20th Sunday After Pentecost
OCT 2, 2005
Text: Matthew 21:33-46
Rev. Dr. Kenneth W. Wieting
In the Name of Jesus; Amen.
Finally he sent his son to them, saying, “They will respect my son.” But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves “this is the heir. Come let us kill him and have his inheritance.” And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
Beloved in Christ, Jesus spoke this parable on Tuesday of Holy Week. It was His last day of teaching in the temple. The day before, He had thrown the money changers out of the temple. A moment before He had told them the parable of the two sons. The first son mouthed off in rebellion against His Father. Then he repented and worked in the vineyard. The second son said “yes – I’ll do it” but refused to work in the vineyard. Then Jesus spoke the parable of the vineyard in our text.
It is an incredible picture both in timing and in truthfulness. It pictures the longsuffering love of God. It pictures the obstinate rebellion of God’s chosen people. It pictures the sending of God’s obedient Son as the final, decisive act of His searching love for us sinners. It pictures the judgment that comes upon those who resist the sending of God’s Son. Finally it pictures the transfer of the kingdom of God from Israel to the New Israel, that is, to you the Church of Jesus Christ. You are the tenants in Jesus’ vineyard now, so give ear to His words.
God’s care for His Old Testament people was extraordinary. He rescued them from bondage to Pharaoh and carried them out of Egypt with a mighty hand. He made a Covenant with them and gave them His commandments. He gave them the Day of Atonement and the sacrifices for guilt and sin. He planted them in the Promised Land giving them victory over their enemies. He gave them the Sabbath Day for rest and refreshment in His Word. He gave them His temple and promised to be in their midst. The question He asked through the prophet Isaiah is a piercing question; “What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it?”Yet Israel always seemed to have a better plan. She grumbled, she griped, she grabbed after other gods – the idols of the surrounding nations. She let God’s Word fall into disuse. The people failed to return to God the tithe. They often went through the motions of sacrifice without repentance. They looked for help in politics, earthly success, and the spiritual practices of the pagans surrounding them. Turning from God’s Word, they sought light from people sitting in the darkness of death.
The grass always looked greener in the wealth and the ways and the wisdom of the world. In modern terms, they seemed willing to throw away eternal gifts of God for fleshly pleasure or earthly gain. They refused to give the owner His fruits of faith and love and trust. But their owner was exceedingly patient and gracious. Time and time again He called them back. Through the centuries He sent them prophet after prophet crying out, “O my people”, foreshadowing the sobbing cries of Jesus, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often I would have gathered you together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not.”
From Moses to John the Baptist, from the Major Prophets to the Minor Prophets, none of the men God sent to speak His Word fared very well in Israel. Moses endured constant complaint and attempted mutinies. Micaiah was imprisoned. Elijah was nearly hounded to death even after he defeated the prophets of Baal. He was never popular, followed by only a remnant, a tiny fraction of Israel. Isaiah was ignored in favor of political solutions. Jeremiah was viewed as a psychological basket case. He was physically abused, beaten and imprisoned. Jewish tradition sets forth the stoning of Jeremiah and the sawing in two of Isaiah. This is what happened to the prophets that God sent to His Old Testament people. His searching love was extraordinary but so was their obstinate rebellion and repeated rejection of His Word through the prophets.
But even with the refusal to hear His prophets, God’s love was not at an end. God is not like us! Last of all, in undeserved, un-measurable love, He sent His Son. “They will respect my son”, He said. But you know the rest of the story! You know what happened three days after Jesus spoke this parable! They took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. And we’re moved to ask, “Why?” How could they be so blind? “What more could God do for His vineyard that He had not done in it?”
But we must avoid the temptation to throw stones at Old Testament Israel without seeing that those stones also strike us as the New Israel. Circumcision is now of the heart. Abraham is the father of all those who believe in Christ. The blood that determines who the people of God are is not Abraham’s blood, but the shed blood of the Son of God.
By God’s grace in Christ you have now been given a place in the vineyard. In your baptism He planted you. In His Word and Sacraments He has put a hedge around you. He is in your midst today as the one who has dug a winepress and built a watchtower for you. All of your daily bread He gives to you. The very bread of life He gives to you. As tsunamis and hurricanes and terrorist bombs remind us, each day of life is totally a gift. We are the tenants not the owners in this passing world.
But that’s not the way our minds are inclined to think. By nature we are predisposed to see ourselves as the owners, not the renters. We are just as apt as Israel of old to grumble and gripe and grab after other gods. We are prone to go through the motions of worship without true repentance. We are just as quick to withhold first priority offerings from God and just as inclined to let His Word fall into disuse.
