WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.000 Well, thank you. It's a pleasure of mine to be here with you to see many new faces and 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:17.120 many other familiar faces here. I also understand that St. Columbus is starting a series on 00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:24.400 the parables this summer, and so it's my privilege to speak to you on this parable that we find 00:00:24.399 --> 00:00:33.719 in Matthew 21. What are the parables? We often think about the parables in various ways. 00:00:33.719 --> 00:00:40.640 We often treat them as if they are basically a kind of Aesop's fable, where it's a compelling 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:48.519 story with a moral at the end. Don't be like the foolish giraffe. But the parables are 00:00:48.520 --> 00:00:56.520 something different. The parables are a distinct kind of communication. They are not actually, 00:00:56.520 --> 00:01:01.040 first of all, these sort of timeless eternal principles about you and your life that you 00:01:01.040 --> 00:01:08.159 can just apply to any context as you see fit. But they're about what is happening right 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:16.960 then and there as Jesus speaks them. The parables even create the reality of which Jesus is 00:01:16.959 --> 00:01:23.199 speaking. And we find that with the parables, he is actually bringing his kingdom into the 00:01:23.199 --> 00:01:30.199 present age, not just teaching about the kingdom, giving information. But as he's speaking, 00:01:30.199 --> 00:01:37.039 he is recasting the whole world under his authority. And we know then that the parables 00:01:37.039 --> 00:01:44.639 fit Jesus' great threefold office. We're often familiar with speaking about him as 00:01:44.640 --> 00:01:51.280 our great high priest. And of course, he is our great king. And so too is he our great 00:01:51.280 --> 00:02:00.079 prophet. And as a prophet then, he is coming to deliver covenant sanctions of either blessing 00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:08.120 or curse, deliverance or judgment to the covenant people of God. And so too, do we find him 00:02:08.120 --> 00:02:13.560 doing that in this parable, the parable of the tenants, where Christ pronounces judgment 00:02:13.560 --> 00:02:19.960 on Israel and its leaders? Now, the context for this parable is actually very important 00:02:19.960 --> 00:02:26.479 here. Jesus gives this parable during what is sometimes called Holy Week, the last week 00:02:26.479 --> 00:02:33.159 of our Lord and Savior, which culminates with his crucifixion on Friday and his resurrection 00:02:33.159 --> 00:02:41.280 from the dead on Sunday. And during this week, he goes with the disciples each day to enter 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:47.520 Jerusalem to visit the temple complex. And then he retreats with them each night into 00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:55.400 Bethany. And that week begins on Sunday. It begins with the triumphal entry. And we can 00:02:55.400 --> 00:03:02.240 see this at the beginning of Matthew 21. Jesus rides into the city of Jerusalem on a young 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:09.199 donkey. And this is no random act, nor even really a sign of humility, but he does it 00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:16.039 as the victorious king of Zachariah chapter nine. And the crowds realize this, the crowds 00:03:16.039 --> 00:03:23.159 shout out to him, Hosanna, blessed is the son of David, blessed is he who comes in the 00:03:23.159 --> 00:03:30.519 name of the Lord. He is hailed by the crowds as David's son, the royal son, the messianic 00:03:30.519 --> 00:03:38.439 king. And now we see the dominos begin to fall towards Good Friday, because the religious 00:03:38.439 --> 00:03:45.759 leaders of Israel here, the priests, the scribes, the elders, they are shocked at how Jesus 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:54.840 is greeted by the crowds. Even more, they are shocked by Jesus' lack of response to this 00:03:54.840 --> 00:04:01.680 greeting. Jesus, why don't you do something about this? Surely you see what the crowds 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:12.520 are doing here. Surely you know that they are invoking Psalm 118, verse 26 of that Psalm. 