Luke 20:9-18

Introduction

Many people live in fear of being rejected. Or they carry the hurt of having been rejected.

But every person should make very sure that they haven’t rejected Jesus.

The most painful rejection we can ever experience is our rejection of Jesus.

Luke 20:9-19…

[READING - Luke 20:9-19]

Luke 20:9–19 NASB95

9 And He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to vine-growers, and went on a journey for a long time. 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. 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. 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.

[PRAYER]

[CONTEXT] About a week before His death and resurrection, Jesus entered Jerusalem to triumphant shouts of praise.

He cleared the temple of those who had turned God’s house of prayer into a den of robbers.

They asked what gave Him the right to do such things, but He did not tell them.

But He did give them this parable—the parable of the vine-growers.

[CIT] In this parable, Jesus proclaimed the judgment that looms ahead for the Jewish religious leaders who rejected Him as Messiah.

[PROP] But this parable is not just a proclamation of judgment upon the Jewish religious leaders of that day. It is also a proclamation of judgment upon all those who reject Christ in this day.

If we reject Jesus, we will be broken, crushed, shattered, scattered like powder, and ground to dust.

[TS] Let’s notice the key PLAYERS in this parable…

Major Ideas

Player #1: The Owner (Luke 20:9)

Luke 20:9 NASB95

9 And He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to vine-growers, and went on a journey for a long time.

[EXP] The journey must have been to somewhere far away for it took a long time. But while he was away the owner did not forget about the vineyard that he planted.

It was his vineyard.

He was the owner.

It was always under his care.

It was always under his authority.

But as the owner was away for longer and longer, the vine-growers (who were really just hired help) they began to think that they were the ones who had ownership rights to the vineyard.

But no matter what they thought, it didn’t change the fact that the vineyard was the owner’s vineyard.

The vineyard was Israel.

In Isaiah 5, Israel was described as the LORD’s vineyard on a fertile hill.

In Isaiah 27, Israel was described as a vineyard watered every moment by the LORD, guarded night and day.

In Jeremiah 2, Israel was called the LORD’s choice vine.

In Hosea 10, Israel was called the LORD’s luxuriant vine.

The religious leaders that confronted Jesus during the last week of his life before the cross...

…they thought they ruled Israel.

…they thought they controlled Israel.

…they thought they owned Israel.

But they were the hired help—the vine-growers that were to ensure that Israel produced spiritual fruit in obedience to God.

No matter what they thought, the LORD owned Israel.

[ILLUS] A former neighbor of ours has a little girl named, Charlotte. One day when Charlotte’s mom was giving a command, Charlotte asked, “Why do you always get to be the boss?”

When children are young and lack understanding, they ask questions like that.

When human beings are immature and lack understanding, they also ask questions like that about God.

[APP] The LORD owned Israel, but the religious leaders would’ve asked, “Why does He get to be the boss?” But we ask the same question too.

We ask, “Why does God get to say what’s right and what’s wrong? Why does God get to say what saves and what doesn’t? Why does God get to be the boss? How come I don’t get to the boss?”

You see, what we want is to be the owner, the authority, the boss. We human beings want to be God.

When little Charlotte asked her mom, “Why do you get to be the boss?”, she wasn’t trying to give her brother, Kirby, a shot at running things—no she wanted to run things. She wanted to be the boss.

In the same way, we deny the ownership of God because we want to be the owners. We want to run things. But that responsibility is too big for us and only leads to ruin.

We do best when we let God be the owner.

The owner of truth.

The owner of salvation.

The owner of each one of us individually and of the church corporately.

The owner of it all.

Hide Psalm 24:1 in your heart…

Psalm 24:1 NIV84

1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;

[TS] That the owner—the LORD is the owner.

Player #2: The Slaves (Luke 20:10-12)

Luke 20:10–12 NASB95

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.

[EXP] The owner sent his slaves to the vine-growers to collect what the owner was owed. But the vine-growers rejected the slaves with increasing intensity.

They beat and sent away the first slave with nothing.

They beat the second slave and sent him away with nothing as well, but they also treated him shamefully.

The third slave they physically wounded and cast out.

But although they abused and rejected these slaves, they did so because these slaves came from the owner and delivered the owner’s demands.

The slaves represent the prophets of God that continually called God’s people—and especially the leaders of the people—to repentance.

Although Israel was the LORD’s vineyard, a luxuriant vine, it was often fruitless and that was often because of the wickedness of Israel’s leadership—the wickedness of men like these scribes and chief priests before Jesus in Luke 20.

In Jeremiah 23, the prophet Jeremiah delivered God’s word to such wicked leaders. Jeremiah 23:1-2 says…

Jeremiah 23:1–2 NASB95

1 “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!” declares the Lord. 2 Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning the shepherds who are tending My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to attend to you for the evil of your deeds,” declares the Lord.

The prophet Ezekiel delivered a similar word to Israel’s wicked leaders. Ezekiel 34:2-4 says…

Ezekiel 34:2–4 NASB95

2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? 3 “You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock. 4 “Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them.

Many other prophets of God delivered similar prophecies against the wicked leaders of Israel, calling for spiritual fruit from God’s vineyard—and how were those prophets received? They weren’t. They were rejected.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:12 that the prophets were persecuted.

Jesus said in Matthew 23:30-31 that the ancestors of these religious leaders in Luke 20 shed the blood of the prophets; they murdered them.

The author of Hebrews (in Hebrews 11) included at least some of the prophets in that group of faithful believers that exercised faith in God and so were stoned and sawn in two (Heb. 11:37).

But remember, the prophets were rejected, persecuted, and murdered because they represented the Owner of the Vineyard. They represented the God of Israel and delivered His demands, and they were hated for it.

