The love of God here is amazing. Jesus warns them of God’s judgment in order that He might save them from sin.
Near the end of His ministry, the parables of Jesus have a sharp edge. They cut... deep. A guest without a wedding garment is bound hand and foot and “cast into the outer darkness” (22:1-14). Bridesmaids are barred from a wedding, as Jesus declares, “I do not know you” (25:1-13). A servant with a single talent is dismissed as “wicked and slothful” and cast into the outer darkness (25:15-30). And, in our text this week, wicked tenants of a vineyard are crushed by their master, and the vineyard is taken away from them.
A preacher is confronted with stories from Jesus that reinforce what the world already thinks about religion. God is demanding and punitive. He wants love from His people and, when He does not get it, He kills them. Years ago, the new atheists popularized this way of seeing God and used it to attack the Church as an oppressive institution. Parables like this are easy for people to misunderstand.
I remember standing in church with members of a wedding party that was gathering for a rehearsal. Some of the groomsmen had never been in a church before. We were waiting for everyone to get there. As the light started to fade (and before I turned on the interior lights), the stained-glass windows began to glow. Each window was an apostle, below them were their shields, and above them were the instruments of their death.
Looking at the windows, one of the groomsmen asked me, “Who are those people?” I said, “They are the twelve apostles.” He did not know what I meant. As I tried to explain, someone said, “They are kind of like heroes.” At this, the man smiled and nodded. He then said, “And those weapons above them are how they killed people?” I paused and said, “No. That is how they were killed.” He looked confused and sadly disappointed. “Some heroes,” he said. And the conversation ended.
In a culture that promotes violence, in a culture that uses violence to get its way, a person who willingly suffers violence rather than retaliates is strange. But that is the strangeness of Jesus in this text. He willingly suffers violence as a triumphant defeat. He is “some hero.”
In this parable, Jesus willingly offers His life to those who would kill Him. Jesus has already made three passion predictions. His disciples know He will “suffer many things from the elders, and chief priests and scribes, and be killed” (16:21). Now, He is in Jerusalem. He encounters the chief priests and elders (21:23) and, rather than avoid them or run away from them or prepare to fight against them, Jesus talks to them. He explicitly and transparently describes their plot to kill Him. Why?
Because Jesus is telling them, “I know.”
He explicitly and transparently describes their plot to kill Him. Why? Because Jesus is telling them, “I know.”
“I know what you are doing and I know why you are doing it. But my Father has a bigger plan. I am willing to suffer death at your hands because My life is not mine. It is in My Father’s hands. Though I die, yet I will live. My Father will raise Me from the dead and on My death and resurrection He will establish a kingdom that never ends (21:42). A kingdom of those who have been forgiven and live eternally in God’s mercy and love.”
Although it is hard to see, Jesus is on a mission of mercy. His death is a willing sacrifice to free all people from the judgment of God upon their sin. In John’s gospel, we hear, “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:17). In Matthew’s gospel, we see it, in action. Jesus willingly offers His life to those who will kill Him.
Not only does Jesus do that, but He also seeks at the very end of His life to bring those who would kill Him into the Kingdom. He wants to turn the hatred of these religious leaders into love. He shares with them this horrifying vision of God’s vengeance not to delight in God’s power to judge, not to celebrate God’s ultimate triumph over His enemies, but to encourage them to repent and experience forgiveness for their sin. Jesus longs to turn His enemies into friends. He wants even those who kill Him to be loved as children of God.
The love of God here is amazing. Jesus warns them of God’s judgment in order that He might save them from sin. Jesus is the true Son of the vineyard owner, and He knows that repentance and forgiveness of sins are the true fruits of God’s vineyard.
So, how do we fit into the story? It is tempting to put ourselves in the place of the wicked tenants. After all, Jesus died for our sins and seeing ourselves as the wicked tenants helps us confess that our sins put Jesus upon the cross. Yet, Jesus asks us to consider another place for ourselves in the parable. He says, “The Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits” (21:43). Forgiven in Christ, we are those people. God has given us His Kingdom, and we delight in producing its fruits.
Repentance and forgiveness of sins, these are what lie at the heart of our church and what empowers our mission. Yes, the Word of God contains warnings for those who are sinners. Those warnings, however, are not spoken in powerful hatred but in invitational love. We do not worship a God who threatens us in order to force us to behave. We worship a God who invites us to believe, to trust in His forgiveness, and to come and build our lives with Him and one another on the certainty of His grace.
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Additional Resources:
Craft of Preaching-Check out 1517’s resources on Matthew 21:33-46.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you in preaching Matthew 21:33-46.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
The Pastor’s Workshop-Check out all the great preaching resources from our friends at the Pastor’s Workshop!
