![]() ![]() Mt 16:15-18: “But what about you?” Jesus asked. The Body of Christ, with Christ being the Head.Įph 1:22 – 23 – And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.Different style of worship services (Traditional or contemporary).Is it faithful? Merciful? Compassionate? Ask God to prune his vine so that we may be good tenants.Q) What comes to your mind when you think about Church? Our challenge is never to allow this to happen where we gather as God’s people.Ĭonsider your church. As churches decline, stagnate and corrupt God’s word, others are raised up. If we do not, God will give the vineyard to others. We do so by faithfulness to the new covenant and doing works of love, mercy and justice. Abiding by the Spirit in the Vine, 5 we must do better than Israel’s leaders. We are warned: for now, we tenant God’s vineyard. Here is salvation history in a nutshell, from Abraham to the world through the Prophet of prophets. The leaders understand but, rather than repenting, they fulfil the parable by killing him, ironically declaring Jesus a prophet. 4 The giving of the vineyard to others speaks of Israel’s rejection of Jesus and the gospel’s spread to the Gentiles. The owner, God, acts decisively against his tenants, destroying the vineyard – the devastation of Jerusalem is again predicted. The tenants kill him and throw him from the vineyard – foreshadowing their conspiracy in Jesus’ impending death. 3 The beloved Son is unambiguously Jesus, declared so at his baptism. The prophets were mostly treated horrifically, their message rejected. The servants are the prophets, sent to warn the leadership of their failure and its consequences. Israel is to bear fruit – justice, righteousness, covenantal faithfulness and being a light to the nations. The tenants represent Israel’s leaders, tending God’s people. Now Jesus tells another allegory of God’s vineyard. 2 Isaiah sings of God as a careful vine dresser who established Israel with great care seeking fruit – notably, social justice. The story of the man planting a vineyard recalls Isaiah’s love song of the vineyard. Having silenced their question over his authority, Jesus goes on the offensive. ‘Learn to do good seek justice, correct oppression bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.’ 1 That same stone, says Peter, is a stumbling block for all who reject him. Jesus identifies himself as the ‘cornerstone’ ( Mark 12:10,11) – the ‘precious’ rock upon which his church of all believers is built ( Ephesians 2:20–22 1 Peter 2:4–8). Masons would inspect many stones carefully to find the ones they wanted for this role. Its accurate position is vital all other stones are set in reference to this one, so the integrity of the whole structure depends on it. This is the foundation stone at the base of a building, often joining two walls. Jesus is often referred to in the New Testament as the cornerstone which is essential to sound construction. And with it comes a pointed warning (v 18) that seals his arrest warrant. The killer punchline from Jesus (v 17) takes them right to biblical prophecy ( Psalm 118:22 Isaiah 28:16). They can’t fail to identify themselves in this story of rejection and betrayal – and neither can the crowds who hear it. Jesus can’t be more direct in his condemnation of the religious leaders than he is here. When the people heard this, they said, ‘God forbid!’ġ7 Jesus looked directly at them and asked, ‘Then what is the meaning of that which is written:ġ8 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.’ġ9 The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. ‘What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.’ “Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.” 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. ![]() 12 He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.ġ3 ‘Then the owner of the vineyard said, “What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love perhaps they will respect him.”ġ4 ‘But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. 11 He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 10 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. 9 He went on to tell the people this parable: ‘A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. ![]()
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