How well do we heed warnings? Some people need to be told only once, and they listen. Others need several warnings before they listen. Then there are the ones who will never listen, never heed the warning, and bring their own doom upon themselves. Our reading today from the Gospel of Luke is the parable of the wicked vinedressers, telling the lesson of those who refused to heed God’s call.
Jesus had recently entered the city of Jerusalem on a donkey, to the cheers and acclamation of the people. Now, a day or two later, He told this parable to the people who gathered around him, including many of the Jewish religious leaders. The parables that Jesus frequently told were more than just stories to entertain the crowds. They were told by Him to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson.
This parable tells of a man who had a vineyard for which he hires tenant farmers to tend the vineyard while he leaves the country for an extended period of time. At the harvest season the owner sends servants to receive the crop. However, the tenant farmers mistreat the many servants sent by the owner. Finally he decides to send his son, thinking they will respect him. The response is just the opposite. Seeing it was the son and heir, the farmers decide to cast him out of the vineyard and kill him.
The vineyard was a common symbol for the Jewish nation in Old Testament Scriptures, familiar with all of Jesus’ listeners (Isaiah 5:2). God is the landowner, and the vinedressers or tenant farmers are the Jewish leaders of the day (vs. 1). The messengers or servants that the owner sent represent the prophets sent by God to bring His message to the people (vs. 10-11). The true prophets of God were frequently rejected and mistreated by both the political and religious leaders of the nation. Now God has sent His Son, the Lord Jesus, to the nation of Israel. How were they going to treat Him? Jesus knew, and the conclusion of this parable foretells exactly how the religious leaders would treat the Son of God (vs. 13-15). They took hold of Him and executed Him outside of the city.
As Jesus concludes this parable, He tells what happens to those tenant farmers (vs. 15-16). Should the owner of the vineyard just shrug his shoulders and say, “Oh well”, and ignore the treatment given to his messengers and especially his son? No, Jesus says that he will take the vineyard and give it to others. The behavior of the original tenant farmers brings down divine judgment. The kingdom and spiritual blessings will be given to other vinedressers - the church, which consists mainly of Gentiles (Romans 11:11).
The religious leaders take offense at this parable, since they knew it was directed to them. They reacted with hostility. Jesus then quotes to them Psalm 118:22. Jesus is the stone which was rejected, which becomes the chief cornerstone in God’s redemption plan (vs. 17). He is a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to unbelievers. This is a reference to what the prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 8:13-15. The Jewish leaders’ rejection of the Messiah had been prophesied in Scripture. Ignoring the capstone or cornerstone is dangerous. A person could be tripped or crushed. Rejecting the Messiah, the Savior Jesus, brings judgment and punishment. However, rather than taking warning, the religious leaders proceed with their plots, falsely arresting Jesus later in the week and having Him crucified.
How do we respond to the message God sends us? When a preacher brings a message that follows true to God’s Word, what is our response? The world mocks those who faithfully preach from the Bible. In some places in the world they may be assaulted or even killed. Do not be like the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, rejecting the message that God sends us. Let us accept Jesus, the Chief Cornerstone, and build our life upon Him.
Thank you from Rita Almond Lehnert.
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