1.
Please pray with me.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing
in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer. On this 5th Sunday in Lent we
reflect on today’s Gospel reading from Luke 20:9-10. Here we have words of warning from our Lord
Jesus Christ as He speaks in the city of Jerusalem to His followers and His
opponents alike. Jesus warns us here in
Luke 20, may this never be that we despise God’s Word (vv. 9–12). May this never be that we reject God’s love
(vv. 13–15), and may this never be that we are crushed by God’s judgment (vv.
17, 18). The message is entitled, “May This Never Be,” dear brothers and
sisters in Christ.
2.
There’s a story about the comedian W. C. Fields
(never noted for his Christian beliefs) reading the Bible on his deathbed. “Getting religious at the eleventh hour?”
someone asked him. “No,” Fields
replied. “Just checking for loopholes.”
There are different reasons for investigating Jesus’ life and works. People can
come to him openly and honestly, sincerely wanting to know what he is all about
and what it means to be his follower. Or they can come to him like the spies,
only looking for something to criticize. God knows everyone’s heart. He knows
whether a person comes to him as a seeker or a cynic. Ask him to give you an
open, receptive heart to hear his truth.
3.
Jesus spoke the words contained in our text from
Luke 20:9-20 on the Tuesday of Holy Week just days before His crucifixion on
the cross. He spoke them in the presence of all who wanted to hear him and
directly to those who were plotting his death, some of His own critics. While
Jesus was teaching the people, his enemies interrupted him and questioned his
authority to teach. Jesus kept on teaching. But the thrust of his words now was
directed at these chief priests and elders. This was one of Jesus’ last
attempts to warn them and to show them the patience of God in spite of man’s
disobedience, the sinfulness of rejecting him as the Messiah, and the terrible
judgment which would come upon all those who failed to heed his warning.
4.
Notice here in Luke 20 that even on his way to the
cross Christ warned his enemies. They failed to listen. “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him”
(Jn 1:11). This brings us to our first
point from the parable that Jesus told. May
this never be that we despise God’s Word (vv. 9–12). Is it
possible that this very same thing can be happening today, even during these
solemn hours before another Holy Week? Sometimes it seems that those who are
the loudest in claiming that they’re God’s own people are in the greatest
danger of rejecting him through whom alone there is hope of standing before
God.
5.
Before the enemies of Christ could leave, he told
the parable of our text. Luke 20:9 says,
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.” Not only were the Jewish leaders present to hear what Jesus
had to say, but many of the people as well. The picture of a vineyard was a
familiar one. Most people knew of such a garden where grapes were raised and
had possibly even worked in one. The owner of the vineyard was patient and fair.
He allowed a long time for the vines bring forth fruit. He was not unjust, nor
was he unreasonable in dealing with the farmers who worked his vineyard for
him. Their payment was a share of the harvest.
6.
In Luke 20:10–12 Jesus says, “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. He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and
treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. He sent still a third, and they
wounded him and threw him out.” The
owner asked for a portion of the harvest. This was the agreement made with the
farmers. But the farmers treated the owner’s representatives in a most shameful
manner. Not only did they refuse to give up part of the produce as agreed, but
they also abused the men who were simply doing what the owner commanded. The
Greek words which tell of this treatment describe especially how cruel their
actions were, they uses words with the meaning of “to tear off the skin” &
“to wound severely”). The fact that this action was repeated several times
shows the great patience of the owner as well as the wickedness of the
farmers. It wasn’t difficult for
Christ’s hearers to sense the direction which this parable was taking as far as
its application was concerned. The people of Israel were the Lord’s own
vineyard (cf. Isa 5:7). In spite of God’s patience in dealing with his people,
they remained rebellious. They misused his gifts. They treated the prophets who
were sent to them by God in a most shameful way (cf. Mt 23:34; Ac 7:52).
7.
This leads me to my next point. May this never be that we reject God’s love
(vv. 13–15). Luke 20:19 says, “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What
shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect
him.’” Already the owner had shown
unusual patience by sending one servant after the other to these wicked people.
