This week’s reading: Matthew 21:28-46
Hi Friends,
This week, we will discuss two more parables in our reading from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 21, verses 28 through 46. The first is one of my favorites which speaks to the heart of the problem with the Church then, and now. Both parables display how God’s Word is always relevant, to every generation. As He spoke these words, Jesus is speaking about Jerusalem and their leaders who rejected Him as He walked this earth, but now His words still hold a dire warning to those who claim to be His people. Listen to these verses, then let’s talk about both parables more deeply:
“Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the Scriptures: “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes” ? Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.” Mt 21:42-44 NIV
Two sons. This first parable from our reading is so powerful to me. A father has two sons. He goes to the first son and tells him to go work in the vineyard. This son quickly says “NO,” but then later thinks better of it, and goes to work. The father then goes to the second son and tells him the same thing. This son quickly says, “Oh yes father, of course I will go work in the vineyard!” Later though, he dismisses the father’s orders and does as he pleases instead. Oh the mighty and many lessons we can learn from this tiny parable! Let me give you some of my thoughts on it. First, this father has two sons. Two sons symbolize two types of people in the end. The first are those who may be rebellious when they first hear about Jesus, but in the end, they surrender and obey the Father and work for His Heavenly Kingdom, instead of their own earthly one. Then there are those who are just rebellious and will never give their lives over to the Father. And no matter how much they might say they are His, they certainly would never choose to obey Him! My Friends, here’s the problem with this “second son”: if this type of person was only made up of those who refused to believe in God at all, that would be one thing. Their demise would be heart breaking, but not a surprising ending. Unfortunately, that is not the case. There are so many lost souls who proclaimed to believe, they may have even done some “good” things here, but their “belief” was not in Jesus, but in their own works, their own holiness, their own goodness. (see Mt 25:31-46) Once again I say, good people will NOT go to Heaven, only holy people will and there is only One Way to become holy: surrender to Jesus as Savior and Lord of your life, then live IN the Holy Spirit thereafter, and as verse 43 I quoted above says, be “a people who will produce its fruit.” When we do good works to glorify God, instead of ourselves, we are living out this holiness that Jesus has given us, by Grace through Faith. (Eph 2:8) There remains too many people in church who only offer up lip service to God, but then never live the life Jesus died to grant us. I am not talking about behaving perfectly, because only Jesus can achieve such a high standard. I am talking about the state of our heart though. I question myself all the time, and this is a good thing to put into practice. Why am I doing the things I do for Christ? Am I doing all this to get subscribers and followers and fame and fortune? Or does my heart cry out to help others know God, and know Him deeply? If I do what I do for my own benefit, then it is garbage. But if I do this for Christ, it will live on forevermore. Lip service, telling God or others that you live for Him, but then continuing to live for yourself or this world, that is disobedience, because this is not what God calls us into. Once we surrender our lives, our lives are no longer ours. We belong to Him Who saved us, and so we should live for Him Who saved us. He died for our sin so we could live for His righteousness. And even if we resist at first, like the first son in this parable, to be obedient means we will go work in His Vineyard.
Command, not suggest. Second, the father in this parable tells his sons to go work in the vineyard. He is not asking…if they feel like it…if they think it is a good idea…if it fits into their busy schedule for their day. It was the duty of the sons to work in the vineyard, alongside the father. I will say that again: it was the duty of the sons to work in the vineyard, alongside the father. (see Ecc 12:13 & Lk 17:10, for instance) Alongside the father though. Do we see it? God never tells us to go out and do something by ourselves. We are to work, side by side, with the Holy Spirit. My Friends, I cannot even write these articles apart from Him. I dare not think I can have any insight into God’s Word without His help. I need to be in prayer. I need to lean on His wisdom. I need to seek His guidance. Yes, I use the situations in my life as demonstrations. Yes, I do some research as I study from those way more qualified than I am. Yes, I do my best to share my heart with those who will read and listen. But do these good works apart from God? I cannot. No one can. This father from the parable is not telling his sons to go work while he sits on a lounge chair sipping a drink with a tiny umbrella. He is ordering his sons to do that which they are obligated to do, and to do it with him. And God is telling us the same thing. He is not requesting we obey, He is commanding. Do we say a big “Yes and Hallelujah” on Sunday, but then completely forget Him Monday through Saturday? If that is our situation, then let me refer you to my first point above. Lip service, is NO service at all. And even if we resist at first, like the first son in this parable, when we sense the Father commanding us, let us do what He commands, and let us do it alongside the Holy Spirit.