The philosophies and pursuits of the world can seem so full of life while the words of God’s apostles and prophets may seem dead and out of touch. St. Paul said, he suffered the loss of all things and considered them rubbish that He might gain Christ and His righteousness. We are tempted to consider the things of Christ rubbish if they get in the way of the fruits or the gain we believe we should be enjoying. You know the fruits I mean, a little more worldly peace and popularity, a little bigger piece of the pie, a little more happiness or leisure, a lot more freedom from any of God’s commandments.
You and I are inclined to take God off His throne and put ourselves on. In fact, our principal sin, everyday is trying to do God in and takeover as the owner of our own lives. O no, you say? Then why haven’t you feared and loved and trusted in God above all things, just this week? Why among us are their hearts that worry and scheme and covet and lack contentment? Why else would we withhold the study of God’s Word, or even once neglect heartfelt prayer? Why else would we not give the first and best of our treasure cheerfully for the sake of the Gospel? Why, with St. Paul, would we not count everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus?
Dear Christians, Jesus told this parable to His Church. The hearers of Jesus’ words knew that He had wept over the city of Jerusalem and was prophesying its destruction. He intended for this parable to lead to self-examination and repentance for those in the vineyard, especially for the clergy, against whom He spoke. As He said, “What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it?”
He wants you who are in His vineyard today to acknowledge that all you have is His gift. He wants you to picture the owner coming to collect rent from you. When He looks for good fruit, what will he find? Will there be a bounty of good grapes or will the yield be wild and rotten? What fruit will you give to Him?
Do you get the sinking feeling that your fruit may not measure up? Do you have some fear that the owner should remove the hedge, break down the wall, and command no rain to fall on you? If so, then do not despair. That is exactly what the owner wants us tenants to see. For 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?’
How can rejection be marvelous? Because God’s glory is revealed in the rejection of His Son! Jesus is the icon, the perfect picture of reversal! He is the stone that if anyone falls on He will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.
Beloved, do you see it? Everyone is broken or crushed! Not one person will come out of this world as a rock unto themselves. Those who believe must fall into the brokenness of repentance in order to be raised again as new beings, living stones in Christ. This repentance is daily and lifelong. But upon unbelievers comes the crushing blow of judgment.
The fact that God’s demand for fruit crushes you is not evil, it is essential! The true Christian Church is not made up of do-gooders who are pleased as punch with their wonderful fruit. Quite the opposite! The vineyard of Christ is made up of those who know that they are the branches and that apart from Christ the vine they bear no good fruit (John 15:5).
They will respect my Son, He said. He sent His Son, not because He was foolish, but because He was forgiving! While the renters were scheming to kill the Son and illegitimately claim the inheritance, God was planning to sacrifice His Son and lovingly give them the inheritance. Indeed, the Son came not to cast the former tenants out of the vineyard, but to include others in the vineyard. The Son came to include you in the vineyard.
The Son knew the danger! He knew exactly what awaited Him as He spoke this parable on Tuesday of Holy Week. He knew that it was only in the killing of the heir that we could have the inheritance. As He came to collect fruit from the vineyard an amazing exchange took place. Jesus became the wickedest tenant the vineyard has ever seen. He became sin for us (II Cor. 5:19-21). Therefore God the Father removed the hedge around His Son. He broke down the wall between life and death for Him who was the creator of all life. The Son of the living God was trampled down and laid waste by the wrath of God for the sins of all us unfruitful ones.
Friends in Christ, tenants in the vineyard, the final, last-of-all sending of God is the sending of His Son. By the grace of God that sending still continues today. The crucified and risen Christ comes into your midst again this morning to give you Himself. He comes with the full approval of the owner and He comes to give you the good fruit of His forgiveness.
The fruit He gives you crushed ones is His perfect righteousness in exchange for your sin. The scorned and ignored prophet Isaiah said it this way, “He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities, upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed.” Wondrously, that’s not a voice you want to silence, but a voice you love to hear. That, dear Christians, is a miracle of God grace! It is God’s gift of faith to you and with it comes the full inheritance of the Son, Himself.
Do you see the fruit He comes to give you right now? Risen from the grave, the living Christ comes to nourish you with heavenly food. As you receive in faith His body and blood, Your rebellion becomes His. His obedience becomes yours. Your self-promotion becomes His. His self-giving becomes yours. Your sinful attempts to put yourself on the throne become His. His finished work to give you God’s throne becomes yours. Your lusting becomes His. His chastity becomes yours. Your mind, set on earthly things becomes His. His mind sent on heavenly things becomes yours, and on and on and on…Not only do you have an extraordinary landlord moved by patience and unfailing love, but in Christ, God has in you an extraordinary tenant. What beautiful fruit you bear in Him! What more is there for God to do for you His vineyard that He has not done in it? Nothing! Nothing at all! The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Text: Matthew 21:33-46
Rev. Dr. Kenneth W. Wieting
In the Name of Jesus; Amen.
