Luke 19:45-20:18 "God's Vineyard" Why does Jesus use the image of a vineyard? In Isaiah 5, Isaiah speaks of Israel as God's vineyard. God carefully planted his vine in the land. He tended it and it became fruitful and grew. But it only produced "stinkfruit." In Psalm 80 the Psalmist speaks of how God took a vine from Egypt and planted it in the land. But now the wild animals are devouring the vineyard. We saw last Sunday night that 1 Kings 21 shows how Ahab was like that wild animal, destroying the vineyard of Naboth in order to have his vegetable garden. So Jesus uses a very familiar image one that his hearers would readily understand. Also, vineyards require a lot of work. As one winemaker put it recently, "If you are planting a vineyard, it's an investment for your grandchildren." It takes 6-8 years for vines to produce a decent crop. And those 6-8 years are very labor intensive. It takes 15-18 years just to get your initial investment back! Vineyards are not for those who want instant gratification! God is not interested in instant gratification. He is patient and his purposes come to fruition over generations. That can be hard for us. We want our answer now! But the story of God's vineyard is important for us to teach us diligence and patience in our service in the kingdom of Christ. You'll notice that my outline uses the parable to interpret the whole story. 1. A Vineyard Possessed 2. The Tenants' Challenge 3. The Tenants Dispossessed 1. A Vineyard Possessed: Cleansing the Temple (19:45-48) What exactly was the problem with the money changers? The money changers needed to be there in order that people might pay the temple tax. And what was the problem with those who sold animals for sacrifices? They too had to be there so that people who had come from a distance might offer sacrifices. It is not simply the fact of their presence that is the problem. Jesus quotes from two passages here: Isaiah 56:7 "my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples" but by itself this passage makes little sense in support of Jesus, because the passage is all about how God will bring the nations to Jerusalem, and they will offer sacrifices at the altar in the temple. Why is Jesus upset at those who are helping people offer sacrifices? The second quotation is the key you have made it a den of robbers from Jeremiah 7:11. I think we are too quick to jump to the conclusion that they are extorting people with high prices, or that the money changers are just in it for a quick buck. That was likely true, but that is not likely Jesus' main point. It was certainly not Jeremiah's main point in Jeremiah 7:11. Jeremiah was told to stand in the gate of the Lord's house and proclaim the Word of the LORD to Judah (Jeremiah 7:1ff) The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: Stand in the gate of the LORD's house and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the LORD. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. Do not trust in these deceptive words: This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD. For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice with one another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever. Jeremiah had told Jerusalem not to trust in the temple. The temple cannot save you. If you are living in rebellion against God, worshiping other gods and mistreating the poor, then it will no good to offer sacrifices in the temple. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say 'We are delivered!' only to go on doing all these abominations? Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the LORD. The problem is not that the simple fact that there are people selling animals for sacrifices, or that there are moneychangers present. The problem in Jesus' day is the same as in Jeremiah's day: The Jews are trusting in the temple not in the God whose name dwells there. It is not the moneychangers who are the robbers. It is the worshipers! The priests! The whole system is corrupt! The temple is possessed by demons, and Jesus comes to the temple and casts out those who sold just like he cast out demons throughout his ministry. (It is the same word, ekballo which means "cast out") Jesus has come to exorcise the temple to cleanse it from idolatry, because the temple has become the headquarters of opposition to the Kingdom of God. How do we know that this is what Jesus means? Because Jesus has come to Jerusalem. The king has come to his own but his own did not receive him. The faithful remnant of Israel sang and praised God when Jesus came to Jerusalem, but the leaders told Jesus to rebuke them! And when he came to the temple, he should have been received as the glorious king! But instead everyone went on with their own business. A den of robbers! They have robbed God of his glory. They have robbed the Son of David of the honor that was due him. And so Jesus drove out those whose eyes were blind, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers. You are no better than your fathers in Jeremiah's day and your fate shall be no different! Well, there is one difference. Jeremiah spoke of how the temple would be destroyed. But Jeremiah also spoke of how the temple would be rebuilt. Jesus says that Jerusalem's temple will be destroyed but he never says that it will be rebuilt! The only temple that Jesus' promises to build is himself and his people! And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words. The problem with the temple was that Israel trusted in the temple, rather than the one to whom the temple pointed. And as Jeremiah pointed out, this is the sin of idolatry. And we do the same thing. You take the good gifts of God and worship the gift rather than the giver. God had given Israel the temple as a house of prayer a place where Israel could draw near to God. But instead, Israel merely drew near to the temple! This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Now the people are hanging on Jesus' every word, but in a few short days they will be screaming for his blood. 