Beloved, I am glad to share with you today on the parable of the bad vinegrowers in order to understand more in depth the similarities with the kingdom of heaven: “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.”We read this in Mat 21: 43.
It should be remembered that a vine planted and cared for each year must bear fruit; and this is the image of human nature that the Eternal God in Israel has dealt with in vain. Indeed, the Master had done everything for the protection of this vineyard, so that the cultivators could give him the fruits which were due to him. For he surrounded it with a hedge, and dug a winepress therein, and built a tower; then he leased it to the winegrowers, and left the country. What more would he have done?
Now, when the time of harvest came, he sent his servants to the tenants to receive the produce of his vineyard. The tenants, having taken hold of his servants, beat the one, killed the other, and stoned the third. Showing patience and perseverance, he sent other servants, more than the first; and the winegrowers treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, They will respect my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let’s kill him, and take his inheritance. And they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
For the hearts of the people, and especially that of the leaders, could not be touched by the coming of the Son of God; a coming that demonstrated their extremely bad state, and therefore the state of the carnal man. It was because they not only refused to give God what was due to him, but they wanted to be masters of the inheritance. What a tragedy: man wants nothing to do with God and yet everything comes to Him; for having cast him out of this world, he believes to be its master and he is not. This is what is happening in Christendom today: Christ is not wanted any more than in the days of his ministry in Israel. Many pass themselves off as the Savior.
This is why the Lord Jesus said to them, “Now when the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to these vine growers? They answered and said unto him, He will miserably destroy these wretches, and he will lease the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him the produce thereof in the time of harvest.”
They themselves have pronounced their own judgment; then the Savior shows that he himself is the chosen and precious “head stone of the corner” which the Lord God had set in Israel, so that whoever believes in it will not be ashamed.
So he became at the same time the principal of the corner, and a stumbling block and a rock of scandal; they come up against it for not having believed the word, and that’s what they’re destined for. Strictly speaking, therefore, Christ is the touchstone of faith, precious as he is with God the Father, and having this price for us who believe. He is rejected by men and thus becomes a stumbling block for unbelievers.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and to facilitate your understanding.
- Bad workers
-teaching of the vineyard: Isa 5. 1, 7 I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. 7 The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress. Jer 12.10 Many shepherds will ruin my vineyard and trample down my field; they will turn my pleasant field into a desolate wasteland; Mt 20.1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard; Mt 21:28, 33 “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’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.
-A warning concerning unfaithfulness: Isa 5.7 The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress. Mt 21.43 “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; Mt 25.24-25 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.
- Christ rejected
-hatred towards Christ: Luke 6.11 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus; Luke 19.14 “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’ Jn 7.7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil; Jn 15.18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first; Jn 15.25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’ Jn 19.6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!” But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”
-man of sorrows: Isa 53.3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem; Mark 7.34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”); Mark 8.12 He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will b;e given to it.”; Luke 19.41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it; Jn 11:33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled; Jn 11:35 Jesus wept; Jn 12:27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.
– last judgment, judgment according to privilege: Mt 11:22 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Mark 6.11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” Luke 12:48 But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked; Jn 3:19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil; Jn 9.41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains; Jn 15.22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin; Rom 2.12 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.
-capstone, principal stone: Ps 118.22 All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees; Mt 21:42 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’? Acts 4:11 Jesus is “ ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Eph 2:20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone; 1 P 2.6 For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”
-fall of the wicked prophesied: Pr 11.5 The righteousness of the blameless makes their paths straight, but the wicked are brought down by their own wickedness; Pr 22.14 The mouth of an adulterous woman is a deep pit; a man who is under the LORD’s wrath falls into it; Ec 10.8 Whoever digs a pit may fall into it; whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake; Jer 6.15 Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them,” says the LORD. Jer 8.4 “Say to them, ‘This is what the LORD says: “ ‘When people fall down, do they not get up? When someone turns away, do they not return? Hos 4.14 “I will not punish your daughters when they turn to prostitution, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, because the men themselves consort with harlots and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes— a people without understanding will come to ruin! Am 8.14 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria— who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’ or, ‘As surely as the god of Beersheba lives’— they will fall, never to rise again.”
From all the above, we note that despite all the arrangements made by the master of the vineyard, the workers were not worthy and on his return, the Messiah will lease his vineyard to other winegrowers, who will give him the product at harvest time. Christ Jesus became at the same time the main stone of the corner, a stumbling block and a rock of scandal; bad workers have run into it for disbelieving the Word, and that’s what they’re destined for. He is the touchstone of faith, precious as he is with God the Father, and rejected by men and thus becomes a stumbling block for unbelievers. Our prayers support you all in your efforts to become good winegrowers.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite anyone who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me as follows:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I acknowledge that I have sinned against you and ask forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as my Lord and personal Savior. I acknowledge that you died on the cross of Calvary and that you rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me each day to eternal life you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal to me and strengthen my heart and my faith so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me in your divine family so that I too can contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
To you all worship, power, and glory, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be glad to respond to your queries and comments if necessary, before sharing with you next week on the scribes and the Pharisees censored by Jesus: “woe to you, because you close the kingdom of heaven from men…”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you profusely.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.