00:04:12.520 --> 00:04:19.480 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Verse 19, open to me the gates of righteousness 00:04:19.480 --> 00:04:28.000 that I may enter in. Surely, Jesus, you know that they are invoking an ancient Near Eastern 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:35.680 gate liturgy, where a protocol that a victorious king or a general follows when he comes back 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:42.120 from battle and demands entry through the city gates. Surely, Jesus of Nazareth, you 00:04:42.120 --> 00:04:51.519 don't think they are talking about you here. Why don't you put a stop to this? But of course, 00:04:51.519 --> 00:04:56.759 Jesus does not put a stop to it. All of this happens on the Temple Mount, and then we see 00:04:56.759 --> 00:05:03.879 Jesus enter into the Temple. He ascends the hill of Zion in royal procession. The gates 00:05:03.879 --> 00:05:10.920 of righteousness are opened to him. All of that happens on Sunday. Now, Monday is a little 00:05:10.920 --> 00:05:17.000 different. On Monday, we find Jesus cursing the fig tree. What is this all about? Well, 00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:23.319 the fig tree is a national symbol for Israel. It represents the peace and prosperity of 00:05:23.319 --> 00:05:28.939 the nation. And so, cursing the fig tree is not like walking into your garden and doing 00:05:28.939 --> 00:05:35.319 something mean to your flowers here. This is the very symbol of Israel as the nation, 00:05:35.319 --> 00:05:42.879 the holy people of God. Jesus knows exactly what he is doing. He is right then and there 00:05:42.879 --> 00:05:52.279 as a prophet, bringing the curses, the sanctions of the covenant against the covenant-breaking 00:05:52.279 --> 00:06:01.279 nation. You know, may no one eat from your tree again, he says. And we read, there were 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:09.079 many leaves but no fruit. There were many Israelites but few believers. There were many 00:06:09.079 --> 00:06:14.279 who heard the promises of God as part of God's covenant family, but few who embraced those 00:06:14.279 --> 00:06:23.119 promises in faith. Then Jesus goes to the outer court of the Gentiles and he drives out the 00:06:23.119 --> 00:06:30.199 money changers. He cleanses this outer court of the temple. And this too is very significant 00:06:30.199 --> 00:06:37.599 because it tells us that this is not just the rubbish heap to Jesus. The gospel was always 00:06:37.599 --> 00:06:43.319 to go out from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the ends of the earth. And this outer court 00:06:43.319 --> 00:06:50.439 of the Gentiles represents the ends of the earth. What else does he do here? He calls 00:06:50.439 --> 00:07:00.000 to himself in the temple complex, the blind and the lame, and he heals them. Now the religious 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:07.439 leaders had kept the blind and the lame out of the temple mount entirely because of their 00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:12.699 illnesses, because of their abnormalities. Surely they thought those who suffer physically 00:07:12.699 --> 00:07:24.039 must be accursed. They will profane God's house and yet Jesus calls them in as his guests. 00:07:24.039 --> 00:07:30.319 We also find him forgiving sins, bypassing the cult, the machinery of the temple. He 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:38.480 does it personally in his person, greater than any high priest. At this point everyone 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:44.240 can see what he's doing. He knows he's a rabbi. The religious leaders know, the crowds know, 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:53.439 he is taking over the temple. He is fulfilling every type and shadow. That's Monday. On Tuesday 00:07:53.439 --> 00:07:58.879 then he explains the cursing of the fig tree and the religious leaders begin to plot his 00:07:58.879 --> 00:08:07.620 death. In Matthew 21 verse 23, the religious leaders challenge Jesus. They come asking 00:08:07.620 --> 00:08:15.060 him a question. They say, by what authority do you do all these things that you have done? 00:08:15.060 --> 00:08:19.660 