The Parable of the Vineyard

Introduction and Reading of the Parable

0:03 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, December 13th, 1987, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now let us turn together to the twelfth chapter of Mark's gospel, the gospel of Mark, and chapter twelve.

0:25 And follow, please, as I read the first twelve verses. Mark, writing with reference to the activity of our Lord in the temple precincts, in the presence of his disciples, the leaders of the Sanhedrin, and some of the multitudes gathered at Passover week, tells us that he began to speak unto them in parables. A man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and digged a pit for the winepress, and built a vineyard. He set up a tower, and led it out to husbandmen, and went into another country.

1:11 And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruits of the vineyard. And they took him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent unto them another servant, and him they wounded in the head, and handled. And he sent another, and him they killed, and many others, beating some, and killing some.

1:48 He had yet one, a beloved son. He sent him last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir. Come, let us kill.

2:07 Kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. And they took him, and killed him, and cast him forth out of the vineyard. What therefore will the Lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others.

2:30 Have you not read even this scripture? The stone which the builders rejected. The same was made the head of the corner. This was from the Lord.

2:42 And it is marvelous in our eyes. And they sought to lay hold on him. And they feared the multitude, for they perceived that he spoke the parable against them. And they left him, and went away.

Old Testament Background: Isaiah's Vineyard Song

3:01 And now as background to the significance of this parable, will you follow as I read? I will read from the fifth chapter of the book of Isaiah the prophet. Isaiah chapter 5.

3:19 And I shall read the first seven verses.

3:25 The prophecy of Isaiah chapter 5.

3:31 Let me sing for my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard in a very fruitful hill. And he digged it and gathered out. He dug out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also hewed out a winepress therein.

3:57 And he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard. What could have been done? What could have been more to my vineyard that I have not done in it?

4:21 Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes. And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up. And I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down.

4:41 And I will lay it waste. It shall not be pruned nor hoed. And there shall come up briars and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

4:54 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant. And he looked for justice, but behold, oppression, for righteousness, but behold.

5:14 And now let us seek the face of God that the Lord himself would open to our eyes, and we would see the face of God. And we would see the face of God that the Lord himself would open to our eyes, and we would see the face of God that the Lord himself would open to our eyes, and bring home into the inner recesses of our hearts and bring home into the inner recesses of our hearts this portion of his own infallible Word. Let us pray. Our Father as we come this morning to consider the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, words spoken just a few days wє Еще the last prayer in our lives to his open rejection by the Nation of Israel, his cruel and shameful death upon the cross, we pray today that, we pray that, Pray that your spirit will come, enabling your servant to cut a straight course in the word of truth and enabling your people to hear with the inner ears of the heart. And, O Lord, we would be bold to pray that you would so send your spirit that even those who this moment are yet dead in sin, before the final words are spoken and the final prayer is prayed this morning, O that you would quicken them to life as the spirit attends the word with power. Hear our cry and accomplish your sovereign designs, we plead,

6:39 in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Context of the Parable: Passion Week Confrontations

6:44 Now, as we take up our studies in the Gospel of Mark here at the twelfth chapter, let me remind you afresh of the precise setting in which these words were spoken. It is day number three of the Passion Week. All Jerusalem is in a state of excitement with the approaching Passover celebration, an excitement intensified by the presence of Jesus, who made his entrance into Jerusalem in royal fashion amidst unmistakable messianic acclamation. Jesus said, He has already in this week challenged and offended the religious leaders by accepting that royal welcome oozing with messianic connotations. He has first offended them by coming unto their own church, the temple, and there radically cleansing the temple of its crass materialism. The day following the cleansing of the temple, a representative group from the Sanhedrin, that highest governing and ruling body in Israel, approached Jesus in the temple,

8:12 and finding him in a transition from one place in the temple precincts to another, they raised the question about the authority by which he was doing the things he was doing. Jesus answered their question with a question of his own, a question which laid bare the hypocrisy involved in their question. They had no sincere desire to know the source of his authority, for when our Lord said the baptism of John, was it from heaven or of men, had they acknowledged that the baptism of John was of heaven, that is of God, John had already established that Jesus was indeed the sent one, of whom he, John, was but the forerunner. And so when their hypocrisy is exposed, Jesus refuses to answer their question in a direct and an explicit manner. Now according to Matthew 21, 28, there was no time lapse between our Lord's response to their question about authority, and three parables which followed that particular question. Incident.

