Here is the parable of the tenants:
33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
35 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.
This passage we are going to divide into three parts: the story, the interpretation and the application.
The Story:
33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
35 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
Vineyards were very common in the ancient world. Owners would plant a vineyard, rent it to tenants or farmers and when the harvest came, they were required to pay the owner 25-30% of their harvest. This happened all the time. Jesus' audience would have been right with him.
But there is another level of this story that needs to be added. The nation of Israel, the people of God, were referred to in the Old Testament as God's vineyard. Look how Isaiah describes the nation of Israel in Isaiah 5:
1 I will sing for the one I love
a song about his vineyard:
My loved one had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside.
2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones
and planted it with the choicest vines.
He built a watchtower in it
and cut out a winepress as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
but it yielded only bad fruit.
a song about his vineyard:
My loved one had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside.
2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones
and planted it with the choicest vines.
He built a watchtower in it
and cut out a winepress as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
but it yielded only bad fruit.
It is almost the exact same language!!! When Jesus began this story about a vineyard, the Jewish leaders understood he was talking about the nation of Israel. This parable does come after the parable of the two sons in which he applied the parable directly to them. It makes sense that this story is also about the nation of Israel. And check out the story.
An owner plants a vineyard and rents it to farmers. When the harvest comes and it is time for him to collect from the farmers, they not only reject his servants but beat them and kill them. This doesn't happen just once but repeatedly. The servants represent the prophets who were beaten and killed by the people of Israel over and over again. Finally, the owner sends his son. When the farmers see the son, they think the owner has died and the son has come to receive his inheritance. So they think if they kill the son, they will get to keep the vineyard. And this is what they do.
This is the story, then comes the interpretation.
40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
has become the capstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
Jesus does not give the interpretation of the story himself, but he asks the Jewish leaders to interpret the story. They respond correctly by swing that he will "bring those wretches to a wretched end" and give the vineyard to others. They knew this was the right answer but didn't like what it implied. It implies that they have rejected God's servants, being the prophets, and are now rejecting his son, being Jesus. But they didn't think Jesus was his son. Then Jesus takes it a step further by quoting Psalm 118.
has become the capstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
This Psalm was thought by the Jews to be referring to the nation of Israel. The greek word for "stone" and "capstone" was the same word. It referred, both, to the first stone laid when building a house, which was called the cornerstone, and it also referred to the last stone placed on top of the roof, called the capstone. Jesus was using a double metaphor here by saying the "stone" (cornerstone) that is rejected will become the "stone" (capstone) that punishes those who rejected it. That is the application seen in the next section.
43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.
The point of all this is summarized in these four verses. Jesus applies this story and its interpretation to the Jewish leaders. He says, "Therefore", because of all this, the KINGDOM will be taken away from you (Jewish Leaders) and given to a people who will produce fruit. Then comes verse 44 which shows what happens when you reject the cornerstone. Whether you try to break the cornerstone or reject it, the stone will crush you. That is Jesus' point. Whoever rejects the cornerstone will be judged and condemned. He was telling the Jewish leaders, "If you reject me, I will take the kingdom of God away from you and crush you."
They did not like this very much. That is why they tried to arrest him after this but the timing was bad because the crowds loved him.
So how does this story apply to us? What does this parable of the tenants teach us today? For me, I can't get passed the fact that we act a lot like the Jewish leaders and reject God's servants and his Son. We have to make sure that we allow God to speak to us through his ministers and preachers. When we begin to reject them and their teaching, that is when we are more likely to reject Jesus himself.
And you know what happens when you reject the cornerstone (Jesus), you will be crushed.
No comments:
Post a Comment