Luke 20:9-19. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on August 23, 2015.
The materials that are used in a building project are a critical factor. If they are not of good quality they can affect the looks, durability, and especially the safety of the structure. This is important because God has been building a structure Himself. However, this structure is not made of wood or stones. It is made out of people who put their faith in Jesus. Yet, much like stones, they are being cut, shaped and placed next to other believers. This structure becomes a living temple, both as individuals and as a group, in which the Spirit of God dwells. Today we are going to see that our Lord, Jesus, is a critical stone in this structure. If we are thinking of a rectangular building then Jesus is the critical foundation stone. If we are thinking of a pyramid shape then he is the critical capstone. Another critical stone in architecture can be seen in the keystone of an arch. The center stone becomes the one thing that holds all the others up. God has made Jesus the most critical part of this structure we can refer to as the Kingdom of God. He is that one thing that holds all the others up. When we reject the authority of Jesus, like the religious leaders of his day did, we do so to our own folly. They were more interested in asserting and defending their own authority than to recognize the authority that God had given Jesus.
In Luke 20 we are in the last week leading up to the cross. Jesus is in the temple compound teaching daily. The religious leaders have challenged the authority of Jesus to kick out the merchants. Though Jesus turned them away with his own challenge regarding the authority of John the Baptist, in verse 9-19 he turns to the people and shares a parable that is intended to be heard by those leaders.
In this parable there is a vineyard that is owned by a certain man. Jesus is clearly using Isaiah 5:1-7 as a background to this parable. In that passage God tells Isaiah that Israel is like a vineyard that God planted to grow good grapes. Yet, it kept producing wild grapes. Thus the vineyard is not so much Israel as a national entity, but rather, the kingdom of God’s people who had been drawn together under His leading. God’s purpose in drawing the children of Jacob into this kingdom was to bring forth good fruit.
In the story the vineyard is put in the charge of certain vinedressers, we will get to them in a bit. At harvest time the owner would send servants to check on the fruitfulness of the vineyard and to bring back a sample of the fruit. But these servants were beat and turned away by the vinedressers. So who are these servants? The servants are the prophets that God periodically sent to Israel to both check on the fruit and to instruct them on how to be more fruitful. In 2 Chronicles 36:15-16 it is recorded, “And the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of god, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy.” This testimony of how Israel rejected the prophets when they spoke is sad. Notice that God uses the phrase, “rising up early,” of Himself. It means that He was faithful and diligent to do a good job of trying to help them be fruitful. This phrase is used by Jeremiah (the prophet that prophesied during the destruction of Jerusalem) 7 different times. Although this parable only mentions the servants being beaten, we know from the Old Testament that many of them were put to death as well.
Finally the owner, God, reaches an impasse. “What shall I do?” We see here the perplexity and difficulty that God has with trying to help mankind. No matter how faithful and diligent He is, we tend to reject Him and go after others. So the owner determines to send his beloved son. Surely they will respect the owner’s son. Of course the Beloved Son is none other than Jesus. Here we see that Jesus the Messiah is much more than another prophet (i.e. servant of God). He is prophet, priest, and king. He is the one ruler from whom all proper authority finds its authenticity. Clearly the parable shows that this is a last resort option of the owner, God.
Now let’s deal with the vinedressers. They are the leaders of Israel who have been given authority over the vineyard, but for the purpose of growing good grapes. Yet, they have abused their authority. Instead of pruning, irrigating, and fertilizing the vineyard, they had used it for their own purposes and for their own promotion. So in the parable the vinedressers do not respect the owner’s son. Instead they conspire to kill him in order to keep the vineyard for themselves. Regardless of how they thought they would get away with it, this clearly demonstrates that Jesus knew they would kill him. They rejected his authority and even more would seek to remove him. In John 7:7 Jesus says to his brothers, “The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify of it that its works are evil.” Though the religious leaders would justify their rejection of Jesus through pious and noble justifications, Jesus makes it clear the real reason they were rejecting him. He exposed their wickedness.
