Matthew 21:33-41

Matthew 21:33-41

“Hear another parable.  A man was a master of the house who planted a vineyard and he put up a fence around it and he dug a winepress in it and he built a watchtower and he leased it to farmers and went away on from his home.  And when the time for the fruit drew near, he sent his slaves to the farmers to take his fruit.  And the farmers took his slaves whom in one case they beat and in another case they killed and in another case they threw stones.  Again he sent many other slaves than the first.  And they did the same to them.  And finally he sent his son to them while saying, ‘They will respect my Son.’  But the farmers who saw the son said among themselves, ‘This is the heir.’  And after taking him the cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore, when the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?”  They say to Him, “He will destroy those awfully evil ones and he will lease the vineyard to other farmers who will give to him the fruit in their season.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

I’m going to save the obvious conclusion of this passage for tomorrow, because that is where it belongs.  For today, I’m going to focus strictly within the parable and the response of the religious elders.  To begin, notice the relationship of the master and the farmers.  The farmers aren’t on anything that they own.  They have no claim to it.  However, they want claim to it.  That’s why they kill the slaves and the son.  They do not have, but they desire it.  Their greed is stronger than their honor and they go about despicable means to acquire the desire of their hearts.  This is a seriously human trait.  You can see it in all of us.  How many of us ever try and lay claim to things that aren’t ours?  Little kids take cookies they are told not to take all the time.  Human beings take liberties against other human beings all the time.  The human race destroys creation in our lust for natural resources and energy.  In both the individual and as a society we can see this nature at work within us.

Where does your greed get the better of you?  How difficult is it to fight the passion within you to possess what does not rightfully belong to you?

Second Thought:

Notice that the farmers did not respect those who would come against them – even though the slaves and the son were in the right!  They killed the slaves.  They killed the son.  In the prior thought we spoke about the greed that lives within us.  In this thought we will talk about the methods and the motives.  When we have a desire, we are often willing to go to extraordinary means to accommodate that desire.  I have seen people do things that were completely out of character for them because of their own desires.  I’ve done things that were completely out of character for me just to satisfy the desires of my heart.  Unless we assert great effort, the truth is that in most human beings the desires of our heart have greater impact upon our actions than the moral and ethical code around us.  We will often go to unusual measures to accomplish the desire of our heart unless we are focused on exerting great control over our sinful nature.

What means have you gone to achieve an end that you shouldn’t have desired?  When did you realize the error of your ways?

Third Thought:

Finally, let’s look at the response of the religious leaders.  They know what Jesus is saying in the parable.  Anyone with a logical reasoning mind will know that the master of the vineyard will be angry with the farmers for killing his slaves and his own son.  Of course the farmers need to be punished!  So what the religious leaders are rightly confessing is that when we act out as human beings focused upon our own selfish will then we are rightfully judged.  We deserve condemnation when we lust after that which does not belong to us.  We deserve judgment when we act in a way that over-extends our proper boundary.  There is no way to sugar coat it.  The farmers deserved to be punished.  They were evil and wicked.  In the same way, so are each of us who have ever taken that for which we did not have a claim.  Of course, the farmers are also correct in that the master of the vineyard will give the vineyard to people who can learn to act within their rights.  The master of the vineyard will want to partner with people who will understand their place and tend what is given to them while sharing in its fruit.

Where in your life do you deserve to be judged for your selfishness?  How can you learn to be like the desired farmers who take what is given to them and learn to share back with the one to whom the vineyard actually belongs?  In this line of thinking, what in your life is actually yours?  What in this life has actually been given to you by God and thus you should be sharing the fruit with Him?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 21:42-46