'm 33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
35 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’[h]?
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’[h]?
43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”[i]
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.
A church in Colorado recently called a “transgendered” man to be their pastor. I'm less bothered by this controversial decision than I am by the (entirely non-biblical) explanation from the congregation justifying it. But, I’m not surprised…the inmates are running the asylum. Jesus said as much…
Chalk one up for the Pharisees…they finally grasped what Jesus was saying.”They knew he was talking about them”. On the other hand, they didn’t handle this epiphany very well. ”They looked for a way to arrest him”. The only thing that stopped them was public opinion.
What was this all about?
Jesus was explaining, through this parable, how the Chief Priests and Pharisees had basically mounted an insurrection and usurped God’s Kingdom. Through the years they had claimed ownership and destroyed everything that threatened their authority. It was, de facto, no longer God’s, but theirs.
Sadly, they actually realized it. God’s interests were now subordinate to their own. In some crazy way they justified their conduct (like the church in Colorado). As Napoleon once said “to make an omelet, one must break a few eggs!” So…what are a few dead prophets in the grand scheme? They were on a mission.
The proof…lies in the fact that when God’s Son, the rightful heir, comes to settle accounts…the charlatans would kill Him, just like every threat that preceded Him.
Decision time…
Vince Lombardi didn’t like the forward pass. He said “there are three things that can happen when you pass the ball…and two of them are not good.”
Well…we have three possible encounters with Jesus, the Cornerstone. The one option we don’t have is to ignore Him. Jesus will get in our face and make that impossible. We can argue with Him and be broken to pieces. We can obstruct Him and be crushed. Or, we can build our lives upon Him (the Cornerstone) and erect something that will stand the test of time.
Lombardi, the great theologian, was right, but the one good option is very, very, good.
Live boldly out there today…
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