Tenant Farmers

[Swan7]

Audience: Chief Priests, Scribes & Elders
Matthew 21:33-46
Mark 12:1-12
Luke 20:9-19​

Spoiler: Parable

And He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard, and put a fence around it, and dug a trough for the wine press, and built a watchtower, and leased it to tenant farmers, and went on a journey. And he sent a slave to the tenant farmers at the proper time, so that he could collect some of the fruit of the vineyard from the tenant farmers. And they seized him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. And again he sent to them another slave, and that one they struck on the head and dishonored. And he sent another, and that one they killed. And he sent many others, some of whom they beat and some of whom they killed. He had one more, a beloved son. Last of all he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those tenant farmers said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and the inheritance will be ours!’ And they seized and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenant farmers and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this scripture:

‘The stone which the builders rejected,
this has become the cornerstone.
This came about from the Lord,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

And they were seeking to arrest Him, and they were afraid of the crowd, because they knew that he had told the parable with reference to them. And they left Him and went away.

God created the world and everything in it: Genesis 1:1, John 1:3. Naturally, He is the Master and Owner of all. He chose His nation as His people to spread word about Him (His will for the tenants). He went away for a long journey and sent His slaves to collect some fruit (the ones who sow and others who reap - prophets and believers), which some where beaten and others killed. The Master and Father sent His only Son (Salvation/Deliverer), in which they killed in order to steal His inheritance. The Master and Father shows up at His own land to confront those He hired to farm His land with vengeance against them.

Sounds pretty familiar from what is shown and told in the Old Testament - even into the new as Jesus foretells of His own sacrifice through this parable. He showed them exactly who they serve - their father Satan who seeks to kill, steal and destroy. All of which the tenants (kings/leaders) did to His slaves (prophets), showing them the darkness that is in their heart. Another tell-tale sign to tell God apart from Satan is that God is freely giving while Satan gives an illusion of freedom, among many other kinds of illusions (love, peace).
These two passages are a perfect summation of what Jesus is telling them: Isaiah 60:11 but… Matthew 23:13

To think that those who were so learned and educated had become so blind by pride in the knowledge of God; placing what they knew or thought they knew about Him above even Himself… I remember a long time ago praying to God to keep me from exactly this problem. I didn’t want to become so puffed up that I become a major hindrance to another’s Salvation. I desire to do right in the sight of God because I fear Him more than I do anyone else, and I also love Him… even though I’m not very good at that. God has been very, very gracious and merciful to me, and I am truly grateful and thankful for Him.

 

[K2K]

Very nice post. It is very important that we realize that He is indeed the " Master and Owner of all."

He once told me to 'always remember that He was God over the whole word. The whole world, the whole universe, the whole everything, but especially over the whole world.'

If there is something to add, and this is not against anything in the OP, but something that I do see is that it is possible to get into a false humility, and/or a fear of not being made adequate which is not the same thing as the fear of God, and can be quite the opposite. People having a false humility can misunderstand God and His relationship with people, and His creation overall.

You see this with Moses and the Israelite. In that case, Moses was considered by God to be a very humble person. And so the Lord sent Moses to do and say what the Lord asked Him to say. The Lord Himself put Moses over the Israelites, yet they would un going to Moses and challenging him as being him being put over them. That got the people into a lot of trouble!

Again, I am not saying that is seen in the OP is wrong, but someone might read the OP and think that people in leadership in the church are all like the Pharisees. They way to know whether that is the case is really or not is to seek the Lord and what He has to say in all things in your life.

So I am writing to remind everyone, that a truly humble person does not lean on their own understanding, but they make a habit of taking all thoughts to Jesus Christ and listen to what He has to say!! Not taking your thoughts to Him, and instead coming to your own judgement, is what pride is all about!! You are essentially telling yourself that you are smarter that God, whether you realize it or not.

Thinking you are smarter than God is pride! That snake said, you can be like God, and that is not true. You are never going to be as smart as God, but you can seek the Lord, listen, and do what He tells you. That is what humility is about!