Murderous Tenants
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Scripture Reading
Scripture Reading
9 He went on to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. 10 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. 12 He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.
13 “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’
14 “But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
“What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”
When the people heard this, they said, “May this never be!”
17 Jesus looked directly at them and asked, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written:
“ ‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone’?
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”
Introduction
Introduction
Context...
Jesus in Jerusalem
It's approaching the time of the Passover Feast
Crowds gathering. A buzz in the town...
Christ has already had confrontations with the religious leaders.
They were challenging his authority.
The religious leaders were trying to have Jesus arrested, put to death...
They had the power and authority, in a sense, to carry this out... but they lacked the support of the people.
Now, in the wake of these confrontations, Jesus tells them a parable.
This is a parable about the history of how the people of Israel had treated the prophets, and how they were now going to treat the Son.
The parable is directed against the religious leaders who have already rejected Jesus, and who are already looking for ways to put Jesus to death.
This interaction is between those who were responsible for the loving care over God's people, and the judgment that God would bring against them because of their failure to care for His people.
1. The Vineyard of God
1. The Vineyard of God
9 He went on to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time.
A Man planted a vineyard
Speaks of God, taking Israel, planting them...
He took them out of Egypt and made them into a nation.
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it,
and it took root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches.
11 It sent out its boughs to the Sea,
its shoots as far as the River.
21 I had planted you like a choice vine
of sound and reliable stock.
How then did you turn against me
into a corrupt, wild vine?
1 Israel was a spreading vine;
he brought forth fruit for himself.
As his fruit increased,
he built more altars;
as his land prospered,
he adorned his sacred stones.
1 I will sing for the one I love
a song about his vineyard:
My loved one had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside.
2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones
and planted it with the choicest vines.
He built a watchtower in it
and cut out a winepress as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
but it yielded only bad fruit.
3 “Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
4 What more could have been done for my vineyard
than I have done for it?
When I looked for good grapes,
why did it yield only bad?
Israel very aware!
According to Kent Hughes,
The vineyard/Israel connection was so much a part of their national consciousness that the very temple in which Jesus was standing sported a richly carved grapevine, seventy cubits high, sculpted around the door that led from the porch to the Holy Place. The branches, tendrils, and leaves were of finest gold. The bunches of grapes hanging upon the golden limbs were costly jewels. Herod first placed the golden vine there, and rich and patriotic Jews would from time to time add to its embellishment. One contributed a new jeweled grape, another a leaf, and still another a cluster of the same precious materials. This vine had immense sacred meaning in the eyes of the Jews.
Ryken, P. G. (2009). Luke (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.; Vol. 2, pp. 352–353). P&R Publishing.
Rented it to some farmers
The fact is that God had established Israel as a nation.
They were called to live in obedience to him.
The priest of Israel had a responsibility to lead and to govern Israel according to the covenant made with them.
Go to Deuteronomy 17:2-13...
There was to be real obedience to and following after the laws of God.
The priests had a high and holy responsibility to lead God's people in His ways.
They were to teach the Israelites to obey the stipulations of the covenant of God.
The sad reality was that they failed to do this.
Went away for a long time
What happened to the vine, as it was left in the care of these tenants?
1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, how is the wood of a vine better than that of a branch on any of the trees in the forest? 3 Is wood ever taken from it to make anything useful? Do they make pegs from it to hang things on? 4 And after it is thrown on the fire as fuel and the fire burns both ends and chars the middle, is it then useful for anything? 5 If it was not useful for anything when it was whole, how much less can it be made into something useful when the fire has burned it and it is charred?
6 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As I have given the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest as fuel for the fire, so will I treat the people living in Jerusalem.
10 “ ‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard
planted by the water;
it was fruitful and full of branches
because of abundant water.
11 Its branches were strong,
fit for a ruler’s scepter.
It towered high
above the thick foliage,
conspicuous for its height
and for its many branches.
12 But it was uprooted in fury
and thrown to the ground.
The east wind made it shrivel,
it was stripped of its fruit;
its strong branches withered
and fire consumed them.
13 Now it is planted in the desert,
in a dry and thirsty land.
14 Fire spread from one of its main branches
and consumed its fruit.
No strong branch is left on it
fit for a ruler’s scepter.’
This is a lament and is to be used as a lament.”
7 It has laid waste my vines
and ruined my fig trees.
It has stripped off their bark
and thrown it away,
leaving their branches white.
Contextual Application
NB!!! This is God's vineyard...
The vineyard didn't belong to them... they were to look after it.
God had given to them in order to carefully steward.
Modern context.... this earth is the Lord's and all that is in it.
More critically, this church is the Lord's and everyone in it.