9:33 For we read in Matthew 21 and verse 28, right after the parallel account of Jesus' refusal to tell them by what authority he did those things, Jesus then raised another question, but what do you think a man had two sons? And then our Lord proceeds to give the parable of the two sons, then the parable of the wicked tenant farmers, and then the parable of the wicked tenant farmers, and then the parable of the wicked tenant farmers, and then, as recorded in Matthew, the parable of the wedding feast. So when we turn to Mark chapter 12 and we read, he began to speak unto them in Mark, in indicating that there were more parables than he records in this particular section of his gospel record. Only Matthew records the three parables, the two sons, the wicked tenant farmers, and the marriage feast. In the parallel passages in Mark and in Luke, the middle parable, this particular parable of the wicked tenant farmers, is the only one recorded in those two gospel writers. So Mark begins with the words, he began to speak unto them in parables,

Essential Facts and Meaning of the Parable: The Vineyard Established

10:59 and then he proceeds to record this parable, the parable of the wicked tenant farmers. And as we attempt to think our way through this particular section of the word of God, first of all, we shall seek to grasp the essential facts and meaning of the parable. We will find that in verses 1 through 9. And then we will consider the predicted sequel to the parable in verses 10 and 11.

11:32 Then the immediate, the immediate response of the Jewish leaders to the parable, verse 12, and then seek to make the very crucial applications of this parable. First of all, then, the essential facts and meaning of the parable. And as we take up the parable, since it has been some time that we studied the parables recorded in Mark's gospel, particularly in chapter 4, I would remind you that, in seeking to grasp the facts and the significance of a parable, we must not get bound up in seeking to find a significance for every little detail. A parable is like a room furnished with a chair, a couch, a table, and a lamp. Those very utilitarian commodities. But if it's a well-furnished and tastefully decorated, decorated room, it may have some wall hangings, it may have some curtains, it may have a rug, it may have some drapes.

12:42 But in seeking to ascertain the meaning of parable, we must not try to find significance in every wrinkle of the drape, in every thread in the wall hanging, and in every color in the rug. The meaning is found in the substance of the central concern, in the patterns of the parable, in what we would call the table, the chair, and the couch. And as we come to the parable then, we come with that perspective as we seek to grasp the essential facts and meaning of the parable. And let me suggest that we can do so if we think of the essential facts and meaning in three categories. First of all, the vineyard established, established and leased to the tenant farmers. Verse 1. A man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and digged a pit for the wine press, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into another country.

13:56 Now we are told by those who have studied the written records of this particular period of human history in Palestine, and by those who have examined the remains that have been dug up by archeological digs, that what our Lord described here in the establishment of this vineyard and in its being leased to tenant farmers was a common situation that would have been clearly understood by everyone who heard him that day in the temple precincts. Verse 2. Because the circumstances are very different from anything most of us have witnessed, it's necessary to give a little explanation. What we have described in this passage is a man, perhaps a wealthy land owner, who decided that he would take that land that seemed to be favorable in terms of its location, the type of its soil, it seemed to be favorable to the planting of a vineyard, as an economic enterprise, not as a little hobby, but as a business. And so what he did, according to the passage, was to plant his vineyard. That is, do everything necessary to prepare the soil,

15:20 and actually to plant the various kinds of grape, seedlings, or bushes, whatever stage of growth they may have been. And then he did, as anyone did, who was concerned for the preservation of his investment, he set a hedge about that parcel of land. That hedge would have been made up either from stones that had been taken out of the ground in preparing it, in making it fit to receive the vines, or it may have been a hedge made of thorns that acted like barbed wire, and would effectively keep away both predators, and the vineyards. And even human intruders. Some suggest that they find in historical records that some men who had real concern for the preservation of their vineyards did both. They'd have both a stone fence, and outside of that, in a larger perimeter, they would even have a thorn fence that would act like barbed wire, to keep back both predators and human intruders. Then it is said, that the vines, the vines, the vines, the vines, the vines, the vines, the vines, the vines, the vines, the vines, the vines, the vines, the vines, the vines, the vines, the vines, the vines, the vines.

16:34 Then it is said, that having done this, he digged a pit for the wine press. Now that's an awkward attempt to translate a Greek word found only here in the New Testament, but the significance again can be seen even in Palestine today. The way they would make a wine press is generally to find a place where there was some solid rock shelf on a slope. They would dig out an area on the upper part that might be three or four feet thick.