Finally he sent his son to them, saying, “They will respect my son.” But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves “this is the heir. Come let us kill him and have his inheritance.” And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
Beloved in Christ, Jesus spoke this parable on Tuesday of Holy Week. It was His last day of teaching in the temple. The day before, He had thrown the money changers out of the temple. A moment before He had told them the parable of the two sons. The first son mouthed off in rebellion against His Father. Then he repented and worked in the vineyard. The second son said “yes – I’ll do it” but refused to work in the vineyard. Then Jesus spoke the parable of the vineyard in our text.
It is an incredible picture both in timing and in truthfulness. It pictures the longsuffering love of God. It pictures the obstinate rebellion of God’s chosen people. It pictures the sending of God’s obedient Son as the final, decisive act of His searching love for us sinners. It pictures the judgment that comes upon those who resist the sending of God’s Son. Finally it pictures the transfer of the kingdom of God from Israel to the New Israel, that is, to you the Church of Jesus Christ. You are the tenants in Jesus’ vineyard now, so give ear to His words.
God’s care for His Old Testament people was extraordinary. He rescued them from bondage to Pharaoh and carried them out of Egypt with a mighty hand. He made a Covenant with them and gave them His commandments. He gave them the Day of Atonement and the sacrifices for guilt and sin. He planted them in the Promised Land giving them victory over their enemies. He gave them the Sabbath Day for rest and refreshment in His Word. He gave them His temple and promised to be in their midst. The question He asked through the prophet Isaiah is a piercing question; “What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it?”Yet Israel always seemed to have a better plan. She grumbled, she griped, she grabbed after other gods – the idols of the surrounding nations. She let God’s Word fall into disuse. The people failed to return to God the tithe. They often went through the motions of sacrifice without repentance. They looked for help in politics, earthly success, and the spiritual practices of the pagans surrounding them. Turning from God’s Word, they sought light from people sitting in the darkness of death.
The grass always looked greener in the wealth and the ways and the wisdom of the world. In modern terms, they seemed willing to throw away eternal gifts of God for fleshly pleasure or earthly gain. They refused to give the owner His fruits of faith and love and trust. But their owner was exceedingly patient and gracious. Time and time again He called them back. Through the centuries He sent them prophet after prophet crying out, “O my people”, foreshadowing the sobbing cries of Jesus, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often I would have gathered you together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not.”
From Moses to John the Baptist, from the Major Prophets to the Minor Prophets, none of the men God sent to speak His Word fared very well in Israel. Moses endured constant complaint and attempted mutinies. Micaiah was imprisoned. Elijah was nearly hounded to death even after he defeated the prophets of Baal. He was never popular, followed by only a remnant, a tiny fraction of Israel. Isaiah was ignored in favor of political solutions. Jeremiah was viewed as a psychological basket case. He was physically abused, beaten and imprisoned. Jewish tradition sets forth the stoning of Jeremiah and the sawing in two of Isaiah. This is what happened to the prophets that God sent to His Old Testament people. His searching love was extraordinary but so was their obstinate rebellion and repeated rejection of His Word through the prophets.
But even with the refusal to hear His prophets, God’s love was not at an end. God is not like us! Last of all, in undeserved, un-measurable love, He sent His Son. “They will respect my son”, He said. But you know the rest of the story! You know what happened three days after Jesus spoke this parable! They took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. And we’re moved to ask, “Why?” How could they be so blind? “What more could God do for His vineyard that He had not done in it?”
But we must avoid the temptation to throw stones at Old Testament Israel without seeing that those stones also strike us as the New Israel. Circumcision is now of the heart. Abraham is the father of all those who believe in Christ. The blood that determines who the people of God are is not Abraham’s blood, but the shed blood of the Son of God.
By God’s grace in Christ you have now been given a place in the vineyard. In your baptism He planted you. In His Word and Sacraments He has put a hedge around you. He is in your midst today as the one who has dug a winepress and built a watchtower for you. All of your daily bread He gives to you. The very bread of life He gives to you. As tsunamis and hurricanes and terrorist bombs remind us, each day of life is totally a gift. We are the tenants not the owners in this passing world.
But that’s not the way our minds are inclined to think. By nature we are predisposed to see ourselves as the owners, not the renters. We are just as apt as Israel of old to grumble and gripe and grab after other gods. We are prone to go through the motions of worship without true repentance. We are just as quick to withhold first priority offerings from God and just as inclined to let His Word fall into disuse.
