Gospel Parables

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 10

Psalm 10 ESV

Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised. For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord. In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.” His ways prosper at all times; your judgments are on high, out of his sight; as for all his foes, he puffs at them. He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved; throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.” His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity. He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless; he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket; he lurks that he may seize the poor; he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net. The helpless are crushed, sink down, and fall by his might. He says in his heart, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.” Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted. Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”? But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands; to you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless. Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call his wickedness to account till you find none. The Lord is king forever and ever; the nations perish from his land. O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

Scripture reading: Psalm 118:19-20

Psalm 118:19–20 ESV

Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it.

Sermon:

GMC! I was glad when they said to me let us go and worship in the house of the Lord

Although we are not in the “parables” section of Matthew, for that was a ways back in Matthew, we still find ourselves for the next couple of weeks we will still be finding ourselves looking at parables. And what is interesting about the parables we will be looking at, specifically the two we are looking at today, is that they break some of the “rules” or parables. If we remember back to before, one of the things that we said about parables is that they sometimes are intentionally hard to understand for those not in the kingdom, the pictures are often intentionally hard to grasp what exactly they are saying. What do each of these things mean? is often a difficult question. but the ones that we are looking a today, this is NOT the case. For as we will see and as we will grow to understand the Pharisees who are the subject in many ways of these parables seem to understand a great bulk of what Jesus said. their issue is that they will reject it, they will not believe, they will not take these things to heart, but on at least a surface level they understand what Jesus is saying.

So as we go through these parables, as we look at them, read them and seek to understand them, knowing what Jesu is talking about is important, but not enough. For I would argue at the center of both of these is the Gospel. It is the hope of restoration and healing with God - it is the person and work of Jesus Christ - it is what he has done to save sinners - it is the hope that we have for new life, restoration and healing. this is what is at the heart of these parables and this is what the Pharisees reject. Matthew 21 starting in verse 28 we will be looking at a rather long section, through the end of chapter 21 all the way to verse 46

Matthew 21:28–46 ESV

“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him. “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “ ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.

These are the words of the Lord for us this morning, lets open with a word of Prayer

Dear Lord we do thank you for today. Another day that your grace and your mercies are shown to us. Another day where we can hear and know your wonderful provisions and hear the wonderful call to repent and believe the gospel. thank you that you cause our dead hearts to come alive through the hope we have in you. We do ask that you would write your words upon our heart. That the things we hear and see in your word would take deep root. that we would be a people that love you, who serve you who know you. It is in Jesus name that we pray

AMEN

So this morning, i would actually like to put our selves in the shoes, rather the sandals, of the people in this narrative that did SEEM to understand it. Verse 45

Matthew 21:45 ESV

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them.

And they perceived right. In both of these parables I would argue Jesus is speaking directly to their hearts. but what is important to note is that though they perceived that he was speaking about them, they did not respond in hope and repentance but rather they were BOTHERED

What Bothered the Pharisees?

Verse 46 - they are seeking to arrest him. They are so bothered that they are seeking to remove Jesus from their lives. We know the whole story. they don’t just want to arrest him. they want him dead. he is a usurper. he is a rabble rouser. he is the one they do not like and they cannot and will not deal with him any longer. these teachings of Jesus are really to the Pharisees, calling them out, and it bugs them. It is revealing to them their hearts and they do not like to see that.

and so I would like to put ourselves in their shoes for just a second and try and understand what exactly about these parables would bother them so. There is a lot here, these are two different parables but there is a heart that tiers them together. It is the Gospel. and so really we are asking what bothered the Pharisees about the Gospel? because I truly believe that what Bothered them is still what bothers people to this day. So the first thing that bothers them as they hear these parables about the gospel is the WHO OF THE GOSPEL

The WHO of the Gospel

In the parable of the two sons. what makes them so mad? they seem to be going along with Jesus at the beginning.

“What do you think” a man had two sons. and we have all seen our kids act in both of these ways if we are being honest. The first one we approach. CAN YOU DO THIS? No. Supposing we don’t get on them for a lack of respect and we let it slide, there is sometimes that pleasant surprise when later they have had a change of heart. We ask them, why did you do that after all? I don;t know, because you asked? Wow, that feels really good. Do you wish they could have said yes in the first place? yeah. are you glad they did it after all? of course!

The second child, the second son rather, will you do this: OF course I will, but he doesn't. You can ask my mom, all growing up her two least favorite words she would hear come out of my mouth were: “I Will”. as someone with ADHD even if I had good intentions, I did intend to do that, but whatever occupied my attention, whatever was right in front of me, it was always more important, I would forget what was asked and it never happened. SO though I said I will, in reality i probably wont.

The Pharisees seem to get it. “the first is the one who did the will of the father” they get the story. But here is where they are bothered. OK Jesus says, well you Pharisees are the second son, This would have bothered them a bit. How dare Jesus say they were not doing the will of the father. But what gets them is who IS. you know who is doing the will of the father. it is NOT JUST JESUS, which might have bothered them. But Jesu clearly was doing the will of the father. that is his direct job, and what he is doing, though that would have bothered them probably, that is not where Jesus goes. It is not just the disciples, that might have bothered the Pharisees. They were not huge fans of them, these uneducated common men, zealots and tax collectors and fishermen who didn’t fast like they should, who didn't wash their hands like they should. This might have bothered them a bit, but that is not where jesus goes.

No Jesus sort of goes all out to the extreme. Because the who of the Gospel here is the prostitutes and the tax collectors. it is the wretches. the outcast the infidels. It is the ones who have turned their back on their own people in the tax collectors and the ones who live the most outwardly sinful vile lives in the prostitutes. THOSE are who will receive the kingdom, those who will enter into God’s forgiveness it is THOSE who will hear this hope. no the “RIGHTEOUS” Pharisees. Not the one who are following all their own laws of goodness and righteousness. It is the same heart where jesus says it is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick, but here it is a THIS I GUESS IS NOT FOR YOU

Of course we could see why this would bother the pharisees. they spent their whole lives trying to serve God in the ways that they see fit. They spent their whole lives not just trying to enter God’s kingdom but being the guardians in some sense of these. They are the one who wouldn't touch or talk to, defiantly who wouldn't go to dinner with or be caught dead interacting with some Prostitutes and tax collectors. HOW DARE jesus say this.

Of course they would be bothered by this WHO of the Gospel. Because they just cant see who such wretches and sinners could inherit the kingdom.

But they are also bothered by the HOW of the gospel

The HOW of the Gospel

Skipping past for a second the second parable and to Jesus explanation and exegesis really of this parable, It is the rejected stone. It is the stone that will crush, the stone that will bring judgement.

The HOW of the gospel is not just tending the vineyard, but also giving the fruits to the Lord. Here the HOW of the Gospels is not what the pharisees have lined out, which is their own righteousness, their own ability to follow their won laws. The how of the Gospel here is this stone. The cornerstone, it is the lords doing, it is the one who is now marvelous in our eyes.

The how is producing fruit, serving and loving the son. The HOW of the Gospel, simply put is Jesus Christ and they reject HIM. and if fundamentally Jesu is the how and if Fundamentally Jesus is the one rejected they are living out this prophecy, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. And here they are the builders. Hat they want to be, but rejecting the work of God… that would bother them.

And so all of the things they are bothered because they can’t grasp the words of him because they will not grasp him! And so then hearing if we don’t lay hold of this stone we will be crushed? who are you to say that we will be crushed? The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, that is a tough message to hear, of COURSE they are bothered. The brokenness required to God in humble repentance they cannot muster, so they will be crushed. The kingdom that they seem to think is their right and responsibility will be taken from them.

they are these wretched tenants, the ones who have rejected God and his work. And that's not how THEY see things, again, they are bothered. Not bothered enough to change and repent mind you, but bothered enough to kill the messenger. Since they cannot grasp the HOW of the way God is doing things, because ultimately it is not through them and that is a bridge to far.

But as I said I think the heart of the Pharisees can show us the heart of Us and the heart of the world around us. Because I would like to see, and spend the rest of our time together trying to understand WHAT DID THE PHARISEES MISS?

What did they Miss?

Because I believe it is the same thing a lot of us miss. and as we take the hope of the gospel to the broken world around us it is the same things that the people around us miss. And so by understanding how they SHOULD have reacted, we can see a bunch of Hope.

We sort of did this same thing at grace Group on Thursday, asking “what questions should they have asked” by trying to understand how they should have reacted, helping to get past being bothered, which is an important step, getting to the heart of what is being said here.

And so the first thing that they missed is the WHO OF THE GOSPEL.

The WHO of the Gospel

It is tax collectors, it is prostitutes, it is SINNERS. Sinners just like them. That is what they missed.

