VIOLENCE
IN THE VINEYARD
Luke
20:9-16
In the next two lessons, it
helps to understand who the characters in the parable symbolize:
·
Owner of the vineyard = God
·
Vineyard = Israel
· Tenants/Husbandmen
= Jewish Religious Leaders
·
Servants = Prophets
·
Son = Jesus Christ
·
Others = Gentiles
Luke
20:9 Then began he to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a
vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a
long time.
Susie: Note
that Jesus addresses the parable not only to the Pharisees, Scribes, and other religious
leaders but to the entire crowd of people gathered to hear Him. The man in the
parable planted a vineyard but left it in the hands of tenant farmers while he
traveled abroad. The understanding of this arrangement would be that when an
accounting was done, the tenants would owe him a portion of the produce as
their rent. The tenants were expected to nurture the vines to produce the
maximum crop.
Susan: God entrusted
His people, Israel, to the priests and religious leaders to feed them and grow
them in the wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of the Scripture. They were to
inspire the people to be a light, not only to their brother and sister
Israelites, their own community, but to the entire world, including the pagan
Gentiles Part of the covenant with Abraham and thus Israel was that they would
bring light, share God, with the Gentiles.
Genesis
26:4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give
unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the
earth be blessed
Isaiah
42:6 I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand,
and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of
the Gentiles
Susie: After
a time, God spoke directly to people less and less, leaving them in the hands
of prophets, priests, and kings. This is symbolized by the owner of the
vineyard journeying to a far country.
Susan: However,
God did not just wind up the world and leave it to run. People (priests, kings,
and prophets) as well as His written word became His instrument of communication.
Susie: However,
the leadership He set up did not heed the word of the people He sent.
Luke
20:10-12 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.
Susie: At
harvest time, the owner sent one of his servants to collect his share of the
harvest, but the tenants beat him up and sent him back empty-handed. He sent
two more servants, but they were ill-treated, wounded, and sent back to him
without any grapes as well.
Susan: Throughout
the history of Israel, God sent passionate prophets to guide and lead Israel to
give Him the fruit of praise and worship He was due. The leaders of Israel
should have led the people to produce obedience, praise, and worship of God
that they might be a light to the Gentiles. Instead Israel was self-absorbed,
and arrogant about being “God’s chosen, beloved people.” Therefore, they did
not fulfill their purpose.
Susie: They
were so focused on the benefits of being God’s people that they forgot their
God-given purpose to share Him with the other nations, to bless the nations
around them.
Luke
20:13 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.
Susie: The
owner sent his son, with his complete authority to act in his stead, thinking
the tenants would respect him as his proxy.
Susan: God
sent His Son, Jesus, with full authority to act on His behalf. The people
should have reverenced Him as having the weight of the authority of the Father
behind Him. As Jesus had said, He was one with the Father:
John
17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that
they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Susie: Jesus
would explain to His disciples that if they had seen Him, they had actually
seen God:
John
14:9b he that hath seen me hath seen the Father
Luke
20:14 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.
But
the tenants see an opportunity here; they believe that if they kill the son
they will then receive his inheritance. The law at the time provided that if
there were no heirs then the property would pass to those in possession
(possession is nine tenths of the law).
Susie: Note
that the tenants knew full well that this next person sent to collect the rent
was the son of the owner. They knew it but did not respect him. Many of the
members of the Sanhedrin may have known deep within themselves that Jesus must
be the Son of God. Yet they still did not choose to follow Him.
Susan: Not
only did they fail to reverence Jesus as God’s Son, the Jewish religious
leaders chose instead to revile Him and plot His death. They saw Jesus as a
threat to their prestigious positions. If He set Himself up as King, they would
be deposed, losing the political clout given to them by Rome.
Luke
20:15 So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore
shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them?
Susie: The
tenants killed the son thinking (wrongly) that they would inherit the vineyard
by default. Jesus asks what the lord of the vineyard, the young man’s father
will do to them.
Susan: The
tenants were acting like owners rather than stewards. They assumed they could
claim the inheritance if the Son were out of the way. However, in the case of
the religious leaders, the Owner was God; and the Son’s demise would be
only temporary!
Luke
20:16 He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard
to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid.
Susie: The
owner would have those who murdered his son executed and find new tenants. God
would indeed have the Romans physically destroy Jerusalem in 70 AD. However,
all those Jewish leaders who refused to submit to Jesus as their Messiah, even
though He fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies, would die separated from God.
After the resurrection, the Lord would clearly lead the Apostles to share the
Good News of salvation with the “others,” the Gentiles. The crowd shouted, “God forbid” which is a
translation of a negative form of “amen”. Since “amen” means “so be it,” the
crowd was shouting “so be it NOT.”
Ponder
this and Apply it: Are you a faithful tenant of what God has
entrusted to you? Do you give back to Him a share of all you own and all you
are—your finances, talents, and time? Do you see Jesus as simply a good man or
do you submit to Him as God’s Son, your sovereign Lord and King? If God were to
inspect your “vineyard,” would He see you using it to promote His Kingdom and
His glory?
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