The philosophies and pursuits of the world can seem so full of life while the words of God’s apostles and prophets may seem dead and out of touch. St. Paul said, he suffered the loss of all things and considered them rubbish that He might gain Christ and His righteousness. We are tempted to consider the things of Christ rubbish if they get in the way of the fruits or the gain we believe we should be enjoying. You know the fruits I mean, a little more worldly peace and popularity, a little bigger piece of the pie, a little more happiness or leisure, a lot more freedom from any of God’s commandments.
You and I are inclined to take God off His throne and put ourselves on. In fact, our principal sin, everyday is trying to do God in and takeover as the owner of our own lives. O no, you say? Then why haven’t you feared and loved and trusted in God above all things, just this week? Why among us are their hearts that worry and scheme and covet and lack contentment? Why else would we withhold the study of God’s Word, or even once neglect heartfelt prayer? Why else would we not give the first and best of our treasure cheerfully for the sake of the Gospel? Why, with St. Paul, would we not count everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus?
Dear Christians, Jesus told this parable to His Church. The hearers of Jesus’ words knew that He had wept over the city of Jerusalem and was prophesying its destruction. He intended for this parable to lead to self-examination and repentance for those in the vineyard, especially for the clergy, against whom He spoke. As He said, “What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it?”
He wants you who are in His vineyard today to acknowledge that all you have is His gift. He wants you to picture the owner coming to collect rent from you. When He looks for good fruit, what will he find? Will there be a bounty of good grapes or will the yield be wild and rotten? What fruit will you give to Him?
Do you get the sinking feeling that your fruit may not measure up? Do you have some fear that the owner should remove the hedge, break down the wall, and command no rain to fall on you? If so, then do not despair. That is exactly what the owner wants us tenants to see. For 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?’
How can rejection be marvelous? Because God’s glory is revealed in the rejection of His Son! Jesus is the icon, the perfect picture of reversal! He is the stone that if anyone falls on He will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.
Beloved, do you see it? Everyone is broken or crushed! Not one person will come out of this world as a rock unto themselves. Those who believe must fall into the brokenness of repentance in order to be raised again as new beings, living stones in Christ. This repentance is daily and lifelong. But upon unbelievers comes the crushing blow of judgment.
The fact that God’s demand for fruit crushes you is not evil, it is essential! The true Christian Church is not made up of do-gooders who are pleased as punch with their wonderful fruit. Quite the opposite! The vineyard of Christ is made up of those who know that they are the branches and that apart from Christ the vine they bear no good fruit (John 15:5).
They will respect my Son, He said. He sent His Son, not because He was foolish, but because He was forgiving! While the renters were scheming to kill the Son and illegitimately claim the inheritance, God was planning to sacrifice His Son and lovingly give them the inheritance. Indeed, the Son came not to cast the former tenants out of the vineyard, but to include others in the vineyard. The Son came to include you in the vineyard.
The Son knew the danger! He knew exactly what awaited Him as He spoke this parable on Tuesday of Holy Week. He knew that it was only in the killing of the heir that we could have the inheritance. As He came to collect fruit from the vineyard an amazing exchange took place. Jesus became the wickedest tenant the vineyard has ever seen. He became sin for us (II Cor. 5:19-21). Therefore God the Father removed the hedge around His Son. He broke down the wall between life and death for Him who was the creator of all life. The Son of the living God was trampled down and laid waste by the wrath of God for the sins of all us unfruitful ones.
Friends in Christ, tenants in the vineyard, the final, last-of-all sending of God is the sending of His Son. By the grace of God that sending still continues today. The crucified and risen Christ comes into your midst again this morning to give you Himself. He comes with the full approval of the owner and He comes to give you the good fruit of His forgiveness.
The fruit He gives you crushed ones is His perfect righteousness in exchange for your sin. The scorned and ignored prophet Isaiah said it this way, “He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities, upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed.” Wondrously, that’s not a voice you want to silence, but a voice you love to hear. That, dear Christians, is a miracle of God grace! It is God’s gift of faith to you and with it comes the full inheritance of the Son, Himself.
Do you see the fruit He comes to give you right now? Risen from the grave, the living Christ comes to nourish you with heavenly food. As you receive in faith His body and blood, Your rebellion becomes His. His obedience becomes yours. Your self-promotion becomes His. His self-giving becomes yours. Your sinful attempts to put yourself on the throne become His. His finished work to give you God’s throne becomes yours. Your lusting becomes His. His chastity becomes yours. Your mind, set on earthly things becomes His. His mind sent on heavenly things becomes yours, and on and on and on…Not only do you have an extraordinary landlord moved by patience and unfailing love, but in Christ, God has in you an extraordinary tenant. What beautiful fruit you bear in Him! What more is there for God to do for you His vineyard that He has not done in it? Nothing! Nothing at all! The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
posted by Luther Memorial Chapel at
10/03/2005