[ILLUS] In 2019 an Oklahoma deputy sheriff was serving eviction papers when he was shot several times and killed.

The deputy sheriff didn’t own the home that the person was being evicted from. He was just delivering the papers.

Even so, he paid with his life.

In the same way, the prophets of God didn’t own Israel. They were just delivering the word of God for Israel.

Even so, many of them paid with their lives.

[APP] Unrepentant sinners—especially unrepentant sinners who are superficially religious—they hate the word of God because in actuality they hate God.

They reject God, so they persecute His messengers.

And sometimes they even murder them.

But we need to ask ourselves, how are we responding to the word of God?

If we are rejecting it, it’s because we have rejected God.

If we are receiving it (i.e., believing and obeying it), it’s because we have received God.

If the owner’s slaves were to come to you this morning, would you repent and produce the fruit—or would you reject the Word of God with increasing intensity?

[TS] The owner is God. The slaves are the prophets. And the son is… well, the Son.

Player #3: The Son (Luke 20:13-15)

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. What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do to them?

[EXP] Why was the son most hated in this parable? Because he most closely represented his father, the owner.

Thus, their rejection of him was more immediate, “But when the vine-growers saw him...”

They didn’t need to hear from him. He was rejected because he was the owner’s son.

Their rejection of him was more brazen, “This is the heir...”

They knew that he was the owner’s son. They weren’t confused. They knew who they were rejecting.

And their hatred of him was more violent, “(They) killed him.”

The slaves had been beaten, shamed, and wounded, but in the parable none had been killed. The son, however, would be different.

He would be killed.

He represented his father and they murdered him for it.

[ILLUS] Let’s say that a man breaks up his family through some type of sinful behavior. His wife and kids now live in a different house and he’s in a tiny apartment with only the sparsest of furniture. But one item that he does have is a family picture—a picture that was taken during happier days. He’s smiling. His now ex-wife is beaming. His children are bursting with joy. The picture is perfect. His family was perfect. That life was perfect! But he ruined it with his sinful behavior.

Day by day, he passes the picture and rather than being reminded of joy, the picture now reminds him of his sin. He pretty quickly goes from disliking the picture to hating it, until one night when he can take it no longer, He smashes the picture frame, rips the photo, and tosses it out with the trash.

But what did the picture do?

Nothing except remind him of his own sinfulness.

The man hated and destroyed the picture because the picture reminded him of his own sinfulness.

Obviously, in the parable of the vine-growers, the son is Jesus—the beloved Son of God as Jesus was called at His baptism and at His transfiguration.

It is Jesus the Son of God that these religious leaders are rejecting.

It is Jesus who will be killed by these religious leaders.

But what did Jesus do to the religious leaders who hated and eventually murdered Him?

Nothing except remind them of their own sinfulness.

They hated and murdered Him because He was one with the Father, the exact imprint of the God they had rejected.

He was a constant reminder to them of their own sinfulness before God.

He was the rightful heir to what they had claimed for themselves.

[APP] As the Son of God, Jesus owns the earth and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.

But, as I said earlier, we want to be the owners—so we think that if we do away with Jesus, we’ll get to be the boss. If we get rid of Jesus, we can do whatever we want!

But there is a price to pay for rejecting Jesus.

[TS] Notice what happens to the vine-growers in Luke 20:15-16…

Player #4: The Vine-Growers (Luke 20:15-16)

Luke 20:15–16 NASB95

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!”

[EXP] With the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit, spiritual leadership of God’s people transferred from the scribes and chief priests to the Apostles of Jesus Christ.

And in A.D. 70 those vine-growers were destroyed when the Romans sacked Jerusalem and toppled the temple.

The old way of temple worship was dead.

The new way of worship in spirit and truth had come.

When the scribes and chief priests heard Jesus foretell this, they said, “May it never be!” or as the KJV has it, “God forbid!”

They are shocked to hear that they will fall under God’s wrath.

They are shocked to hear that they will be stripped of their power.

They are shocked to hear that they the power they had abused for so long would be given to others who would use it to truly serve God’s people.

But they shouldn’t have been shocked. As Jesus said in v. 17, they rejected Him, the chief cornerstone.

The cornerstone was the most important stone in a stone structure. It gave a building its alignment and its strength.

These religious leaders had rejected Jesus who through His perfect life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection would become the chief cornerstone.

Therefore, their hypocritical and predatory religious order was crooked, weak, and destined for ruin.

In Isaiah 8, Israel did not regard God as holy, did not fear Him, or dread His wrath—just as these religious leaders did not regard Jesus as holy, fear Him, or dread His wrath.

In Isaiah 8, instead of sanctuary for the people of God, the Almighty God became to them a stone that strikes and rock that trips.

Here in Luke 20:18 Jesus applied that language to Himself as the stone that breaks and scatters.

If you reject Jesus, you reject Almighty God.

If you reject Jesus, you will be broken to pieces.

If you reject Jesus, you will be scattered like dust.

[APP] If you realize now who Jesus is and that you have been rejecting Him—not regarding Him as holy, not fearing Him, not dreading His wrath—your only hope is to plead.

You must plead the blood of Jesus to cover your sins!

You must plead the righteousness of Jesus because you have no righteousness of your own!

You must plead the grace of God because your good works will not save you!

You must plead for mercy because you deserve hell!

You must plead, plead, plead!

Do stumble over Jesus and be broken to pieces!

Do not let the wrath of Jesus fall on you and be scattered like dust!

Rather, repent of your sins, believe on Jesus alone, and be saved by Jesus!

He is the beloved Son!

He is the Heir!

He is the chief cornerstone!

He is salvation!

And only He is.

[TS] …

Conclusion

[PRAYER]