18-September-2013
Failure to pay your mortgage payment can have severe consequences. Millions of people discovered this in a very personal way in the last few years. Foreclosure became all too frequent in some parts of the country, sending tax revenue downward, and public services into jeopardy. Every property, even those with current mortgages, had their property value affected. No one wants to buy a home in a neighborhood that has lots of foreclosures. It is too unstable a neighborhood to risk a purchase.
Month to month living. Many live this way, with little savings, and the income to spending ratio not in line. All it takes is one unexpected bill, a car repair, an appliance replacement, an emergency room visit, and everything gets completely out of balance. When this happens pressure mounts.
In our text we have the tail end of the parable telling us of the final outcome of the owner and the renters. The owner had set up his rental property, a fully functioning vineyard, and found what he thought were suitable renters. They had entered into a rental agreement, and time to pay the rent owed had arrived, but the renter refused to pay the rent as agreed.
The owner had repeatedly given the renter the opportunity to change his mind, to pay the rent due, but he had refused to pay. He had been increasingly violent toward the messengers the owner had sent to collect.
The owner, in one final desperate attempt to collect the rent, sent his only son to collect, thinking they would honor their agreement and pay. But they killed the son and heir.
As Jesus tells the parable He draws it to a conclusion by asking those listening a question and then answering it. What should the punishment be? Death! That’s right, death.
This judgment seems at odds with the political correctness of our day. If Jesus had been a member of the “Coexist” bumper sticker crowd, He certainly would have ended this parable differently. If He were part of the non-thinking crowd, I say non-thinking because contradictory belief systems can’t be reconciled without invalidating some, Jesus might have said something like this.
What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and allow the tenants to continue renting for a few more seasons so that he might more fully understand their position on rent inequalities. Because, surely he must be wrong.
But this isn’t what Jesus says. He brings justice. They must die. They have violated the contract, and further than that, they have murdered in the process. Justice demands their death. Anything less than death would leave the victim’s voice unheard. Their blood cries out from the ground.
And then Jesus applies the parable to Himself and the Jews. He becomes the stone that gets rejected. He will become the cornerstone. His place in the future of God’s Kingdom is the work of the LORD, and not of human origin. And when it happens, everyone will recognize that it was God’s work.
Are you willing to be rejected so that the LORD can work in and through you?
The Arnold Journey 