PARABLES OF JESUS ǀ THE TENANTS
Scott Bayles, pastor
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 3/2/14
Most of us are pretty familiar with product warning labels. It seems like almost everything has a warning label on it today. I recently came across some actual warning labels that really make you question the intelligence of American consumers:
A Vidal Sassoon hairdryer: DO NOT USE WHILE SLEEPING.
The label on irons says:
WARNING! NEVER IRON CLOTHES WHILE WEARING THEM.
iPod Shuffle actually has a warning that says:
DO NOT EAT IPOD SHUFFLE
Nabisco™ Easy Spread Cheese announces on its label:
FOR BEST RESULTS REMOVE CAP.
Auto-Windshield sun visor bears the reminder:
DO NOT DRIVE WITH SUNSHADE IN PLACE
The label on a Dremel Rotary Tool says:
THIS PRODUT IS NOT INTENDED FOR USE AS A DENTAL DRILL.
A warning label on a pair of Superman pajamas:
WARNING! THIS GARMENT DOES NOT ENABLE WEARER TO FLY.
A warning label, however obvious the warning may be, is designed to keep us from harm. On the Sunday before the crucifixion, Jesus was welcomed by the cheers of the people and, over the next few days, He taught openly in the temple courts. But everywhere he turned, those pesky Scribes and Pharisees were there to oppose him, challenge him, and plot against him. And so Jesus provides a sort of “warning label” in the form of a parable about a landowner and some tenant farmers. Here’s what he says:
“A man planted a vineyard and leased it to some farmers. Then he went away for a long time. When it was time for the grapes to be picked, he sent a servant to the farmers to get some of the grapes. But they beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed. Then he sent another servant. They beat this servant also, and showed no respect for him, and sent him away empty-handed. So the man sent a third servant. The farmers wounded him and threw him out. The owner of the vineyard said, ‘What will I do now? I will send my son whom I love. Maybe they will respect him.’ But when the farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This son will inherit the vineyard. If we kill him, it will be ours.’ So the farmers threw the son out of the vineyard and killed him. What will the owner of this vineyard do to them? He will come and kill those farmers and will give the vineyard to other farmers.” (Luke 20:9-16 NCV)
When Jesus finished telling this parable, the Bible says, “The teachers of the law and the leading priests wanted to arrest Jesus at once, because they knew the story was about them” (Luke 20:19 NCV). For many years now these religious leaders practiced a godless religion. Their rites, rules and rituals became a substitute for truly knowing God. They weren’t using the product for its intended purpose. But Jesus came to earth to show us what God is really like. In this parable, He reveals four foundational aspects of the nature of God—a warning label for anyone who thinks they don’t need God in their life. First, Jesus reveals God’s property.
• GOD’S PROPERTY
At the beginning of the parable, Jesus said, “A man planted a vineyard and leased it to some farmers” (vs. 9). That man, of course, is God. God is the owner. Only God doesn’t just own a nice little vineyard in the countryside. He owns everything!
Psalm 50:10 says, “For all the animals of the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills” (NLT). And, as Dave Ramsey says—he owns the hills too! In fact, the Bible says, “The earth belongs to God! Everything in all the world is his!” (Psalm 24:1 TLB). In other words, it’s His world, we’re just living in it! We don’t own anything, we’re just the tenants.
And do you know what else that means? It means, from the moment we set foot in this world, we owe a debt to God. We’re living on his planet, we’re breathing his air, and we’re eating his food. The clothes on your back—made from his cotton. The gas in your car—derived from his fossil fuels. You don’t even own you—the iron in your blood, the calcium in your teeth, and the carbon in your genes were produced by the stars that God stretched across the cosmos. God gives us our abilities. God gives us our resources. God gives us our skills and talents. God gives us opportunities. God gives us life and strength and energy. God gives us our homes and jobs and families. We owe him everything we have and everything we are—my life, my soul, my all belong to him.