They're trying to trap him into claiming divine authority so that they can charge him with 00:08:19.660 --> 00:08:26.980 blasphemy. But Jesus opts out of their game. He offers a question of his own. He says, 00:08:26.980 --> 00:08:33.060 let me ask you a question. And if you answer me, then I will tell you by what authority 00:08:33.059 --> 00:08:41.779 I do these things. Here is the question. The baptism of John. Did it come from heaven 00:08:41.779 --> 00:08:49.299 or from man? That's the question. Well, here the leaders are in a corner because if they 00:08:49.299 --> 00:08:54.779 say what they really believe that John's baptism is from man, then the crowds will turn on 00:08:54.779 --> 00:09:01.379 them because as we read in Matthew's account, they all hold the crowds that John is a great 00:09:01.379 --> 00:09:07.299 prophet. But they cannot say that John's baptism is from heaven because then John's 00:09:07.299 --> 00:09:14.580 prophetic words are from heaven. His announcement that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah is 00:09:14.580 --> 00:09:26.059 from heaven. And so they refuse to answer. And so neither does Jesus answer them. But 00:09:26.059 --> 00:09:32.219 he does something else. He gives them parables. He speaks to them in parables still on Tuesday. 00:09:32.219 --> 00:09:36.899 He gives the parable of the two sons. And then he gives this parable, the parable of 00:09:36.899 --> 00:09:42.539 the wicked tenants. You see, the parable is the answer to the question that was put to 00:09:42.539 --> 00:09:49.139 him. That's why the context here is so important. What do we find then in this parable, this 00:09:49.139 --> 00:09:56.740 parable of the wicked tenants? First of all, we see a treaty between the master of the 00:09:56.740 --> 00:10:05.939 house, the owner of the vineyard and the tenants. Verse 33 of Matthew 21. The owner of this 00:10:05.939 --> 00:10:15.259 vineyard has chosen his vine. It is his choice vine. He's planted it with care. Not only 00:10:15.259 --> 00:10:20.539 think has he planted it himself, but we're told that he built a fence or a wall around 00:10:20.539 --> 00:10:29.740 it to keep out wild thieves and invaders and animals. He put up a watch tower so that it 00:10:29.740 --> 00:10:36.939 would be safe from harm. He dug a pit for the wine press. The owner sets up everything 00:10:36.939 --> 00:10:43.340 perfectly for the tenants. He gives them everything that they could possibly need. And then he 00:10:43.340 --> 00:10:49.660 leases to them the field. And after some time, this field is producing and the owner sends 00:10:49.660 --> 00:10:57.420 his servants to receive the payment of a specific percentage of the yield of the vineyard. That 00:10:57.420 --> 00:11:04.420 is his rightful due. What is this? This is a summary of the entire relationship that 00:11:04.420 --> 00:11:12.420 Israel, as the people of God, was to have with God. Over and over in the Old Testament, 00:11:12.419 --> 00:11:20.259 we see Israel likened to a vineyard. Let me read, for example, in Psalm 80. You brought 00:11:20.259 --> 00:11:27.219 a vine out of Egypt. You drove out the nations and planted this vine. You cleared the ground 00:11:27.219 --> 00:11:33.539 for it. It took deep root and filled the land. The mountains were covered with its shade, 00:11:33.539 --> 00:11:39.099 the mighty cedars with its branches. It sent out its branches to the sea and it shoots 00:11:39.100 --> 00:11:48.139 to the river. So to in Jeremiah chapter two, God told Judah, don't forget, I brought you 00:11:48.139 --> 00:11:57.300 out of Egypt. I carried you through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and ravines, through 00:11:57.300 --> 00:12:06.500 drought and darkness, into my fields, which are fertile. And I planted you there as my 00:12:06.500 --> 00:12:15.620 vine, as my choice vine. The nation of Israel here was the visible kingdom of God in that 00:12:15.620 --> 00:12:25.340 age. And Israel is recapitulating, replaying again, Adam in the Garden of Eden. Israel 00:12:25.340 --> 00:12:31.620 here was to hear and obey as a faithful covenant servant. You know, God had planted Israel into 00:12:31.620 --> 00:12:37.860 the land, just as God had planted Adam and Eve into the garden and given them everything 00:12:37.860 --> 00:12:47.299 they could possibly need. And he told