Jesus asks the question that brings His story to its verdict. A man planted a vineyard, let it out to husbandmen, and sent servant after servant to receive his share of the fruit. They beat one, wounded another, and killed others. Last of all he sent "his wellbeloved" son, saying, "They will reverence my son," and they killed him too (Mark 12:2-8). Now Jesus asks what the owner will do. Barnes, who explains Mark's parable in his notes on Matthew 21, says that Jesus "by a parable, led them along to 'state themselves' the very truth which he wished to communicate." Gill notes that the parable was spoken to the chief priests, scribes, and elders, "in whose presence, and for whose sake it was delivered." The question invites them to judge the husbandmen before they realize they are judging themselves.

In Mark the answer follows at once: "he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others" (Mark 12:9). Mark does not name a new speaker. Gill reads it as the answer given by the chief priests, scribes, and elders, as in Matthew, where "They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men" (Matthew 21:41). In Luke, Jesus speaks the verdict and the hearers reply, "God forbid" (Luke 20:16). Jesus then turns them to the Scripture about the rejected stone (Mark 12:10-11). The leaders "knew that he had spoken the parable against them," and they sought to lay hold on Him, but feared the people, and "left him, and went their way" (Mark 12:12).

Mark describes a carefully prepared vineyard: a hedge around it, a place dug for the winefat (the vat where the juice ran from the press), and a tower (Mark 12:1). The husbandmen were tenant farmers who worked the vineyard and owed the owner part of its fruit "at the season" (Mark 12:2). Barnes notes that letting out vineyards this way was not uncommon. He says a vineyard often stands for the church of God, and here for the Jewish people, "the people chosen of the Lord, cultivated with care, and signally favored."

The Greek word for "lord" here is kyrios, which can mean master or owner, which is why the ESV says "owner." The verb "destroy" (apolesei) is a plain future: "he will destroy."

This parable is a picture of God's patience. The owner did not act after the first insult. He sent servant after servant, and then the one he loved most. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary observes that "instead of honouring him because he was the Son and Heir, they therefore hated him." The judgment in Mark 12:9 comes only after a long line of refused messengers.

The question also shows that God's purpose for His vineyard does not fail. The husbandmen are removed, but the vineyard is given "unto others." Matthew records Jesus spelling this out: "The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof" (Matthew 21:43). Matthew Henry writes that the lord "will come, and destroy the husbandmen, whom he would have saved." The loss was real, and it was never what the owner wanted.