The Parable of the Wicked Tenants
Notes
Transcript
Opening Comments:
Opening Comments:
Please meet me again in your copy of God’s Word this morning in Luke 20:9–19. You’ll find it on page 826 in our church-provided Bibles.
In our time together last week, we watched as Jesus was publicly confronted by a delegation made up of chief priests, scribes and elders from the Sanhedrin inside the “Court of the Gentiles” where He was teaching. They approached him demanding to know “By what Authority” he was acting with.
We saw that their question was a disingenuous question because they were not at all interested in submitting to the authority of Jesus. They wanted to be able to condemn Him and regain control.
Jesus exposed their disingenuousness by asking them a question regarding John the Baptist. A question they refused to answer out of fear. That whole confrontation ended with no resolution and no repentance. These leaders remained in willful opposition to Jesus.
Todays passage is a continuation and escalation of that same event. As Jesus begins telling a very confrontational parable. A parable that draws heavily from Old Testament imagery and history and leaving no doubt that Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah.
9 And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while.
10 When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
11 And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.
12 And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out.
13 Then 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 tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’
15 And 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 those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!”
17 But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written: “ ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’?
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”
19 The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people.
Introduction:
Introduction:
This is one of Jesus most direct and easy to understand parables in scripture. It certainly was not confusing to Jesus audience in the Temple. In fact in v.19, Luke makes it clear that the scribes and chief priests perceived that Jesus told this parable about them and from that point on they decided they were going to kill him.
Last week we saw in v.1-8 how these leaders demanded to know who gave Jesus his authority and He refuse to answer them directly.
But that does not mean Jesus leaves the question unanswered altogether.
Through this parable Jesus reveals his authority as the Fathers “beloved” son and he demonstrates how His authority has been met with rejection that is going to lead to his death.
He does so by using imagery pulled straight from the pages of the Old Testament that frames the relationship between God, the nation of Israel, and those entrusted to lead it.
1.) God’s Gracious Claim Over Israel (v.9)
1.) God’s Gracious Claim Over Israel (v.9)
Remember, parables are stories that use imagery to communicate truth. They are stories with a purposeful meaning that unfolds as the story progresses.
Listen how this story begins:
…“A man planted a vineyard…
A.) The vineyard
This vineyard was intentionally planted by someone who cleared the land, prepared the soil, and invests time and care so that the fruit could grow.
The image of a vineyard was very familiar language to Jesus audience. Throughout the Old Testament the image of a vineyard is used when God wants His people to understand his initiative, care and rightful claim over them.
Isaiah 5: 1-7 is probably the clearest example of this. Isaiah describes God as doing everything necessary for his vineyard (the nation of Israel) to be fruitful. But, when fruit doesn’t come, God responds with action.
Psalms 80:8-11 uses the same kind of imagery:
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches.
11 It sent out its branches to the sea and its shoots to the River.
Jesus is reminding these leaders that Israel exists as a nation because God acted graciously to plant them. Their very existence was meant to display the holiness and faithfulness God.
5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine;
6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
B.) The Tenants
…“A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while.
Once the vineyard is planted and growing the owner entrusts its care to others.
These tenants represent those who God had ordained to lead and care for his people:
Priests- worship and sacrifice.
Scribes- Teaching and interpreting the law.
Elders- Civil leaders who governed community life.
But here is the key: stewardship isn’t ownership.
First-century tenant farming worked something like what we would call sharecropping. The land didn’t belong to the people working it. They benefited from it. They lived off it. But they owed the fruit to the owner because it was never theirs.
Even if a family worked that land for years, or even generations, everyone knew where ownership stopped and stewardship began.
Jesus audience would have understood immediately that tenants who treated the vineyard like they owned it were inviting judgement.
Jesus is drawing a spiritual parallel: leadership that forgets it answers to God will eventually treat God’s people as if they belong to them, rather than to God, in a effort to preserve their own authority. This is exactly what the leaders of Israel had done in Jesus day.
Application: This parable confronts leaders, but it also exposes a tendency in all of us; to claim ownership over what God has only entrusted.
Stewardship never becomes ownership, but acting as if it has leads us to resist accountability and loosen our commitments.
2. God’s Messengers Were Consistently Rejected. (v. 10–12)
2. God’s Messengers Were Consistently Rejected. (v. 10–12)
10 When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
11 And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.
12 And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out.
By painting this scenario of the master sending servants to the vineyard to collect what is due, Jesus summarizes a pattern from Israels history.
These servants represent the prophets who God repeatedly sent to his people, preaching repentance and a return to living under God’s authority.
Listen to how they were treated:
15 The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place.
16 But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy.
They beat and imprisoned Jeremiah.
They murdered Zechariah in the Temple courtyard.
They hunted and tried to Kill Eljah.
Amos was expelled from the land.
Isaiah was executed.
And the list goes on and on.