17:02 be three or four feet across and a couple of feet deep. Then below that, they would dig out a wider area and with sufficient depth, and they would then have either a pipe or they would cut a trough in the stone so that whatever of liquid was found in the upper part of this wine press would naturally flow down the conduit or the pipe or the trough into the lower area. The grapes would be dumped into the upper part and then they would be trampled upon by the feet of the wine pressers. The juice would make its way down the trough into the lower gathering part. Sediment would sink to the bottom and then they would scoop the wine off the top and place it in the wine skins to be kept and used. Or to be sold in the marketplace. So this man built a proper wine press and the necessary means to process the grapes into wine. Then it is said he built a tower. And here again, we are informed

18:16 by those who have studied the matter and seen the remains of such towers to this day that the tower served a two or threefold purpose. The tower was used to make wine. It was used sometimes for the storage of the agricultural equipment needed for cultivating. It was also used for shelter for the actual farmers who might have spent time over a period when there was intense work needed to be done rather than going back into their homes.

18:47 And it could also be used as a watchtower from which to look and to seek to make sure that no one who was a threat to the well-being of the vineyard would be allowed to come undetected and therefore unaccosted. So the picture which our Lord draws is one that would have stood out very, very vividly in the minds of his hearers. And after this particular landowner had done whatever was necessary to plant the vineyard, set the hedge about it, dig the wine press, build the tower, then we are told, he left to husbandmen and went into another country. That is, he entered into a contractual arrangement with tenant farmers. That would be the closest we have in our day, sharecroppers. And generally what they did was to come to an arrangement whereby the tenant farmer, the sharecropper would agree that whatever was raised in any given year, he could keep a certain percentage, but 10, 15, 20 percent would then go

20:04 either in terms of dried grapes, raisins, or the finished product of the wine in the wineskins. This would go to the landowner himself. There is some indication that sometimes there might be even an exchange of capital, but the whole concept was one of stewardship. The tenant farmer was given the privilege of living of the fruit of his labors, but since he had made no capital investments, he had not purchased the land, he had not gone out to the local nursery and bought the slips or whatever was used to begin a vineyard. All of that was borne by the landowner. This was a legitimate, non-subsidized, non-public landowner. means of livelihood for a wealthy man who owned the land. It also provided a means of a fair

Essential Facts and Meaning: Fruit Sought and Brutal Treatment

21:01 livelihood for these tenant farmers. And you find in that parallel passage in Isaiah chapter 5, very similar language where Jehovah likens himself to the man who takes the piece of land and turns it into a potentially fruitful vineyard, from which he expected an abundant crop of grapes. So the vineyard established and leased to the tenant farmers. I trust I've made sufficiently clear the major facts as given by our Lord. But now, the second category of the facts is this. The fruit sought and the servants and the son brutally treated. Verses 2 to 8. Verses 2 to 8,

21:53 contain an account that is shocking of the owner of the vineyard taking the fruits of his vineyard and the kind of treatment given to his servants whom he sent to secure that fruit and ultimately to his own son whom he sent for the same purpose. Now notice the language of the text. Verse 2, and at the season. Fourth or fifth year after the planting of the vineyard, the owner of the vineyard sent to these tenant farmers one of his slaves. And he sent him for this specific reason, that the slave might receive from the tenant farmer of the fruit of the vineyard. In other words, he was simply sending his servant, a representative, to receive his vineyard. And he sent him for this specific reason, that the servant of the vineyard receive for his servants. And he sent him for this specific reason,

22:57 that the servant of the vineyard receive for his servants. And he sent him for this specific reason, contractual arrangement. He had not interfered with them. He had not come to oppress them.

23:05 But at the proper season, when it was right for him to expect a return on his investment, he sent a servant to these tenant farmers to receive that which had been agreed upon. And what did they do to that servant? The passage says, verse 3, Verse 3, they took him before the servant who had been your servant, They took him before the servant who had been your servant, took him and beat him, and they sent him away empty. And one can only imagine the shock when those standing in the temple precincts that day heard the count. This is something that would be shocking to any sense of common fairness, that the man who had put them in business, who had not interfered in an oppressive way, sends his servant to receive what is due, and they beat up on the servant and send him away without a cluster of raisins, without a skin of wine. They send him back to his master empty-handed. Well, at that point, what would you have done had you been the landowner? Had you been the one who planted that vineyard? Well, notice what he did in the parable of our Lord. Verse 4, And again