the nation of Israel in Leviticus 25, remember, 00:12:47.299 --> 00:12:56.060 remember this, he said, you are but tenants in my land. It's not your land. This land 00:12:56.059 --> 00:13:02.579 is my land. You are tenants in it. Now, as long as you do all the things that you are 00:13:02.579 --> 00:13:08.459 supposed to do, as long as you are fruitful and multiply, you extend my kingdom to the 00:13:08.459 --> 00:13:14.379 ends of the earth, you are holy to me, you do not go after foreign kings and serve other 00:13:14.379 --> 00:13:21.819 gods. As long as you serve me, you bring to me a tenth of everything that you have, because 00:13:21.820 --> 00:13:28.500 that is what a servant, a vassal brings to the suzerain, the great king in tribute. As 00:13:28.500 --> 00:13:34.460 long as you serve me as your great king and follow me, then I'll permit you to live in 00:13:34.460 --> 00:13:43.660 my land. Then you may stay in my paradise that I've prepared for you. That's how it 00:13:43.659 --> 00:13:52.219 worked. This was a conditional promise, not for salvation, that always only is by grace 00:13:52.219 --> 00:13:58.019 through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But this was to be a holy nation to remain in 00:13:58.019 --> 00:14:04.500 that land. That is the relation of Israel to Yahweh under the Mosaic covenant. Do this 00:14:04.500 --> 00:14:12.500 and you shall live, as we read in Leviticus 18.5. But God himself, you see, had given 00:14:12.500 --> 00:14:18.379 to the people everything that they could need. And that's what this parable depicts. It 00:14:18.379 --> 00:14:27.340 depicts the same covenant, this same relationship on a small, even on an intimate level, a precious 00:14:27.340 --> 00:14:37.860 vineyard, the owner of the vineyard and the tenants. And the owner here built that vineyard. 00:14:37.860 --> 00:14:45.539 He nurtured it. He protected it. He provided for it. There was absolutely no reason at 00:14:45.539 --> 00:14:57.019 all for that vineyard not to grow up to be Tuscany or Bordeaux. That was the treaty arrangement. 00:14:57.019 --> 00:15:03.420 But second, we see the treason committed by the tenants. In verse 34, the season for 00:15:03.419 --> 00:15:10.740 fruit draws near. The owner of the vineyard sends his servants to get its fruit, actually 00:15:10.740 --> 00:15:17.659 to get his fruit, to collect his due. It's his land. And the tenants, we read, take the 00:15:17.659 --> 00:15:23.659 servants and beat one, kill another, and stone another. Again, the owner sends other servants 00:15:23.659 --> 00:15:28.959 more than the first and the tenants do the same to them. Well, this is not what you expect 00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:37.460 to hear, given the way that this parable has opened. Where does this turn come from? Doubtless 00:15:37.460 --> 00:15:46.019 here Jesus is drawing from Isaiah, Isaiah chapter five, the great song of the vineyard. 00:15:46.019 --> 00:15:53.139 And we read there in Isaiah five, let me sing for my beloved, my love song concerning his 00:15:53.139 --> 00:15:59.539 vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of 00:15:59.539 --> 00:16:06.899 stones and planted it with choice vines. He built a watch tower in the midst of it. He 00:16:06.899 --> 00:16:13.340 hewed out a wine vat in it. And he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild 00:16:13.340 --> 00:16:22.539 grapes. Now, oh inhabitants of Jerusalem, men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 00:16:22.539 --> 00:16:28.539 What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done. When I looked for it 00:16:28.539 --> 00:16:35.299 to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? So now I will tell you what I will do to my 00:16:35.299 --> 00:16:41.459 vineyard. I will remove its hedge and it shall be devoured. I will break down its wall and 00:16:41.459 --> 00:16:48.659 it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste. It shall not be pruned or hode. Briers 00:16:48.659 --> 00:16:55.699 and thorns shall grow up. I will also command the clouds that they reign no reign upon it. 00:16:55.699 --> 00:17:00.740 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel. And the men of Judah are 00:17:00.740 --> 00:17:14.099 his pleasant planting. And he looked for justice. Behold, bloodshed. And he looked for righteousness. 