Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:
“One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and said to Him, ‘Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who is it that gave you this authority.”
“And [Jesus] began to tell the people this parable: ‘A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants.’ …” (Luke 20:1-2, 9a).
The Parable of the Wicked Tenants. So, what led Jesus to tell this parable? Well, today we are marching forward to the Tuesday of Holy Week where we find Jesus teaching at the temple. And like always, Jesus’ teaching is challenged by the Jewish authorities. And knowing that His betrayal and death is near, Jesus directs the sharpest and sternest rebuke and warning against the Jewish authorities.
Though the Jewish authorities were the original target of today’s parable, we must not conclude that this parable has nothing for us to learn. You see, every parable of Jesus is timeless as they speak to people in every age. So, what are we to think about the Parable of the Wicked Tenants?
Jesus said, “A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while” (Luke 20:9). Here, we hear that a man planted the vineyard. In Mark’s Gospel, he gives us a few more details on what this Owner did as he also “put a fence around it,” “dug a winepress,”and “built a tower” (Mark 12:1).
From this other information, we hear that the Owner of the vineyard did everything to make His vineyard a good productive one. He put a wall around it to protect it. He dug a winepress so His tenants could produce wine easily. He built a tower so His tenants could see from a distance if any intruders were coming. The Owner of the vineyard did literally everything to make the work of His tenants an easy one. The Owner of the vineyard left nothing undone that was necessary for the welfare of His tenants.
However, the Owner was away for very long while. Eventually, the tenants, the renters of the vineyard, began to truly believe that they were no longer renters, but owners. They were patting each other on the back saying, “Very well done!”
“When the time came, [the Owner] sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty handed” (Luke 20:10). Now, you’d think that the Owner would be a bit perturbed about this incident. You’d think, He would come back and evict the tenants. But He doesn’t. He sends a second servant. And the tenants treat him worse than the first. So, what does the Owner do? He sends a third servant. And he’s treated worse than the first and second. Now what? What does this Owner do? He sends His beloved Son, saying, “Perhaps they will respect Him” (Luke 20:13).
So, what happens next? The tenants saw the Son and they say to themselves, “This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours” (Luke 20:14). So, they threw the Son out of the vineyard and killed him.
What will the Owner do now? Well, He had been patient before. So, will He continue to be patient in receiving his fruit? No, the Owner’s patience has ended. He will now destroy the wicked tenants and give the vineyard to others who would tend His vineyard.
To this, the chief priests, scribes and elders say, “Surely not!” (Luke 20:16).
In this parable, we have the Owner of the vineyard, who is God the Father. The wicked tenants are forefathers of the chief priests, scribes, and elders. And the servants are the prophets, who have been rejected time and again by the forefathers of the Jewish authorities.
For all intents and purposes, the Parable of the Wicked Tenants is historical. This is what has portrayed in Israel from one generation to the next. A few weeks ago, we heard Jesus’ lament over this very fact: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!” (Luke 13:34a).
But in the Parable of the Wicked Tenants, Jesus gives His parable a prophetic turn: “This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours” (Luke 20:14). Here, Jesus is telling them and the crowd around them what exactly they would do to Him in just a few days. Here, Jesus is exposing their murderous intent. To put another way, He told them that they would show themselves as apt pupils of their forefathers.
In fact, they would top the wickedness of their forefathers by killing, not just a human prophet commissioned by God, but Him, the Father’s Son, the fully divine and human Messiah.
So, just as their forefathers did, these Jewish authorities would ensure that the Jewish nation remained their people, under their control, under their sway. “So they threw [Jesus] out of the vineyard and killed Him” (Luke 20:15).
So, what about us? What is your response as you reflected on the Parable of the Wicked Tenants? Who are we to be in this parable? What is our role?
For those of us who have rented or are currently renting a home or apartment, what would happen at the beginning of each month? Rent is due. Now, who really enjoys paying rent, or even a mortgage? But we have to! If not, you are evicted, or the bank takes your home. That is life in the fallen world. But what about our spiritual life?
When the beloved Son comes to pick up the rent owed to His Father, what will you do? Will you see yourself as the lord of the vineyard? Or as a caretaker of the vineyard? Will you be renters who will give the Owner His due?
And what fruit is the Owner looking to receive of His? Well, those fruits of faith, those fruits of repentance, those stewardship acts of time, talent, and treasure.
Now, it is certainly easy for us to shift from being tenants under the Lord to thinking and acting like we are the owners. And why is that? Well, we all have a problem with authority. And whether we would like to admit it or not, we all have a problem with God’s authority. As sinners, our natural perception is that God’s authority prevents us from getting what we want.
Just think about it. How often do you withhold from God what is rightfully His? How often do you speak carelessly, or misuse God’s Name? How often do you neglect or despise God’s Word and Sacraments? How often are you not content with what God has given to you?
We certainly do have a problem with God’s authority. The wicked tenants desired the authority for themselves. Even the Owners’ servants weren’t respected and neither was His beloved Son.
Our sinful nature challenges God’s authority as we operate in cahoots with the fallen world. We are tricked by Satan, just like Adam and Eve were in the Garden, to falsely think that God is holding back what we want. And if we sit back and think how the world portrays freedom today, freedom is defined as crossing the boundary of what’s good and right.
Our fallen sinful nature even leads us to think wrongly about the church. We may get to thinking, “This is my church. The church belongs to me.” We sometimes forget that the church belongs to the Lord. We, the Church, belong to the Lord.
Remember, God planted the vineyard. We didn’t. We did nothing to deserve the vineyard. We didn’t choose God. He chose us and set His love upon us.
Today, you and I are both the tenants and servants. Upon His death and resurrection, Jesus gave us His vineyard as His stewards. The planting of His vineyard is entirely His doing, not our doing. For Jesus said, “I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18) on the truth that He is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). It is in this way alone that we became God’s cherished children, the objects of His constant love and His constant care.
For us, we no longer rely on the promise of the Lord’s salvation, since salvation is fully accomplished in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
As His tenants, we are all certainly capable of committing the same wickedness of the chief priests, scribes, and elders and their forefathers. We say things like, “It’s my car. It’s my money. It’s my investment.” But the reality is: It’s God’s car. It’s God’s money. It’s God’s investment. The reality is that we get the privilege in managing those things for Him.
So, if we are truly listening to the Parable of the Wicked Tenants, you would notice that Jesus is also speaking about the proper giving back of what God has given to you. The good news is that the Owner of the vineyard is patient. He waits a long time before He goes out and sends His servants to collect His rent. He doesn’t evict the tenants. He keeps sending servants. He doesn’t quit. The Owner of this vineyard – Prince of Peace Lutheran Church – is a compassionate, loving and caring God who won’t quit.
Even as His beloved Son is beaten up, thrown out of the vineyard and killed. Even in that very action, God gets His way. For in the rejection of His beloved Son, God the Father is providing a new beginning. God the Father is providing forgiveness and restoration. He is providing the cornerstone upon which His people will be built.
So, when the Owner of this vineyard comes looking for fruit, will you produce His fruit, or will you challenge His authority by your sin by being crushed by the Cornerstone?
Thanks be God that He is patient! Always remember that Jesus died for all those times you challenge His authority. So may we always repent and receive His forgiveness. God holds nothing back from us! When you repent, He always forgives unconditionally! And He not only gives us the vineyard, but He gives us the kingdom! Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +
