Prophecy and a Lesson in Bible and Church History

March 20, 2016


GOSPEL LESSON: Luke 20:9–20 [The Parable of the Vineyard Tenants]
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. 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. He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.
“Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’ “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.’ So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
“What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When the people heard this, they said, “May this never be!”
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 capstone’? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”
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. Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be honest. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor.

Today’s Gospel reading is both a Prophecy and a Lesson in Bible and Church History. Jesus talks about how the past will be repeated both for himself and possibly for the church as well.

★ Garden of Eden.
★ The Promised Land
★ Jesus
★ Church History
★ Warning for us today

It starts at the very beginning of the Bible. Not a vineyard, but the Garden of Eden. Adam was the gardener and farmer who took care of place. The owner, God, seemed to have gone away for a long time. But when God came back, walking, as Genesis 3:8 says, in the cool of the day, he found that Adam and Eve had taken the harvest of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil for themselves. In the words of the parable, it was like they wanted the “inheritance” for themselves, they wanted possession and control of the Garden, of the world, for themselves. So God drove them out of the Garden.

Then God provided a “vineyard” for Abraham and his descendents. This was the Promised Land of Canaan. It was a land “flowing with milk and honey.” God did not want to receive a harvest of food, he wanted a harvest of justice and love and peace. The story is repeated many times in the Old Testament, in the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Jeremiah, and other prophets. Rather than love and justice, the fruit of this vineyard of the country of Israel was hate, murder, greed, and idolatry. God sent his servant messengers, he sent prophets who told the people to repent and worship the Lord God. But many times these prophets were ignored, belittled, persecuted, jailed, and even killed.

At the time of Jesus, the country of Judah was controlled by religious leaders who wanted to control everything. The teachers of the law and the chief priests thought that the inheritance was theirs. They wanted to control what things were given to God. John the Baptist came and told the people to repent, to be baptized for the forgiveness of sin, and to bear fruit in keeping with repentance (Mt. 3:8). The religious leaders rejected him. King Herod arrested him and later beheaded him. Then came Jesus with the message, “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” Jesus said that he was the True Vine, which would make him the Son of the One who had planted the vineyard. The leaders rejected Jesus and would not give to him the produce of the land, that is, they would not give justice and love and peace and true worship. ‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ In other words, kill Jesus and we can control the religion of the Jews.

The meaning of the parable is clear. He explained it and the people understood. He said, “What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When the people heard this, they said, “May this never be!” The teachers of the law and the chief priests understood that Jesus was talking about their destruction, and so they wanted to arrest and kill Jesus.

The parable was prophecy. They did arrest Jesus and have him killed. The prophecy continues that God sent the army of Rome to destroy the city of Jerusalem and the Temple. And we know that the new tenants of the vineyard are the believers of the Christian Church.

The parable was prophecy. As we look at the history of the Christian Church, we see people who are fighting over the control of the church. At times and places, some leaders have been crooks and sinners. Rather than the fruit of peace and love and justice and true worship, there has been fighting and arguing and greed and manipulation. Throughout the history of the Christian Church, God has sent his servants to call people and the leaders to repentance. There have been many courageous preachers and teachers and martyrs. Good people have been thrown out of the church and burned as heretics. There have been reformers like Martin Luther. There have been Awakenings and Revivals. There have been great preachers and evangelists and missionaries who have boldly spoken the words of God’s Law and Gospel. It has been spoken in large gatherings and from the pulpits in small congregations around the world.

Every year during this season of Lent, we hear the same message. God has sent his Son Jesus Christ to the vineyard. He has come into our churches, into our families, and into our hearts. God is looking for the harvest. The harvest is faith, repentance, love, peace, justice, worship, prayer, kindness, charity. Are we going to give that harvest to God, or is he going to throw us out of the vineyard and give it to people who will have true faith and living?

The only One who can give the true harvest to God the Father is his Son Jesus. When he was thrown out of the vineyard and killed on the cross, he took with him as if they were his own, the polluted, rotten, putrid produce of the harvest of our hearts. He took upon himself our sins. He died. But in his resurrection he presented to his Father the true harvest of forgiveness and salvation and eternal life. And in his grace and mercy, he presents that harvest as being our offering. Through Christ, we give the only true love and peace and justice acceptable to God. This is the message of this Lent and Easter season. It is the message of the love of God who has given us the various vineyards of our lives where we work with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church


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