24:22 he sent unto them another servant. And to him they wounded in the head and handled shamefully. This one, they put apes in his back and sent him back to his master empty-handed, but they became excessively brutal. They wounded him in the head with an ability which can most quickly produce death with a blow struck strategically. And in some way that is not explained, they handled him in the head and handled him shamefully. Perhaps they did something similar to what is recorded in the Old Testament when desiring to insult the messengers and the one who sent them. Men had their clothing cut off to their buttocks. They did something that would publicly shame this servant. And so he returns to

25:23 the master, and I can only imagine the rising sense of tension and anger there in the temple precincts as our Lord is telling this story. One servant is sent and beaten, and is driven away empty-handed. Another is beaten in the head and handled shamefully. Verse 5, And he sent another, and him they killed. This one, they went beyond beating. They went beyond striking blows. They went beyond shameful activity. They actually killed him. And what did the landowner do? He continued to send servants. Notice, and what did they do? Each

26:13 one as he came, he was beaten or some were killed. Beating some and killing some. You'd say, surely at this point he'd get the message. They're a bunch of rascals. That's a band of brutes there. They're not tenant farmers. Anybody that comes by just to respond to the call, use that love kind ofelected touch, don't let them come in and use the word here. They gave directly, came to meet with more friends, more effects against one another.

26:55 That's what coming down a village says. And they left demanding money for sort of the village medical persons, for that reason. See, that's if this is a female. But the law that we see in Scripture says what to do with the money is that it shouldeles only be given to the poor. більie Be kümpft by .....

27:07 Ohh oh no, an after toll of money apparently. Reminiscence of Elohim. And then where are we going next with this? Well, I'd like to give some sequence that says it looks like we have a woman sitting here with a man, or she's sitting with a thief.

27:20 And this was his reasoning, verse 6. Surely they will reverence my son. Though they have shown disdain for my servants, and in showing disdain for my servants, they show their disdain for me. There is remaining in them a tremendous respect and appreciation for the fact that I'm the one who purchased the land.

27:52 I'm the one who saw to it that it was made into a productive vineyard and well-protected and supplied for surely if there is but a tithe back for me. They know how much I love this particular son. My well-thinking of the bond-tivity to all my other messengers should reverence my son.

28:30 And so he sends his son in that hope. But what happened, verse 7? But those ten and five, the farmers said among themselves, they saw the son coming, they recognized him. This is the heir.

28:46 This is the one who will be in the will the rightful possessor of the land.

28:57 Kill him.

29:08 So they reasoned among themselves saying, let's kill him and the inheritance shall be ours. And they took him and killed him, and cast him forth out of the vineyard. And they take the wealth and they not owe him, but they do not even give him a decent burial. And that means little to us, but in Israel, as the barren was a harming of reproach and occasion of reproach.

29:51 To be buried, one of the judgments God pronounces through the prophets is this, their bodies shall be left upon the open fields. And when they threw him out beyond the protection of the vineyard to become the means of the vineyard, to become the means of the vineyard, to become the means of the vineyard, to become the means of the vineyard, to become the means of the vineyard, to become the means of the vineyard, to become the means of the vineyard, to become the means of the vineyard, to become the means of the vineyard, to become the means of the vineyard, and other predators. It was the highest of insults they were showing for the Lord of the vineyard and for any messengers whom he would send.

Essential Facts and Meaning: Judgment on the Tenant Farmers

30:24 Verse 9, instead of going on and speaking and bringing the terrible to its conclusion, we have in verse 9 the third part of its content and its significance, the judgment meted out upon the tenant, farmers. We've seen the vineyard established and leased the fruit through the servants and the son. And now verse 9, the judgment meted out upon the tenant, farmers. Jesus says to those in the temple precincts who've heard this shocking parable, what therefore will the Lord of the vineyard do?

31:08 And according to Matthew 21, 41, the crowd of the common people who stood about him listening were so captured by the sheer magnetism and, may I say, fascinated by the ugly mechanism of brutality in this parable that they instinctively responded as recorded in Matthew chapter 21. And notice what their response was. Verse 40, When therefore the Lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do? To those husbandmen they unto him.

