Fruit from the Vineyard

April 7, 2019 Lent 5C


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.

John the Baptist said, “Bear fruit that befits repentance” （Luke 3:8).

The Prophet Isaiah said that God planted a vineyard which was Israel (5:1-7). But then God says, “When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?” (5:4). The Prophet Jeremiah repeats the same image and the same warning (2:21). The Prophet Hosea joins them in saying that Israel is a “luxuriant vine that yields it fruit” but also builds many altars to idols (10:1). And all the prophets proclaim the judgment and punishment by God. And therefore the prophets were harassed and even killed. Jesus said it this way, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Luke 13:34).

So when Jesus spoke the parable of the Tenants in the Vineyard, everyone knew exactly what Jesus meant. The scribes and the chief priests were the people who had the job of taking care of God’s vineyard, God’s people. So they knew that Jesus was speaking against them, calling them thieves and murderers. This is because they refused to accept Jesus as the Son of the Owner of the vineyard, the Son of God. It is because they wanted to have control over the people of Israel rather than to follow the design of God. And so they had to silence people like Jesus and John the Baptist and the Old Testament Prophets. Therefore they plotted how to capture and kill Jesus.

At the Last Supper Jesus said, “I am the Vine and you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). At that time Jesus meant that the fruit was love, as he continued saying, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (15:12-13)

And Jesus did lay down his life for his friends, for you and me and all who believe in him as their Savior. The fruit of his death and resurrection are forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation.

When we hear this parable today, we must remember that God wants us to be fruitful in our love. It is also a call for all the modern workers in the vineyard, all church workers, to “render to God the things that are God’s” (Luke 20:25). This means pastors, preachers, priests, teachers, Sunday school teachers, church council members, elders, deacons, ushers, organists, parents, friends, and all Christians.

Today’s parable is also a prophecy. Jesus knew that the Jewish leaders wanted to kill him. For those who rejected him Jesus proclaims God’s judgment. But he also knows his resurrection. He says, “The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner” (Lk.20:17). This is the resurrection. And the fruit of that resurrection is for us. It is forgiveness of sin, life, and salvation.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church


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