Luke 20:9-19

This parable is a graphic portrayal of the rising wave of enmity on the part of Israel, especially of its leaders. God had done everything possible-planted Israel as His vineyard and cared for it. Israel's leaders acted as if they owed God nothing. They treated the prophets shamefully and finally killed even God's own Son. Yet their wicked action gave Christ the significance God had ordained, for He became the head of the comer in the temple of the new covenant (Ac 4:11). Those who continued to reject God's grace would be destroyed. Christ speaks of Himself metaphorically as a stone on whom men are broken and by whom they will eventually be crushed.

The central thought of the text is that Christ is both a rock of offense and of salvation. The goal of the sermon is that the hearers would renew their grasp on Christ as their rock of salvation. The problem is that Christians sometimes become indifferent to God's overtures of grace.

Introductory thought: Many years ago a large insurance company whose symbol is the rock of Gibraltar advertises its benefits by pushing the slogan: "I own a piece of the rock." In the text Jesus quotes Ps. 118 and Is. 8 to remind us that He is a spiritual rock. The parable reveals that the leaders of Israel did not possess Christ as their spiritual rock. Their negative response to God's seeking love leads us to ask the question:

DO I OWN A PIECE OF THE ROCK THAT IS CHRIST?

The tragic resuIts of denying one's self a piece of the rock.

The denier will be broken into pieces (v 18a). Picture of a stone lying on the road upon which a person falls and is badly hurt.

The leaders of Israel had their vineyard taken away (v. 16b; Mt. 21:43) and given to a spiritual Israel gathered from all peoples.

Everyone today who rejects Christ will be broken (1 Pe. 2:8a).

With respect to his relationships with others- seeking to destroy anyone who gets in his way (v 14).

With respect to life's purpose-deepest needs unfulfilled, meaning gone.

The denier will findy be crushed (v 18b). Picture of a stone falling from a building or a mountain and utterly destroying all in its path.

Jewish leaders destroyed together with the people (v 16a). Allusion here also to final destruction on Judgment Day.

Eternal destruction in hell the lot of those who are hostile to Christ.

These results are just in view of the continuing rejection of God's grace.

God not only planted the vineyard, making Israel His own, but sent prophets in waves ( l s t , 2nd' 3rd servant) from Moses to John the Baptist, and finally His own Son.

We have the ongoing testimony of the prophets and of Jesus in the Scriptures. What more can God do?

Do we recognize that God is lovingly seeking our trust and dedication?

Do we tend to become indifferent to His approaches? It is not only wicked but eternally tragic to be careless in our attitude toward the rock that is Christ.

The blessed results of owning a piece of the rock.

Christ is our cornerstone.

God used men's rejection to make Christ the cornerstone (v 17; 1 Pe. 216).

Engraved on Christ, the living stone (Zph. 3:9), important words (Jn. 1:29).

Turned blackest evil to inestimable good for all men.

Christ the cornerstone of the spiritual building, the church (Eph. 2:20), governing every angle in the whole building.

We are lively stones.

Stones that revel in His continuing overtures of grace toward us (1Pe. 2:5).

Stones that refIect His rich grace to others (Eph. 2:21-22).

We have security now and forever when we own a piece of the rock.

Concluding thought: How tragic that men then and now reject God's loving offer! Christ a rock of offense for many. But He is also a rock of salvation. Thank God, we own a piece of that rock!