31:51 The crowds who are caught up in Jesus' parable when he answers the question immediately respond, he that is the Lord, the master of the vineyard, he will miserably destroy those miserable men and will let out the vineyard unto other husbandmen who shall render him the fruits in their seasons. They said there's only one thing left to do. The Lord of the vineyard must, through the proper authorities, take vengeance upon these murderers, covenant breakers. And so he will see to it that through the proper authorities these miserable men are miserably destroyed.

32:32 And then he will find some tenant farmers who will enter into contract with him in good faith and will indeed give him what he originally designed when he made that vineyard. They will give him the fruits thereof. So the response came first of all from the people. And then, as so often I do when I'm teaching the adult class, you respond to a question and then I affirm the very thing you've responded to and said.

33:01 And that's what Jesus did. So Matthew records the response of the people. Mark and Luke record Jesus as affirming that response and saying in these words, verse 9, What therefore will the Lord of the vineyard do? The people answer and then Jesus picks up their answer and says, yes.

33:24 Come and destroy the tenant farmers and we'll give the vineyard to others.

Interpretation of the Parable: God's Dealings with Israel

33:38 Now, what is all this talking about? We've seen the parable in the broad categories. The vineyard established and leased to the tenant farmers. The fruit sought through the servants and the son and the shameful treatment.

33:58 The judgment of all of them. And then the judgment meted out upon the tenant farmers. What is all this intended to convey? What I'm going to do because it was the best summary that I came across in all of my preparation and in the interest of time I thought I would simply share with you the fruit of the labors of another servant of Christ, William Taylor, who in summarizing the significance of this parable says this, Here then is the interpretation of the parable.

34:35 The householder is God. It's the one who plants the vineyard. The vineyard is the theocratic privileges enjoyed by those who were the chosen people of God and as such were placed by him under the law of Moses. That is, was privileged position.

35:07 The tremendous privileges of the vineyard was the privilege of God. It was given to those who were God's chosen people and husbandmen of God and in particular the Jewish disposition of the Jewish nation. The removal of the householder into a far country is the withdrawal of God from such open manifestation of himself as was made on Mount Sinai. God went into what this author calls a position of expectant passivity.

35:48 He had given his law and appointed his leader and had given his institutions and now as it were God draws back. Not that he does not periodically intervene with miracle but he leaves them his written word and his ordinances and his laws and his servants to lead them and God waits for the result to develop itself freely in the choice of the people themselves. The servants sent to receive the fruits were the people of God. The prophets who were often cruelly maltreated by those to whom they were commissioned.

36:27 The son in the parable is the Lord Jesus himself. The crucifixion of whom was the climax of the nation's iniquity for which the kingdom of God was taken from it and given unto the Gentiles. Now you see without going into all the details what's the significance of the wine press and hedge. No, no, no.

36:51 We must catch the main commodities of the parables. God is the great owner of the field who plants the vineyard. The vineyard is the peculiar privileges of the nation of Israel with all of its institutions. The husbandmen, the tenant farmers are the nation of Israel and in a peculiar way her leaders, the servants who come to receive as it were what God servants, the prophets, and as we read in passage after passage in the Old and the New Testament so much so that Stephen can say which of the prophets did not your fathers kill?

37:35 The prophets reminded them of the fruits of righteousness and worship and service and witness that God extended from his people and all they had for their troubles was Jeremiah in a pit that devilish woman Jezebel and many of them received cruel treatment took to death and imprisoned all because they came in the name of Jehovah the Lord of the fruit that was contained for they had said that the Lord they did not do what they had covenanted to do they were covenant breakers in their unbelief and in their impenitence and our Lord very graphically in this parable then sets forth the great realities of Israel's privilege Israel's refusal to fulfill her role Israel's rejection of the servants of God culminating in her rejection of the land itself which then results in the destruction of the tenant farmers

38:57 the removal of the vineyard the place of peculiar redemptive privilege is removed from them and given to a nation that will bring forth the fruits thereof well we've looked at the parable and its meaning now secondly look at the predicted sequel to the parable and its meaning verse 10 you see the parable is incomplete it leaves on prediction without the message of the parable verse 10 have you not read even this scripture is rejected the same was made the head of the corner this was from the Lord and it is marvelous in our eyes it's not fastidious it's not fastidious to carry on the imagery of a vineyard he had made the point with the vineyard but now he must complete the picture of the realities to which the vineyard the slain servants and the slain son pointed and so he quotes from psalm 118