Application: Their resistance didn’t begin with violence. It ended there. It started with dismissing God’s Word and refusing to respond to it in repentance and obedience.
3. The Beloved Son Reveals the Heart of Rebellion (v. 13–15a)
3. The Beloved Son Reveals the Heart of Rebellion (v. 13–15a)
Verse 13 marks the turning point of the parable:
Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’
A.) The owners Beloved Son
“Beloved Son”- is packed full of meaning. In the world of Jesus day, sonship carried authority and inheritance. A son was the recognized heir. He acted with His father’s authority and represented His father’s claim over the land.
Biblically, “sonship” carried royal and Messianic meaning: God promised David a son whose kingdom would endure forever.
Psalm 2 presents God’s Son as the installed King to whom the nations belong.
6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”
7 I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.
Luke has already framed Jesus in this light. At His baptism and again at the transfiguration, God publically identified Jesus as His beloved Son. So when Jesus uses this phrase here, he is not being vague. He is identifying Himself as the Son God has sent, the rightful heir and promised Messiah.
B.) The Tenants response
But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’
Do you see the calculated response? they know what his presence represents. If they can remove the heir, then they can gain control of the vineyard permanently.
The presence of the Son demands submission, so He must be removed and that’s exactly what they do.
C.) Anticipating the Cross
And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him…
That detail anticipates Jesus’ crucifixion outside Jerusalem on Golgotha.
So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.
The cross is not a political accident. It is the culmination of humanity’s refusal to submit to God’s rightful King. The Son is rejected precisely because He comes with the full authority of the Father.
This is the most sobering moment in the parable. The tenants are not confused about who the son is. They recognize him as the heir. They understand what his presence means. And with that understanding, they decide he has to go.
For the leaders standing in front of Jesus, this lands with full force. They are rejecting the Son because His authority threatens their control. Luke tells us they understood exactly who Jesus was talking about.
Application: At the same time, this passage tells us something about the human heart. We resist Christ’s authority because we do not want to yield control.
For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.
Left to ourselves, submission does not come naturally.
We can recognize who Jesus is and not submit to Him. We can understand Him without yielding to Him.
That is why this parable is not just an indictment of Israel’s leaders, but a warning to every human heart. Apart from grace, we do not drift toward submission. We resist it. And unless God intervenes, that resistance remains.
4. God’s Judgment Is Certain, and God’s Purposes Will Stand ( v. 15b–18)
4. God’s Judgment Is Certain, and God’s Purposes Will Stand ( v. 15b–18)
A.) A decisive question.
Jesus now asks a decisive question.
…What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?
He then immediately answers the question:
He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”
The answer is severe and unavoidable.
The tenants are destroyed.
The vineyard is given to others.
Jesus is announcing coming judgment. God has been patient with the nation until this point, but that patience is running out.
B.) The crowd’s response
…When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!”
They fully understood the implication of Jesus parable. Jesus then anchors His warning in scripture
17 But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written: “ ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’?
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”
Jesus is quoting Psalm 118:22, a psalm sung during passover that celebrated God’s deliverance and vindication. By applying it to Himself, Jesus is making it clear that their rejection of Him would not overturn the plans of God.
A stone is either the foundation someone stands on or the means by which they are broken.
Application: Jesus ends this exchange by placing Himself at the center of the issue. He is the stone.
For the leaders standing in front of Him, that stone has already become an offense.
They have rejected Him, and that rejection will bring real judgment. The destruction Jesus describes is not theoretical. Within a generation, Jerusalem will fall, the temple will be torn down, and their authority will collapse.
The stone they rejected will not move. It will stand.
But Jesus’ words do not stop with them.
The same stone still confronts every person. Jesus does not present Himself as one option among many, or as a supplement to our lives. He is either the foundation upon which everything else is built, or He becomes the stone that brings judgment.
To build on Christ is life. To reject Him is to stand under the full weight of God’s judgment. That is what Jesus is saying, and He says it plainly.
The question this passage leaves us with is simple and unavoidable: What are we doing with the stone?
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people.
They understood Jesus perfectly. And yet, instead of repentance, they resolved to kill Him.
That verse brings everything in this passage together. God planted the vineyard. God sent His servants. God sent His Son. And when the Son arrived with full authority, but was rejected.
From this point on, the movement toward the cross is set. The builders have rejected the stone. And that rejection will not stop God’s purposes. It will accomplish them.
Invitation
Invitation
The question we need to ask this morning is simple: How are we going to respond to the son?
Jesus is not a suggestion or an accessory to our lives. He comes with the authority of the Father and calls for a response.
To receive the Son in repentance and faith is life. To continue resisting Him is to remain opposed to the One God has appointed as Lord.
Stop resisting today and call out to Christ in repentance and faith.
For Christians: Stop treating what God has entrusted you as your own. Submit to Jesus authority and stop resisting.
