My King is the Owner - Matt 21:28-39
Notes
Transcript
“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.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. 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. 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.
“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. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
Intro:
As we clarified last week … we have entered the last week of Jesus' life … He has turned His face to the reality of the coming cross … He is preparing His followers and the crowd for His departure … and along the way He is continuing with the driving theme of the Gospel, His Kingdom … what is it’s nature, what will it’s conflict look like, how will it confront and challenge, what kind of men and women is it creating …
Jesus has an interesting teaching technique … At times He will say Amen … and then makes a statement, teaches something
Amen is Hebrew and Greek word … but it is one of those words that is difficult for us in English to really get the full picture of
In the KJV - Verily I say to you … Truly I say to you … I tell you the truth … but these don’t fully capture it
Today when we say … I agree, or I believe … some contexts even …. I Like that
Biblically Amen means … this is God’s truth … it’s solemn, serious … so Jesus saying .... Amen and then making a statement, this would mean, pay attention, stop whatever else you’ve been doing, give this your full attention
Here between two parables, Jesus stops, says “Listen Up” I giving you something you need, you should listen, grasp this, wrestle here
“Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you”
So who is the you … the context, the parable above and the parable below are addressed to the same audience
He is talking to the religious leaders, priests, pharisees, the moral leadership … if we want to understand it, we need to see that it sits between these two parables directed at this group of people.
This morning I want us to see our passage in light of the people in the parables … the characters if you will: we have
1) Tenant Farmers, they are going to show us the problem
2) Attacked Messengers, they are going to show us a false solution
3) Two Sons, they will show us a true solution
4) Final Messenger, will show us the eternal solution
Tenant Farmers, they are going to show us the problem
In the 2nd parable, the tenant farmers point us to a fundamental human problem … it’s universal, timeless, not confined to religious leaders but perhaps seen easiest in them …
v33 - there was a landowner
this means that he is an investor, not a farmer … owns the land, the barns, and the fences, wall to protect, the watchtower to guard, and the winepress to crush and produce
this all gets leased to the tenants … they owe him, fruit, rent, recompense for the use of the resources … he goes away and they are supposed to pay … but they refuse … the parable tells us that multiple times he sends someone to collect and they refuse … they don’t want to be the tenant (tenants owe rent) they want to be the owner
lots of rabbinical laws/rules … said that if you didn’t pay any rent for three years, you became the owner … if you proved over three years that you could keep and maintain you became the owner …
So when anyone would come along to remind them, to demand of them … you are the tenant, not the owner … they fought it
the Bible uses this vineyard metaphor/picture continually … in Deut 6 … as the nation of Israel is preparing to finally leave the wilderness wandering after the Exodus …
“When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers … cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Fear the LORD your God, serve him only …”
God was giving them a reminder … your hearts are prone to forgetfulness … you will start to think the stuff you have was earned and deserved … you will forget that everything you have is a gift from me
We dislike the idea of creation grace … that even our existence, the stuff of us, parents, nationality, IQ … if we are created, by a sovereign God … you weren’t born in the 5th century, you weren’t born in the dark ages, you weren’t born in Sub-saharan Africa … you have two hands, two feet, eyes that work … parents who valued education, the body that allowed you to manual labor and not breakdown … I could keep going but I think you get it …
When Jesus lists all that the tenant farmers were given, land, tower, winepress, etc … do you see He’s saying … you aren’t the owners … and if we aren’t owners, do you see that the actual owner gets to demand, HE gets to show up and ask for his payment
There is a ton here to unpack that I don’t have time for … emotional, spiritual, intellectual internal conflicts for us … we know we are tenants, we want to, try to deny we are tenants … we want to believe we are owners
Let me summarize the problem from a different perspective:
If we are created, especially created for a purpose by a sovereign God our life has real meaning, powerful deep, eternal meaning
But we weren’t, then we are just flotsam in the universe, not really connected to anything in any meaningful way, because our life is a blink and if there is no eternity what do we matter ...
do you see the difficulty, the inner conflict, the need to be our owner … but the trouble
Attacked Messengers, they are going to show us a false solution
the solution that the messengers present us is probably the most common in human history to this problem … get religion
I think we could make the argument that the tenant farmers point to all people … but remember this was being spoken directly to the religious leaders … so in a very practical way, I’m preaching to myself, Jonathan and Kendall this morning
In the OT, there are some spots where the Vineyard is a metaphor for the whole nation of Israel - Is 5, Psalm 80 … so the tenant farmers are the religious leaders … and the messengers are the prophets, judges … those God has sent to the nation to call them back to account … in a different place Jesus challenged the religious leaders and said, I kept sending you prophets and you keep killing them, you keep beating them
Jesus was trying to show them the pattern … the owner is calling you to account and you the religious, the moral, the church goers … you keep rejecting my messengers, you are the ones most hostile to the gospel
See religion, being a rule follower, being a good little tither …. it enables us to demand of God … He owes me now, recognition, power, favor, status … I’ve sacrificed, I’ve earned it, I’ve been better than the others … so we stop being the one who owes God rent, He owes us
And it makes us people who think we can beat up the others, anyone who doesn’t measure up to us, who isn’t as good as us … we become those who want to go around breaking everyone else ankles, laying heavy burdens on them … if we can do it, if we have done it … so should you
At the bottom of this … we figure out that without the miraculous intervention of the spirit of God … we hate grace … we hate the implication that everything we have is a gift
and the two main ways to avoid it
we get good … we get so good that God owes us, we no longer owe Him … we can demand of Him because of our goodness
we get bad … we know we can never measure up, so why bother trying … I’m the captain of my own ship, no one can tell me what to do, what’s right or wrong
Two Sons, they will show us a true solution
we find two pieces of the solution in these parables ...