Predicted Sequel: The Rejected Stone Becomes the Cornerstone

40:21 the very thing with messianic identity and now he comes back to that psalm and he says have you not read the stone which the builders of the world rejected it's graphic imagery some of you masons here I don't mean who belong to the masonic lodge I don't think we have anyone who belongs to the masonic lodge I know we have no members who do but I mean masons you know people that put brick and block together people that put the brick up on the outside of this building have you ever seen a stone mason work trying to fit stones together and here is a peculiarly strategic stone in an arch and it must fit in such a way that it will bear the weight coming from both sides and from above it's the strategic stone and it's the picture of the builders mounting together is this the proper stone to fit in this significant place and they try it each and every way and they analyze it and they have a little caucus and they say no this stone simply will not do and they cast it on the pile of of stone to be carted off and used to build stone walls for protection the stone which the builders rejected

41:51 lo and behold he says that verse is made and commentators all debate what does this language mean literally rendered head corner is it the corner stone from which all the walls take their particular angles some suggest yes and the wall of when gentile come together in God's newly established vineyard or vineyard newly entrusted to the gentiles others say no head corner has to do with the central arch stone but what it meant this much is clear and given it the most strategic place in the building you see that's the point the builders rejected the stone was made from the Lord for emphasized tivity from the Lord it is marvelous

Immediate Response of Jewish Leaders and Parable's Interpretive Confirmation

43:15 the rejected stone in this past is the same as the rejected son but the rejected who will be crucified outside the city walls being dead in the third place the immediate response to the parable what is it first twelve and they thought to lay hold on him and they here the multitude for they perceive that he spoke the parable against them and they left him and went away what was the immediate response all these jewish leaders first of all there was a frightening self-disclosure and self-accusation of conscience it says in verse twelve that he spoke the parable

44:37 against them to the young regenerate and the impenitent and the unteachable Jesus said I speak in parables that they who see may not see but the parables that mark the passion week are much more clear in their implications and here are these sensitive jewish leaders who perceive that Jesus owes them and put the territory of those wicked tenant farmers they saw in the parable they perceived that this parable was spoken against them you see they had already decided to kill him after the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead and he was dead recorded in John 11 we read in John chapter 11 verses 47 to 53 that they had all plotted to kill him so every day when they came to him saying by what authority are you doing this thing the dagger was already unsheathed in their spirit they were only asking out of the vineyard

46:06 and he knew it and in this parable he lays them bare and conscience has accused them they see themselves mirrored in the words of Jesus and they are so self-condemned and angered that they have in the second place an intensified determination to get rid of him they sought to lay hold on him they were committed to aggressively lay hold on him and humanly speaking only one thing kept them back there was a temporary expediency of leniency why? rooted in the fear of the multitude they sought to lay hold on him and they feared the multitude in the parallel passage it says for they all took him to be a prophet and the crowd festive time was a rested crowd and these people calculated if we lay hold of Jesus of Nazareth while he is the darling of the multitude while he is presently the number one attraction of these common people who do not know the law and hear him gladly we'll stir them up against us so we must wait our time but there is no way that we can hide our fear

47:32 we'll wait our time and so the parable ends with these words or the record ends they left him and went away well that's the text dear people that's what the passage sets before us the essential facts the essential facts and meaning of the parable, the predicted sequel to the parable and its meaning, and the immediate response, now you and I ask, and rightly so, what does this say to us? Well, let me first of all underscore what is obvious, but the obvious needs to be underscored. This parable interprets and confirms God's dealings with national Israel as indicated in the symbolic miracle of the cursing of the fig tree. You remember several weeks ago, in opening up the implicit meaning of the cursed fig tree, we asserted that that was a symbolic miracle, an object lesson miracle, that with all of the religious activity and knowledge, Israel had become a tree of the fruit of righteousness and holiness and true religion and heart acquaintance.

48:59 And here in this parable, and in the fuller interpretation given in Matthew 21, it is explicitly stated, and here I ask you to turn to Matthew 21, so that the assertion will rest squarely upon the word of God itself.