The tenants in the parable, however, didn’t see it that way. When it came time to pay back a portion of the harvest—to give God his due—they refused. They thought, This is our vineyard. We till the soil. We tend the vines. We harvest the grapes. We don’t owe him anything. And, sadly, many people go through life with that very same attitude toward God. We’d rather not even think about God or what he’s done for us. We just go our own way, putting confidence in our own abilities to work out our own destinies. We proudly say, “It’s my life and I’m going to live it anyway I want.”
We forget that we are just tenants who live here in this world for a short time. God owns the vineyard, everything it contains, the world, and those who live in it. Thankfully, God doesn’t want to give up on us. He gives us plenty of time and opportunity to change our hearts. That leads us to the second aspect of God’s nature revealed in this parable—God’s patience.
• GOD’S PATIENCE
As the story continues, Jesus says that the land-owner sent three servants to collect the portion of the produce that rightfully belonged to him, and each time the tenants “beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed” (vs. 11).
Now, it’s important to remember that this parable was given specifically to the religious leaders of Israel. These messengers, therefore, represent the Old Testament prophets. In the Old Testament, God sent numerous prophets to Israel to warn them of the dangers of rejecting God authority over their lives. Most of the prophets were abused and hated when they were alive. Elijah was threatened by a wicked queen, Jeremiah was thrown into a pit to die, and Amos was scorned and ridiculed. The messages of the prophets were never valued until years after they died. Someone once said, “Prophets, poets, and pigs have one thing in common—they aren’t truly appreciated until they’re dead.”
But despite their miserable treatment, God continued to send his prophets—warning Israel to repent and return to God. God demonstrated surprising patience with them. Hasn’t he done the same for you?
Those times you used his name only when you cussed? God could have blown up at you. But he didn’t. He was patient.
Those thousand sunsets you never thanked him for? He could have put you beauty rations. But he didn’t. He was patient with you.
Those Sundays you strutted into church to show off your new dress or new shoes? It’s a wonder he didn’t strike you naked. But he didn’t. He was patient.
All those times you’ve spurned his affection, rejected his invitation, or accepted him with your lips but walked out that door and denied him by your lifestyle; surely God has ample reason to unleash his anger. But he doesn’t. Why? Because “God is being patient with you” (2 Peter 3:9 NCV).
In the 19th Century, before radio or television, people in America found entertainment by listening to orators. One of the most infamous was a gifted atheist by the name of Robert Ingersol. He traveled around the country delivering eloquent speeches on the irrationality of believing in God. He was the Richard Dawkins of his generation. One of his most dramatic ploys was to stand on stage and shake his fist toward heaven and say, “If there is a God, I dare Him to strike me dead in ten seconds!” Then he slowly counted to ten. Women fainted, and God-fearing people rushed for the exits, fully expecting God to send a fireball and consume Robert Ingersol. Of course, nothing happened. After completing his count, Ingersol challenged anyone in the audience to refute his logic. It is reported, in one small Midwestern town, an old, godly woman laughed out loud and said, “Mr. Ingersol, do you think you can exhaust God’s wonderful patience in just ten seconds?”
God’s patience really is wonderful. It’s not going to run out in ten seconds or ten centuries. In other words, God isn’t going to give up on you. He understands your faults and failings. He’s not only a God of second chances, but third chances and fourth chances too. He will give us every possible opportunity, to repent and return to him. Now, the third feature of God’s nature shows us just how far God is willing to go.
• GOD’S PERSISTENCE
As the story continues, even though his servants had been rejected and abused, the owner of the vineyard takes an astonishing, extraordinary measure: “The owner of the vineyard said, ‘What will I do now? I will send my son whom I love. Maybe they will respect him.’” (vs. 13).
Despite all that would happen—knowing what happened to the many servants who came before Him—God, because of His great love, sent His cherished Son to the earth. Can you comprehend that? There is only one God and He has only one Son, and He loves us so much He sent that only Son to reconcile our debt with Him. So what did we do? Did we run out to meet God’s Son and fall at His feet in surrender? No, like the vine-growers in the parable, we crucified the Son of God.
