Have you purchased anything lately that doesn’t have a warning label attached to it? It seems to me that everything now from artwork to zippers comes with warnings - some of them quite humorous. For example irons have warning labels that read: “NEVER IRON CLOTHES WHILE WEARING THEM”. If you rent a superman costume for Billy’s birthday party, the label will caution: “CAPE DOES NOT ENABLE USER TO FLY”. Apparently these warnings are necessary because not everyone uses their head when it comes to dangers that should be obvious. This morning Jesus urges us to use our head when it comes to spiritual matters. Through the Parable of the Tenants he warns: “ Don’t reject God’s claim on your life. Don’t reject God’s call to repent. And don’t reject God’s Christ for salvation.”
Jesus told the Parable of the Tenants on the Tuesday of Holy Week. He spent much of that day in the temple courts instructing the people in full view of the chief priests and teachers of the law. They, of course, felt threatened by this and demanded to know by whose authority Jesus taught. Part of Jesus’ answer to their question was the warning he gave through the Parable of the Tenants. In this parable Jesus spoke about a man who planted a vineyard and then rented it to sharecroppers before setting out on a long journey. When the time came for the harvest, the owner of the vineyard sent one of his servants to collect the part of the harvest that belonged to him. Instead of complying with his request, however, the sharecroppers beat up the servant and sent him away empty-handed.
It’s not very difficult to understand the meaning of this parable. The owner of the vineyard represents God the Father. The vineyard itself symbolized God’s people, Israel. And the sharecroppers were the leaders to whom God had entrusted his people. By saying that a man came and planted a vineyard, Jesus first of all reminded the Israelites that they had not volunteered to become God’s people. No, God had “planted” them. In the same way if we are part of God’s family through faith in Christ Jesus, it isn’t because we made some decision to become part of the family. No, God the Holy Spirit planted this faith in our hearts when he came to us through Word and Sacrament.
Now why did God do this? Why did he make the Israelites his people and bring us into his family through faith in Christ? It’s so that we would produce fruit. To put it another way, it’s so that we would live a life praising and glorifying God. What’s amazing about our sinful nature, though, is that when God demands our time, talents, and treasures we often react like the sharecroppers in the parable. We chase God away. But friends when God demands our time, talents, and treasures he’s only asking for what he deserves to receive from us – just as the owner of the vineyard deserved to receive fruit from the sharecroppers. After all, he had purchased the land, he had planted the vineyard, and as Matthew (21:33-46) and Mark (12:1-12) tell us, he had even built a fence around the vineyard, put up a watchtower there, and built a winepress in it. The sharecroppers could not claim that these things belonged to them and therefore were being arrogant and downright foolish when they sent away the owner’s servant empty-handed. In the same way we are arrogant and downright foolish when we reject God’s claim on our life, for everything we have comes from and belongs to God.
What happened to the wicked sharecroppers in the parable? Nothing – at least not right away. Instead of calling the police, the owner sent more servants to collect what belonged to him. The sharecroppers, however, treated these servants like the first one. They sent away each one empty-handed - beating some, killing others.
The servants in the parable represent the prophets God had sent his people. The prophets came to urge the people to put their trust in the promise of a saviour and to live the way God wanted them to live. Instead of listening to these prophets, however, God’s people persecuted them. For example tradition says that the people stoned the prophet Jeremiah, and that King Manasseh had the prophet Isaiah sawed in two.
How well do we listen to God’s messengers? When our pastor or fellow brother or sister in the faith points out a compromise we have made with our sinful nature, do we blow them off? Do we wonder what right they have to say such things and even misapply Jesus’ words “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Matt. 7:1) to excuse our sinful reaction? Instead of pushing away God’s messenger, think about why he has sent them to us. Isn’t it because God loves us? Isn’t it because he doesn’t want us to continue in our sin and end up his enemy through unholy living? Sure it hurts when others point out our sin. We would much rather have people tell us how great we are. But thank the Lord that he continues to send faithful messengers who warn us about our sinful attitudes and actions that can only tear us away from our Savior. Such messengers only have our eternal good in mind. Don’t reject them or their message!
As amazing as the sin of the sharecroppers was, the owner’s patience was even more remarkable. Even after the sharecroppers mistreated the army of servants he had sent them, the owner decided to try one more thing. He hoped things would be different if he sent them his son. Yet when the sharecroppers saw the son approaching they conspired to kill him thinking that they would then inherit the vineyard.
With these words Jesus showed the chief priests that he knew what they wanted to do with him. They figured that if they killed Jesus, they could hold on to their positions of power and prestige (Jn. 11:47-53). Jesus wanted them to know how wrong they were. By killing Jesus the chief priests would retain their positions of power for a while, but the day would come when they would have to stand before God and answer for their actions. Jesus wanted them to know that if they rejected him, God’s Son, no one was left to save them from their sins. Jesus quoted a familiar passage from Psalm 118 to drive this point home. He said, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone. Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed” (Lk. 20:17, 18).
Jesus is the capstone of our salvation. To put it another way, without him we do not have salvation. It’s as simple as that. What then will we do with Jesus? Will we put our faith in him and so find a rock of salvation, or will we reject him and find him to be a stumbling block? Jesus says that all those who stumble over him will be broken to pieces - a picture of judgment. But there are those who do more than just get tripped up by Jesus. Many actively campaign against him. On them he will fall, Jesus says, and crush them to pieces.
It’s interesting to note that Jesus first spoke these words to the Jewish religious leaders. Many people claim today that the Jews who say they believe in the Old Testament yet reject Jesus as the Messiah, will still go to heaven. That’s not what Jesus said. Friends don’t fall for the lies of the Devil. He wants us to believe that Jews, Christians, and even Muslims will all go to heaven because our religions have so much in common. But these religions have just about as much in common as do water and gasoline. Sure water and gasoline are both colorless liquids but if you fill your car up with water, or try to put a fire out with gasoline because you think the two are basically the same, you’re in a for a nasty surprise! So it is with those who think they will get away with rejecting Jesus as their saviour.
The fact that there are warning labels on just about everything we buy these days says something about our society. It says that we lack common sense. But because everything has a warning label no one should do things that are foolish like iron clothes while wearing them, or jump out of a second-story window wearing superman jammys. In the same way, Jesus wants us to know how foolish it is to reject his claim on our life. He wants us to consider how dangerous it is to ignore his messengers. And above all, he wants us to recognize that we will pay eternally if we reject him as our saviour from sin. Jesus warns us because he loves us. We know he loves us. Just think of how low he stooped to save us. He didn’t just lower himself into our world; he got down on his hands and knees to do things like wash the dusty feet of his quarrelling disciples, and then he bowed beneath the pressure of the cross. He did all this to lift us to heaven. That’s why Jesus deserves our praise and glory for he is the Rock of our salvation. Amen.
