April 1, 2001 Luke 20:9-19
He went on to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. 10 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. 12 He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out. 13 “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’ 14 “But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. “What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When the people heard this, they said, “May this never be!”
17 Jesus looked directly at them and asked, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ”‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone’? 18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, (and) but he on whom it falls will be crushed.” 19 The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.
Desperate people do desperate things. Imagine, for instance, if you were dieing of a rare liver disease that there was no known cure for. If someone told you that they had a new treatment that would be a great risk to you - wouldn’t you take it? Most would. Desperate times call for desperate measures. You see examples of it every day.
Jesus was in a desperate situation. He had warned the teachers of the law and the chief priests time and again. He showed them he was the Christ. Their eyes and their ears told them the truth, but their hearts couldn’t be convinced. It was now Tuesday of Holy Week, and they were STILL questioning his authority. Just prior to this text, they interrupted Jesus’ teaching and brazenly asked, “who gave you this authority?” They still didn’t believe. Now was not the time to beat around bush. Jesus had to lay it on the line with them - put all the chips on the table and roll the dice. And so Jesus gave them this parable for today.
Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures
I. The desperate time
The parable that Jesus told is progressive. There is a progression in the violence of the farmers. If you’ll notice - the first servant they simply beat and send away empty handed. The second servant they beat and HUMILIATE and send away empty handed. The third servant they literally TRAUMATIZE - the same verb is used for what the demon did to the seven sons of Sceva - when he beat them so badly that they left the house bloody and naked. Then they sent him away. And then, finally, when the owner sends his son - they take his life. With every gesture of patience and kindness on the part of the owner, the farmers become more and more violent.
When Jesus told parables, the disciples were always asking him what they meant. Even the people didn’t often understand the meaning of them. But it seems that the chief priests and teachers of the law had no problem understanding them. They knew exactly what Jesus was portraying. He was summarizing the history of the spiritual leaders of the Jews. If you look at the history of the Bible - time and again you can see their violent acts against God’s prophets. Zechariah was stoned to death in the courtyard of God’s temple - ordered by the King. (2 Chron 4:21) Saul had 85 priests of the Lord murdered at once. (1 Sam 22) Uriah was murdered by King Jehoiakim. (Jeremiah 26) Jeremiah himself was beaten and put in stocks. Isaiah was thought to have been cut in two. The spiritual leaders were violent toward God’s prophets from beginning to end.
And what was the motivation behind all of this? Greed, wasn’t it? The farmers didn’t like the idea that the owner should ask for some fruits of HIS land back. They wanted to keep it all for themselves. In a spiritual way - this is what drove the spiritual leaders of the Jews. All they cared about was to have the POPULARITY of the people. As long as the people were happy - they could then get their HONOR and their POSSESSIONS. This was also the motivation behind the murder plot of Jesus. In John 11 they even admitted, If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.
How did the people respond to this? When the people heard this, they said, “May this never be!” Even the common people understood what Jesus was saying - and they were shocked that someone could be so greedy as to do such a thing to the Messiah - just for their own power! But should they have been shocked? People will do incredibly evil things out of selfishness. We witness it every day. How many of you don’t hear co-workers backstab each other and do whatever they can to get ahead in the company? The attitude of greed and self ambition makes work full of tension and hatred. The same thing happens at school. Instead of going through nine months of pregnancy, many women are saying, “I don’t want to put my body through that! This isn’t the right time. I’ll just terminate the pregnancy.” In other words, when it comes to a choice between their luxury and the life of their children, they choose to sacrifice their babies for their convenience and freedom. Greed and selfishness will do amazingly evil things. Just as the farmers were more and more violent - we are experiencing more and more violent times.
This shouldn’t shock us - because we also have that same greed and self ambition in our own hearts. The farmers didn’t like the idea that the owner should even want SOME of the fruit of his fields. God has every right to demand every penny that we earn - every minute of our lives to be dedicated to Him. If he wanted, he could demand that each and every one of us become missionaries or teachers and pastors. He could demand that we not get married and donate our full time and effort to the ministry. But God doesn’t do that. He allows us to serve at public jobs to the glory of His name. He allows us to have families and children and raise them to the glory of His name. He gives us the freedom to spend leisure time playing games and eating at nice restaurants. He doesn’t ask for ALL of our money - but only the first and best of what we have to offer. Since he owns it all - God has the right to ask this of us. Yet how often do we let our greed and selfishness get in the way of even this offering to God? When your teachers ask you to learn memory work - how many of you children complain and act like God is asking too much? When your parents ask you to do a chore or two around the house, how many of you act as if they are putting you to death? When God says in His Word that he wants the best of what you make, does that itch you wrong? A part of us thinks, “I don’t have the time - the money” - to pray to God - to give him my best. We say, “it’s my life - my decision!” That’s selfishness. That’s a part of the greed within us. When we let that get the best of us, we find ourselves becoming angry with our parents, our teachers, or our pastors - because we don’t like the idea of the owner wanting SOME of the fruits of his harvest. So it shouldn’t surprise us that the farmers would respond like that.