00:17:14.099 --> 00:17:23.819 Behold, an outcry. You see, the tragedy here is that it was not wild outside invaders who 00:17:23.819 --> 00:17:32.259 trampled the vineyard of the Lord, but it was Israel herself. Just as we see the covenant 00:17:32.259 --> 00:17:39.559 of works in creation and as Adam's history is replayed at Mount Sinai with the creation 00:17:39.559 --> 00:17:45.859 of Israel as the holy nation, the people of God. So too in this parable do we see the 00:17:45.859 --> 00:17:57.799 fall. The treason against this treaty of the great king. Like Adam, Hosea 6, verse 7 says, 00:17:57.799 --> 00:18:07.460 Israel has violated God's covenant. The vineyard in the parable is Israel. God is the landowner. 00:18:07.460 --> 00:18:14.779 The tenants are all of the unbelieving nation, but particularly the religious leaders. And 00:18:14.779 --> 00:18:19.980 the servants are the prophets whom God has sent to his people. You know, again and again 00:18:19.980 --> 00:18:29.860 God sent prophets. The owner sent messengers of his treaty, his covenant. He kept sending 00:18:29.860 --> 00:18:35.700 them and they kept preaching a message of repentance. You have broken the terms of the 00:18:35.700 --> 00:18:45.220 treaty, but there's still hope for you according to the promise made to Abraham, according 00:18:45.220 --> 00:18:52.140 to the promise of the gospel. And these prophets were sent to Israel and Israel did not just 00:18:52.140 --> 00:18:58.700 not listen to them, but we find that they killed them. They killed them. We see this 00:18:58.700 --> 00:19:06.140 with the prophet Elijah, who tells us in 1 Kings 19, I've been very zealous, he says, 00:19:06.140 --> 00:19:12.220 for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your 00:19:12.220 --> 00:19:18.580 altars, put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left and now they 00:19:18.580 --> 00:19:26.100 are trying to kill me too. We see this again leading up to the time of the Babylonian exile 00:19:26.099 --> 00:19:34.219 in 2 Chronicles 36. We read, the Lord, the God of their fathers sent persistently to 00:19:34.219 --> 00:19:41.619 them by his messengers because he had great compassion on his people, on his dwelling 00:19:41.619 --> 00:19:50.379 place and on his vineyard. But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words, 00:19:50.379 --> 00:19:56.059 scoffing at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people until the 00:19:56.059 --> 00:20:02.659 hour there was no remedy. We see this as well with Judah, that part of Israel that comes 00:20:02.659 --> 00:20:09.379 to confess in Nehemiah chapter nine after returning from exile, how they had captured 00:20:09.379 --> 00:20:17.179 fortified cities and a rich land and took possession of houses full of all good things, 00:20:17.179 --> 00:20:25.179 cisterns already hewn, vineyards, olive orchards, fruit trees with abundance. And they ate, 00:20:25.180 --> 00:20:32.900 they were filled, they became fat, they delighted themselves in your great goodness. Nevertheless, 00:20:32.900 --> 00:20:40.660 the text says, they were disobedient, they rebelled against you, they cast your law behind 00:20:40.660 --> 00:20:48.019 their back, they killed your prophets who had warned them to turn them back to you, 00:20:48.019 --> 00:20:55.100 but they committed great blasphemies. You see, this is the pattern. God sends his prophets 00:20:55.099 --> 00:21:05.179 to the people that they would repent for violating his treaty. And Israel rejects the prophets, 00:21:05.179 --> 00:21:12.419 even kills them. You know, again, like Isaiah five, what more is there for me to do for 00:21:12.419 --> 00:21:20.579 you? The owner of the vineyard says, he does everything for it to produce a great harvest. 00:21:20.579 --> 00:21:29.379 Well, it yields instead wild grapes, sour berries, unfit for food or wine. But the owner 00:21:29.379 --> 00:21:36.220 continues to send his servants to the tenants. God continues to send his prophets to his 00:21:36.220 --> 00:21:44.139 people. You find God being patient and kind, giving every opportunity for centuries that 00:21:44.140 --> 00:21:52.780 Israel might repent and be restored. In the seven woes against the scribes and the Pharisees, 00:21:52.780 --> 00:22:03.940 in Matthew 23, Jesus says, woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you say, if 00:22:03.940 --> 00:22:10.140 we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have killed the prophets. But Jesus 00:22:10.140 --> 00:22:17.700 tells them you prove by your very words, you were the sons of those who murdered the prophets. 