The Parable of the Tenants

³³ “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. ³⁴ When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. ³⁵ And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. ³⁶ Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. ³⁷ Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ ³⁹ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. ⁴⁰ When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” ⁴¹ 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.”

⁴² 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’?

⁴³ Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. ⁴⁴ And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶ And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.

Matthew 21:33-46

I have a friend, Karmen, who many a time would say, “Its is better to fall upon the Rock and be broken, then for the Rock to fall of you.” What she meant was it is better to be broken hearted over the condition and state of my soul and throw myself upon Jesus, the Rock of my salvation then for me to remain hard hearted waiting for the Rock to crush me, or make me feel the weight of my sin.

Israel had many prophets sent to it, to call out its sin, but they killed them all. We are not much different, just let someone tell us that what we are doing or how we are living, isn’t right! What do we do? We most likely call them judgmental, outdated, or worse cut them out of our lives. This is what Israel did to Jesus. They become angry and filled with wrath. They beat and killed Him. They didn’t want to hear from the Son that they were not living up to what the Father intended for His people. They were hard hearted and did not want to repent.

In what ways have you acted like the tenants and killed the Son?

Father, forgive me. I am sorry for the ways that I have acted like my sin is just fine or not a big deal. Help me to love the Son, not hate Him. I want to be one who falls on the Rock willingly and quickly when I have done wrong. I humble myself before You today and I ask for Your mercy and Your grace. In Jesus Name. Amen.

All is grace,

Starla