Amen. Well, Advent is quickly approaching, isn't it? The season of peace and goodwill to men, of stars and of gifts and of festive cheer, of the baby in the manger, gentle Jesus, meek and mild.
And as we approach Advent, as we think about the coming of the Lord Jesus as a baby, this passage that we've just read jolts us out of that a bit, doesn't it?
Because Jesus teaches here that his arrival marks not just Christmas cheer, but a crisis.
He comes as the light of the world, but it turns out that there is a dark side to Christmas.
When the light comes, he reveals a dark side in us.
And Jesus tells a parable in Luke 20, and he pictures the arrival of the son of a vineyard owner,
who comes to deal with a bunch of rebellious tenants on his land, doesn't he?
And when they recognise this son, they throw him out and they kill him.
So the owner rightly punishes them for that. He destroys them, and we think, good for him, that's the right thing to do.
Jesus tells this parable, and he directs this story towards the chief priests and the scribes, the religious leaders of the day.
Who have consistently sought to reject Jesus as Lord.
They are supposedly building God's kingdom as the kind of religious ministers of the day.
But the building is going to fall on top of them as they reject Jesus.
Jesus uses the language, doesn't he, of stones crushing people.
I was watching one of these DIY shows a while back,
and they were trying to create extra space on the ground floor.
You know, they wanted to kind of knock a wall through and create a kitchen diner.
But there was one problem, because there was this pillar in the way.
And the owner of the house wanted to get rid of the pillar,
so he could have this open plan dining area.
But the experts were saying, no, no, you can't touch this pillar.
It is a load-bearing pillar.
You can't move this pillar.
It's the cornerstone of the building.
You can't take it away.
But when they left for the night and the kind of cameras had gone away,
the amateur DIY enthusiast just took a sledgehammer and worked away at this pillar overnight.
And he removed it.
The next morning, the crew arrived to see the disaster that had ensued overnight,
because the whole house had collapsed in on the ground floor.
The upper floors had just fallen in.
And anything that was on the ground floor had been crushed.
Anything and everything was smashed into pieces.
Fortunately, he'd managed to get out of the house in time.
And Jesus says, doesn't he, in this parable, that he is like that pillar at Christmas time.
In verse 18, he quotes from Psalm 118.
The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, the load-bearing pillar.
And everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces.
And when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.
He says to the religious leaders, you're trying to get rid of me,
but your whole ministry is built on the cornerstone of my person.
The whole building of God's people is about me.
So he's talking about stones crushing people's heads.
He's talking about vineyard owners destroying tenants.
It doesn't feel like the typical Advent message, does it?
All this crushing and all this destroying of people.
It's a little bit less Jesus meek and mild,
and a little bit more harsh Jesus, mean and wild, isn't it?
As we hear Jesus rebuking these leaders,
we have to put ourselves in the picture as well.
He directs these warnings against them,
but Luke tells us, doesn't he, in verse 9,
that he tells the parable to all the people that are there.
And notice the words in verse 18.
Everyone and anyone who falls on this stone,
who tries to pull it out of the building,
will be crushed by it.
Everyone and anyone who tries to take a sledgehammer to Jesus,
and remove him from their lives,
should expect him to crush them.
And we hear this, don't we,
and we think, how can Jesus say these things?
What justifies this sort of harsh language of crushing,
and of destroying?
How dare Jesus say this to me?
That unless I accept him as Lord of my life,
as the prime pillar of my life,
and as the world,
the house will come down on me.
How dare he say that to me?
Well, the parable is told, I think,
and it's designed very cleverly, isn't it,
to help us to see why Jesus has got every right to say that
to these people here, and to me.
Jesus is justified in saying that to me,
in the same way that the vineyard owner
is justified in destroying the tenants in the parable.
The parable draws us in, doesn't it,
to agree with the vineyard owner,
and say, it is jolly well right that he destroys them for that.
It is right that he punishes the tenants
for mistreating the son that he sends to them.
The parable, it draws me out
to confess that I've got to agree with God
that it is right that Jesus should crush people
who reject him, even if that's me.
Look closely at verse 14,
because I think in verse 14 we see
why the judgments in the passage are justified.
Look at how they're behaving, these tenants.
Look at what they say, and what they think,
and how they behave.
Verse 14, they say to themselves,
this is the heir, let us kill him,
so the inheritance may be ours.