This parable not only highlights the truth about God’s character; it reveals the truth about the utter wickedness of the human heart. The tenants of the vineyard did not kill the owner’s son in the spontaneous heat of the moment; they made a calculated decision. They thought that by killing the son, they could claim ownership of the vineyard. That’s what is so amazing about God’s love. I am a sinner by nature and by choice, but God still loves me in spite of my sin. He loves you enough that He sent His Son to die for you. Even if you were the only sinner in the world, he still would have come—just for you. How can you resist that kind of loving persistence?
Years ago, in the early days of computers, the publishers of Time magazine were concerned about their declining circulation, so they designed a campaign to send out thousands of letters making an emotional appeal to potential subscribers. In the past, such mailings had been done manually, at a great cost in human resources, but IBM made a proposal to install a fully automated system that would print the letters, seal the envelopes, address them according to a selected database, stamp them and send them into the postal system without the letters ever being touched by a human hand. The huge system was installed with much fanfare and anticipation. However, as is often the case with computers, there was a glitch, and as a result a poor sheep-herder in Wyoming received 12,634 letters appealing to him to subscribe to Time magazine. The surprised shepherd, who didn’t ordinarily get much mail, opened the mail bags and started reading the letters. After opening a few dozen, he sent in a subscription order with a note that said, “I surrender!” That kind of persistence is hard to resist.
So is the kind of persistence that drove Jesus to the cross. There he demonstrated just how far God would go to win your heart. Sadly, that’s not the end of the story. The story doesn’t end with repentance and rejoicing. Rather, it ends with God’s punishment.
• GOD’S PUNISHMENT
At the end of the story, Jesus asks a question: “What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do to them?” (vs. 15). But before the listeners had a chance to respond, he answered His own question: “He will come and destroy these vine-growers and will give the vineyard to others” (vs. 16).
Now, this part of the parable, as with the rest of it, first applied to Israel. These religious leaders rejected Jesus and plotted his assassination. And because of their actions, God ended his covenant with Israel and allowed the Roman army to march on Jerusalem. The once-holy temple, the city itself, and everyone inside was destroyed. But with Jesus’ death, God began a new covenant open to anyone who would believe in him.
Thus, this prophetic parable was fulfilled.
Of course, the punishment of the Jews who rejected Jesus, points us toward an even more apocalyptic punishment looming on the horizon.
Earlier I mentioned 2 Peter 3:9: “God is being patient with you.” We cannot, however, overlook the verse that follows it: “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The skies will disappear with a loud noise. Everything in them will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be exposed.” (2 Peter 3:10 NCV).
God’s love and patience are infinite, but so is God’s holiness and justice. He simply cannot allow evil to continue forever. Who would want him to? And so there will be a day, sooner or later, when the King returns and destroys those who have rejected his Son. Peter uses cataclysmic terms when he says, “the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed” (2 Peter 3:7 NLT).
Paul Harvey’s For What It's Worth Department once heard of a great escape! Gary Tindle was in a California courtroom charged with robbery. He asked and received from Judge Armando Rodriguez permission to go to the bathroom. While the bathroom door was guarded, Mr. Tindle climbed up onto the plumbing and opened a panel in the ceiling. Sure enough, it was a dropped ceiling with a space. So he climbed up into the crawlspace and headed south. He'd gone thirty-some feet when the ceiling panels broke from under him and dropped him to the floor....right back into Judge Rodriguez's courtroom! It’s difficult to escape man’s judgment; it’s impossible to escape God’s.
Judgment Day is coming. There is no escaping it, no denying it. But thank God, that He’s warned us ahead of time.
Conclusion:
Warnings not to drive with a sunshade in place or use a Dremel for at-home dentistry may seem obvious and unnecessary, but all of us need to seriously consider Jesus’ warning. The earth and everything in it is God’s property—including you and me. And God is patiently waiting for us to figure that out. He even sent his Son to show just how far he would go to win our hearts! But if we continue to reject his persistent love and his ownership over our lives, punishment is waiting.
Invitation:
Maybe you’ve been holding back from God. Maybe you haven’t been ready to give him your life, your soul, your all. But when you consider what God has given you, his patience, and persistence—love so amazing, so divine demands nothing less. If you’re ready to surrender your life to God today, come talk with me while we stand and sing.
