ACCEPTANCE REJECTION AND THE GOSPEL OF THE CORNERSTONE
Luke 20:9-19: LIFEWAY SPRING QUARTERLY 2021 SESSION 7
Insurance companies have some of the most interesting slogans and symbols for their corporations. Remember these slogans? “You’re in good hands with Allstate.” “Stay under the umbrella with Travelers.” “Nationwide is on your side.” And my favorite: “Get a piece of the rock with Prudential.” In our lesson this week Jesus tells a parable of Himself as the Cornerstone – the ROCK of our Salvation as Savior and LORD upon which the building of His Kingdom and our eternal welfare and condition stands. The parable is a thinly veiled ultimatum for and against the religious leaders… They can accept Jesus and “fall” with humility and broken contrite hearts upon His mercy and receive Father God’s grace through Him in active repentance or be “crushed” by the Cornerstone turned “Capstone” of Jesus’ judgment and justice as LORD of all. As in the rest of Luke’s Gospel there are stark contrasts and reversals of fortune, the proclamation of only ONE path to life and great irony presented through Jesus’ parable. Luke’s listeners are offered mercy and grace through humble and repentant hearts offered in faith to Jesus or they can embrace the “insanity” of their greed and foolish pride (the religious leaders) - losing everything they “think” they have and face destruction- the choice of what to do with Jesus’ ultimatum is theirs and time is running out! As always we want to remember our interpretive framework of Luke: Jesus and the Gospel is a gift from heaven, Jesus and the Gospel is a gift humbly accepted and received, and Jesus and the Gospel is a gift proclaimed. Let’s take a look…
This is one of Jesus’ most “allegorical” parables (where components of the story symbolize or represent something else). In verse 9 we are introduced to the Vineyard and its Owner. They represent the Promised Land of Israel and Father God with the Tenant Farmers being the leadership of the nation of Israel. The picture here is a “Covenantal” one between God as the gracious Benefactor and the national spiritual leaders as the beneficiaries much like our “insurance” example above- except God bears the full cost of setting up the Covenant and seeing that the enforcement of it bears fruit. The Farmers are not chosen because they are “worthy” of it- but instead are blessed and gifted- given the opportunity to be in relationship with the owner and benefit from HIS WORK. The fruit requested in verse 10a is a “sampling” of the fruit. There is an accountability and expected return as a result of the owner’s graciousness. The owner has given the farmers everything they need for a good crop… What have they done with it is what He wants to know…
The same is true of us. God has blessed us and freely offered us the gift of His Son… What will we do with Him? In verse 10b and following is where the story takes a shocking turn. Any reasonable and normal person would expect the Farmers to at the very least- give the owner’s servants and representatives a sampling with a simple smile and an at least a “here you go…” like the way some of us pay our taxes, but instead we get an unreasonable “insane” form of violence. More than just being ungrateful- they are hostile!
This is the way “sin” works in our lives. Our own selfish and evil desires and actions on those desires have “separated” us from God and made us His enemies not by His choice but by our own and led to our ignorant- clueless minds, foolish hearts and hostile- rejecting actions (see Romans 1:14-25). They have led to the “insane” decisions we see in Jesus’ parable… The best definition of “insanity” is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. Look at the foolishness of these Farmers. The commentary on your lesson this week says that the Farmers didn’t really know or understand who “the Son” was but in reality they knew EXACTLY who He was! Satan and the Demons- the dark spiritual powers of this world, and the false prophets of it- know exactly who Jesus is… They know He is King and LORD, they know He has “come to seek and save that which is lost (Lk 19:10), they have rebelled against His goodness, power and authority but are put into subjection by HIS MIGHT. The Farmers (religious leaders) knew who Jesus was but they “rejected” Him (see James 2:17-19)- the parable says they not only abused the servants (prophets) and killed the Son but “threw Him out” insanely thinking they could then “claim” the Son’s inheritance- in other words they could have the Vineyard; they could have the Kingdom of Heaven without King Jesus- forgetting it’s the Owner’s Vineyard- that the Kingdom of Heaven is the Kingdom of God! It belongs to Him and has been entrusted to us. What do you do with such faithlessness that results in murder violence and every kind of evil? Does it not demand swift judgment and justice? What stupidity on their and sometimes our part! Sin makes us stupid. The common “sinners” and people listening to Jesus’ story reaffirm like Christ Followers do today- what a foolish, evil, and insane thing to do! It truly exposes the hostility of the fallen human heart towards God.