2. The Tenants' Challenge: by What Authority Does Jesus Act? (20:1-8) One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel . . . Notice the emphasis on the location. The road to Jerusalem is ended. The king has come. And Jesus is now teaching in the temple, preaching the good news of the kingdom. But as he is preaching, 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 it is that gave you this authority.' The chief priests, the scribes, and the elders were given authority by God to lead Israel in following him. Of all people, they should be the first in recognizing the Son of God when he comes to the temple. But instead, what they see is a challenge to their lordship. Why doesn't Jesus simply say, "God sent me"? It is the obvious answer! But Jesus is not simply interested in answering their question. He wants to reveal their hearts. He wants them to understand themselves! And so instead he answered them, I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? This is a zinger! If we say, 'from heaven,' he will say, 'why did you not believe him?' But if we say, 'from man,' all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet!' And so they replied, 'we do not know'! And since they have chosen to be agnostic, Jesus allows them to continue in their ignorance: Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. Jesus has come to dispossess the priests and the elders. He has come in judgment to declare that their days of fleecing the people of God are over. Judgment day has come to the temple! 3. Jesus' Answer: the Tenants Dispossessed (20:9-18) Instead, Jesus turns to the crowds the people and told them a parable. Remember that this question had been asked publicly. They had asked Jesus by what authority he spoke against the temple by what authority he had driven out those who sold. And Jesus has refused to tell them. So now Jesus turns to the crowds who had been listening the people who had loved John and he tells them this parable. A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while. We saw last Sunday night in the story of Ahab and Naboth how Israel was a vineyard whom Ahab had uprooted. Psalm 80 and Isaiah 5 both speak of Israel as God's vineyard. And the leaders of Israel are the tenants. It is their task, as stewards, to tend the vineyard for the sake of the owner. So when the time came, he 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. The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah had come to the temple and called Israel to repent and bear fruit in keeping with repentance. But Israel mocked the prophets, crying out "the temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh!" And so the owner sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. Then the owner of the vineyard said, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him. But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours. And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others. Many of Jesus' parables are difficult to understand. Not this one! Everyone understood exactly what Jesus was saying. Jesus was saying that God would take the kingdom away from Israel and give it to "others." And so the response is not "what do you mean?" Rather, the response is, "Surely not!" Jesus, you cannot be serious! You cannot mean that God will destroy the temple and the priests! You cannot mean that God will give the kingdom to some unspecified "others"! But Jesus looked directly at them. He looked them straight in the eye, and said, What then is this that is written: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone?" Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him. The cornerstone (or capstone) is the key to the whole building. Jesus has been talking about how the stones of the temple will cry out as they are cast down. As the stones of the temple come crashing down, Jesus is the true cornerstone. He is the key to the new temple. If you stumble over him, you will be broken to pieces. If he falls on you, he will crush you. Conclusion: The Vineyard Today It is so easy to see the point for Jesus' hearers that we may miss the point for us! God has taken the kingdom from the tenants the Jewish leadership and given the kingdom (the vineyard) to us. Pretty nifty, eh? We've got God vineyard now! The kingdom is ours! It is that attitude that Paul addresses in Romans 11. If God brought judgment against Israel because they forgot whose vineyard it was, how much more will he judge us! If we start thinking of the church as "our" turf, as "our" possession, God will not long delay in bringing our pride down around our ears. Have you ever seen people who treated the church as "mine"? It can happen in all sorts of ways: the "sacred cow" approach to church programs: (We have to have this program because Aunt Margaret started it!) the "holy space" approach to church buildings: (My grandpa donated that stained glass window!) but one thing they all have in common is a failure to remember that this is Christ's church! We honor those who have gone before us not by continuing their programs, but by continuing their spirit of service and love, and by including that in the stories we tell of those who went before us! God has called us to be tenants in his vineyard in this little region of Michiana. We are stewards of this little corner of his kingdom. He has called us to serve him in our work, in our homes, and in our community. And he has sent us his Holy Spirit to equip us in this service. He has given you a pastor, elders and deacons, to lead you in bearing fruit for his kingdom. But the point is that you are called, in your daily callings not just on Sunday morning to bear fruit in his kingdom! We are tenants in God's vineyard. Be wise in your service. And as God has made Jesus the cornerstone of his church the temple where God dwells with us let us be faithful in our priestly service. Peter no doubt remembered Jesus' use of Psalm 118, and in 1 Peter 2, Peter reflects on this: As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: (and Peter quotes Isaiah 28) Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, (quoting Psalm 118) The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone and A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense. (From Isaiah 8) Jesus' role as the cornerstone has two parts: he is what holds us together; we are built together with him as the stone that brings unity to the structure. But he is also what divides us from everyone else. Because those who reject Jesus stumble over him and fall.