Though the vinedressers have had their way with the servants of the owners and now with His Beloved Son, they will not get away with it. What will God do? God will judge Israel’s leaders and put the vineyard in the hands of others. His purpose is not just to create a people, but to create a people who bear good fruit. The religious leaders were content to just be a people. But they didn’t fear God enough to recognize that it wasn’t good enough to just bear His Name. They had to produce righteousness that was worthy of the character of God. Yes, Israel as a nation is going to be destroyed, and in so doing, the political and religious leaders of Israel will lose their place in the vineyard. Yet, there is still some good clusters of grapes (the faithful remnant). The faithful believers who attached themselves to Jesus and who will produce good fruit, are plucked up and sent into the nations as a new group called the Church. They are put under new vinedressers: Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, and Pastors and Teachers. Let me just pause to give warning to those of this age who are in positions of religious authority. You have a duty before the owner of these people to exercise your authority in such a way as to increase the fruit of righteousness. Just as God judged the religious leaders in Israel, so He will judge those who abuse their authority in His Church. Do not be deceived, God will not be mocked for long until His judgment comes to bear on wicked leaders.
In Matthew’s account of this interaction (Mt. 21:43) it is clear that Jesus makes the parable very explicit. He flat out states, “Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.” Of course the religious leaders do not like this and respond with great incredulity and raging anger. This categorical rejection of the idea that God would remove them from leadership and put others in charge shows that they are not interested in the proofs of the authority of Jesus. They cannot even conceive of the idea that God would judge them. In a sense they see this as blasphemy. Be careful that you do not confuse statements against your actions as the same as statements against God. In so doing you can blind yourself to the merciful attempts of God to turn you away from a wicked path. Even today the idea that God might hold pastors and leaders of the Church accountable through judgment and removal is unthinkable to many. In many places throughout the Church in the USA we are producing wild grapes and slapping a “God approves” sticker on it. But this is folly.
Jesus reminds the leaders of Psalm 118. Now this is the same Psalm from which the people were quoting when they cried, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosannna!” It is a messianic Psalm that is very interesting to read. The same Psalm that blesses the coming of the messiah states, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.” Jesus asks them what could it mean, but that the leaders would actually reject the very messiah that God was making the central stone in His work. The Psalm also warns those who would stand against God’s plans. They will be destroyed if they insist on standing against Him. We can often be very blind to things in God’s Word because we can’t conceive of their possibility. How we ought to humble ourselves and have enough respect of God to recognize that we have a place in His kingdom only by His grace. If we eat up His grace and use it to produce sour grapes, will this be acceptable? Of course, not. God forgive us of using grace as a license for immorality and a license for using the Church for our own purposes. The messiah was and still is today a stone that is rejected not just by the world, but also by many within the Church itself.
Jesus says that this rock will trip people up and grind others to powder. This alludes to Isaiah chapter 8. There we are told that the cornerstone of God (Jesus the messiah) would be a rock of offense. The rock is first and foremost a stone of stumbling. It is intended to cause those who are oblivious to their sin and looming judgment to trip over it. Though they may injure themselves in the fall, they can at least now have their eyes opened and repent. They can come to trust the ways of Jesus and not their own. However, those who reject even this mercy will be ground into powder in a final judgment of God. We see this in Daniel chapter 2 where the image that represents the kingdoms of this world is struck by the rock of God. It grinds the kingdoms of this world to powder and fills the whole earth. Let us recognize that God loves us too much to let us blindly walk in wickedness. He is faithful to trip us up and try to get our attention. But eventually judgment will fall on those who reject His attempts to get us to turn from our wicked ways and turn towards the truth of His Beloved Son.
There was no repentance in the souls of the religious leaders of that day. Yes, there were a few like Nicodemus. But, most of them hated what Jesus was, a blinding light exposing their wickedness. They will go on to fulfill the words of the parable even while rejecting the truth of it. The book of Revelation mentions 4 times that the people did not repent in the face of the increasing outpouring of God’s wrath. God’s judgment always comes in birth pangs. They are increasing in pain and closer together. This is to give us fair warning and plenty of time to change. Do you not see the birth pangs all around us today? God has been faithful to send his servants and yet our nation has beat them and sent them away. God has been faithful to give us warnings militarily, economically, and even in our weather. But we still refuse to repent as a nation. Friend, please recognize that this world has a sin problem. Even when the truth is staring us in the face, we not only refuse to see it, but we also try to kill it out of anger and hatred. The only way to save yourself from the coming judgment is to flee in faith to Jesus Christ. Give your life to trusting Him and learning from Him how to please God.