That behaviour, and that kind of motivation in them
is what justifies the terrible judgement
that Jesus pronounces on them, isn't it?
And I think we can see three things here.
Three things is their behaviour,
what they say, what they think, and what they do,
and it reflects a crazy, arrogant,
vile response to Jesus,
which in the end, we have to admit,
deserves justice.
First of all, the tenants deserve their fate,
because number one,
they know who Jesus is.
There is a recognition,
they know who Jesus is.
How is it that the tenants deserve to be destroyed?
It is because for people who've met Jesus,
particularly the religious leaders of the day,
in their heart of hearts,
they know who he really is.
They've met him, and they reject him,
and they're culpable for the knowledge
they have of him.
The more you know of him,
the more serious it is
not to treat him as he should be treated.
So look at the parable.
As the son comes to the vineyard,
they immediately recognise who he is,
don't they?
Verse 14.
Ah, this is the heir.
They know that there is something different about Jesus.
Jesus is not just another religious guy,
is he?
He's not a religious nutcase.
When you look at him properly in the gospel accounts,
it's not that he's another prophet,
or another servant of God,
of the vineyard.
No, he is infinitely more than that.
In the parable, did you see,
there's a sudden upgrade of status,
status with the people that the vineyard owner sends.
The authority is ramped up, isn't it?
As it goes from servants that are sent by the vineyard owner,
three times,
to suddenly the owner's son.
They've kicked out those with lesser authority,
but surely they'll receive the one with equal authority.
The heir,
the son,
surely they'll respect him,
the owner thinks.
The owner says,
I'll send my beloved son to them.
The word beloved is used in Luke's gospel,
Jesus' baptism, isn't it?
Where God calls out,
this is my beloved son.
With you I am well pleased,
he says.
If Jeremiah,
the prophet,
had been around,
he would have said the same thing
about the religious leaders of Jesus' day,
as he said in his day.
Jeremiah chapter 7,
from the day that your fathers
came out of the land of Egypt to this day,
I persistently sent all my servants to you,
my prophets to you,
day after day,
and yet you have not listened to them,
or inclined your ear to them.
You've been stiff-necked towards them.
But now it is worse than that,
isn't it?
Because Jesus is not a mere prophet.
He is not just a servant.
When we get to the New Testament,
we see that God has a son
who carries equal authority
and equal status with God.
The letter to the Hebrews begins,
long ago,
at many times,
and in many ways,
God spoke to our fathers
by the prophets,
but in these last days
he has spoken to us
by his son,
whom he appointed the heir of all things,
through whom he created the whole world,
the son is the one
who is sent with equal authority
and equal status
to the vineyard owner himself,
to God himself,
who Paul says,
all the fullness of deity
dwells in him bodily,
in Jesus Christ.
And so there is a shift of authority,
isn't there,
in the sending of prophets
and of servants.
And suddenly there is a sending of a son
and so with the shift in authority
and status
comes a shift in consequences,
in rejecting him.
You know,
if you bully my son's friends at school,
yeah,
that will make me unhappy,
that is one thing,
isn't it?
But if you bully my son,
that is something else.
If you reject my son,
that is something else.
And the religious leaders
and the chief priests
reject him,
not because they doubt
his credentials as this man,
but in their heart of hearts
they know who he is.
His teaching
and his miracles,
his words
and his works,
his logic
in dissecting their hypocrisy.
Yes,
this is the heir.
This is the son
of God.
And so he falls heaviest
on those who reject him
and know him most
for who he really is.
And in their heart of hearts
they know who he is,
don't they?
And so his judgment
is warranted on them.
They know who he is.
That's the first thing.
The second thing is that
they want to kill him.
It's the recognition
and it's the response
towards him,
isn't it?
They want to kill him.
Look at verse 14 again.
This is the heir.
Let us kill him,
they say to themselves.
It is the violence
of the response
to Jesus.
It's interesting in the passage.
Did you notice
as the parable
kind of builds up,
there is an increase
in authority
of the servants
that the owner
sends to the vineyard,
isn't there?
And suddenly
the status
and authority
ramps up
when the son
is sent.
But the response
is also ramped up
as the authority
increases.
The violence
and the hatred
towards those
who are sent
ramps up.
And the severity
of the response
ramps up,
doesn't it?
