The parable of the vineyard (12:1–12) retells the history of Israel in the well-known imagery of a vineyard (e.g., Isa. 5:1–7), though it is adapted to the widespread system of absentee landownership in first-century Palestine. The parable depicts the central purpose of Israel’s history as leading to the landowner’s beloved son (12:6), and Israel’s failure to receive the son as grounds for its judgment. The placement of this parable as the final and only parable outside chapter 4 indicates its supreme importance for Mark. Tenant farmers are entrusted with the oversight of a vineyard, but when the owner sends servants to collect his produce, the tenants maltreat some and kill others. In a final act of outrage, the tenants kill the owner’s beloved son and throw his body to the birds, thinki…