Luke 20:9–19

⁹And 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. ¹⁰When 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. ¹¹And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. ¹²And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. ¹³Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.' ¹⁴But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, 'This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.' ¹⁵And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others." When they heard this, they said, "Surely not!" ¹⁷But he looked directly at them and said, "What then is this that is written: "' The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone'? ¹⁸Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him." ¹⁹The 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.

God planted a vineyard. It was an excellent vineyard with the choicest grapes. The soil was the richest and most fertile. The climate was perfect. The vines were green and full of leaves. He fertilized it; he watered it; he lovingly and gently pruned each branch. He built a wall of hedges around it to protect it from wild animals and thieves. He put a tower in the center for the watchman to keep watch. It was a perfect vineyard. It was his delight and his joy. So much did he love his vineyard that each vine was as a son to him. He waited in expectation for it to bear fruit.

But the fruit it bore was bad. He cried out in agony, “Men of Jerusalem, judge between me and my vineyard. What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?” His cry went out in the entire land. His agony was felt in every heart. For the vineyard he had loved and cared for had gone bad. Through the prophet Isaiah God says: “I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge and it will be destroyed. I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.”

This is the same vineyard that Jesus talks about in the parable in our Gospel reading. It is a vineyard precious to the owner. He has done all he can for the vineyard. He planted the choicest vines; in the most fertile soil. He built a hedge around it; fertilized it; watered it. It was green and lush. It was the most remarkable vineyard anywhere. He loved it; each vine he loved as a son or daughter.

So when he went on a journey he rented it out to farmers to care for it and the rent they were to pay we the fruit; the ripened grapes. So when it came time to collect the rent, he sent his servants. But the farmers who were now in charge were wicked, evil farmers. They refused to give the owner his grapes. They refused to listen to his servants. They mistreated the servants. They beat them and insulted them and chased them away.

So the owner sent other servants, but they were treated the same. Then he sent others, and they too were beaten and thrown out. These evil men hated the owner and were his enemies. They wanted to keep the grapes for themselves and they did not heed the messengers from the owner. They did not respect his authority or recognize his ownership. They turned against him and rebelled.

Jesus told this parable about his vineyard which was the house of Israel and the evil farmers were the religious establishment. The servants were the prophets whom the Israeli leaders had rejected and killed throughout history.

But the vineyard also represents us today. The people of God. The people whom God created and whom he loves as his own children. Like the vineyard we are under wicked caretakers. We have evil taskmasters; sin, death and the devil. We have become subject to them and live under their power. We are slaves to sin and thus death reigns in this world because of sin. The evil farmer is the devil himself.

We have become subjects of the evil farmers, because we have rejected the owner. We have turned away from God and become his enemies. We have become sinners, corrupt in our hearts. So completely corrupt that we neither desire nor are able to love God and take heed of his call. Because we are under the power of the evil farmers we can do nothing to please God. We cannot produce good fruit. We can bear no fruit at all. We have become a wasteland. We are destined to be cut down and trampled underfoot.

But God loves his vineyard. He sends his messengers to call it to repentance. Over and over he sends his prophets to announce his forgiveness and reap the fruit of repentance. But we, like the evil farmers, often reject the servants God sends. We do not heed their word. We do not receive them as God’s messengers, but we beat them, stone them, and cast them out. By nature, sinful man does not want to hear the word of God. Man refuses God’s offer of love and mercy. Man wants to be in charge and have the vineyard for himself. We are rebellious and sinful and deserve that the owner tear down the walls of protection, cut down the vines and allow the vineyard to be trampled to death.

But the owner said, “What shall I do? I will send my son, my son whom I love, and perhaps they will listen to him.” So he sent his Son. But they mistreated him the same as the other servants. They beat him, spat on him, stripped him, lashed him and hung him on a cross. They killed him and they rejoiced and made merry and said gleefully, “Now we have killed the heir, let us take the vineyard for ourselves.”

It was a horrible, bloody affair. It was vile and disgusting. But it had to be so. The Son had to die. He had to suffer their abuse suffered by all God’s servants. The abuse suffered by all God’s servants fell upon his Son. In the book of Psalms, the Son cries out: “I endure scorn for your sake, and shame covers my face. I am a stranger to by brothers, an alien to my own mother’s sons; for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me. When I weep and fast, I must endure scorn; when I put on sackcloth, people make sport of me. Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of the drunkards.” This is how Jesus himself describes the suffering he suffered on our behalf. This is how the Son was received in the world when his Father sent him to take possession of the vineyard. He suffered for our sake. He took our sin and took our place as sinners. He endured the chastisement for our sin.

It was necessary that he suffered. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son. He gave him up into the hands of our evil and wickedness to be put to death. But his death was also his glory. Jesus’ rejection is the means by which he became the cornerstone. The stone that the builders rejected became the head, the cornerstone. God’s glory is manifested by the rejection of his Son. Didn’t Jesus himself say: “It was necessary that the Christ suffer these things and enter into his glory.” He first had to suffer in order to be glorified. He had to die in order to be raised from the dead. It is the Great Reversal theme in Scripture: “the first shall be last and the last first.” “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” “He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.”

It was necessary that the Christ must suffer this thing and then enter into his glory. It was by his cross that Christ became the cornerstone. And that stone has come to crush all men. Those on whom it falls shall be crushed and those who fall upon it shall be broken to pieces.

Those who like the builders reject the stone that became the head stone, shall be smashed and destroyed for eternity. They shall be broken to pieces and cast out of the vineyard for eternity.

But others upon whom the stone falls shall be crushed and smashed to pieces and shall be convicted of our sins. They will be driven to their knees in repentance. The weight of the law crushes and smashes us to pieces and drives us to repent of our sin. And to those who repent and look to that stone, the Lord Jesus Christ, for forgiveness shall be cleansed and restored and lifted up. Then the cornerstone will become for them a rock and a fortress. It shall be their ever present help in the day of trouble. It shall be the rock upon which the wise man built his house and when the rains came and the winds blew it stood firm. The rock shall be our mighty fortress, the foundation upon which the church is built. The foundation that shall stand before the gates of hell and shall not perish. That rock is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The rock in whom we put our trust. Our sure foundation; our help in every need. He is the rock of our salvation who loved the vineyard and came to suffer and die at the hands of evil men in order to take back the vineyard and make it his own again. He came to make us the possession of God and restore us to our rightful owner. He came that we might bear fruit, the fruit of repentance and good works of love for our neighbor.

We are the vineyard. The vineyard which had come under the dominion of evil farmers; sin, death and the power of the devil. But God so loved the vineyard that he sent his own Son, the Son whom he loved, to suffer and die for his vineyard in order to take it back; to make it his own again and to restore it to the precious, beautiful and lush garden it was at the beginning. And by his suffering and death, the Son has become the chief stone, the cornerstone, the rock of our salvation and the firm foundation of the people of God forever.

Amen.