In their judgement in their self-righteousness, in their holier-than-though attitudes they missed this precious truth: if it is good enough for tax collectors and prostitutes it is good enough for even me! The hope they should have gotten when they heard this would be more like “wait, if prostitutes, and if tax collectors can enter into the kingdom of God by believing and repenting then maybe I can too!

The hope of the Gospel is the same hope for all people, for prostitutes for tax collectors, for drug addicts, abusers alcoholics, porn users liars, murderers and yes, even Pharisees, all sinners who come to Christ in repentance. There is no sin so tragic and vile that the grace of God cannot cover it, that is the hope.

So when we hear the WHO of the Gospel our hearts should be drawn to understand that EVEN I can find healing here. Instead of coming out with judgement against these sinners open your eyes to see the WHO can be YOU!

When I was in college, and I have shared this story before, but when I was in college I remember sitting in my dorm room. Right over here, sitting in a dorm room of a dorm that has since been torn down, previously Monagale hall, before that the Women’s Residency center (obviously they needed to change that name when they started letting dudes live there). I was sitting there, sitting at my desk reading through Luke. Not intending to meet with God at all, rather, checking off a box in my list of things I must do to be righteous (sounds familiar?). And I came across another parable, the Appropriately named parable of the Pharisees and the tax collector. These two men are praying

SUMMARIZE THE PARABLE

I remember truly reading that for the first time there in that room and just weeping. I am such a pharisee. It is so easy for me to look at everyone else and realize that THEY are sinners. but the hope of the Gospel is that a sinner even as bad as ME can be saved. That a broken sinner like ME can find the grace and forgiveness of God. The hope is that the WHO is all of those who will call upon the name of Jesus Christ. They will all each and every one will find in him a perfect savior. Your sin, though it be red as scarlet it will be washed white as snow in the precious blood of the lamb. the WHO of the gospel is simply put all who believe, and that is what they miss.

they are so caught up in this UGH prostitutes, UGH tax collectors that they can’t hear the hope offered them.

And they miss the HOW of the gospel

The HOW of the Gospel

For them it is this stone that they rejected. Because that is all sorts of ways that THEY WOULD not do it and so fundamentally what they missed is this: praise the Lord it is NOT HOW THEY WOULD DO IT!

In the parable of the tenants there is a lot we could get into, I would just like to quickly highlight three

One: Note God’s patience.

The seasons for fruit draws near he sends his servants. it is time, let me send my servants. and they go. They beat one, killed another and stoned another. Right then, the owner of this vineyard has every right to skip to the end here. Verse 41

Matthew 21:41 ESV

They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

He doesn't.

He sends more servants. and they do the same, keep rejecting and keep killing and AGAIN he could skip right to the end. Matthew 21:41

Matthew 21:41 ESV

They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

He doesn't.

He sends forth his son. God is patient. The how of the Gospel is that God in his unfathomable patience towards wayward sinners would put up with us. Though the wages of sin is death he patiently calls us. Peter talks about it this way:

2 peter 3:9

2 Peter 3:9 ESV

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

the are caught up in “its not our HOW” they don’t see God patience. but then point two:

TWO: Note God’s working

Matthew 21:33 ESV

“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country.

Look what the master does. HE plants, He put a fence, he dug the winepress, he built a tower - the kingdom, and those in it are a work of God. the owner is the one doing all the hard work here.

He prepares everything, he does everything for the tenants. it is GOD’s Work! The Pharisees are caught up in all the things they think they have to do, all the laws and things THEY have put down, but the HOW of the Gospel is that it is not about what YOU DO! It is about what God has done for you. this is ultimately the most beautiful HOW of the gospel that we see, it is that it is God, but point three, what is the real work of God:

Note God’s SON!

Finally, verse 37, he sent his son to them.

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

that's the HOW of the Gospel. Jesus, though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped but humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross.

That’s the HOW of the Gospel

It is all gods work, and the Pharisees just like people now don’t seem to want to grasp that it is GOD working and God’s patience and Gods work through God's son. We want something we can work at, something that makes sense to us. So I will be a good person, i will do this that or the other thing.

God is saying hear the how of the Gospel. it is his work. turn and hear the wonderful provisions of his grace and mercy. Repent and believe the Gospel and you will be saved!

If we confess our sins he is faithful and just and HE will cleanse us of ALL unrighteousness.

that is the how.

So instead of being bothered and stirred up to anger and rejecting, hear the hope. It is for sinners like me. and it is a work of God, from start to finish always and AMEN.

Lets pray!