We've already gotten a sense of the weightiness of the responsibility upon the priests of the OT to lead God's people in accordance with the covenantal stipulations.
We need to see the significance of this in terms of God's unfolding purposes...
Many people today - some people in the church even - live as if the church is theirs...
Maybe... they live as if anything is ultimately theirs...
But at the end of the day, everything belongs to God.
The world, the church, our families, all that we own. It is God's... He has created it...
He has entrusted this into our care!!
2. The Prophets of God (vv.10-12)
2. The Prophets of God (vv.10-12)
The words of the parable
10 “At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, so that they would give him some of the produce of the vineyard; but the vine-growers beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
11 “And he proceeded to send another slave; and they beat him also and treated him shamefully and sent him away empty-handed.
12 “And he proceeded to send a third; and this one also they wounded and cast out.
The Sending of the Prophets
God would thus send his prophets in order to warn Israel… and yes, even to warn the religious leaders who were failing to live according to the Law of God.
E.g. Malachi… a series of statements and responsive questions…
“I have loved you.” ~ “How have You loved us?” 1:2
You have despised My name. ~ “How have we despised Your name?” 1:5
You offered polluted food on My altar. ~ “How have we polluted it?” 1:7
He no longer accepts your offering. ~ “Why does He not?” 2:13
“You have wearied the Lord….” ~ “How have we wearied Him?” 2:17
“Will man rob God?” ~ “How have we robbed You?” 3:8
“Your words have been stout against me.” ~ "How have we spoken against You?" 3:13
That's just one example...
Throughout, the prophets of God were sent in order to bring the people of God back to Him.
In this sense, they went in order to obtain from the priests and leaders and accounting of how they were producing fruit in terms of leading the people.
1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? 3 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. 4 You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. 5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.
The prophets were sent in order to confront the shepherds of Israel (or in this case, the tenants taking care of the vineyard) in terms of the care that they were giving... The owner ought to have been getting fruit...
The Rage against the Prophets
What happened was a rebellion against those who came in the name of God.
Jezebel and Ahab
4 for when Jezebel destroyed the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water.)
14 Then he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”
Nehemiah
26 “But they became disobedient and rebelled against You,
And cast Your law behind their backs
And killed Your prophets who had admonished them
So that they might return to You,
And they committed great blasphemies.
Jeremiah
1 Early in the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came from the Lord: 2 “This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard of the Lord’s house and speak to all the people of the towns of Judah who come to worship in the house of the Lord. Tell them everything I command you; do not omit a word. 3 Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from his evil way. Then I will relent and not bring on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done. 4 Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: If you do not listen to me and follow my law, which I have set before you, 5 and if you do not listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I have sent to you again and again (though you have not listened), 6 then I will make this house like Shiloh and this city an object of cursing among all the nations of the earth.’ ”
7 The priests, the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speak these words in the house of the Lord. 8 But as soon as Jeremiah finished telling all the people everything the Lord had commanded him to say, the priests, the prophets and all the people seized him and said, “You must die!
New Testament example.
28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.
The point...
The prophets of God had been sent.
They were calling the people back.
The religious leaders through the course of Israels history had failed in their responsibilities
As Christ portrays this parable, he is speaking about this long history of Israel, their failure to produce fruit, and their rebellion when someone is sent to make an accounting...
Contextual Application
God has sent people time and again.
God has given preachers of the Word... that word is going out into the world.
Perhaps you have heard the word of God... You've heard of the righteous requirements of God.
You've been indulging in sin, and have heard of the truth, but you have rejected that truth.
You refuse to hear the words of those warning from the Scriptures...
Choose to continue in sin.
3. The Son of God (vv.13-15a)
3. The Son of God (vv.13-15a)
Words of the Parable
Luke 20:13–15 (NASB95)
13 “The owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’
14 “But when the vine-growers saw him, they reasoned with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’
15 “So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
The Sending of the Son
Foretaste through the account of Abraham and Isaac
2 He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”
But ultimately, God sent His own Son into the world… The second person of the Godhead…
22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”
35 Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!”
Note: If these tenants of the vineyard loved the master, and truly wanted to care for the vineyard, they would have identified and accepted the Son of the Owner.
1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
Notes Hebrews 3:1-6
The Response of the Tenants
They became jealous.
They acted out of selfish reasoning and ambition.
They had no desire to listen to the son.
In fact they viewed the son as a threat.
Don't push the parable too far!! These religious leaders certainly didn't conceded that Jesus was the Son of God.
Nonetheless, Jesus is speaking this in order to convey the point of the rejection of the Son.
The religious leaders of his day certainly were rejecting Jesus.
But note: There was a plan of these tenants to reject the son...
They made a plan to kill him.
