Final Kingdom Parables
Christos • Sermon • Submitted
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· 3 viewsGod invites all people, regardless of background, to join His Kingdom according to His conditions.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Video: Mothers of the Bible 2:54
Good Morning and Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers and mothers to be in all the different ways that you play that roll. As the video pointed to, Motherhood was God’s design and as always He designed something so very, very good and I am so very thankful for the Mothers in my life who have and are demonstrating God’s good design in motherhood. So I hope you all get take some time to thank God for the Mothers in your life as well.
Tension
This morning we are looking at the last of Jesus’ last Kingdom Parables, where He compares the Kingdom of God to something that was familiar to His first audience. Parables, if you remember, are “earthly stories with heavenly meanings”.
To most of the first audience, the “earthly story” part was very accessible, but the deeper heavenly meanings were not always as obvious to them or to us. In other words, everyone understood the earthly story part, but for some people the “deeper meaning” of what Jesus was saying escaped them. Because, as Jesus said, they didn’t have ears to hear or eyes to see.
And the group that seemed to have the hardest time understanding these “heavenly things” was the one group that everyone thought would be most likely to understand them: The religious leaders, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Chief Priests.
These men were the most educated and learned men around, but when it came to Jesus, they could not see through their hatred. It blinded them and kept them for hearing the truth of what Jesus was really doing, what he was really saying or who He really was.
They had no ears to hear, even when Jesus was talking directly to them.
They had no eyes to see even when the miracle was performed right before their eyes.
No matter how much evidence was placed before them, they would not believe the truth about Jesus.
“Don’t bother me with the truth, I am too hating you to even hear what you have to say!”
An attitude that we recognize from our world today, some 2000 years later. While most followers of Christ are open to having conversations on why we believe what we believe and why we are making the choices that we are making, there is often no room for reasonable discourse in the public square.
This is especially true for Christians in high profile positions, as they are often being cornered and attacked with unanswerable questions of the catch 22 variety. Either that or they are being so brutally screamed at there is no room to address what is often just a misunderstanding. This can be confusing and is very frustrating, but my hope this morning is to bring us some comfort as we see that Jesus dealt with the same kind of opposition.
Especially in out text today as we look at three different Kingdom parables that Jesus told directly to the religious leaders who opposed Him. These parables were told as part of a lengthy debate between Jesus and the religious leaders in the Temple of Jerusalem. More significant than the length or place, was the time. This debate, or really series of debates happend on the Tuesday before Jesus went to the cross.
So you can imagine the tensions were high, but so was the urgency. While Jesus words were sometimes harsh, He always spoke them in love, even now hoping that one or many in their ranks would develop ears to hear and eyes to see.
But hang with me through all three parables, because at the end of the last one Jesus turns his focus from the missteps of these religious leaders to a warning to any one of us who may be walking in their dangerous way.
So lets open up our Bibles to Matthew 21, starting in verse 23. It’s on page 826 in the Bibles in the chairs. While you are turning there, I will pray.
Truth
So again, the time frame of these Parables is the last week of Jesus’ life on earth. The day before He cleared the temple and then did many miraculous healings and sharp rebukes as he taught the people in the Temple. Now He has returned to the Temple for another day of fun. So beginning in verse 23 of Matthew chapter 21 we read...
23 And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”
Jesus barely gets going and He is already confronted by these religious leaders who demand an answer from him, and Jesus masterfully answers their question with one of His own:
24 Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
They refused to answer Jesus question as He asked it, and so Jesus refuses to answer their question - at least in the way that they had asked it.
I love Jesus’ response here, because it exposes the hearts of these religious leaders. They were not really trying to protect the people from a false prophet, they were just furious that the people now looked to Jesus for spiritual guidance instead of them. A guy who didn’t play by their rules or in their system. A carpenter from Nazareth who in three short years becomes a famed teacher in Jerusalem - they were just jealous politicians who were concerned about their loss of power among the people.
