"i Call It Like I See It" --Jesus Series

Background to passage, Matthew 21:33-45: Remember this is the last week of Jesus’s life (and with conversations like this, it’s not surprising). Do know that everything happened just as God foreordained from before the foundation of the world.

Jesus has been challenging the Jewish leaders from Monday when the crowds cheered him as the Messiah, as he cleared the temple, as they demanded he justify his authority, and today’s exchange is the most volatile yet. Jesus minces no words here. He lays blame and prophesies what is going to happen to them and to the kingdom.

Opening illustration: Erika and I like to watch medical dramas. Usually there is a component in some episodes that deal with hospital administration, sometimes with a board of directors, sometimes conflict within those groups, sometimes conflict with pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, makes for good drama. You may know that early hospitals were usually religious in their founding, living out the practical beliefs of Christians who cared for the poor, sick, and orphaned.

One of the oldest surviving hospitals is the Hospital of the Holy Innocents in Paris. It was founded in the 7th century by St. Landry, the Bishop of Paris. It was specifically founded "Christian charity dedicated to the shelter, spiritual comfort and treatment of the ailing poor."

Let’s suppose that the order of monks and nuns who were operating it became more concerned about the money that their donors and the church could give, and began lining their own personal pockets and cutting corners on treatments, doctors, medicines, at the expense of patient care. Then they were found out. The church and those in charge of the hospital would see it as a failure to ministry because of greed and give operations to others who would achieve the Christian origins of the hospital.

1) Entrusted with a Valuable Possession (v. 33)

Matthew 21:33 ESV

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.

1) Entrusted with a Valuable Possession (v. 33)

Explanation: From the time that Israel truly became a nation, God charged men to shepherd them. He often referred to the nation as His vineyard. These religious men, priests, Levites, prophets, and kings, were entrusted with the responsibility of watching over and laboring in the vineyards to produce fruit. Likewise in the parable, God, the Master of the house, had given his most valuable possession to these leaders to watch.

Ephesians 4:11–12 ESV

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,

12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

Illustration: When I went to Israel on an archeological dig, we went to Cairo, Egypt for three days (after three weeks of digging) to round out our trip and fly home. While we were there, we went to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities in Cairo. Of course, there were lots of art and archeology from Ancient Egypt, but one of the highlights was the exhibit for King Tut’s tomb. Among all the artifacts in the collection, his mask/headpiece was the superstar. The museum owned it, but they also had to protect it and share it with others. Encased in protective glass, little air contact, low light, no flash photography to best care for it and share it with others.

Application: So what about us? Glad we don’t have a nation that we have been entrusted with and will be held accountable for (although I believe we have responsibilities of our national citizenship). We have a more prized possession — the church of Jesus Christ! It is the body of believers that he gave his life for and will be with him forever. They (we) are his treasured possession.

Our stewardship is that of souls, the stewardship of disciples, the stewardship of the kingdom of Christ and his reign in the hearts and lives of believers. That’s what we are responsible for. That’s what we will be accountable for. We are to ensure that disciples are made, that maturity is reached, that the gospel is spread, that we are sharing the HOPE of Christ with all people. That’s the fruit required of the Master.

Committed to the church? Do you take responsibility for those around you? Yes, we have shepherds, but we are a kingdom of priests, not a separate order of mediators and guardians of all things religious. Do you share the gospel? The fruit required is that of faithfulness, not numbers.

We can’t only look at this individually, but corporately as a church. Do we feel an obligation to take care of our community? Do we feel an obligation to be a refuge of HOPE? Do we feel a desire to be a beacon of light and a gospel sharing force in the community? If your answer is yes, why do you say that? And if your reasons or evidence is legit, are you participating?