00:22:17.700 --> 00:22:25.700 Fill up then the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers. How are you 00:22:25.700 --> 00:22:33.380 to escape being sentenced to hell? Therefore, I send you prophets. Notice, by the way, he 00:22:33.380 --> 00:22:39.620 says, I send you. The son not only represents the owner, but it really is his vineyard. 00:22:39.619 --> 00:22:45.859 He says, I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and 00:22:45.859 --> 00:22:52.059 crucify, some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town. So that on 00:22:52.059 --> 00:22:56.699 you may come all the righteous bloodshed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to 00:22:56.699 --> 00:23:02.699 the blood of Zachariah, the son of Barakiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and 00:23:02.700 --> 00:23:12.220 the altar. Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. 00:23:12.220 --> 00:23:21.059 And then Jesus offers his great lamentation, doesn't he? Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the 00:23:21.059 --> 00:23:27.340 city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it. How often would I have 00:23:27.339 --> 00:23:36.059 gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings? And you would not. 00:23:36.059 --> 00:23:42.899 Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until 00:23:42.899 --> 00:23:49.139 you say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 00:23:49.139 --> 00:23:55.659 In verse 37 of Matthew 21, the owner has run out of servants to send. There's only one 00:23:55.660 --> 00:24:07.940 person left. Finally, he sends his son saying, they will respect my son. Now, in the accounts 00:24:07.940 --> 00:24:16.060 of this parable in the gospels of Mark and Luke, we read here, my beloved son. This is 00:24:16.060 --> 00:24:23.620 a clear illusion to Genesis 22. And Jesus's audience would not have missed it. Over and 00:24:23.619 --> 00:24:29.500 over in Genesis 22, God tells Abraham to take his son, his only son, the son whom he 00:24:29.500 --> 00:24:36.939 loves. It's repeated again and again and again to offer him as a burnt offering on Mount 00:24:36.939 --> 00:24:47.139 Moriah. But of course, Isaac is not sacrificed. God spares Abraham's beloved son. The true 00:24:47.140 --> 00:24:54.740 sacrifice of which Isaac is a type appears when God sends his son, his only son, his 00:24:54.740 --> 00:25:03.780 beloved son. Now, that's the father's verdict at Jesus's baptism. You are my beloved son 00:25:03.780 --> 00:25:10.500 in whom I am well pleased. That's the announcement at his transfiguration. This is my beloved 00:25:10.500 --> 00:25:21.460 son. Listen to him. He's the great prophet. He's the last prophet here. Notice also, 00:25:21.460 --> 00:25:29.180 Jesus says in the parable, speaking about himself, he says, finally, finally, the owner 00:25:29.180 --> 00:25:37.019 sent his son. Finally, he sent him in the fullness of time, Galatians 4. God sent forth 00:25:37.019 --> 00:25:45.980 his son, born of a woman, born under the law. What's the proper response to the arrival 00:25:45.980 --> 00:25:54.980 of this son? Well, the proper response is Psalm 2. Kiss the son. Kiss the son lest 00:25:54.980 --> 00:26:02.460 he be angry. And you perish in the way, for his wrath is kindled. But blessed are all 00:26:02.460 --> 00:26:12.059 who take refuge in him. Surely they will respect the son. But we read in verse 38 that when 00:26:12.059 --> 00:26:18.500 the tenants see the son, they say to themselves, this is the heir. Come, let us kill him and 00:26:18.500 --> 00:26:23.660 have his inheritance. And the tenants then take the son and they throw him out of the 00:26:23.660 --> 00:26:31.380 vineyard and kill him. You see the escalation of violence. The tenants have refused to bring 00:26:31.380 --> 00:26:37.140 the owner his rightful share, his due, and now they want to steal the vineyard and the 00:26:37.140 --> 00:26:44.820 son's inheritance. The tenants have become just like Ahab, that greedy, wicked king in 00:26:44.820 --> 00:26:52.020 First Kings 21. They become like their father, who with Jezebel, his wife, had the vineyard 00:26:52.020 --> 00:27:00.620 owner Naboth put to death in order to steal Naboth's vineyard. Just as these tenants here 00:27:00.619 --> 00:27:10.019 say, come, let us kill him. The exact same phrase, actually, that Joseph's brothers 00:27:10.019 --> 00:27:19.619 say about him in Genesis 37. It is not a crime of passion. This is premeditated murder. 