And what of Jesus’ answering their question with one of His own? Well besides being a common tactic of rabbi’s in the day, Jesus was bringing the question of His authority back to these religious leaders. You see if they had rightly recognized John’s ministry of baptism as “from heaven” then they would have affirmed Jesus’ baptism and authority as having come form the same source - because John baptized Jesus and declared Him to be the Messiah, the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”.
But since they refused to answer directly, so does Jesus. Instead, He rolls right into the first of His three Kingdom Parables ...
#1 The Parable of the Two Sons
#1 The Parable of the Two Sons
28 “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.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go.
One rejected the command of the Father first, but later turned back and obeyed
The other accepted the command of the Father first, but never followed through.
So Jesus asks:
31 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. 32 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.
Jesus boldly answers His question, that John’s baptism is from heaven, and more than that He says the “tax collectors and prostitutes” will go into the Kingdom of God before these religious leaders. In Jewish society, the religious leaders at the Temple in Jerusalem were the highest rung in the social structure. Tax collectors and prostitutes were the lowest, but because they now believed after having rejecting God’s commands before they are like the first son. The religious leaders, on the other hand represent the second son - the one who obeyed in word but did not follow through.
Not only that, but Jesus ends with condemning the religious “leaders” for not following the lead of the “tax collectors and prostitutes" and believed what John had to say. Can you imagine the look on their faces? They would never dream of following that class of people anywhere, and yet Jesus says that if they are to enter the Kingdom, they will have to follow them in first.
And Jesus doesn’t meet miss a beat before He hits them with the next parable,
#2 The Parable of the Tenants
#2 The Parable of the Tenants
33 “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. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit.
This is a very understandable story so far. A man invested a great deal in a vineyard and then leased it to tenants who were to operate it and then produce a profit for the owner, but when the owner sent messengers to collect his due things took a dark turn...
35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them.
Now maybe you have already made the connections beyond this story to the history of Israel. Throughout the Old Testament we read of the rejection, abuse, torture and even murder of the many prophets that the Lord had sent to warn His people of the coming destruction. The last of these prophets being John the Baptist, who was beheaded not long ago. Those who have ears, let them hear.
37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
While the earlier part of the story referred to their sins of the past, the sending of the Son was about the present and very near future. By the end of that very week, the Son of God will be taken outside the walls of Jerusalem and be killed on a Roman cross.
Then Jesus asks these same men to answer another question...
40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 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.”
This is just brilliant! With their own breath, Jesus has these religious leaders condemning themselves for what they were about to do later on that week. Somehow they had a sense of justice when it came to the business practices of vineyard owner, but their contempt for Jesus kept them form seeing themselves do the very same t thing to Him three days later. And unfortunately for them, they will meet the same end as the “wretches” they named in Jesus’ story.
But in His love for them and in the urgency of the short time He has left, Jesus tells them the direct and Biblical truth about where they stand.
42 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’? 43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”
Jesus lays it out straight. You are the rebellious, murderous “wretches” who are not bearing fruit, and it will in fact bring you “miserable death”, just as you say. And their response?
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.
Again we see evidence that this was not about having an opposing view point or a deep seated conviction about what is right or wrong, they simply didn’t arrest Jesus because they were concerned over public opinion. And you remember that later that week, when they finally do arrest Jesus, it was in the middle of the night when the “crowd” was not around to object.
All this brings us to our third and final Parable...
1 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, 3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.
So the “save the date” card was sent out, but when the date finally came they would not come. The wedding of the King’s Son would be one the most extravagant affairs to happen in any kingdom, second only to a coronation, and no one would have passed it up flippantly.
For one thing it was a great honor to be invited, for another it would be a great dishonor to the King if you refused. At this point the King would have been well within his rights to just send in his army and arrest all those who were dishonored him in this way. But he doesn’t. Instead he sends out the message again, this time He even gives them a picture of how extravagant this banquet that he wants them to enjoy with Him is.
