Matthew 21:33-45

“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. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 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.’ 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”? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.’ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them.”

Throughout Matthew we see Jesus delivering many parables aimed at understanding the coming kingdom. Something to take into consideration as we read this section of Matthew 21 is that Jesus is now in Jerusalem, only days away from His crucifixion. He has said before that “His hour has not yet come” but now it has nearly arrived. Remembering that His life was not taken, but that He laid it down willingly and that the pharisees were actually reluctant to arrest and execute Him during the time of Passover, we see a shift in intensity. Jesus, being the embodiment of the Truth has never shied away from telling things as they truly are, but in His dealing with the religious leaders leading up to the Passover, we see something that feels more unrestrained, like the gloves have come off. Looking back in Matthew 21 as to what led to this parable we see Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, which fulfilled the words in Zecheriah 9:9. Then quoting Isaiah 56:7 he cleanses the temple, physically removing the moneychangers and salesmen who had infringed on other’s ability to worship there and profaned the spirit of the structure. The infirmed then begin coming to the temple to be healed, but when the religious leaders see His works and the people crying out to Him in joy, they express only indignation. Jesus then privately displays a lesson concerning faith to His disciples, withering an unproductive fig tree with a word. The next day He is teaching in the temple when the chief priests and scribes approach Him and directly challenge His authority, but again Jesus turns their words against them.

Matthew 21:24-27,

“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. 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?” But if we say, “From man,” we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.’ 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.’”

After shaming them before the crowd Jesus hammers the pharisees and their false righteousness with more parables, the second of which is where we find ourselves today.

“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.”

We see what within the parable what sounds like a perfectly equipped vineyard, which actually mirrors what God has built for His people. The fruit has been planted, there is a fence in place to provide order and security, the winepress and tower constructed provide the means to properly process and store the grapes and subsequently produced wine. The vineyard lacks nothing to carry out its intended purpose and do it well.  The prepared place still belongs to the master, but it is allowed to be occupied by tenants, people he has approved. We see a similar arrangement echoed in Eden and the promised land, in the Lord’s covenant with David and in the promises He makes to Ezekiel about the new heaven to come.

Genesis 3:8,

“And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.”

A well-ordered paradise, providing man a space with all he needed.

Exodus 3:16-17,

“Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.”’”

A land of promise and refuge from the slavery and oppression God’s people have suffered.

2 Samuel 7:12-13,

“When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”

A kingdom promised to last not for a fixed number of generations, but an eternity. This speaks  in the short term to Solomon and the temple he would be allowed to build, but ultimately points to Christ as the eternal King.

Ezekiel 37:26-28,

“I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”

The promise that in the eternal kingdom, God and His people will be together as He intended from the beginning.

“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.”

There is an expectation within the parable, a social order that the tenants give the master his due fruit in season. The tenants however, display merciless greed again and again as the master sends more servants. Each time the tenants are presented with an opportunity to repent and do what is right, but they continue with their wickedness. This mirrors the cyclical rise and fall of God’s people that started with the Fall, so often rejecting the mercy afforded them by the Father.

Genesis 3:6,

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.”

In their sin, Adam and Eve were exiled from Eden, from the presence of God and forced to live with the repercussions of sin – the pain of life and the sting of death.

Numbers 14:21-23,

“But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD, none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it.”

For their grumbling and rebellion an entire generation is barred from entering the promised land.

1 Kings 11:9-10,

“And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the LORD commanded.”

While the eternal kingdom is fixed in place by God’s covenant with David, Solomon’s actions cause the earthly kingdom of Israel to be broken into pieces and ultimately lost to his people.

Luke 11:49-51,

“Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation.”

Again, the eternal kingdom is fixed and immovable, but the earthly kingdom has continued in repetitive suffering for their repetitive sin. We see that nothing has changed into Jesus’s time, as the actions of the religious leaders are still in step with that of their fathers – the men who killed the prophets, from Cain who committed the first murder, to the wayward king Joash who had a prophet of God stoned to death on temple grounds. In the parable, we see the understanding and expectation to act in accordance with God’s will for us, in remaining in the place of rest He has prepared for us. But the tenants are greedy, wicked and sinful. They scorn the graciousness of their landlord, as we see God’s people behave rebelliously again and again. For a people who had have had God’s law in hand for generations, who have seen His power and been delivered by His hand again and again, and who have suffered through the destruction of the temple and the Babylonian exile as punishment for their transgressions to still be so rebellious and stubborn is all the more troubling. The tenants are unrepentant, and the hearts of God’s people are far from Him.

“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.”

John 1:14-18,

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.”’) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.”

John 3:16,

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

John 18:12,

“So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him.”

Matthew 26:56,

“’But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.’ Then all the disciples left him and fled.”