Now his decision was even more unusual. No human father who loves his son very
much is going to send him to people
who have already shown themselves to be so cruel. Would a father want to take
such a chance? Would he say, “Perhaps they
will respect my son”? No, but this was the only possibility that remained. And, the Jewish leaders were aware of what
this implied. They knew very well that Jesus could only be thinking of God, his
Father, and that Jesus meant himself when he referred to the “son.” Jesus had often referred to
himself as God’s only Son (cf. Jn 3:16; Lk 10:22).
8.
Luke 20:14–16 says, “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.’ So
they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of
the vineyard do to them? He will come and kill those tenants and give the
vineyard to others.” When the people heard this, they said, “May this never
be!” “How could anyone be so foolish
to think he could get away with such a crime?” we ask. Could these tenants
really have supposed that the owner would do nothing to them? They had
mistreated the owner’s servants in most shameful ways. Then they had even gone
so far as to kill the owner’s son and “heir.”
9.
Jesus was standing before those who were plotting to
do this very same thing (cf. Jn 11:47–53). He could not have given his enemies
a stronger warning. Yet the blind unbelief of these Jewish leaders led them to
attempt this very crime against Jesus. This
is true of every unrepentant sinner who refuses to listen to God’s servants. He
is guilty of the death of God’s own Son on account of his sins and yet somehow
imagines that he can escape God’s just punishment. “No way!” Jesus says. The
farmers will be punished. The vineyard will be given to others. The people were shocked. “May this never be!”
they cried out. Whether or not the Jewish leaders joined in this exclamation in
a hypocritical way we don’t know. At this point, however, the people were not
aware that their leaders were plotting the death of Jesus at that very time.
10.
This leads to the last point. May this never be that we are crushed by
God’s judgment (vv. 17, 18). Luke
20:17-19 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’? Everyone
who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will
be crushed. 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.” The teachers of the law and
the chief priests showed by their actions that they knew Jesus was speaking
against them. They wanted to arrest Jesus at this time. Jesus prophesied
correctly. They had persecuted God’s servants, the prophets. They were now
about to kill his Son. Did Team
Sanhedrin get the message? Oh yes! They recognized a spiritual slam dunk when
they saw one. They understood the parable/allegory and understood its
implications. They knew it threatened the giving of the vineyard/Israel to new
leadership. They got it—but tragically they didn’t believe it for a second. As the leaders of Israel stood in the temple,
the great golden vine symbolizing Israel gleamed nearby in the light. Before
them sat the Lord of the temple, the capstone to the entire structure. Around
the temple spread the vineyard-clad slopes of Israel, pleading reinforcement
for his words.
11.
But despite all the reasons to believe they rejected
him. Spiritually, they stepped into the gaping abyss below. What about us? Jesus claims authority in
every area of our lives. Early in his
ministry Jesus displayed his authority to
forgive sin when he said to the paralytic, “ ‘But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth
to forgive sins …’ He said to the paralyzed man, ‘I tell you, get up, take your
mat and go home’ ” (Luke 5:24; cf. Matthew 9:6; Mark 2:10). He now
forgives sin with ease because he bore the unfathomable burden of our sins on
the cross. He also has authority to give spiritual life. As
John explained, “Yet to all who received
him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right [that is, authority]
to become children of God” (John 1:12).
12.
But where is the gospel in this text? It is there.
See it in the patience of God as pictured in the owner of the vineyard. Repeatedly
the owner sends servants who are treated shamefully. See it in the love of God
as pictured by the owner sending his own Son. This is a love which staggers the
imagination. It goes far beyond the limits which we set as human beings. See it
in the Son as pictured in the heir who was thrown out of the vineyard and
killed. How this reminds us of him who was put to death on Calvary outside the
city of Jerusalem (Jn 19:17; Heb 12:2). Yes,
there is a note of hope even in the picture of Jesus as the stone which the
builders rejected and which will crush all those on whom it falls. Jesus has all
authority, and he passes it on to all who take his name to the world. From
the bottom of the sea to the end of the expanding universe, from the depth of
Hell to the heights of Heaven, all authority belongs to Jesus! What is Jesus to you? Is he an impediment? Or
is he your Master? Your Lord? Your authority?
Are you rising or falling? Amen.
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