4 Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.” ’ 5 But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.
Even after the grace of sending messengers again the second time, the people still do not come. They either ignore the invitation and returned to their lives and business as usual or they opposed the King by abusing and killing the servants.
This time Jesus doesn’t ask them what the King should, but with their previous answer still ringing in their ears He says:
7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
Scholars and Theologians tell us that one of the ways that this parable came true was in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 A.D. Many if not most of the people listening that day would have experienced that horrible event in the history of God’s Chosen People.
But the parable doesn’t end there, it is the longest of the three. Continuing in verse 8 we read...
8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ 10 And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.
The original guest list was abandoned and now anyone and everyone that the servants can find are being invited to the feast. The term “main roads” is probably something like crossroads - alluding to the travelers you would find on these roads from many cultures, nations and ethnicities that might be passing through.
In other words these messengers were sent out to bring the invitation to those “In Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” as Jesus eventually commands in Acts 1.
Well that is great news, especially for us on this side of the planet. Remember this whole thing started on the other side of the earth so when Jesus said “the end of the earth” he was talking about us. So unless you happen to be of Jewish descent, the rest of us should be very glad that the original guest list was scratched and that the servants went out again to fill the house with people like us.
And speaking of people like us, this third parable doesn’t end here either. Told you it was the longest one, and this last part may be the part that we need to pay the most attention to.
11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. 12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”
In the Old Testament the ancient Israelites were God’s chosen people, but Jesus is not talking about them here. He is talking about those who are chosen in that they have come to believe in Him as the Messiah as John the Baptist declared. While God invites all people to the wedding feast, only those who profess Jesus as Savior and Lord will be allowed to remain at the banquet.
The man in Jesus’ parable seems to have answered the call, but he wanted the Kingdom of God on his own terms. He wasn’t without wedding clothes because he couldn’t afford them or had no access to them. Many times Kings would provide the wedding clothes for their guests. No, he was deliberately dishonoring the authority of the King by choosing to be there in this inappropriate way.
And being “bound” and “cast into outer darkness” where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” is all judgment language. Just as the original invitees were judged “unworthy” because they refused the invitation, this man accepted the invitation, only to be later rejected because he wanted to be there on his own terms.
He wanted the Kingdom, without the King.
Gospel Application
Jesus’ parable is not the only place where we see a right relationship with God being described with clothing imagery. There are three different aspects of our relationship with God that are described with clothing.
First of all, The Bible says that every believer has put on Christ by virtue of trusting in who Jesus is and what he has done for us. Which is the message of the Gospel.
26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
But along with our salvation, we are also called “to put on Christ” in the character qualities and virtues that reflect our identity as children of God. In other words, “We are saved by faith alone, but saving faith is never alone.” If we are truly believers there will be evidence of the transforming work of Christ in our lives. We will no longer be able to accept our behaviors of disobedience to God, but will strive with all we have to love, trust and obey Christ.
12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
Our inner drive to strive after these things is evidence that we have “put on” Christ, that we are New Creations in Him.
And lastly, we pursue these things as we look forward to the day when we will finally be rid of these busted up and broken down ole bodies and put on resurrected bodies that fully reflect Jesus Christ's own resurrection body.
2 We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. 3 For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. 4 While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life.
Landing
I don’t know exactly what wedding garments looked like in Jesus’ day, just like I don’t know exactly what we will look like in eternity. But I do know that no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— and I am confident that one day, because of Jesus, I will get to experience the Kingdom of God in all it’s brilliance, the brilliance that is brought about because of the King.
Amen?
If you are wondering where you stand when it comes to being clothed with Jesus, then please come talk to me, or one of the Overseers or someone else you trust understands about these things. Just wondering about such things means that the Holy Spirit is working, so follow through and boldly approach someone today.
Let me pray for us...
9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—
We have been invited to the most extravagant feast, and the best