The Vineyard Of The Lord

In Jesus Holy Name October 5, 2020

Text: Isaiah 5:7 Redeemer

The Vineyard of the Lord

There are times I really appreciate a fine wine. A good Cab with a steak or a soft Merlot with pasta. Great wines are a product of great care. A great winemaker is always concerned about his vineyard. Throughout the year he provides the greatest care. It is a year long process to produce the perfect grapes, the perfect wine. He takes care of his vines with proper pruning, proper fertilizer and water. With the right amount of sun he constantly checks the sugar content before the harvest. A great winemaker is in love with his vineyard. He takes care of his vineyard in order to have the best possible wine.

Isaiah 5 is called The Song of the Vineyard. As the song goes on, it is clear that the farmer loves his vineyard. In Isaiah 5 God is the vineyard owner and the children of Israel and men of Judah are the garden of His delight. God has cared for them through the centuries, from Egypt to the Promised land. Everything is done with great care and love. Isaiah writes: The farmer puts his vineyard on a high hill, which is Jerusalem.

In Isaiah, God was the caretaker of this vineyard. Despite careful attention from the vinedresser (cf. Isaiah 5:4), the vineyard produced only “wild grapes.” The vineyard’s failure to produce better fruit forced the owner to remove his attentiveness (cf. Isaiah 5:5-6). The result was the exile to Babylon. If the land was unable to produce with proper care, what would it do without it?

Nothing was spared to make it fruitful. As many vineyards were planted in rocky and hilly soil, the exertion to gather up the stones and to terrace the vineyard with them demonstrated how hard God had worked with Israel. The Isaiah passage tells us that after God had done the toil of establishing the vineyard. He had hired laborers to care for his vineyard. The labors were the teachers of the faith.

I know we think the outlandish banter between our political parties is terrible. But Jesus has been dealing with the Pharisees and their constant haranguing for three years. They said he wasn’t a real Rabbi. They said: He healed people by the power of Satan. He broke their precious rules which they believed earned them peace with God. Jesus said: "The Scribes and the Pharisees...preach, but do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy burdens, (which are) hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them (those burdens) ... Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces.”

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, (In other words, you appear righteous and clean) but inside you are full of greed and self-indulgence... Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness... You have turned God’s house of prayer into a place for your own profit. He drives them out! With more than strong words!

In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 21, The Palm Sunday parade is over. It is Holy Week. Jesus has healed the blind and lame so they could enter the temple. Early in the next morning, Jesus goes to the temple courts to teach (21:23). While He is teaching, the chief priest and elders confront Him, “By what authority do you have the right to teach and heal here in the Temple”?

This exchange between Jesus and the chief priests and elders is set in Jerusalem near the end of Jesus' ministry. The crowds have gathered. Jesus told the best stories. Everyone could understand …farming, masonry, baking, shepherding, finding pearls of great price, making wine. Some just wanted to see another confrontation between Jesus and the Temple authorities. A crowd always gathers to see the school yard fight. (Bad Habits of Jesus Leonard Sweet p. 72) . Jesus then further frustrates the priests by telling two parables: the first one is the Parable of the Two Sons, and the second is the Parable of the Vineyard.

(some phrases from Professor of Biblical Studies Messiah College Grantham, PA)

Culturally, the leasing of land to tenant farmers was a common experience in the first century. Landowners could expect tenants to turn over (a portion of) the crop (cf. 21:34). Those who failed to meet the landowner’s standards would be removed from the land and landowning elite could usually pay others to remove them forcefully if necessary.

In reality, many in Jesus’ audience would have understood the experience of the farmers all too well. If they chose not to “pay” the landowner, as was the case in Jesus’ parable, the landowner would find new tenants (cf. 21:41) without doubt.