Matthew 21:33–46

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. ³⁴When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. ³⁵And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. ³⁶Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. ³⁷Finally he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' ³⁸But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.' ³⁹And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. ⁴⁰When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" ⁴¹They 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." ⁴²Jesus 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'? ⁴³Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. ⁴⁴And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him." ⁴⁵When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.

What's wrong with this picture? Ever notice? It seems like every time Jesus says something or tells a parable there is something just not quite right about what he says. When listening to his parables, it is not only fun to find the "What's wrong with this picture" element, but it is often the key to understanding the meaning.

Jesus' told this parable about the owner of a vineyard who went to another country and during his absence leased the vineyard to tenants. This is not an unusual practice, neither in those days or today. I can remember my grandfather who owned a farm and there were times he would lease part of his farmland to other farmers who would work the land, plant and harvest and a percentage of the crop they raised would be payment to my grandfather. So that part was easily understood by the people of Jesus' day. They could easily imagine such a scenario.

So the vineyard owner leased out his vineyard and when the grapes were ripe the owner sent his servants back to collect on the lease. Now here is where things get sticky. The tenants, instead of paying what they owed by contract, beat up the servants, and stoned and killed them. What's wrong with this story? That is the shocker. People just don't do that. While it was a customary practice to rent out a field, not paying the rent due was a serious breach; it was criminal; it was an offense against both man and God.

But in Jesus' story, the owner sent more servants and the same thing happened to them as well. Finally in his anger, he sent his son to collect the payment. Now things go from bad to worse. The tenants took the son, killed him and claimed the vineyard as their own. This was not common practice back then. It is not common practice today. Such a story is a shocker indeed.

What is the meaning of this? Now here's the real surprise: in Jesus' analogy, the vineyard was the people of God, the church. And the tenants were the Pharisees, the church leaders! The point of the story: The church leaders did not recognize who Jesus was. The question at issue was who was Jesus? Jesus was telling them who he was; he was the Son of God come to bring in the reign of God into the world.

But even after telling this parable the Pharisees still didn't get it. In fact they were so stuck on themselves and were so proud and arrogant, thinking that they were the true people of God, that it didn't occur to them that they were the wicked tenants. In fact, it was the very Pharisees who answered Jesus and condemned the tenants saying that the owner would come and put them to a miserable death.

They still didn't understand what Jesus had told them. They were too proud. They were the ones who were in charge. They ran the church the way they wanted to. They did what they wanted and ran things in their own best interests. The last thing they were concerned about was what God wanted them to do. The last question they asked themselves is "What would God have us do to glorify him?" In the end they were the ones who killed the Son when he came to collect the rent.

But now we might ask, what, if anything, does this have to do with us today? We know about the Scribes and Pharisees and Elders who didn't believe in Jesus back then. But what does this have to do with us today? It has plenty to do with us because there are still wicked tenants in the vineyard. The people of God are still being ruled by sinful men. The church is often run by people who care nothing for what God wants but run the church according to their own interests and agenda. The last question people ask today is: "What would God want us to do?" This can happen at the level of entire denominations who go astray from the word of God. This can even happen to local congregations when the leadership is not responsive to God's word and will, but run things according to their own ideas and what is in their own best interest.

But this happens mostly in our own individual lives. All of us, though born again in the faith, though believers in Jesus Christ, find that we are still subject to the temptations and doubts and weaknesses of our sinful nature. We still have the sinful old man attached to us that wants to do what is contrary to the will of God. We still have to deal with our own lack of faith, selfishness, bitterness, unloving hearts, unwillingness to forgive others, lack of love for others and so forth. We still battle with doubts, weak faith, wondering if God really does hear and answer our prayers, our fears about the future, about the economy, our worry about if we will still own a home a year from now or be able to buy the food we need to live or even have a job. All these fears and doubts about our country and our economy translate into weak faith that isn't quite sure if God really will take care of us in the future.

On a larger scale the entire creation is still subject to the decay and corruption. Death reigns not just in our mortal bodies but in the entire creation; in nature. All the creation moans and suffers the futility to which the sin of mankind has subjected it. Our three greatest enemies are sin, death and the devil. Young people today have an expression: that "Rules". In school you might hear someone say "boys rule," or "girls rule" or whatever thing or person you are championing "rules." Well, in this world sin, death and the devil "rule."

And that gets to the real core of this parable: the vineyard is under the evil tenants. But the owner of the vineyard is coming to take it back. The world is subject to the power of sin and death and the devil, but God has come to take it back. He sent his prophets and the tenants didn't believe them. They persecuted them and stoned them to death. So he sent his Son. God came crashing into the vineyard to take it back. God stormed into the world and crashed the party of sin, death and the devil, putting their reign to an end. He came to push back the reign of sin and death and establish his reign. Now we can say, "God rules!" God stormed into our world and into our lives when his Son Jesus Christ came into our world, walked our dusty roads and byways, taught and proclaimed the coming of the kingdom, and performed miracles. He was crashing the party each time he healed a sick man, or cleansed a leper, or cast out a demon or raised someone from the dead. He was demonstrating his reign when he changed water into wine, fed the 5000 and calmed the storm. God was smashing into the vineyard, under its evil tenants and reclaiming what is his.

But, you say, the evil tenants chased him out of the vineyard and put him to death. How did he establish his rule? What does Jesus tell the Pharisees at the end of this parable: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone...and the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces and when it falls on anyone it will crush him." The stone is Jesus himself. The chief priests and the Pharisees understood this reference from the Old Testament and got the idea that he was talking about them. They understood that they were the builders who and Jesus was the cornerstone that they rejected.

It means that when Jesus died, he became the cornerstone. It turned out that when the evil tenants killed the son of the owner, the Son became the cornerstone and fell on them and crushed them. By his death Jesus established his reign. By substituting for us when the punishment of God was bearing down on us for our sin, he atoned for our sin. By offering himself as the sacrifice for sin on the cross our sin was forgiven. By dying he defeated sin; he defeated death; he defeated the devil. By his death he took his place on the throne of the universe; of all creation; of the hearts of his people. His throne was a wooden cross. He established his kingdom on the cross of Calvary. And by his resurrection he declared his victory over the wicked tenants; his victory over sin and death and he gives us his victory.

As the wicked tenants were run off and utterly put to death in the end of the parable, so are our wicked tenants. Our sin has been forgiven and wiped away. Our death has been overcome and one day our bodies will rise from the graves and live forever. Our world will be restored to its original perfection and we will know no sickness, no suffering, no pain, no corruption, no temptation, no doubt, no fear and no worry.

God's rule is established in the hearts of every believer. From the moment we are baptized God reigns in our hearts and is transforming them into new hearts. We are the vineyard and God's produces fruit in our lives. He is renewing us to live a new life; producing the fruit of love for God and love for our neighbor. He is filling us with his righteousness and working through us to reign in the world. Each time we proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ; witness our faith to someone; help a person in need; share our things with someone who is lacking; contribute our time, our talents and our treasures for the work of the church so the Gospel can be proclaimed it is Christ suppressing Satan, establishing his reign in the world in and through and through us. Christ rules in the world by love: by our fruit of love He is pushing back the kingdom of sin and all its effects. He is undoing the reign of temptation, suffering, addictions, idolatry, greed, selfishness, adultery, fear and unbelief. Christ is reigning in the world, pushing back the reign of sin and death and reclaiming the vineyard for himself by deeds of love which he produces in our lives. Christ who will provide for all our needs, hear our prayers, strengthen our faith, and work love in our hearts for others rules and reigns today in the lives of his redeemed people. Amen.