228. The Parable Of The Tenants"

Isaiah 5:1-7, Psalm 118:22-23, Matthew 21:33-46, Mark 12:1-12, Luke 20:9-19

Key Verse: "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes."

Psalm 118:22-23 Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10b - 11, & Luke 20:17

While the Isaiah passage is not a direct parallel to the parable that Jesus tells here, I included it because, chances are, His listeners, and certainly the leadership who were present, would be familiar with this passage. It was common for the land of Israel to be compared to a vineyard. And the actual lesson from the story of the vineyard in Isaiah is very similar to the lesson that God taught Jeremiah at the Potter's house. (Jeremiah 18:1-10)

God ends His parable of the vineyard in Isaiah by saying: "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." (Isaiah 5:7) Unfortunately, in Jesus’ day, seven hundred years later, the situation was not much different.

So, Jesus updated God's illustration from Isaiah. It serves as a teaching which includes the history of Israel up to Jesus' day. In this parable, God has still created a vineyard, but now, while the people of Judah are still the garden, Jesus focuses on the caretakers that have been entrusted with the care of the garden. This time, the garden is fruitful, but the overseers are greedy and don't want to yield the fruit to its proper owner. They want to keep it for themselves. They want to be in control, not God. They want to decide who is right and wrong, good and bad. They want to replace God in the eyes of the people by being the ones in control.

The servants that are sent, in the parable, represent Prophets who came, over time, representing God's interests, but the overseers just get rid of them in one way or another. Finally, God has sent His Son. It is Jesus telling the story, but the leadership has no more respect for Him than they did for any of the others God sent. In fact, after telling this parable, we learn that it so enraged the leadership that they are bent on getting rid of Him, just like the overseers, or tenants in Jesus' story. The story of the vineyard is the story of the history of God and Israel in a nut shell.

Mark and Matthew then have Jesus responding by quoting Psalm 118:22-23 directly, but Luke has Jesus add a bit of commentary. "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?" Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed." (Luke 20:17-18) What did Jesus mean by this response and why did it anger the leadership so?

The leadership knew that this parable was directed especially at them. They understood that Jesus was accusing them of being the evil tenants of the vineyard. They were very aware of their own national and religious history. They were aware of passages from the prophets, such as Jeremiah, Isaiah and Ezekiel that held the shepherds, or leadership of Judah, responsible for the people's wandering into sin.

They also understood that, like the son in the parable, who was the heir, Jesus was claiming that role. Furthermore, by quoting these verses to them, they understood that He was also claiming to be the cornerstone, or key foundational piece, that they were guilty of rejecting. (See also Isaiah 8:14-15) The stone is the solid, irrefutable thing. By rejecting it, they will either be broken by their opposition or crushed. Rather than repent, however, their resolve was made stronger to do away with Him. They refused to heed the warning that Jesus was giving that rejecting Him would only result in their own destruction in the end. Opposing God's plan will always fail us in the end.

Hymn: "Who Trusts In God, a Strong Abode"