II. The desperate call
What should surprise us is the reaction of the owner. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Instead of killing the farmers right away - which is what they deserved - he sent TWO OTHER servants to try and receive some fruit from them. It was a dangerous situation that was only getting worse. But then - he goes beyond all logic and decides to send his own son - whom he LOVED - to try and talk with the farmers. What owner would be so patient? What owner would be so loving? None. Any normal land owner would have killed them after their first strike. But the love of God isn’t logical. Moved by his deep love and mercy he decided to send his son. It was a final desperate act to try and save them. That is the shocking thing!
So here Jesus was - living the parable. The Son of the owner was standing amongst the greedy tenants. He knew what they were plotting to do. But instead of sending them to hell right on the spot - Jesus warned them with a very CLEAR parable. The love of God in this instance is shocking - that Jesus would even bother warning them with this parable. If I knew someone was plotting my murder, I certainly would have a hard time saving His life. That’s how much Jesus cared! He still wanted them to see their sins and their need for his crucifixion.
But what did the teachers of the law decide to do? The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. They KNEW the meaning of the parable - and yet in the hardness of their hearts they were all the more determined to see the parable come true. Instead of taking the warning - they were all more determined to try and STEAL the inheritance from God. They took the mercy of God and shoved it right back in his face! Shocking! But the MOST shocking thing in this whole story - is that Jesus KNEW they would try to kill him - and he LET them. Why? So that he could DIE for THEIR sins. Instead of condemning them on the spot, Jesus put their sins on His shoulders and died for them. That’s incredible. We just can’t understand such amazing grace.
The people just couldn’t believe that someone could be so cold. And so Jesus continued to use the only thing that could bring them to faith - He quoted Psalm 118. Our text says -
Jesus looked directly at them and asked, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ”‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone’? 18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, (and) but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”
Notice what Jesus does - He looks them RIGHT in the EYE. He’s not messing around here. Jesus quoted a well known Psalm that the people were used to singing - maybe they sang it every day - like the songs of our liturgy. It very clearly says that the BUILDERS - the religious leaders - would REJECT the capstone. The capstone was the corner of the building by which all other bricks were to line up. If it was ajar, the building would be weak and collapse. As a result of that - their whole house would fall. It was predicted. It would happen. The chief priests and the teachers of the law would be dethroned and condemned because of their selfish and greedy rebellion. Jesus said, “look, this was clearly predicted in Psalm 118. Don’t doubt it - the Word even predicted it!” Just as Jesus warned the chief priests and teachers of the law - so Jesus was warning the people. He didn’t want them to fall into the same trap!
Did it work? Luke 23 says that when Jesus was before Pilate - the chief priests, the rulers AND THE PEOPLE shouted with one voice, “crucify him!” They too didn’t listen to this last ditch effort of Jesus to rebuke them. And so - what happened? Jesus said, “What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” He also warned - Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and he on whom it falls will be crushed.” Many of the chief priests and their followers died in unbelief - eternally broken off from the love of God. It wasn’t that God didn’t try. It wasn’t that He didn’t care. He cared so much to send His only son not only to WARN them, but also to even DIE for them. But instead of believing, they only rejected Him as the Messiah.
III. The desperate result?
It’s a sad parable - but it has good news at the end, doesn’t it? Look at what the owner does with the vineyard. Instead of just doing the work himself and enjoying the fruit for Himself - what does he do? He GIVES the vineyard to OTHERS! We are those “others” that God decided to give the vineyard. When the Jewish people and their spiritual leaders rejected Christ - God sent Paul to the Gentiles. God took the care of the vineyard from them - and put it in our hands
Let’s be real about the situation now. It’s not that we were God’s first choice or anything. He went out to the highways and the byways and found the biggest losers on earth - the least of the least - the worst of sinners - to take care of his vineyard! So here we are! God has given us the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He has given us the righteousness of Christ. He has given us the Holy Spirit. He has given us our abilities and told us to reach out to lost souls. Talk about throwing pearls before swine! Instead of giving up, God in his mercy decided to give us - the Gentile swines - charge of His vineyard. It’s scary, isn’t it?
So how will we respond? Several years ago a popular movie by the name of “Saving Private Ryan” came out. A mother had four sons who had all been sent to fight in World War Two. Three of the four sons had died, and so a frantic search was made to find the fourth son. The sergeant who was in charge led a platoon of men to find the young man - Private Ryan. Finally, he found him. In the midst of battle, the sergeant was wounded - and sat kneeling before Private Ryan. Very faintly he said to him, “earn this!”
We could never earn the eternal salvation that Christ won for us. He doesn’t want us to earn it. He doesn’t ask us to earn it. But Jesus did go through hell for you. The Holy Spirit tore the devil’s grip from your soul - and gave you faith in Christ. Unworthy as you and I are, God has put much time and effort into US. He prepared a wonderful vineyard of God’s grace from you to eat from and enjoy! He gave you a solid foundation to go through life and death with. He went through desperate measures to make you His child. He patiently waited through your disobedience and rebellion. And now you stand before God’s throne as sinners robed in the righteousness and holiness of Christ. What a gift of God! You could never earn such a gift. But you can appreciate it. By God’s grace - you can use such a gift. You can produce the fruit that God enables you to. Or, like the Jews, you can abuse such a gift. You can tell God, “this is MY body! This is MY life! This is all MINE!” In other words, like the chief priests and teachers of the law, you can have the vineyard torn from your grip and given to someone else. There’s only two things you can do with a bad example. Either you can follow it, or learn from it. I don’t have to tell you what to do. You KNOW what to do. Amen.