49:26 After quoting the passage from Psalm 118, Jesus says in Matthew 21, 43, Therefore I say unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. Here our Lord is saying that Israel's peculiar theocratic privileges will not, and that which has brought them to an end, is their dealing with the one till the king is though the prince of the law. One servant to another, one servant to another, and they kill my well-beloved son. Surely it was after the sending of the secure proper authority, come and take the action,

Application: God's Patience with Privileged Sinners

50:52 and then to give the vineyard to a nation bringing forth fruits. And our Lord himself said this in redemptive history, in the unfolding, the crucifixion was not own center. It was the point of all, of everything that preceded it, but it would be the great transition from God's peculiar dealings with the nation of Israel as his special vineyard, and they would no longer be that special vineyard, but God out his redemptive purposes, and seek the fruit of his gracious dealings from among all of the nations. But then secondly, the parable. It displays the amazed patience and forbearance of God, hear me now, to privileged sinners.

51:59 It displays the amazed patience and forbearance of God, not to all men in general, but to privileged sinners. You see, the whole significance of the parable is that all preparation of that vineyard, the very thing celebrated. In Isaiah 5, what more pratic Israel, Romans 9, in a Jew, had the strength of the prophet,

53:03 and yet locations of Godly come in, whose pennant farmer he sends another servant, and another, and another, and another, and another, until he sends his son.

53:34 The day is exhausted, and his judgment falls, but oh, what patience he showed to privileged sinners. And my friends that are sitting here this morning, men and women and boys and girls who are here and not in hell for one reason, God is still excessively patient to privileged sinners. Oh, when mommy and you've never heard upon your daddy's lips, you've never heard your mom use a fire, you've never seen anything or drunk, you've never seen them chasing around with another husband or another wife, another man, another woman, privileged sinners you

54:52 are, children, you have been nurtured in a climate of love, mommies and daddies that love you enough to train your will, to teach, sacrifice, and put you in a Christian, where day after day, everything you learn, you're in God's, of the special privileges given to you in such a context, and you sit in a Sunday school with teachers who don't sell you fairies, teach you the word of God, pastors who stand, and you know that they love you, you don't die, and they tell you to be changed, and to save you from sinners, and we plead with you to go to Christ, to seek the Lord, to ask the Lord your Savior, and what do you

56:15 want, tenants, do you think you're big enough to beat up your mommy and daddy, you're not big enough to beat up your preachers, but in your heart, aren't you doing it? Don't some of you say, I wasn't born in this home, I wish I could be like the kids down the block, they can watch and hear it, of murdering God's messengers, who remind you that God has a right to expect of you, that with that privilege will come the returns of repentance and faith and loving God and serving children, how patient God is, and not just to children, as some of you here have a converted husband, you have a converted wife, you have a converted wife, and they pray for you daily, there are people you work with, there are people on your block that have never had, and what do you do, you say to God's messengers, that

57:38 godly wife, that godly husband, that godly older brother or sister, younger brother or sister, you say, pray for me, of my privilege, do you understand why Paul said, don't you know that the goodness of God leads you to repentance, don't you see the horror you ingratitude tended to leave? Repentance, but notice in the third place, that this parable predicts the frightening destiny of those who abuse and despise their privileges and therefore bear the forbearance of God, you see the parable not only displays the amazing patience and forbearance of God

Application: Frightening Destiny of Those Who Despise Forbearance

58:51 to privileged sinners, but it also predicts the frightening destiny of those who despise and overplay God's forbearance. I want you to turn to Matthew 21, for Matthew's fuller account of Jesus' final words in this parable, and they are words that have haunted me in my preparation, Matthew 21, 43, therefore I say unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, shall be given unto a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof, now look at verse 44, and he that falls on this earth shall be taken away from you, and he that falls on this earth shall be taken away from you, and he that falls on this earth shall be taken away from you, and he that falls on this earth shall be taken away from you, and he that falls on this earth shall be taken away from you, and he that falls on this earth shall be taken away from you, and he that falls on this earth shall be taken away from you, and he that falls on this stone shall be broken to pieces, and on whomsoever it shall fall, it will scatter him as dust, but someone says, pastor, my Bible says there's a question of whether or not that was actually there in the text, there's a textual question, well, in the gospel of Luke, in the parallel passage, there is no textual question, the words are uncontested textually, there is no textual question, there is no textual question, there is no

60:09 question that Jesus spoke them. I read them now from Luke 20 and verse 18. Everyone that falls on that stone, the stone which is rejected, Jesus Christ, who has made the head corner, the chief stone, the most important stone in God's building, everyone that falls on that stone shall be broken to pieces, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will scatter him as dust. What is Jesus saying?

