|
Return to 'Recent Sermons' | |
The world is a brutal
place. Killing seems to be the add-on to every form of behaviour, its entertainment
like in the ‘Hunger Games’ and other violence-themed films, its an add-on to
robbery, to rape, to envy, to drug-dealing. Although, sadly, you are, statistically,
most likely to be killed by a member of your own family. But we justify killing
when it is against an enemy. Yet here Jesus is pointing out that
So the question is not so much why do they do it, but what is God doing about it?
The lesson of this parable for us is about the patience of God. Unwilling to bring judgement, the owner keeps taking steps to resolve the problem by negotiation.
The parable is about a straightforward capitalist deal. The
owner invests in the land, leases it out to tenants and sends to collect his
share of the profits at the appropriate time. Parables have hidden hints and
one of those is that
7
the people of
He expected them to do what was good,
but instead they committed murder.
He expected them to do what was right,
but their victims cried out for justice.
You can read Isaiah 5 1-7 page 689 if you want the whole story there.
So the listeners would understand the parable was about
So Jesus tells this story about Israel and then gives his audience the opportunity to choose the ending.
41 “He
will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent
the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at
harvest time.”
Their ending is suitably both vengeful and practical. Get rid of the tenants and replace them with co-operative tenants who will honour the tenancy agreement!
Which is precisely what Jesus wants them to say. They condemn themselves because they are the ones who will kill the son, they are the ones who have ignored what John the Baptist taught and what Jesus is saying. Herod beheaded John for pleasure and vengeance. Jesus would be crucified because he claimed to be the Son of God. So their ending is the future prophecy. They have rejected the cornerstone so Jesus is quite explicit.
“Therefore I tell
you that the
This is a stunning statement.
Before we consider the challenge
of this statement for us, I want to pause on the cornerstone issue. It is a
quotation from Psalm 118 page 616. This was the final Psalm of the Hallel which
was used at the end of Passover, so it is probably what is referred to in
Matthew 26:30
When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the
The cornerstone bit is in a
passage about opening the gates and entering the temple. It appears to be a
reference to an event in the construction of the first temple where a stone
that was rejected turned out to be the critical stone in the construction. You
will note that in Psalm it is translated capstone, so it is not known whether
it was a foundation stone, a cornerstone or a capstone which would have given
structural integrity to arch building. The point is that it was critical to the
building but was rejected because it did not seem right for some reason.
Remember Solomon’s temple was prefabricated and arrived on site ready to
assemble without any further masonry so , like the proverbial flat-pack
assembly, you end up with a bit that does not fit the scheme of things until
you are ¾ of the way through putting it together and find you have to go back
the beginning as the part you ignored is vital.
Look, Jesus is saying, I am the
key to prophecy, to history , to salvation. The whole of creation and salvation only forms a whole when Jesus is
received as Saviour and Lord. And they were rejecting him because they thought
they knew better. They thought they knew so much better that they eventually
took on the Roman empire and their wonderful temple was destroyed in AD70. Only
the Wailing wall in Jerusalem remains, bits of which date back to the first
temple. The building without Jesus was about to fall because they rejected the key
part of it. The Saviour who came to die for our sins and rise again.
I want us to consider the sober
comment that follows with care.
43 “Therefore
I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a
people who will produce its fruit.
This was the King of
Kings, the Son of David, making a clear declaration. Israel stands condemned as
a nation, but not every individual, for failing to keep the covenant. They
wanted to renegotiate the terms to fit what they wanted. They turned God into
pocket-god who was as they wanted. They could not tolerate God’s plan because
it did not depend on their heredity, or their righteousness or religiosity or
their celebrity status. It depended on accepting salvation as a gift. It
depended on believing what Jesus said about himself and trusting him by
shifting your reliance on what you are to what he is.
The Jews were born
into the faith, but that counted for nothing. The Jews had the law and all the
prophecies, but they could only tell them of their need of a Saviour. The
tax-collectors and prostitutes received the message of John and Jesus with
repentance and faith and joy. They had what God was seeking in Israel, turning
away from sin and trusting Jesus. So the kingdom was for them. It was also
going to be for people from every tribe and nation in this world. But it is
still not for the born Christian, you must be born again by the Spirit of God.
Least-ways that’s what Jesus said and if we choose another way we are rejecting
the Lord of Life. It is not
self-righteous , ‘I am better than most people so surely God would want me’
people, but those who say “I am sorry ,
God, for the things I have done” Listen it says
“the kingdom of God will be … given to a
people who will produce its fruit.
Not the British, or
the good citizen or the deeply religious. God is looking for a spiritual
harvest. A harvest of love, joy, peace, faithfulness, patience and so on. He is
looking for those who are turning from sin rather than pretending they are
innocent. He is looking for those who accept Jesus’ death on the cross as their
only way of salvation. So are you trusting in Jesus or are you still vaguely
thinking that so long as you attend church, give to charity, speak nicely and
look down on the rest of us you will be Ok. Jesus rejects the nation of Israel
because they did not produce the fruits of repentance, to quote John the
Baptist. Jesus says to us in John6: 28 answering the question:
“What must we do to do the works God
requires?”
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to
believe in the one he has sent.”
What are you doing
about your salvation today? Are you believing the promises of God and living in
the light of them or are you failing to believe
in the one he has sent?
There are millions of people who claim to be
Christians in the world today. Some, in Syria, given the choice between
converting to Islam or death believing in Jesus, choose believing in Jesus and
are brutally murdered by very evil people.
You are not in that
position but the question remains are you believing
in the one he has sent? Are you
producing the fruit of the kingdom?
Jesus underlines how
deeply significant in your life your choice is. Turn from your sin and believe
or
Anyone
who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will
be crushed.” Jesus is either the rock on which you build your life or he is
the stone that will destroy you. Not because he wishes to destroy you but
because you choose to reject him.
The passage ends
with the reality of the immediate rejection of Jesus by the authorities. They
are now looking for a way to destroy him. But they will be held up by their own
political fear until the Passover only days away arrived. Jesus will be the
Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and they will hand him over
for crucifixion. So they plot and scheme his death fulfilling the parable.