00:27:19.619 --> 00:27:26.539 And right now, the action described in the parable as Jesus delivers it is taking place 00:27:26.539 --> 00:27:32.019 on the Temple Mount. See, that's what the parables do. They create the reality of which 00:27:32.019 --> 00:27:38.220 they're speaking. The tenants take the son, the beloved son, and they throw him outside 00:27:38.220 --> 00:27:47.619 the vineyard to die. For God so loved the world, he gave his only beloved son. And as 00:27:47.619 --> 00:27:52.700 Jesus is telling this parable, the religious leaders are plotting the execution of the 00:27:52.700 --> 00:28:06.539 son that will soon take place outside the Temple Mount, outside the city in disgrace. 00:28:06.539 --> 00:28:13.660 That's where our Lord makes our great salvation outside the camp, becoming sin for us that 00:28:13.660 --> 00:28:21.340 we might be brought into the kingdom of God. In one little remarkable parable, we see creation, 00:28:21.339 --> 00:28:28.899 fall, and redemption. Third and finally here, we have the Temple. It's significant, again, 00:28:28.899 --> 00:28:34.339 the context. Remember, Jesus is giving this parable amidst the vineyard in the walled 00:28:34.339 --> 00:28:41.779 city, in the Temple complex. And that's why he begins to mix metaphors of a vineyard and 00:28:41.779 --> 00:28:49.339 a temple here. In verse 40, Jesus asked the religious leaders, you know, in response to 00:28:49.339 --> 00:28:55.099 all this that you've heard in this parable, what do you think the owner of the vineyard 00:28:55.099 --> 00:29:03.779 will do? This is the aha moment. This is the way parables work so powerfully. They worm 00:29:03.779 --> 00:29:08.980 their way into your mind and explode before you realize what's happened. You know, think 00:29:08.980 --> 00:29:16.099 of Nathan's parable before David in 2 Samuel 12. You know, the wealthy man with many herds 00:29:16.099 --> 00:29:26.019 who kills the poor man to take his one lamb. Now, just hear me out, David, oh wise king, 00:29:26.019 --> 00:29:35.139 what would you do in a case like this? Well, surely he'd be put to death. Behold, David, 00:29:35.139 --> 00:29:43.579 you are that man. The owner of the vineyard will come and destroy and give to others. 00:29:43.579 --> 00:29:50.779 Verse 45, the religious leaders perceive that he was talking about them. Mighty perceptive 00:29:50.779 --> 00:29:56.379 they are. You see, the parables are, first of all, about what Jesus is doing right then 00:29:56.379 --> 00:30:03.740 and there in his ministry. What does Jesus say then? He says, the stones that the builders 00:30:03.740 --> 00:30:11.019 rejected has become the cornerstone. What does this mean? In rabbinic literature, the 00:30:11.019 --> 00:30:18.099 scribes, the elders are referred to as builders. They are the builders of Israel. How could 00:30:18.099 --> 00:30:25.299 builders reject the most important stone? Have you not read this in the scriptures? 00:30:25.299 --> 00:30:35.019 Jesus asks again, quoting from Psalm 118. How are you experts in God's law? He's saying. 00:30:35.019 --> 00:30:41.940 Again, remember where they are. Remember the context. They are in the temple precincts 00:30:41.940 --> 00:30:49.099 that Jesus Christ has taken over. He has cleansed the temple. He tells his disciples, if you 00:30:49.099 --> 00:30:56.420 say to this temple mountain, be thrown into the sea, it will happen. If you ask in prayer, 00:30:56.420 --> 00:31:02.259 you will receive if you have faith. That's not a timeless principle that we can apply 00:31:02.259 --> 00:31:07.019 to whatever thing we're interested in. But he's telling his disciples, if you really 00:31:07.019 --> 00:31:13.299 understood right now, you would tell the temple to be thrown into the sea because the temple 00:31:13.299 --> 00:31:24.379 is coming down. It served its purpose. We have no use for it anymore. I am here. Remember 00:31:24.379 --> 