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BURIED TREASURE: Exploring The Parables Of Jesus

by J. W. Jepson, D.Min.

Copyright © 1997 by J. W. Jepson

All rights reserved, including the right to grant the following permission and to prohibit the misuse thereof:

The Author hereby grants permission to reproduce the text of this article, without changes or alterations*, as a ministry, but not for commercial or non-ministry purposes.

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25.

MURDERING FARMERS AND ARROGANT BUILDERS

There was a certain householder which planted a vineyard and hedged it round about and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.

And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one and killed another, and stoned another.

Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.

But last of all he sent unto then his son, saying, They will reverence my son.

But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves. This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard and slew him.

When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandman?

They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.

Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

--Matthew 21:33-42

MURDERING FARMERS AND ARROGANT BUILDERS

It was the passover week in Jerusalem. In only a few days jesus would be crucified. By now the religious rulers were waging open war against the Galilean. Jesus responded in some of his most stinging parables. The Master had just exposed them in the parable of the two sons. Now He continues: "Hear another parable."

Hear another parable? No doubt some of the rulers felt that they had heard enough already. Jesus had just shown them to be hypocrites. Now He was about to reveal them as murderers.

Naturally, the owner (householder) of the vineyard planted the vines first. Then, while the vines were growing, he built the rock wall, dug the winepress, and erected the observation tower for defense. Finally he followed a common practice of letting out the entire vineyard to tenant farmers, who produced and processed the crop for a share.

In the parable, a very bizarre drama unfolds. Either the parable pictures a society where law and order were absent, or else Jesus purposefully posed an improbable situation to give added punch to the point He was making.

The metaphor that Jesus used was familiar to His hearers. The prophet Isaiah had spoken of Israel as a vineyard (Isaiah 5:1-7). So the way the Lord formed the parable made its meaning easy to see. The vineyard was Israel. The householder is God. The tenant farmers were the rulers of Israel. The servants of the householder who were mistreated were the prophets. The householder's murdered son was Jesus Himself. The parable was practically a mirror where all saw themselves clearly.

The parable was also a very strong claim by the Lord Jesus to be the Son of God, and an implication that they recognized Him as such.

One strong point of the parable is the marvelous longsuffering of God. What mortal would seemingly do nothing when his servants were being mistreated and killed? What householder would respond to such acts of criminal violence by patiently sending more servants and finally his well-beloved son? Such is divine forbearance!

But postponed justice only accumulates. The mounting atrocities will be avenged by the personal intervention of the Householder. Sin will be judged--that is the final answer to the question concerning Christ's authority!

"When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?" (verse 40).

Jesus pictured a scenario of such flagrant injustice as would outrage almost anyone's sensibilities. "He will miserable destroy those wicked men...," they declared (verse 41). But Luke records that some so resisted the personal application of the parable that they retorted cynically, "God forbid" (Luke 20:16).

That desperate attempt to deflect the moral indictment that the parable hurled at them prompted Jesus to change the metaphor from farmers to builders and to bring down upon His adversaries the weight of this question: "Did ye never read in the scriptures, the stone which the builders rejected, the same is becone the head of the corner...?" (verse 42).

They were the builders. They rejected the Chief Cornerstone.

But we rejoice that He is now the head of the corner! The vineyard (the kingdom of God) has been transferred to those who are rendering to God the fruits of righteousness. The Bible calls them: "A chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people" (1 Peter 2:9).

What matters with God is not our position in the vineyard, but whether or not we are producing fruit for the Householder. Jesus said, "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples" (John 15:8).

Also, what are we doing with the Cornerstone, Jesus Christ? The cornerstone of a building is the ultimate reference point for the entire structure. So it is with Christ. Everything in our churches and everything in our lives must conform to Him.

What do people do with a cornerstone? They build upon it, of course. A cornerstone has only one purpose and one place. Builders must either build to it or reject it, because there is really nothing else one can do with a cornerstone.

Jesus made it clear that if we cast the cornerstone aside, we will stumble over it and be injured. If it falls on us, it will smash us (see verse 44). Just so, if we do not build upon Jesus Christ, we will stumble over Him. Millions do. He is to them "a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense" (1 Peter 2:8). They know only enough about Him to stumble over

Him. The result is broken people everywhere.

For them the worst is yet to come. The Cornerstone will fall on them and "grind them to powder." They will continue to stumble over Him until either they accept Him as the Cornerstone of their lives, or He falls on them with the full weight of His righteous kingdom.

What kind of life are we building? Does it "square'' with Jesus Christ? Let us make sure that the rejected Cornerstone is the Foundation of our lives.

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26. The Royal Wedding Feast

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