Vineyards
Both our readings this morning reference vineyards. They are common in Israel, everyone would know what a vineyard was and probably quite a bit about how they operate. They are increasingly common in this country too, probably due to global heating. So for once the scriptures might be getting easier to explain than harder. When we are on holiday, we like to visit a vineyard or two, because the tours are interesting, and there are usually samples included. If you do a vineyard tour you will soon be aware that looking after a vineyard is hard work, in England they need a south facing slope, with the right type of soil, careful selection of the grapes to be grown and at harvest time a lot of human labour.
Vineyard in Isaiah
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Some of the places we visit also have their own presses, just like the vineyard described in the Isaiah reading. That represents a significant investment, so the owner must have been convinced that there would be a good crop. The vineyard is protected from the worst of the weather by a hedge (v5) and the ground has been cleared of stones. Nothing should prevent a good crop. Now if this were a real vineyard, perhaps we would talk to Monty Don or Bob Flowerdew, but it isn’t, it is an analogyfor the state of Israel.
“The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.”
God had done everything possible to ensure a good crop – a healthy society where justice prevails, but what he found was no different to anywhere else. It remained like the ‘wild west’ to use a completely different analogy, where the poor were taken advantage of and the leaders did as they pleased.
So, He will let it go back to the wilderness it came from.
And He will do something else.
The something else
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In the NT reading the something else that God will do, is in progress. Jesus is telling them a parable, to help them understand where they are as a society in Gods plan.
He uses the vineyard as His analogy. This should have connected His listeners to the OT passages that they would have been so familiar with, like our reading from Isaiah.
The parable.
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In the parable, the landowner is God, He planted a vineyard, the Israelites, and protected them from the surrounding peoples, gave them a good land with all they needed to prosper. He rented the vineyard to some farmers, the leaders of the Israelites, the chief priests and Pharisees, and sent his servants, the prophets to observe and ensure there was good fruit to collect. But the leaders beat them and killed them. So He sent more and they suffered the same fate. Finally, He sent His Son. “They will respect my son” he said.
They didn’t.
Jesus, here, is predicting his death, and also, indirectly claiming to be God’s son. “So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.”
Then what will God do?
The crowd in the temple courts are loving the drama, and are responding like the best pantomime audience. Surely they are aware that Jesus is talking about their leaders, if they are this isn’t for fun, this is for real.
““He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they respond. And He will find decent tenants.
Capstone
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Jesus changes direction a little, but is still addressing the chief priests and the Pharisees. He quotes Psalm 118:22-23. The psalm is most probably about Israel, rejected and hated by all those around them, yet chosen by God to be the most important nation, in bringing His ways to the world. The fact that God has done this is truly marvellous.
However, the leaders will be aware that they have not and are not doing the things that God expects of them. They are not producing fruit, either within Israel or outside it. Their only concern is for themselves and their religious practices. As a result the kingdom of God will be taken away and given to others, who will produce fruit.
The stone – Daniel
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Verse 44 may refer to Daniel 2:35 which is theend of the description of the King’s dream “Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.”
The iron, clay, bronze, silver and gold, are other kingdoms overrun by later kingdoms, but finally the stone is God’s kingdom that fills the whole earth and is not defeated.
How to react
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The chief priests and the Pharisees understand all this and much more, they know that Jesus is talking about them. How will they react? How would we react in their situation? There is a chance here for repentance. God has been patient with the nation of Israel over many centuries as their leaders have repeatedly abandoned Him and ignored His ways. Now there is another chance, perhaps a final chance.
Perhaps in the ‘street theatre’ setting repentance is difficult, but once away from the public gaze a change may have been possible. Nevertheless, they choose to continue in their ways and as a result bring the rejection of Jesus and His death that He has just predicted closer.
Debating with the chief priests and Pharisees
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Throughout the gospels we read of many similar ‘debates’, if that is the right word, between Jesus and the Israel’s leaders like the one we have looked at this morning.
One sermon I read suggested that Jesus kept on with these because He was hoping that they would eventually repent. God has been patient with them, and under the circumstances kind to them.
Paul says in Romans 2:4 “do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?”
Subjects in the Kingdom of Heaven
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Most of us would count ourselves as followers of Jesus, or subjects in the Kingdom of heaven, or those saved by Jesus from our sins.
“If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”, it says in Ro 10:9.
So, if we count ourselves as subjects in the Kingdom of heaven, then these passages should act as a warning to us. When have we not shared the fruit that we have produced with others, or when have we produced bad fruit. It’s no longer enough to blame our leaders because Peter says (1 Pe 2:5) “you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
As the prophet Micah says:
“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
So let’s take a moment to reflect and see where we have ignored God, produced bad fruit, or kept the good fruit we should have been paying to the owner.
Amen.
