The Owner

Then He began to tell this parable: "A man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and went away for a long time. At harvest time he sent a slave to the farmers so that they might give him some fruit from the vineyard. But they beat Him and sent him away empty handed. He sent yet another slave, but they beat that one too, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty handed. He sent a third, but they wounded him and threw him out.
Then the owner said, 'What should I do? I will send my beloved son. Perhaps they will respect him.'
But when the tenant farmers saw him, they discussed it among themselves and said, 'This is the heir. Let's kill him, so the inheritance will be ours!' So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those farmers and give the vineyard to others." Luke 20:9-16

Jesus was telling the Pharisees and leaders their fate, whilst giving them an opportunity to repent. However, just as the men in the story had hard hearts, so did they.

I think that the Father, being shown as the owner of the vineyard, is being very generous, and lenient to the tenants. How arrogant to assume that by killing the Son they could inherit the vineyard!

The vineyard is God's house and His people. He allowed these leaders an opportunity to lead well, yet they saw it as their right and had no respect for the will or the heart of the Father. How, almost naieve, of God to send His Son hoping for a new heart from these villains. Yet, rather than naieve, very generous and gracious.

I am thinking today about various projects around town. The public become annoyed when nothing seems to be happening, yet are unwilling to do much to help. It is seen as their right to have a nice new facility that so one else cares for and they have no responsibility for.

We have this approach to many things in our communities, yet we should be grateful for our communities and the people in them. We are blessed to live in peace, blessed to have food and shelter, blessed to have freedom. All these are not rights, they are gifts, blessings. Let us never take the gifts of our God for granted and expect we can snap our fingers and see Him perform. Amen!

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