Suddenly,
when the heir,
the son,
is sent,
the violence
ramps up too.
You see,
with the previous
servants,
they are beaten
and they are humiliated,
which is awful.
But with the son,
it is murder.
True hostility
towards the vineyard owner
is exposed
when he is present.
When the son
appears.
In a much clearer
way than it was
before.
The violence
from the tenants
and the killing
and the peak
expression
of human rebellion
against God
is reserved
for the son.
He is the one
who uniquely
attracts
hidden rebellion
against God.
He is the one
who arouses
the rebellion
of the human heart
like nobody else
can and does.
That is what happens
in the nativity
narratives,
isn't it?
Just think of
Matthew's gospel.
What is the overwhelming
atmosphere in Bethlehem
just after Jesus
is born?
It is violence.
As Herod's
soldiers
ransack
every home
with a two
year old boy
or younger.
Herod goes
on the war
path.
Jesus comes
into the world
and the rebellion
of human hearts
rears its ugly
head,
doesn't it?
And Herod
baits for Jesus'
blood right
from the moment
he enters
into the world.
As the true
light comes
into the world,
not just those
who have spoken
about the light
before his
coming,
but as the
light himself
comes,
then the
darkness
tries to
resist him
most of all.
And so when
Jesus is killed
at his crucifixion,
when the vineyard
owners do
crucify him,
he doesn't just
die as a
co-victim
with other
human beings.
There is a
sense that he
does that,
but it is much
more than that.
It's not that
he just faces
the general
wickedness
of the world
that we all
experience and
share.
He doesn't
just fall
victim to
the same
frustrations
exactly,
and the same
evils that we
all suffer
universally in
this world.
No,
he dies
as the
victim
of all
evil and
rebellion in
the world.
God.
He dies
as the
lightning rod
of all
of humanity's
hatred
towards God.
He dies
and he
suffers like
no one else
suffers and
dies.
He is
murdered and
he is murdered
as the most
hated man
ever.
He is more
hated than
anyone has
been.
Because he
is the
son.
he is the
heir.
He is the
one, isn't
he, who
threatens our
pride most.
He is the
one who
threatens our
sense of
entitlement
most.
He is the
one who
threatens our
delusions of
grandeur most.
so he is
justified in
his judgment
because they
know who
he is and
they want to
kill him.
And thirdly,
they want what
belongs to
him, don't
they?
There is
violence and
there is a
vanity about
the vineyard
tenants.
And those two
things are
connected.
There is
violence because
there is this
vain ambition
of what they
might get by
killing him.
In verse 14,
let's kill
him so that
the inheritance
may be ours.
And it is
ridiculous really,
isn't it, what
they are trying
to do.
What drives the
religious leaders
of the day to
murder Jesus is
this fantasy that
they have that
if they can get
rid of Jesus,
if they can get
rid of the
heir and the
son of God
and the king
of the kingdom,
they can carry
on being the
most important
people in their
lives and in
the kingdom that
they have
set up around
themselves.
They can be the
most important
people in the
vineyard.
And life can
go on as
before.
They can be
the ones with
the crowns on
their head that
he should have
on his head.
And that
thirst for power
makes them
utterly stupid,
doesn't it?
As if they
could do that.
In their
culture, often
vineyards and
plots of land
would have been
letted out to
tenants just
like in the
parable and
the owner may
have been at
a bit of a
distance and
actually Jesus
says that,
doesn't he?
The owner went
to be in
another country
for a long
time in verse
nine.
And so there
is this feeling
isn't there of
distance from
accountability,
distance from
culpability for
what they are
doing to the
servants and to
the son.
they maybe have
this fantasy,
don't they,
that the
vineyard owner
won't find out,
the vineyard owner
can't see and he
doesn't care what
we're doing and
he'll forget about
the vineyard and
he'll just leave it
to us if we can
get rid of Jesus.
But of course
that's totally
ridiculous,
isn't it?
And as we
listen to the
parable, we know
that just cannot
happen because
they've killed
the son.
And of course
the vineyard owner
is going to do
something about
that, isn't he?
But isn't that
the arrogant myth
that we tend to
believe that is
a kind of truth?
That we can keep
our agenda and
still get rid of
Jesus, that we
can pull out the
cornerstone and
we can still rule
in God's house.
And that somehow
he'll forget about
that.
That he'll just
let us inherit
the earth anyway.