Why is it so “frightening” to share the Gospel? Why do we have to pray and ask for Wisdom, Revelation, Courage, Clarity and Boldness from the Holy Spirit to share? We have to do it for this very reason- People trapped in sin far from God being led by their own wicked desires, guts, pride, and selfishness are entrapped and held captive by Satan- their initial response to the Gospel is to resist it with all they have and be hostile to it and YOU as the Gospel’s representative WILL experience the full force of their insane anger and reasoning… Just because we are commanded to “love” our enemies don’t think for a moment that we are not in a desperate and passionate FIGHT against them with that very same love- combatting against them with the very Truth, Love, and Grace of God by His Word that they DESPISE and REJECT till the Spirit breaks their will against the Cornerstone of Christ! When you fight darkness with the Truth and Love of God; sin, darkness and the Devil fights back with violence, force and persecution- the Bible says to ALWAYS expect this (Matt 5:10-12; Eph 6:12-20; Phil 3:12-4:1; 2 Tim 3:1-4:8.)
I hear many Church leaders and Politicians today “bemoaning” the fact of the Church in “Christian America” “the Bible Belt” being persecuted being attacked “below the belt” now as much as Christians “above the belt” have been attacked for years… To which I say it is about time we have broken out of our complacency and silence. It is the proper time to courageously proclaim the Gospel! Laws aren’t going to stop persecution nor will they encourage it. Confrontation with the Truth of scripture with the Gospel will always encounters hostility- that is Biblical. Only Holy Spirit changed lives from “enemy to friend of God” and the struggle therein will make a difference. Peter tells us if we are being “persecuted” for keeping our mouths shut, for talking, looking and acting no different than the world we are not being persecuted for our Faith (1 Peter 2:4-12, 3:8-18.) Yet if we proclaim the Gospel the World will see evidence that we ARE Christ’s followers by our persecution- persecution that is mitigated by our love for our opponent not our indifference towards them or our hatred of sin. Don’t let fear of persecution hold you back, instead allow the love of God and the confidence in the victory, power, and completion of His Word and redemptive plan to compel your witness and voice with great joy, patience and hopeful expectation! Much like the Owner’s response to the Farmers’ initial violence… Consider these questions…
“Do we think that by killing The Son sinners would gain the Father’s inheritance of the Kingdom?” Do you see the “double-edged” sword of the Gospel message in that question? On the face of it (prima facie) absolutely not! Like we said- it is the insanity of willful sin- and Jesus gives us the rhetorical answer in verse 15b-16a- “the wages of sin is death… (Romans 6:23).” Such open unrepentant rejection, violence, murder, hard-hearted insolence, pride, greed, willful stiff-necked ignorance, foolishness, and hostility towards God deserves only justice and the judgment of death with the legal restitution of Paradise LOST and Hell’s tormenting flames gained!!! And the Bible says we were all that way and deserved it (Romans 3:23).
However, let’s ask a question of the Owner’s surprisingly patient actions… Why would the Father send His “Beloved Son” (the Greek term is agapetos synonymous with monogenes “MY one and only cherished one”) to such a bunch of already proven wicked cutthroats? Did He really expect a different non-violent non-hateful response? Why would He hold out such hope? Was the Father “insane” as well? Without Spirit revealed knowledge of God’s love it looks that way, but No. The Father is gracious, patient, wise, determined, passionate, and loving BEYOND reasoning… Rejection of such love, rejection of the Owner’s one last and greatest gracious opportunity for redemption (setting the Covenant and relationship right between Owner and Tennant) offered through the Owner’s Son would stand as an eternal indictment of their wickedness and the just judgment of their punishment forever (see Luke 11:29-36)… (Think also of the stone cut not by Human hands crushing Nebuchadnezzar’s prideful statue and filling the entire earth from Daniel 2:34-36). The Owner sent His Son giving them the one last chance to turn away from their insane actions and fall in the brokenness of their repentance upon the foundation of the Cornerstone of Christ- and be made whole and right (The Son had FULL AUTHORITY in and of Himself to make it right)! The choice was theirs and it is ours…
What will we do with the Son? The “Proud in Spirit” religious leaders lost the Kingdom for how they received and treated the Son while the “Poor in Spirit” sinners received Him in the humility of their Faith with repentance and with great joy- Proclaiming Jesus as Savior and LORD. When they accepted the KING they gained the KINGDOM. When the leaders desired the KINGDOM but not the KING they lost everything! What is true of us today? We cannot desire Heaven without in our brokenness desiring Jesus first. Make Him Savior and LORD of your life- fall on the cornerstone- be broken to pieces over sin and accept His forgiveness by His Mercy and Grace shown to you by the Father’s love in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross (YES INDEED- the Gospel shows that the sacrifice- death of The Son- by His blood for our sins- saves us and allows us as saved sinners to inherit the Kingdom of God) otherwise our rejection of the Son makes us liable for the insanity of our sinful choices and seals His justice and judgment upon us. Make the right choice today and follow up with that right choice allowing Him to produce fruit in you as you experience His gracious blessing daily and proclaim what He has done for you! I am available if you would like to discuss Living for Jesus further… I can be reached at dray@wyliebaptist.org. Know I am praying for you today! God loves you very much and so do I.
All the Best! Darrin.