9 Then He proceeded to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it out to some tenants, and went away for a long time. 10 At harvest time, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed.

11 So he sent another servant, but they beat him and treated him shamefully, sending him away empty-handed.

12 Then he sent a third, but they wounded him and threw him out.

13 ‘What shall I do?’ asked the owner of the vineyard. ‘I will send my beloved son. Perhaps they will respect him.’

14 But when the tenants saw the son, they discussed it among themselves and said, ‘This is the heir. Let us 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 will give the vineyard to others.”

And when the people heard this, they said, “May such a thing never happen!”

17 But Jesus looked directly at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written:

‘The stone the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone’?

18 Everyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”

REFLECTIONS

Written by Nathan Ting

In today’s passage, Jesus tells a parable to call out the wickedness of the religious leaders – the chief priests, scribes and elders of the people (20:1).

The tenants in the parable represent these false spiritual leaders. The tenants are tasked with looking after the owner’s vineyard. At harvest time, the owner of the vineyard – who represents God – sends servants to collect the fruits that the vineyard had produced. The fruits of the vineyard rightfully belong to the owner, however we see that three times the tenants abuse and reject the servants that the owner has sent.

The owner then sends his own son, thinking that surely because it is his own son, the tenants would not treat him like they did the servants. But in verse 14, this actually has the opposite effect. Blinded by their wickedness and greed, the tenants foolishly think instead that if they kill the son, they will gain the son’s inheritance.

Jesus warns the crowd that the owner of the vineyard would not let this go unpunished – the tenants would pay for their wickedness with their lives, and the inheritance that they had been greedy for would be given to others.

The chief priests and scribes knew instantly that Jesus was talking about them. But what about us? Although we aren’t chief priests or scribes, I wonder if the parable applies to us more than we might immediately think. For me, there have been (and still are) plenty of times when I have intentionally turned a blind eye to my sin. I am reminded that while Jesus has already cleansed us from our sin by taking our place on the cross, continuing to live for Jesus means living in repentant obedience to Jesus and His authority.

Spend some time now remembering ways you have been stubborn-hearted and have rejected Jesus’ authority. Give thanks for God’s kindness and mercy in sending Jesus to die on the cross, and pray that you would continue to live a repentant life that honours God.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nathan is a member of our Bossley Park Morning congregation.