Unwilling to Give, Unwilling to Receive

Introduction

In this text, not only do we get more depth in how God views corrupt leadership, which is a theme that will continue for the next two chapters, but we also see how unbelief shows itself in religious contexts. It keeps us from giving to God what belongs to him and it also keeps us from receiving the good things God freely offers his people.

Tenants Unwilling to Give God his Due

A Landowner Caring for His Vineyard

Isaiah and the Unfruitful Vineyard

Isaiah 5 is probably the backdrop for this parable, where Israel is spoken of as a fruitless vineyard despite all God had graciously done.

Corrupt Tenants

Mistreating prophets: 1 Kings 18:13 a prophet named Obadiah tells Elijah

1 Kings 18:13 ESV

Has it not been told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid a hundred men of the Lord’s prophets by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water?

Jeremiah was beaten in Jer 20:2 and a prophet named Zechariah was stoned to death in 2 Chronicles 24:20-22. It was very common for those whom God sent to speak to his people were treated this way.

Sending the Son

The sending of the Son is the final nail in the coffin for these men to be judged. Their condemnation is filled up.

The Pharisees are made to admit what is just here.

Chrysostom:

“how just is the sentence, when the very persons that are to be punished condemn themselves.”

The reason the elders refrain from arresting Jesus is the same as for their refusal to answer his question about John the Baptist. They are more afraid of the crowds than they are of pursuing the truth. They are governed by fleshly desires, just like any unrepentant sinner.

The Stone

While other passages in the NT will connect the stone and the building with Christ and the Temple, that full idea is not fleshed out here in Jesus’ reference to Ps 118:22-23. Instead, the point is the reversal of human expectations and the realization of God’s will. With their own mouth, the Pharisees and Priests have acknowledged God’s justice in taking away the status of being the people of God from the Jewish ethnicity, and specifically from the leaders of Israel, and was going to give it to those whom they looked down upon. With its connection to the last parable, this includes those sinner in Israel, represented by tax collectors and prostitutes in vs 31, as well as the non-Jewish world who believe upon Christ like the Canaanite woman did back in chapter 15. We can see why God would reject those who, though they had many chances to repent, only dove deeper into their wickedness. However, those whom they would think of as the least likely to inherit the Kingdom would inherit it. Those would bear the fruit of faithfulness, obedience, and love for God and neighbour as the natural fruit of well-cultivated faith in Christ. This theme continues into the next parable Jesus gives here.

First, it is not lost on the elders who Jesus is talking about. Jesus has predicted his death to his disciples, and now he is doing so indirectly to his future killers as well. This only drives their envy further as

Guests Unwilling to Receive Participation in the Kingdom

The second parable we are going to examine here takes us into chapter 22. Again, the chapters and verses are not original to the text, so do not use them as a way to actually divide the text.

A similar parable is told by Jesus in Luke 14 in a slightly different context. Jesus continues with a parable of a similar theme but with a different angle. While in the first parable the Jewish leaders are condemned for withholding the fruit that is due to God, here the opposite is true. The guests here have no demand made of them, but rather are invited to a wedding feast. Wedding feasts of the time were extravagant and often went on for at least a week, with all the food and drink you could want being freely provided by the host. In this case, the host is a King so you can imagine that this feast would be on the more extravagant side of things. No expense would be spared.

So this King sends his servants to invite his guests with appetizing promises. The oxen and fattened calves have been slaughtered and made ready. There is no demand of tribute; its not as if the King is expecting these guests to pay their fair share for the wedding. It is an invitation. Come and have the feast of a lifetime. Come, kick back, relax, and enjoy the finest food a king could serve you. Come eat, drink, go to sleep only to wake up to more eating and drinking to your hearts content. What an invitation that would be.

Which makes the guests response all the more surprising. They pay no attention to the invitation, as if it were no big deal. They are more invested in their own businesses and farms. Now, obviously this is to their own folly. Honestly, they would rather go to work than spend a week eating like a king. But they go a step further to beating and even killing the servants giving them this message. Now we can see that this is more than simply a foolish oversight of a wonderful feast: this is clearly an act of rebellion against the King himself. These men hate the king and want nothing to do with his feast. They do not wish to honour his son’s marriage as this would give honour to the king as well, and so not only do they refuse, they refuse violently and rebelliously. And so, the king makes war on them and destroys them with justice for the way they rebelled against him by mistreating and murdering his servants.

Following this, the king decides to find wedding guests from wherever willing guests could be found, good or bad. People from all walks of life, especially from among the lower classes of society in contrast the the likely high-ranking guests invited at first (those normally invited to a kingly wedding). However, not all who respond positively prepare for the feast by dressing in a respectful way. Its not helpful to try to figure out what exactly the wedding garment in verse 11 represents; the main point is that the man came unprepared and without due respect for the king and his son. He is thus thrown out, which establishes the truth in verse 14 that “many are called, but few are chosen.” That is, many desire to enter the Kingdom of God and are called to it regardless of how sinful they are, but only those who prepare for that great event through repentance, faith, and submission to the will of God actually access it. These are the elect, those chosen by God and gifted with the faith to endure to the end through perseverance and faithfulness. Otherwise, they will be thrown out. So although the invitation goes out to everyone, only those truly prepared to follow Christ are welcomed in.

