.”

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