The way of righteousness. Jesus refers back to the fact that the religious did not believe in the ministry of John the Baptist. (see Mt 21:24-27) They saw “sinners” coming to hear John, repenting of their sin and being baptized, preparing their hearts for the Messiah, but they themselves, refused to repent. They are like this second son, who puts on a good show, but their hearts are far from the Father. If I sound a little harsh these last couple of weeks, it is because my heart is breaking for the Church. Too often I am seeing what Jesus saw back in His days: empty religion. No lives changed because no heart is changed. People just walking through the motions of rituals, but quickly moving on with their own lives, trying all they can to build their own kingdoms. I am heartbroken. My own congregation struggles to find people to help with any ministry. It should not be this way, my Friends! As the saying goes, no one can do everything, but everyone can do something…I have said this before, it seems like it is the same 10% doing 100% of the work…and may I tell you, it is exhausting, because it is NOT how a family is supposed to function. But who has time for “church” when all they can think about is their own little world? Are we like these religious that Jesus will rebuke in the end, or will we choose to wake up and start obeying this Good Father Who continues to tell us “go and work today in the vineyard”? The righteous way is to live like Jesus lived, self-sacrificing for the good of others. All others. Will we do this Church, or will we continue to bury our heads in our own efforts and agendas and ignore the One we say we believe in? Once again, if you do not believe in God, if you do not think Jesus is your Savior or Lord, then this is not a discussion for you. I do not expect you to obey the Father…although I pray you will come to know Him before it is too late. This is a sounding call to those who sit in a pew, whether that is every week or only on certain holy days. If you sit there, if you say you believe, then show the world you do. Self-righteousness is one of the Pride issues I fight with every single day. I am no better than anyone else…if truth be told, I am worse because I do work for my King, yet I mess up all the time. Again I am not talking about behaving perfectly. I am, however, talking about allowing the Perfect One to shine through us more often than not…and again, not for our glory, but for His. Jesus is the way of righteousness and following Him is the only way you and I can taste that beautiful gift this side of Heaven. And even if we resist at first, like the first son in this parable, let’s choose to honor the Father by working in His Vineyard.
It is Time to get serious. Throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus gets increasingly fierce with His criticism of the religious, who are causing others to go astray. I think He is doing this to the Church now too. The next Parable of the Tenants proves this. (also found in Mark 12:1-12 and Luke 20:9-19) The religious knew He was talking directly to them, but they feared man more than they feared God. How foolish! Man can kill your body, but they cannot kill your soul, Jesus had told His listeners, and He is still telling us this same thing! (Mt 10:28) Please note, we are only tenants, renting this world and worldly life from the Landowner who owns everything, including you and me. We belong to God because He created us…but then we fell from His embrace. But praise Him, that that was not the end of the story. The Father sent Jesus to buy us back once again. For those of us who have surrendered to His right of possession, we receive the Holy Spirit to guide us and lead us in the acts we are meant to execute while here on earth. By my count, that means believers are three times owned by God! But are we doing what the evil tenants did in this parable? Are we trying to keep all the earth’s fruits for ourselves and not giving the Landowner His share? It is not like God does not want us to have or enjoy anything of this world, but He wants us to do so in a holy manner, in a way that will bring Him glory. That means giving Him His share of our time, talents and treasures, as we enjoy the rest life in godly ways. As we grow in Christ, we serve Him more and indulge ourselves less. “He must become greater; I must become less.” (Jn 3:30) Those are the words of John the Baptist, so who are we not to agree and live a life that reflects our agreement with this powerful verse? Can you hear the frustration in my voice, my Friends? Yet I am trying to encourage all of us to grow, so we can live more for Him and less for ourselves. We only rent this body. Like this world, it has been dying since the day we were born. Wouldn’t it be wiser to do our work diligently, and gratefully, as we enjoy this temporary vineyard with our eyes focus on the Kingdom that will come? Let’s remember who the Landowner is and who the tenants are.
The Cornerstone. Jesus finished today’s reading by pointing the religious to Scripture. He quotes Psalm 118, verses 22 and 23 while weaving in verses from both Isaiah and Daniel. (see Isa 8:14-15 & Dan 2:35; 2:44) The point He is trying to make is that, those who claimed to know Scripture, did not know it at all. Those of us who go to a building we call church, do we know the Bible at all? Almost every time I try to encourage others to read, study and apply God’s Word, their eyes glaze over. And why do you think the devil fights so hard to give excuses to those who say they are believers, but refuse to read the Bible? I am not even saying to memorize and use it, just to read it, for crying out loud? Is it because the devil knows the freeing and life-giving power of God’s Word? Of course it is! He knows it has the power to give life to the dead, but he would never follow it…and he is counting on the “church” doing the same! Jesus knew Scripture inside and out. This is how He won that battle with Satan in the wilderness, right? When talking about the Bible, “it is written,” are some of the most powerful words known to man. Yet if we have no idea what is written, it has zero power for us. Again, that is what the devil is counting on. It worked with the religious of the days of Jesus, why wouldn’t it work today? We hear…and love to hear…so many “sermons” about the Love of God…and praise God that He is Love…yet what about repentance? What about obeying God? What about the fact that, even after we are sincerely born again, we are equally desperate for God’s help? We are no longer desperate to have Eternal Life, but certainly to live a life showing we have been given Eternal Life! Jesus is the Stone which we will either stumble and fall upon, hurting ourselves because we are dismissing and not following Him OR, if nothing changes in our lives, He will be the Stone that falls from above and crushes us. I love the way the KJV puts it: “And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.” (Mt 21:44) Grind him to powder. There is no coming back from that, my Friends. The most important thing to God is the Salvation of souls, so that they will not stay dead for all eternity. Will we join the Cornerstone or not? Even as I struggle, every time I give myself over to Him, life becomes more peaceful, more joyful and I sense His righteousness more effortlessly. This is the life Jesus came to give us, my Friends, and it is the life I continue to seek to have, enjoy and share. Won’t you join me?
Until we meet again, keep lifting your eyes to God, He’s closer than you think.
<>< Peace, Diane
