270 - Tenants and Tombs
- Gwen Diaz
- Sep 27, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 8
SEPTEMBER 27- Nº 270 Matthew 21:28-46; 23:13-37; Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-19
It was still Tuesday in the week leading up to the Passover. Jesus had skillfully navigated his way around all the religious and political traps the Jewish leaders had set for him (see #269 - September 26). So, he began teaching them, and he did it in parables.
The first parable was about a man who had two sons. The man instructed his eldest son to go to the vineyard and start working. “No,” the son responded bluntly. “That’s not what I want to do with my life today.” But later he regretted his decision. He changed his mind and went to work in the vineyard for the rest of the day.
The father gave the same instruction to his younger son. That son responded, “Sure, I’ll go to the vineyard today.” But he never showed up!
Jesus asked his listeners, “Which of the two sons did what his father wanted him to do?”
The religious leaders, who had stuck around still hoping to find fault with Jesus, responded, “The first son!”
Jesus nodded. “I tell you the truth, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. Although their lives were filled with sin, they have repented. But you are like the second son. Your lives are filled with useless words, yet your hearts have never obeyed God.”
Jesus had just told the religious leaders that the people whom they despised most were eligible to enter God’s kingdom—and they were not!
Then he told them another parable about a landowner who planted a beautiful vineyard. He rented it to some farmers and went on a long journey. When it was time for the harvest, he sent a servant to collect some of the fruit they owed for their rent. But instead of cooperating, the tenants beat the servant and sent him away. They did the same to several other servants the owner sent.
Finally, the owner had no one left to send except his own son whom he loved. He thought, “Surely they will respect my son.” But when the tenants saw him, they thought, “This is the heir. If we kill him, then we can have the inheritance!” So, they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
“What do you think the owner will do to those tenants?” Jesus asked.
“He should kill them and rent the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of fruit at harvest time,” his listeners replied.
“That is exactly what the Scripture predicted, and it is exactly what is happening now!” Jesus responded. “The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to people who will produce fruit.”
The chief priests and Pharisees were incensed. They realized that Jesus was accusing them of mistreating the prophets God had sent in the past to warn the nation to turn back to Him. And in the process, he was claiming to be the Messiah—the son of God! This made them want to get rid of him even more.
Jesus continued to point out their hypocrisy. He pointed out how nit-picky they were about external practices such as tithing. They gave a tenth of everything they owned to the priests (including their mint and dill!) to show how righteous they were. But they neglected the important internal attributes that God required—like justice, mercy, and faithfulness. “You are like whitewashed tombs,” he said, criticizing their insincerity. “You are beautiful on the outside, but inside you are filled with dead men’s bones.”
Is God pleased with the “real” you?
How would He grade what is going on inside your heart?
God is far more concerned with what is going on internally than with what people can see from the outside.
Comments