In two of the corresponding gospels, we find Jesus teaching and ministering in the temple. He was questioned by the chief priests, scribes, and elders, and they demanded to know how He had the authority to do the things He had done. Jesus told a parable of a certain man who planted a vineyard and set men (called husbandmen) over it to watch it. Jesus explained:
“ … A certain man planted a vineyard, let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time. And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out. Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him.But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them? He shall come and destroy these husbandmen and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid.” Luke 20:9-16 (KJV)
In this story, it appears that these husbandmen were staging a coup. They went rogue! They beat the servant and sent him away empty. Now I want you to get the picture here.
Jesus’s parable of the husbandmen and the vineyard almost appears to be out of place, but it isn’t. If you keep reading the parable you will see.
The lord of the vineyard sent several servants to receive the fruit from the vineyard. only for them all to be sent away empty-handed. Let’s make a comparison here between the fruit and the vineyard by saying that the vineyard is the world, the whole earth, and the fruit was that of repentance. Before Jesus gets into the meat of the story, He asked them about the Baptism of John, whether it was from God or man. They said it must have been from Heaven. John’s baptism was the baptism of repentance.
Strolling back to the Garden of Eden, when Adam was given the responsibility to dress and keep the garden, the same responsibility is given to us today. We are God’s husbandmen in this age. Old and young, great and small, we are all called to preach the same gospel message, the message of good news to the whole world. The whole world is our vineyard!
In the parable, the lord of the vineyard finally sent his son, and now you might be putting the pieces together. If God is the Lord of the vineyard, Jesus would be the son sent to receive the fruit of repentance. Just like in the story, Jesus came and was murdered. And the wrath of God is greater than anything we could imagine, but just as He sought out the fruit of repentance from His vineyard, He also mercifully allowed us to be restored through the gospel. Somebody ought to thank the Lord for the mercy of God that bypasses the wrath of God. Jesus paints a clear picture that the lord of the vineyard would come and destroy the husbandmen in that vineyard. However, the contrast there follows in verses 17 and 18.
“And he beheld them, and said, What is it then that is written, the stone which the builder’s rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? Whosoever shall fall upon this stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever is shall fall, it will grind him to powder.” Luke 20:17-18 (KJV)
Jesus is telling us the greatest task that we have at hand, that is to be God’s husbandmen, to produce the fruit of repentance in our lives, and lead others to that same path of repentance that they would “bring fruit meet for repentance”. What a story! What a merciful God! That even in our selfishness and self-righteousness He provides a way out of destruction into life. Jesus is the rock of which He spoke, the chief cornerstone, the stone that the builders rejected. And that stone will either break us toward repentance or to our destruction. Let us work our vineyards with joy and with haste. Let us bring forth the fruit of repentance and see the glory of God revealed among us. Let us not fear the brokenness but let us embrace it.
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