Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Mark 12:8

"And they took him, and killed him, and cast him forth out of the vineyard." — Mark 12:8 (ASV)

The sending of the owner’s own son underscores the serious view he took of the situation. He assumed that they would respect this son. (This statement should not be allegorized since God knew beforehand that Jesus would be rejected; cf. Isaiah 53:4; Acts 2:23.) The owner’s expectations were thwarted, for the tenants’ greed led to outrageous action (v.7). They saw the coming of the son as a golden opportunity for seizing the property; they may have inferred from the son’s coming that the owner had died. If they did away with his son, the property would be ownerless and therefore available to the first claimants. There was no question in the minds of Jesus’ hearers that he was the son in the parable (see their reaction in v.12).