Matthew 21:33 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 tower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey. 34 When the harvest time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit. 35 But the tenants seized his servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.
36 Again, he sent other servants, more than the first group. But the tenants did the same to them. 37 Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39 So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those tenants?” 41“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and will rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the fruit at harvest time.” 42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? 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 He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”
45 When the chief priests and Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew He was speaking about them. 46 Although they wanted to arrest Him, they feared the crowds, because they considered Jesus a prophet.
Jesus is in the last few days of his life. He is trying as hard as he can to teach his disciples as much as possible before he has to leave them. In those last few days, Jesus crammed in so much wisdom about the kingdom, and he did it in the form of parables. We cannot possibly study all of those teachings in a short devotional, but this parable as much as any illustrates what Jesus knew was going to happen to him.
Jesus knew he was going to die. Jesus knew that it would be the religious people who would have him killed out of fear and anger and jealousy. Jesus came to fulfill the prophecies already spoken about him centuries earlier. Jesus also knew that he was that stone that the builders had rejected. But was Jesus saying these things to the religious leaders out of hatred? No! Absolutely not! Jesus loved those Pharisees. Jesus was preparing to die just as much for the Pharisees and the Roman soldiers and even for Herod and Pontius Pilate. And had the Pharisees allowed Jesus’ teachings to penetrate their hearts, they could still have turned and followed him.
Jesus was going to die. But he was offering all who heard him the opportunity to repent and follow him. Had the Jews not handed Jesus over to the Romans, the Romans would probably have arrested him anyway. Rome did not tolerate anyone who remotely looked like a potential leader of an uprising. Only a few years earlier, the Romans had crucified a number of Jewish rebels, so one more crucifixion was no big deal to them. And the saddest part of the whole thing was that Jesus KNEW those Pharisees. Jesus was both God and man, and as God he knew those Pharisees. He could look at those Pharisees and remember them as little boys when they still really wanted to serve God, before their hearts became proud and hard. How it must have broken Jesus’ heart as he looked at those Pharisees, especially the younger ones, and foresaw the suffering they would eventually have at the hands of the Romans. And the greatest tragedy was that while Jesus was offering eternal life, most of the Pharisees were choosing something else and something less.
Today many of us stand on the brink of eternity. As I am writing this, we have learned that the Prime Minister of England is now in Intensive Care and terribly sick. Social media feeds give us stories of suffering and death. Today is the day of salvation. Today is the day to follow Jesus. None of us is promised tomorrow.
PRAYER: Father God, thank you for sending Jesus to live as a man and die for our sins and to rise from the dead, conquering death and the grave. Lord, help all who read this to realize it was love that sent Jesus to the cross, love that kept him there, and love that raised him from the dead. Please, Lord, let everyone who reads this come to accept Jesus as Savior and Lord. In Jesus’ mighty Name. Amen.
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