Sermon: The Vineyard of the Lord

Jesus is in Jerusalem. It’s the week leading up to his crucifixion on Friday. On Sunday he’d entered Jerusalem as king and very soon afterwards entered the Temple. In the Temple he discovers that the place set aside for gentiles to worship has been given to money changers. Jews who lived too far away from Jerusalem to bring sacrificial animals with them, were permitted by the law to bring money to the Temple and buy animals to sacrifice there—but not with Roman coin. You could only use the special temple currency. So you exchanged your money, bought your sacrificial animal, gave it to the priest who then made your offerings and/or sacrifices. But all of this exchanging and purchasing was going on in the court of the Gentiles—the one place where Gentiles were permitted to stand in the Temple and worship YHWH.
    
Most Jews were not upset by this because despite the fact that God clearly called Israel to be a light, a beacon, to other nations, to draw gentiles to God, they, in general, despised Gentiles and did all in their power to avoid contact with them.
Jesus is enraged. He makes a whip and drives the moneychangers out.
But this is not just an attack on the money changers. Nothing happens in the Temple without permission. The money changers could only be in the court of the gentiles by the permission of the chief priest, teachers of the law and elders. So Jesus when Jesus overturns the money changing tables, he also threatens to undermine the religious authorities of the Temple.  
    
And the religious authorities get it. Verses 1-2 of chapter 20 read:

“One day as he was teaching the people in the temple courts and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this authority?”

 Jesus as he often does, answers their question with a question. Tell me whether John the Baptist was a real prophet and I’ll tell you by what authority I do these things. What’s the logic behind this challenge? The text tells us: “5They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?‘6But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet.”
    
The brilliance of Jesus’ question isn’t immediately apparent unless you remember that John preached that Jesus was the one sent from God to be king—the one who would baptize the people with the Spirit and with fire. For some it would be the fire of judgment for others, a cleansing, purifying fire. 
    
So to recognize John as prophet is also to recognize Jesus as Lord. And that would have serious ramifications for the temple priesthood. John’s prophecy of the King who comes with fire refers specifically to Malachi’s vision of the Lord coming to the temple:

“Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.” (Malachi 3:1-3)

When Messiah comes, he’s going to cleanse the temple and the priesthood.
    
We don’t know our bibles very well compared to first century people, so we have to work to make these connections. But when Jesus asks the priests what they thought of John, they understand immediately, that their position and their destiny rests on their answer. And what do they do? 
    
They punt. “We don’t know.” That answer is not good enough. Everyone on earth must make a decision about Jesus. Is he Lord? And that decision will determine your destiny.
    
Jesus doesn’t let them get away with a punt. Alright you don’t know, neither will I tell you where my authority comes from. But, I will tell you a story. 
    
Verse 9 reminds us that this confrontation does not happen in a secret. Jesus is in the temple courts surrounded by a crowd. He directs his story to them, but his audience is a wider one.
    
“A man planted a vineyard,”. This opening line tells the crowd that the story is not about a vineyard. In Isaiah chapter 5, God plants a vineyard. He waters it, sets a hedge around it, puts up watchtowers, cares for it, but despite the best conditions and most skilled cultivation, the vineyard bares bitter fruit.
The vineyard is Israel. God planted Israel in the land, gave them material blessing and protection from their enemies, yet they worshiped other gods, disobeyed his law oppressed the poor, despised the widow. And so God says through Isaiah. I am removing my hedge and watchtowers and blessings. Every Jew is familiar with this story.
    
But Jesus changes it. The master rents his vineyard to farmers and goes away for a long time. The farmers are to cultivate the vineyard and live off of its fruit. Their rent is simply to give the master a portion the fruit when asks for it. It is a very good deal. They live off of vines they did not plant in exchange for fruit that is not their own.
    
Over time they grow to resent the master. Our hands cultivate the vineyard. Our sweat brings makes the fruit grow. The vineyard should be ours. And so “10..at harvest time he [the owner] 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.” And he is only the first. The master sends more servants, hoping to persuade the farmers to give what they owe and each is beaten and thrown out. 
    
God sends prophet after prophet to the kings priests and leaders of Israel—turn from false gods, turn from oppressing the poor and the widow, be the light of the gentiles, be holy, draw all nations to YHWH. Give glory and honor and obedience to him. And each prophet is despised and cast out ending finally with John the baptist.
    
We must pause here. Each of us needs to ask. Do I think the vineyard belongs to me? What do I do when I hear the master call me clearly in scripture, through a sermon, in bible study to do to turn over the fruit of his vineyard; to turn from something that I want to keep; to give up what I treasure; to go when I want to stay; to stay when I want to go. Do I beat or ignore or neglect the messengers God sends me?
    
The master has endured the defiance of the farmers without retaliation.  They’ve beaten his servants, they’ve stolen his vineyard. They want to take his place. They are rebellious, corrupt, greedy and violent.

13"Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do?”

I wonder if Jesus paused here. If I were in the crowd I would’ve said, ” Well, for one, you could stop with the messenger thing.” That is obviously not working. Send some guys with baseball bats. Take the vineyard back..

“I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’

What? What are you thinking? If they don’t respect your servants, why do you think they’ll respect your son? If you want the fruit of the vineyard, go in there, get rid of the farmers and take it. 

Unless, I suppose, the master of the vineyard doesn’t really care about the fruit?

Maybe the master doesn’t need fruit. Fruit doesn’t seem to be his concern. I mean he’s sending servant after servant to persuade these stiff necked farmers to release their stranglehold on the vineyard and give the fruit they owe, you’d almost think that his real concern is not the fruit but the farmers and the vineyard. Maybe his desire is for them.
    
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.’ 15So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.”
    
The irrational thing about it is that the farmers already had the fruit and the vineyard. They were living off of it. The master gave everything that they needed—all the fruit they wanted. But the problem is, it’s not really the fruit. They want to be the master. So they beat his servants and kill his Son.
    
What an illustration of the human problem. “This is our world.” “This is our country.” “This is my church.” “This is my pew.” “This is my body.” “This is my money.” “This is my time.” “This is my future.” “My car.” “My house.” The inheritance is mine.
    
God says turn to me. Seek me. Love me. Put me first and I will give you what you need. You’ll be my children. All that I have will be yours.
The answer: No thank you. We just want all you have. We don’t want you. 
That was the message humanity delivered to God at the cross. Jesus anticipates it. Predicts it here. Knows it. Is ready for it. And willingly goes to it because the master has a message too. My grace is more powerful than your sin. My blood that you spill is like launderers soap and refiners fire. My love for you is more powerful than your hatred of me.
    
The chief priests, teachers of the law, the elders and the crowd refuse it. They have refused it all along and they will continue to refuse it.
Hearts are hard.

“What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” 

The vineyard is for those who love the Master and put their trust in his Son—be they Jew or Gentile, slave or free. There is no “gentile court” in the Jewish temple. Jesus is the Temple. All who trust in him and love him are free to enter and live and let no one put up any barriers.
  
But for those who reject him there can be nothing. 

“17…what is the meaning of that which is written: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone? 18Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”

This is warning and promise. Jesus says to Jerusalem, Jesus says to the world. Jesus says to you. I have come to give you life. I am that life. There is no life, there’s nothing, apart from me but stolen grapes that may seem sweet but will rot and fester and lead to death. 

Application

Prayer

Share This