Parable of Tenants

Amazing story. Jesus teaches in such a bold and comforting way…

The Parable of the Tenants

Luke 20:9-19
9 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. 10 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. 11 He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. 12 He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.

13 “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’

14 “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.’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

“What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”

When the people heard this, they said, “God forbid!”

17 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 cornerstone’[a]?
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

19 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 held back knowledge from those God had sent to receive it. They had kept so much for themselves. They had perverted it. They had refused for so long to know God. They assumed just following their own interpretation was enough. They were so “knowledgeable “.

Jesus always had a way of teaching and telling those that needed it the truth. The truth is what hurt these teachers of the law the most. Jesus, the very author of the laws, was right in front of them. Telling them what to do. They were asked, told, ordered, pleaded with, and in every other way given a chance to accept Jesus as Christ. As Messiah. They refused. They were blinded by this world.

Let us not be blind. Let us accept the gift freely given by God to us. To allow of us that do not deserve it. It was given out of love that is incomprehensible to us. We won’t even come close to feeling the full love of the Father until we stand before Him. Jesus was sent so that when we get the there, we are clean. Pure. Redeemed.

Amen.
DK