There was a willful rejection of God.
This again demonstrates the rejection of God by many people.
Romans 1:21ff .... People suppress the truth of God with a lie.
People want to get rid of God.
Contextual Application
Once again, we need to recognise that everything given to us by God, and the question is, what will we do with that?
What does the world generally do about this?
Romans 1 - People have suppressed the truth of God with a lie.
Man desires to follow his own will....
He wants everything for himself... wants life on his own terms.
4. The Judgment of God (vv.15b-19)
4. The Judgment of God (vv.15b-19)
The Words of Christ
15 “So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do to them?
16 “He will come and destroy these vine-growers and will give the vineyard to others.” When they heard it, they said, “May it never be!”
17 But Jesus looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written:
‘The stone which the builders rejected,
This became the chief corner stone’?
18 “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”
19 The scribes and the chief priests tried to lay hands on Him that very hour, and they feared the people; for they understood that He spoke this parable against them.
Judgement of God will come
In verses 15-16a, God speaks about what will happen
Essentially, God's judgment would come upon these who were taking this vineyard belonging to God and treating it in a shameful way
He says that He will kill those tenants...
Why? Because they were mistreating and misusing what didn't belong to them but to God.
Jesus says to them here that the vineyard would be taken and given to others.
This tells us that the ministry of the Word of God would be handed over to the apostles, and the Word would go out to the Gentiles
In essence, the custodianship of the truth of God would be taken from this spiritual leadership structure that had rejected God and His Son, and would be transferred to the church.
Shocked Response
These people knew exactly what Jesus was speaking about. (verse 19 makes this very clear...)
Note their response... "May this never be.."
They understood that Jesus was talking about them... that He was speaking in the parable about Israel as the vineyard
They were shocked!
God... reject them???? May this never be!!!
God's vineyard be handed over to others??!!
The Rock of stumbling
Notice how Jesus confronted them...
"...looked directly at them..."
Even in that phrase, you hear the tension in the moment.
He then asks the question... "then what is the meaning of that which is written... The stone the builders rejected has become the captsone.
Psalm 118... quote
Previously the people had sung this very Psalm as Jesus was riding into Jerusalem.
Psalm 118:26...."Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."
Jesus now quotes from the same Psalm, just a few verses earlier...
"The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone;” (Psalm 118:22)
In its original context, this statement refers to an unusual incident that occurred during the building of Solomon’s temple. The great stones for the temple were cut at the quarry and then chiseled into the right shape before being transported to Jerusalem, where they were slid into place (see 1 Kings 5:15–18). Apparently one large stone turned out to be the wrong size and shape, so when it arrived at the building site, the workmen had to set it aside. It was the stone that the builders rejected. But to everyone’s surprise, that unwanted stone later turned out to be exactly the right size and shape to serve as the cornerstone, or perhaps the capstone—the keystone at the corner that squared the building.
The psalmist used this stone as a metaphor for the nation of Israel. Like the cornerstone, the people of God were rejected by the nations and taken into captivity. But later God rescued them, reestablishing them in Jerusalem, rebuilding the temple, and restoring them to their place of honor. So they praised God by singing, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (Ps. 118:22).
Ryken, P. G. (2009). Luke (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.; Vol. 2, p. 358359). P&R Publishing.
Now, we know that Christ was ultimately this cornerstone...
He would be the one rejected by the leaders of the Jews.
But He would ultimately be the One that God would use to build His people, the church.
His life, death and resurrection would provide the basis and foundation for the building of a people belonging to God.
6 For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
"Everyone who falls..."
14 “Then He shall become a sanctuary;
But to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over,
And a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15 “Many will stumble over them,
Then they will fall and be broken;
They will even be snared and caught.”
34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed—
32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,
8 and,
“A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”;
for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.
23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness,
"Will be crushed..."
The allusion is to Daniel 2:44
44 “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.
Those who would reject Jesus, would stumble over Him, and ultimately would be crushed by Him through their rebellion.
A heart of rebellion
Notice the response of the teachers of the law and the chief priests...
They looked for a way to arrest him immediately.
Why? Because they knew that He had spoken about them.
Exactly what he had been speaking about is what they wanted to proceed to do.
All they cared about was the fact that this word was directed against them.
Without considering the words, without considering the context, without considering their own Scriptures which actually confirmed what Jesus was saying...
They simply wanted to reject Him... and continue with their plots to kill him.
It was an act of personal defensiveness, and self-righteous, self justification.
That flowed out of a heart of rebellion.
Contextual Application
Jesus is the foundation
He must be accepted.
The question is, do you accept Jesus for who He claims to be.
Beware the heart of rebellion
Application / Conclusion
Application / Conclusion