Mark 15:24-32,

“And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. And it was the third hour when they crucified him. And the inscription of the charge against him read, ‘The King of the Jews.’ And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, ‘Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!’ So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, ‘He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.’ Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.”

In the parable we see that despite the rampant disobedience of the tenants they are given opportunity after opportunity to repent and do what is expected of them. In a final act of mercy and generosity of spirit, the master sends his own son as his messenger to the tenants, giving them a distinct opportunity to do what is right. The tragic irony of Christ’s crucifixion is that it was done by those whom He was sent for. While Jesus opened the door of salvation to all, we know from prophecy, and also from Paul’s writings in Romans that this was for the Jews first and then opened to all. We see throughout each gospel that centered among those mocking Jesus as he suffers crucifixion are the religious leaders among the Jews – those who should have been eagerly awaiting His arrival, who should have identified the validity and truth of His coming sought His death. Instead of acknowledging the truth of His message and setting aside their hard hearts and hypocritical ways, they attempted to discredit their Messiah and, as the tenants sought to steal the son’s inheritance in the parable, they desired to hijack the truth of Christ’s message and apply it to their own.

“When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 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.’”

Luke 23:34-38,

“And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ And they cast lots to divide his garments. And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!’ The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!’ There was also an inscription over him, ‘This is the King of the Jews.’”

Something that I’ve been thinking over for a while now is that those who sin, certainly those who sin purposefully and with pride and delight in their work, don’t really understand what they’re doing. Even those who believe they have thought it through and sin with conviction don’t understand their actions. Because regardless of perspective or opinion, the Truth is the Truth and sin is still sin. Anyone who has the Truth within them and has been given understanding no longer receives this delight from sin because they can see the wrongness of it. They’re able to feel the disgust and revulsion to it. In the pharisees quick and accurate understanding of the literal conditions of the parable, they reveal their blindness. They tell of a coming judgement for the tenants, not seeing or acknowledging that they are the guilty party. Looking at Luke’s gospel and the book of Revelation, we see the true condition of the suffering that awaits those who have ultimately betrayed God.

Luke 16:22-26,

“The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’”

Revelation 20:12-15,

“And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

“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”? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.’” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them.”

Here we see Jesus turn the focus, shifting from the story of the parable and driving the lesson home. He does so by starting with a quote from the 118 Psalm, which is titled, “His Steadfast Love Endures Forever” and most commentators attribute to being written by David.

Psalm 118:22-23,

“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.”

He speaks of Himself as the cornerstone, and bearing this truth in mind, what will happen to the inheritance that is the kingdom of heaven. To understand the significance of this, it helps to know some details about cornerstones from an architectural perspective. As the first stone laid in the process of building walls, the cornerstone was both significant for bearing the load of the wall as well as keeping the wall straight. You determined the rest of your angles from how this first stone was placed, meaning that if it was mispositioned or laid wrongly your entire structure is compromised. Jesus takes the power of the analogous cornerstone a step further as he finishes out revealing the meaning of His parable. Those who don’t acknowledge it, the builder who rejects it, the man who constructs his faith and attempts a relationship with God on a basis other than Christ, faces losing that which has been offered to him, judgement and destruction. He speaks to the religious leaders as those who have failed to live accordingly and will lose receiving what God has planned for them. Referencing back to Paul’s writing in Romans 1 and 2, “first the Jew and also to the Greek” God’s promises were made available to the world through Christ, but they were originally for the Jews, His people, who rejected the spirit of His law and crucified His Son. Looking to the last verse we see that the pharisees understand they’re being spoken about, but looking beyond there we see no repentance. They have the insight to be offended, but not to acknowledge the Truth that stands before them. True to the parable, they reject the Word and Truth in favor of their own interpretation and the worldly power it gives them. Rather than take heed, they take offense, seeking to paint Jesus as a heretic and arrest Him. Here, like with their thoughts concerning the validity of John the Baptist’s ministry, the pharisees are only restrained from speaking their minds or taking physical action against Jesus by their fear of the crowds who are captivated by His teachings. We see throughout chapters 22 and 23 that Jesus in relentless in his honest assessment of the poor condition and hypocrisy of the religious rulers. They continue to come at Him, trying to trip Him up with their words, only to be made fools of again and again. Observing the timeline of events, it seems that this set of teachings, which laid bare and ridiculed the pharisees for their conduct was the final act that pushed them to take action against Jesus during the Passover as opposed to waiting. It lends a new perspective to how calculated and measured each of His judgements against them are, how precisely He provoked them in their callousness, taking from them in their sin and anger the path they had chosen, to wait and plot and bide their time. This gives a new light and perspective to Christ’s perfect control and what He says in John 10:17-18,

“For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Link to Pastor Chris’s sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHN-YtvqWMQ