Scripture: “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?'”
“Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet. Matthew 21:33-48 ESV
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Observation: Recapping Yesterday’s Daily Focus (click here to read), Jesus questions the religious leaders by telling them a parable of a father and his two sons, the first of whom rebuffs the father but will eventually come to his senses, repent, and do the right thing. In contrast, the second is quick to say yes but is a no-show. So Jesus asks the chief priests and elders, “Which of the two did the will of his father?” With their correct response, “The first,” Jesus contends the tax collectors and prostitutes (those the ruling elders despise) will enter the kingdom of God before them. And he explains that these marginalized children of God listened to John the Baptist, believed, and repented—unlike the Pharisees and scribes who came to assess whether John the Baptist was a zealot.
Today’s reading finds its parallel account in Mark 12:1-12 (click here to read) and Luke 20:9-19 (click here to read). Continuing the theme of a vineyard, Jesus alludes to Isaiah 5:1-7 (click here to read), where this eighth-century BCE prophet tells of Yahweh’s beloved vineyard (Israel) and his pleasant planting (the men of Judah). But the Lord looked for justice, found only bloodshed, and heard the outcries of injustice. Drawing on this familiar story, Jesus tells the religious leaders a parable of a master who plants a vineyard with its accouterments and leases it. At harvest time, he sends his servants to collect the fruit, but the tenants abuse and murder them. So the master sends even more servants with the same outcome. Finally, he sends his son, thinking they would behave respectfully toward him. But they kill him, too.
Jesus then asks the high priests and elders how the story should end when the landlord arrives. Unwittingly, they pronounce judgment on themselves as they indignantly declare that the owner should execute those murderers and lease the vineyard to others who will rightfully give him the first fruits. So Jesus quotes a messianic passage from Psalm 118:22-23 (click here to read), where he self-identifies as the rejected landlord’s son of this parable. And he concludes with another reference to himself as a stumbling stone that will cause those who reject him to meet their demise (paraphrasing Isaiah 8:14-15, click here to read).
At this point, the religious leaders have reached their limit of patience and seek to arrest Jesus, but, as Matthew notes, they hold off for fear of retaliation from the crowd who holds Jesus in high esteem as a great prophet.
Takeaway: The crowd that welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem two days earlier shouted out in praise verses 25-26 of this same messianic psalm: “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (v.6 ESV) Likely, these same religious leaders spied on Jesus’procession into the city gates and took umbrage at the joyful singing of the crowd. Now, as if Jesus offers an antiphonal response, he identifies himself as Isaiah’s prophesied suffering servant to these conspiring members of the Sanhedrin. And, in conjunction with the messianic psalm, the soon-crucified Son of God will rise to become the cornerstone of the Father’s redemption plan and the church’s birth. But the hard-hearted religious leaders will stumble over Jesus and face judgment and a crushing eternal sentence.
How does this text relate to us? It would be easy to distance ourselves from this story. Still, we might consider how we subtly and perhaps unknowingly treat others in a manner not so different than how the Pharisees interacted with Jesus. And sometimes, we even harbor hate toward God when hurt or disappointed with life’s outcomes. But the “good news” is that this same Jesus who died for the mercurial crowd, who earlier praised him and later condemned him, died for us, too. So when the Holy Spirit convicts us of our wrongful attitudes toward others or God, his grace abounds to restore and mature us when we repent. So while we might fall on our Cornerstone and feel broken, it is far better to suffer the consequences of our sins under his graceful care than be crushed by the Cornerstone on Judgment Day.
Prayer: Father God, we thank you for your Son who suffered for us so that we might receive a heart of flesh in place of our hardened hearts. Still, we sometimes judge others wrongly while giving ourselves a pass. So would you help us tune in to the convicting prompts of the Holy Spirit, even when we feel broken in spirit, and repent and embrace your grace, assured that you will not crush us? Amen.
Rev. Gordon Green, M.Div., M.A. Counseling
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