00:31:30.539 the question, who has authority to do these things? This is the answer you see. Christ 00:31:30.539 --> 00:31:38.859 says, I am the cornerstone. I am the temple. I am the sun. Now, what will the owner of 00:31:38.859 --> 00:31:46.500 the vineyard do? He comes to destroy the tenants. The religious leaders sought to destroy Christ, 00:31:46.500 --> 00:31:53.819 but instead they find they are destroyed. The physical temple itself is destroyed in 00:31:53.819 --> 00:32:02.259 year AD 70. The opportunity, in other words, for Israel as a holy nation, not as individuals, 00:32:02.259 --> 00:32:10.980 but as a holy nation to embrace Messiah has come and gone. The cornerstone that they rejected 00:32:10.980 --> 00:32:17.539 has crushed them into dust, the text says. Now, this applies first and foremost to the 00:32:17.539 --> 00:32:24.500 nation of Israel, but it also applies to all who reject the sun. And so God takes the unbelieving 00:32:24.500 --> 00:32:33.940 nation, he takes away from them his vineyard. He adds Gentiles to his vine. The outsiders 00:32:33.940 --> 00:32:41.220 become insiders. That's the familiar refrain of all the parables. The gospel goes out to 00:32:41.220 --> 00:32:48.140 all nations so that the visible kingdom of God in this age is his church composed of 00:32:48.140 --> 00:32:56.420 believing Jew and Gentile alike. The true vineyard, the true Israel of God. And so Christ, 00:32:56.420 --> 00:33:03.740 as the living temple, continues to build his church. As we read in 1 Peter 2, whereas Paul 00:33:03.740 --> 00:33:10.940 tells us in Ephesians 2, you are no longer strangers and exiles, he says, aliens. You 00:33:10.940 --> 00:33:17.820 are fellow citizens with the saints, members of the household of God, built on the foundation 00:33:17.820 --> 00:33:25.140 of the apostles and prophets with Christ himself, the cornerstone. The whole structure grows 00:33:25.140 --> 00:33:31.620 into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling 00:33:31.619 --> 00:33:42.259 place for God in the spirit. That's what we find, no physical temple. We find the spirit 00:33:42.259 --> 00:33:49.059 of God in dwelling all who belong to him. That's what we see. And we see it in our individual 00:33:49.059 --> 00:33:57.339 lives, don't we? But we see it especially on the Lord's day. We see it here as we gather 00:33:57.339 --> 00:34:04.740 together as God comes down to meet with us in spirit and truth through word and sacrament, 00:34:04.740 --> 00:34:14.259 as we worship the Son whose kingdom shall have no end. For all who receive the Son then 00:34:14.259 --> 00:34:23.579 are brought out of that desert, the ravine, the howling wastelands, the haunt of jackals 00:34:23.579 --> 00:34:31.819 that is exile, out of bondage, in death and slavery to sin and made to be tenants in 00:34:31.819 --> 00:34:40.299 the land. Not just tenants, you see, but coheirs with the Son. For all who receive 00:34:40.299 --> 00:34:50.340 him, receive his inheritance, all that he has becomes ours in the lush vineyard of our 00:34:50.340 --> 00:35:00.579 God. And we cannot then help but bear fruit as his life works through us. And so, loved 00:35:00.579 --> 00:35:12.460 ones, let us receive him. What a Savior. What a servant of the Lord who comes. In the name 00:35:12.460 --> 00:35:29.179 of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Let's pray. Our Father, our great patient 00:35:29.179 --> 00:35:36.780 and merciful owner of the vineyard who chose each and every vine individually for your 00:35:36.780 --> 00:35:45.500 own vineyard, we know, Lord, what we would do to the Son apart from your grace. We know 00:35:45.500 --> 00:35:52.060 that it was our crime against you that brought him to his death, but it was your love for 00:35:52.060 --> 00:35:57.460 us and his great love for us that sent him there. And it was your love and power that 00:35:57.460 --> 00:36:03.180 raised him from the dead. And so we ask that you would give us hearts to receive the promise 00:36:03.179 --> 00:36:09.739 that you make to us in the gospel, that we would trust in you, and that we would share 00:36:09.739 --> 00:36:17.019 your love for every outsider whom you have chosen in the Lord Jesus Christ, who rules 00:36:17.019 --> 00:36:34.059 and reigns with you in the Spirit, one God and three persons forever to be praised. Amen.