Now, the similarities between these parables are clear. Both have an authoritative figure who has a son whom the father esteems highly. In both cases servants are sent with some request to those under the authority of the man. The servants are not only denied but are also beaten and killed. The man with authority takes vengeance on those wicked murderers and their place is given to others who will do what they refused to do. But the differences are worth noting as well.

D A Carson notes: “If the parable of the tenants exposes Israel’s leaders’ neglect of their covenanted duty, this one condemns the contempt with which Israel as a whole treats God’s grace.”

While in the first parable the landlord is denied what he is justly due, here the king’s gracious gift is denied violently. While the first parable showcases the way in which Israel’s leaders failed to govern God’s people in a way the led them to faith and obedience, this shows their resistance to take the grace of God seriously. While we may understand why someone might selfishly keep themselves from God, how can we understand someone who refuses God’s good gifts?

The answer is simple: they do not believe God. They do not trust him. They do not respect him. They do not love him. They do not see him as their loving benefactor, but as an enemy and a tyrant. They are far more interested in what they can do for themselves than in taking the grace of God as a gift to be enjoyed.

Unbelief Keeps People from Giving God His Due and from Receiving His Reward

So we see that unbelief not only leads to a refusal to obey God, but also leads to the inability to receive God’s good gifts according to his promises. While God had made many promises to Israel in the OT, promises of life, prosperity, peace, and nearness to God. But they did not listen to God, nor did they pursue God’s good promises. Instead, they treated God with faithlessness and denied themselves life.

This is not unique to the OT Israelites. This is the nature of the human condition. Sin is a problem of unbelief. Last week we saw that the Pharisees were not interested in the truth of whether Jesus or John were really sent from God, they only cared about other peoples perception of them. This is because we experience other people without the need of faith. However, the smile of God is hidden from our waking eyes and can only be observed by faith. Faith finds its identity in the truth; in the story and role in which God places us. He has made us as his image bearers and, though we are marred by sin, he came in the flesh to die and redeem us from that power and condemnation. He would go on to rise from the dead in order to give our faith a foundation; that we would one day rise as well, taking him at his word that he loved us and gave himself for us and that in him we shall live forever. Faith it to take God at his word, to trust that he who he says he is and does what he says he does.

But the opposite of this is what we observe in the life and behaviour of the religious leaders. They are hypocrites because they do not seek truth, not really. Their pursuit is not of God or truth, and it certainly is not one led by faith. Instead, they are led by what they can see and what they can do to manipulate for their own benefit. So when the truth does come along, they are always resistant to it. Jesus will later challenge them in

Matthew 23:32 ESV

Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.

Their fathers put the prophets to death and so it is only fitting that they should finish the job and put the Son of God to death and earn the final judgement of God fully. They are judged because, even though they do not practice idolatry openly like their father did, they continue to lack faith in God. They obey the law in every outward fashion thinking that it will save them, but they have no desire to conform their hearts to the will of God. So it doesn’t matter how pure their outward show is, their hearts will continue to pursue their own ends. This will show itself sooner or later. It could be a pastor caught in adultery. It could be a church member who never returns because of some reason they believe is good. It could be a slow giving in to the pressure of temptation or of the world that slowly inches into their minds and pushes any desire for truth and godliness out. One way or another, those who do not love God show it. They do not trust him. They do not follow him because they do not really believe he is the good, loving, faithful, and glorious God that he is. How quickly our hearts can turn this way if we do not take care.

The seed of unbelief is always ready to sprout. It is not as simple as a straight turn to atheist or a flat-out denial of the Bible. These were very religious men Jesus is talking to. Instead, this unbelief hides under a number of pretenses, excuses, and is fueled by cares unrelated to the truth. Just as the elders showed they did not care if John was from God or not, they do not care about God’s will, only that they are seen by others to be doing it.

Conclusion

Unfaithfulness is displayed both in an unwillingness to give God the fruit of obedience and an unwillingness to enjoy the blessings of God.

When rejected by those who are the obvious picks for God’s grace, showing us once again that God enjoys showing grace to the least and humbling those who are seen as the greatest.

We learn more here about the nature of faith and are warned against having a similar attitude to these Pharisees, one of pride that is founded on unbelief. We are reminded of God’s universal call to faith while also reminded that not all who claim to believe will be accepted. Only those who endure in the faith.

God’s people, his true church, are made up of those who act as faithful vineyard tenants, who come prepared to the feast because they believe God both in their submission to him and their joy in his grace. Do you know God like this? What is the nature of your walk with God? God has shown you much grace, are you yielding a crop of obedience and faithful service for him? He has invited you to his banquet, the celebration of Christ’s eternal Kingdom, have you prepared yourself to come and enjoy it? Grace must do its work in us for it to be of any good. Let us not waste his kindness, but rather put it to fruitfulness by faith so that we may rejoice with him in gladness forever more.