And that he's not
bothered about his
son.
That if we kill
him off, life
will go on as
before.
But that is
ridiculous, isn't
it?
Because in our
heart of hearts,
when we spend any
time with the
Lord Jesus, we
know who he is.
And we know
how he threatens
our pride because
his authority is
the same authority
as God himself.
That he comes
into the world as
God, claiming what
is his.
As the owner of
the vineyard.
He is the
beloved son, as
John says in that
famous verse.
He is God's one
and only son.
The one in whom
he is well
pleased.
And so it is
ridiculous, isn't
it?
That we think that
we can pull him
out and that we
can kill him off
and just carry on
as before.
It's interesting,
in the Hebrew
language, the
word stone and
the word son is
very, very similar
actually.
The word stone is
the word eben.
It's an awful
pronunciation, but
eben.
And the word son
is ben.
Very similar,
aren't they?
Stone and son.
Apparently in the
siege of Jerusalem
in 70 AD, that
the Romans
surrounded the
city, didn't
they?
History tells us.
And they sieged
Jerusalem and
they would hurl
these great big
stones over the
wall to kind of
get the people
to just surrender.
And as they
hurled these
stones over,
they would
shout, the
sun is coming.
Strange.
I think they
saw the link
between stone and
sun.
I don't know
why they did it,
but maybe that's
why.
They would
shout that out,
ho, hyorios,
er-h-tai, the
sun is coming.
Get your heads
down.
And that is the
jolt of this
parable, isn't it,
for us in
Advent.
It's another side
of Advent, that
as Jesus comes,
it is as if God
is hurling a
stone over the
wall into the
world.
And that as
the light of the
world comes, it
reveals a dark
side in us.
that the sun is
flung over the
walls into our
lives and
everyone and
anyone who
rejects him
will be crushed
by him.
Let me close
just by looking
at that second
passage in Acts.
Let's just look
there.
In Acts, it's
kind of the
sequel to Luke's
gospel, isn't
it?
So Luke
writes Acts.
And in Acts
4, there's a
really similar
scene.
as Peter,
Jesus'
apostle,
continues Jesus'
ministry in a
way, doesn't
he?
And he's there
facing off against
the same religious
leaders that Jesus
rebuked in Acts
4.
There's been a
lame beggar that's
just been healed
and they're
questioning them
about how they've
done that and
under whose
authority they've
done that.
And if you look
at verse 10,
he says,
let it be known
to you that it's
by the name of
Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, whom
you crucified,
but whom God
raised from the
dead, that this
man stands before
you now.
And right after
that, doesn't
he, he quotes
the same verse
from Psalm
118 that Jesus
quotes back in
Luke 20.
Do you see?
Jesus is the
stone that
was rejected
by you, the
builders, which
has become the
cornerstone.
His point in
Acts 4 is that
after the
resurrection of
Jesus, it has
now become
abundantly obvious
and clear that
those who have
rejected and did
reject Jesus have
made a massive
mistake.
The rejected
stone has
been proven to
be the
cornerstone on
which all of
God's kingdom is
built.
And so it's an
indictment upon
them, isn't it,
that they've
recognised him and
responded in
violence and in
vain arrogance,
and they have
killed the
cornerstone.
And they realise
that now.
But the amazing
thing about Peter's
sermon here is
that instead of
preaching judgment,
and talking about
crushing and
destroying, he
offers another
lifeline, doesn't
he?
Because he says
in verse 12,
salvation, not
judgment, salvation
is found in no one
else, for there is
no other name under
heaven given to
mankind by which
we must be saved.
salvation.
And this is the
wonderful irony, isn't
it, of God's
grace.
Actually, Christmas
and Advent
shout to us the
wonder of God's
grace.
And Peter
shouts here of
God's grace to
men and women who
have killed the
cornerstone, who
deserve for him to
fall on their
heads.
Christ, the
one they have
killed is the
one who now
offers them
life.
The one they
have oppressed
is the one who
now offers them
freedom.
Freedom from the
guilt of what
they've done.
He gives life to
the dead, the
very people who
have killed him.
That is grace,
isn't it?
that the one
that you can go
to for life is
the very one that
we have killed.
And the one that
we can go to for
in our darkness is
the light that we've
resisted.
And that is the
wonder of
Advent.
That is the
wonder of God's
grace.
Let's pray.
Amen.