the first in the first … think about the two sons … v28 … so the man, the owner shows up and says … son I need you to go work in the field today
remember, this is the owner, His sons would not have been vineyard workers, they would have been young men of means, and position, probably leisure … we no this is an unusual request because he has to make it, right, he has to ask them to work, it wasn’t just there expected actions of the day …
ande the first son … He is rude … abrasive, curt … disrespectful … Nope, not going to do it
and the 2nd son … says I will, I will Lord … sir = kyrios = Lord
so do you see the two different types of sons … the first is the independent thinking, grand sinner type, I’ll do what I want, when I want …
and the 2nd is the dutiful, the religious, the self-righteous, good answers, moral
we’ve got a 1st son, younger brother … tax collector, prostitute, great and grand sinner
we’ve got a 2nd son, older brother … obedient, cleaned up, moral, goody-goody
the fascinating thing is that both sons … repent … both change their minds, both change their directions … in both cases your past credentials aren’t what matter … prostitutes, tax collectors, sinners, moral, religious, pharisees, priest … these credentials aren’t enough … the question is have you repented
and the older brothers, the religious, the moral … shocked, amazed, offended … why should I repent … I’ve been doing it all right
they all have to repent of the fundamental human sin … they hate grace, they hate it’s implications … they hate that they need a sinner every bit, as much as the younger brothers … and the younger brothers have to repent to … they have to embrace Grace … they have to see that just doing whatever they want, denying that God has a right to them, a right to tell them who they are …
The message is, “Come to me all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is easy. My burden is light. I am meek. I won’t abuse you. Every other savior you look to, your morality or your sex or your money, in order to try to live in the illusion that you are owners, will strangle you. Its yoke will crush you. I alone am the Savior. My burden is light.” Jesus is saying the sin under all the sin is the avoidance of grace. It’s the only thing that when we repent of it will really begin to change our hearts.
Somebody says, “Wait a minute. I have a problem here. I don’t trust God. I see kind of what you’re saying, but you’re talking about a more radical surrender than the religious people make. You’re talking about a more radical trust than the Pharisees, the religious, the good people make.” Yes. “I can’t do that.” I know why. Part of what’s wrong with our hearts is we don’t trust God. What has God done about it? Look at the last of the characters.
Final Messenger, will show us the eternal solution
The final messenger is the son of the owner
See what is happening in our story … the owner has multiple times sent messengers, beaten, stoned, killed … multiple rounds of this … commentators, understanders of the day and culture tell us that the last step, the sending of the son was ridiculous, the audience would have recognized that no owner would take this step, they get that the tenants want to extend the time of control, get it to the three years … but no owner in light of their past actions is going to send his son, he’d send the authorities, the army, the sheriff, the law … the owner held all the actual power, he would have the legal record, the reputation, the local community knowledge
We might even say that the owner is being foolish, irresponsible … why would you risk your son’s life … if what you want is control of your property and the collecting of it’s fruit … this isn’t the way … do you see how God isn’t actually primarily concerned about stuff
If He wanted the property there is a better way, but notice what He said … They will respect my son … He wants relationship … He makes Himself vulnerable, see what I am willing to risk
He is a Father after a relationship … not a business man after his property
Only when you get that and you realize, “It’s not my record, but it’s a melted heart, seeing the real problem in my life. I hate the implications of grace, but surrendering to the implications of grace, he accepts me sheerly because of grace, of what Jesus has done for me.” That will begin to heal your heart.
I have to close by asking you a question. There are three kinds of people in the room. There are people who basically are absolutely still resisting the grace of God, there are people who are not resisting the grace of God, but I bet you most of the people in this room are kind of in the middle.
How do I know if I am repenting:
hopeful humility to prostitutes and tax collectors. One of the ways you can tell the difference between whether you’re a Christian or just a moral person is how do you look …? What’s interesting is liberals think there’s nothing … “Prostitutes … Well, gee, we need to be understanding about that, but those rapacious corporate raiders, those people who are gouging everybody to make a lot of money, are the trouble with this world.”
Of course, the conservatives might look at it differently, maybe the reverse. What’s wonderful is Jesus Christ says if you have really become a Christian, if you have really, really repented of the main sin, the sin underneath all of the sin, your attitude toward people who seem so different than you, you’ll have a hopeful humility toward them.
You’ll never look at anybody and say, “That kind of person would never become a Christian,
ii. deep security. If you are totally saved by grace, there is a deep security that comes to you. Do you know that place where I read from Deuteronomy 6? Just a little further on at the beginning of Deuteronomy 7, God talks about the implications of being saved by grace. There he says, “The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you … that he … redeemed you from the land of slavery …”
Did you catch that circular reasoning? It says, “God did not choose you because you were better than other people. He did not love you because you were better or bigger. It was because he loved you that he chose you.” Do you know what he’s saying? He’s saying he loved you because he loved you. I want you to know that may sound like circular reasoning, but it’s the only thing that’ll change your heart.