60:43 This is what he's saying. When men see God taking the rejected one, Jesus of Nazareth, killed as the world, and when they see God raising him from the dead and sitting him at his own right hand in the place of glory and power, rejected, I can't believe they stumble on that stone. In their unbelief, but listen, when they stumble on that stone in unbelief, they don't move the stone. They only break their own bones, but listen, there's still hope for that, because Saul of

61:48 Tarsus stumbled on that stone, and he said, Jesus of Nazareth, Messiah, no way, and he was breaking himself to pieces like a madman, and on the road to Damascus, God put him all together and said, that stone is your Messiah, and he fell before him. He said, Lord, what will you have me to do? In other words, it is possible for people in their first and second and third and one hundredth confrontation of the gospel to stumble on God's appointed stone. The stone is unmoved. It doesn't twitch, and men in their pride and arrogance and unbelief do not believe it will be broken as they fall upon that stone, but there's still hope. But I tell you, the day will come when he who is the chief corner, will come in clouds of glory and power, and the scripture says he'll come in flaming fire to take vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the gospel, and now listen to these words. These are the words that have haunted me, on whomsoever shall fall, it will grind him to

63:03 power. My, upon your poor, frail humanity, who knows the well-beloved son who came in me, who allowed tenant farmers to take him by wicked hands and have him impaled upon her own,

63:55 come in the fury of almighty omnipotence and holiness and justice as pure, and he will grind everyone who's dared to resist. I tell you, if I were unconverted and heard those words as a saved man, I think if I were told I had to fall in the middle of that aisle on my face, and crawl to the front of the building to get mercy, I'd be out of my pew and on that face and crawling. My friend, do you want an omnipotent, chosen, chief cornerstone who is God's appointed judge to grind you? Behold the goodness, and the service is serving you again, and again, and again. This goodness doesn't move you.

65:13 I warn you to flee from the wrath to come. That stone will come and grind you to power.

Application: God's Purposes Cannot Be Frustrated

65:39 Call upon him while he is near. Then I close with just this word, this fourth simple but vital word of application. This parable affirms that no amount of men's wickedness can frustrate God's purposes. No amount of men's wickedness can frustrate God's purposes. You see, Jesus, in his parable, takes us up to the point where it seems that the wicked, tenant farmers won the day with the final intention. It seems as though the tenant farmers had the last word, when they chucked the dead carcass of the well beloved son outside the vineyard. But Jesus said in that very rejection, you have accomplished the divine purpose and Purposes and the rejected stone as the crucified and exalted Lord is made the head of the corner.

66:51 Oh, blessed be God that we have a Savior whose purposes cannot be frustrated by man. The kings of the earth get together and say, How was rain and the rain of His anointed? And what does Psalm 2 say? He that sits in the heavens shall laugh.

67:13 And I love to think of God with His arms folded looking down at these people plotting that they're going to get rid of Him. They said, We'll kill Him.

67:35 He that sits in the heavens shall laugh. And God looked down that day and God chuckled and said, Poor fools, in plotting to kill My Son you do but accomplish My decrees that there will be a Savior for the nations. And dear people, that God is alive. And in all the vicissitudes and changes that we are living in, with all of our fears and apprehensions, when men say, Peace, peace, and when the smile of the sincere man leading our country disappoints, my friend, where is our hope? Our hope is that there's nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing that the leaders of this world can do to frustrate the plans of King Jesus. To have a kingdom of His own, made up of every kindred, tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation.

68:47 I will build My church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, hallelujah. And oh dear people, let us extract the sweetness from this parable that the rejected stone is the head of the corner and He is in that posture not to be admired alone but to accomplish all that the Father gave Him. And He said, All that the Father has given Me shall come to Me. Other sheep I have, and I must bring them, and they shall hear My voice.

69:20 And so as we throw ourselves into the purposes of the gospel, into our desire to witness and pray, we're not dependent on the state of the economy, the number of missiles in Europe, or here or there, but upon Him who holds the reins of all governments in His hands, that He might accomplish His purpose. Oh, may God fill us with joy, speakable and full of glory, even as we contemplate the triumphs of our Lord. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank You for our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank You for these words that He spoke in the temple precincts that day. We thank You for their present and burning relevance to every one of us.

70:25 And oh, how we pray that they may not have been preached in vain this morning. Fulfill Your promise. So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return unto me void.

70:42 Fulfill that promise. In saving mercy we pray for the glory of Your beloved Son. Amen.