Episode Transcript
[00:00:24] Speaker A: Hello. I'm Josh.
[00:00:25] Speaker B: And I'm Gabriel.
[00:00:26] Speaker A: And today on reading the Gospel. We are studying the parable of the tenets.
This is found in Matthew, chapter 21, verses 33 through 46.
In mark, chapter twelve, verses one through twelve. And in Luke, chapter 20, verse nine through 19.
Follow along with us in your bibles as we read from the book of Matthew, chapter 21, beginning in verse 33.
[00:00:56] Speaker B: Here, another parable.
There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it. And dug a wine press in it and built a tower. Enlisted to tenants and went into another country.
When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit.
And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another and stoned another.
Again. He said, other servants more than the first.
And they did the same to them.
Finally, he sent his son to them, saying. They will respect my son.
But when the tenants saw the son, they said to this is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.
And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
When, therefore, the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?
[00:02:04] Speaker A: They said to him, he will put those wretches to a miserable death. And let out the vineyard to other tenants. Who will give him the fruits in their season. Jesus said to them, have you never read the scriptures? The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
Therefore, I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you. And given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on the stone will be broken to pieces. And when it falls on anyone, it will crush him. When the chief priests and Pharisees heard this parable, they perceived that he was speaking about them. And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds because they held him to be a prophet.
Jesus is getting very, very explicit in this parable.
Laying out the plans. The Pharisees, and they understand it. They hear the plans. And in Luke it says, at that very hour, they seek to arrest him. But here they don't. You know, same thing in Luke. But they're not able to do it because they. They fear the crowds.
These tenants, the Pharisees, the religious leaders, are these tenants and the prophets who came to are the people who God sent, who were killed by them, who were stoned by them. And now God has sent his son, and they're going to do the same thing.
What is interesting that it says, let us kill him. And have his inheritance.
You know, what was Jesus inheritance?
[00:03:59] Speaker B: I like this distinction between the heir and the tenants of or the stewards. We receive from God the principle of the kingdom of God, the light, the knowledge of God. And that is not ours. We are just stewards or tenants.
And Jesus Christ is the son of God. He is the owner of everything, in the same way the father is the owner of everything.
And this is how I see the distinction between those two categories. And right away, I go to a practical lesson. Everything I have, who I am, the gifts that I receive from God, starting with the gift of life, all of them are mine for a while.
And I'm called to administer, to invest them. And according to another parable of the talents, I have to return the prophet to him.
[00:05:02] Speaker A: And I agree with you that there's the personal application here. But I think Jesus is being very deliberate towards the Pharisees, that they have this plot to kill him, and he is revealing this plot to them. I think of the woman caught in adultery that the religious leaders brought before Jesus. And they say, should we stone her? And Jesus says, let him who is without sin cast the first stone.
And then he bends down and he starts writing in the dirt. And we imagine he's writing the sins.
And these religious leaders, as they realize that they are sinners, they drop the stones and they turn around and walk away. And I think Jesus very deliberately here is pointing out, you guys have a plot to kill me.
And you're trying to take something that is not yours to take.
You're a steward of the vineyard. You're supposed to be producing fruit and giving it back to God, but you are not doing that.
[00:06:12] Speaker B: And I think Jesus Christ is telling them these words and this parable, not as a final judgment, but like an act of grace, saying, if you keep choosing what is wrong and want to kill me, you are going to end up losing the kingdom of God which was entrusted to you. Right?
Moses covenant without with God on Mount Sinai.
But if you change the way. And now I linked to the previous episode, if you change the way, the tax collectors and the prostitute change like that son who said, I'll not go to work in your vineyard. But eventually he changed his mind. So if you follow those paths discussed in the prior episodes, you will not lose the kingdom which was entrusted to you. And this is a collective conversation with the leaders of the people of Israel.
[00:07:19] Speaker A: Little parable myself, I guess, playing football with my kids.
I'm on the defense. And my two sons, they're making a plan for what play. They're going to play.
And they're not standing far enough back. So I'm able to hear the plan when I share with them that I know what their plan is.
Are they going to run that play or are they going to change it up? And I think maybe this is Jesus sharing the plan. Are they going to continue to run with this plan to kill him? Or are they going to change it up? Is it, oh, wow. He knows what we're going to do. Let us change. Let us stop. And I think God does that to us so often. He reveals our heart to us, lets us know that he knows what we're thinking, and gives us opportunities to change the play.
[00:08:16] Speaker B: And this is a very strong evidence that Jesus is the son of God, that he can read people's minds, that he knows about their plot behind the curtain.
If they did not receive the work of John the Baptist, would they receive the ministry of Jesus Christ?
Because the light that comes from God is a continuous progression will increase, and we have to use the previous light, the previous knowledge, the previous evidence, in order to receive more.
[00:08:55] Speaker A: And not only did Jesus know, but he knew before, because psalms writes this verse down, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. That, you know, this prophecy was there. And again, I agree completely with you that this is not set in stone. They could have changed. They could have come to Jesus and followed him, and he still would have fulfilled all prophecies and still would have laid down his life, but it would have been in a different way. They didn't have to follow through.
[00:09:33] Speaker B: And I like how Jesus Christ gives a twist to that prophecy from the Old Testament, saying, when the rejected, humble stone was eventually set as a cornerstone, a corner of stone doesn't boast and try to take revenge.
Jesus Christ said, this stone is the place on which you can fall.
And you can experience repentance when you experience a broken heart, because you have hurt the one that you are supposed to love, who created you, who has redeemed you, who is guided the steps of your life, who is. Who wants to be your close friend. So when you fall on this stone and you repent, that is when your life will be turned around. That is when God will decide to keep you as tenants of the truth of his glory and of his kingdom.
[00:10:36] Speaker A: Yeah. And it's better to fall on the stone than to have the stone fall on us.
[00:10:42] Speaker B: That is the last resort.
[00:10:44] Speaker A: That is the last resort.
[00:10:47] Speaker B: And that stone falling on us brings me that imagery from the book of Daniel, chapter two.
When God allowed humanity, peoples and nations, to build their own dream. But when they reject him, the stone that was rejected will hit that statue representing the world. And humanity's dreams will hit that statue right on the weakest point, made of clay. And everything will be destroyed. And that little stone is the kingdom of God, which in this case, will be taken from the Jews. And given to someone who will bring fruit. And that is the Gentiles.
[00:11:36] Speaker A: Yeah.
Yeah. And so the Pharisees, they don't hear. They don't repent, at least not collectively as a group.
They harden their hearts and they seek to. You know, if they could, they would have taken Jesus right then.
But because the crowds were around and they. They knew that the crowds saw Jesus as a prophet, they decided to wait on it. And I think we see, the Pharisees are trying to plant seeds and get the crowds to a place where they're willing to take Jesus out to get there. And so they're working hard and doubling down on their plans. Instead of repenting and changing.
[00:12:31] Speaker B: In verse 45, it says, when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard this, his parable, they perceived, they understood, they got it.
That Jesus was speaking about them.
But they didn't change the mind.
There is a moment in life when the truth might have a little bit foggy. When, you know, the reality is not that sharp. When the road ahead is not clear. But there are moments. God will take us there. God will give us opportunities to get to the moment. When we really understand. That this is the true truth of God. And if we reject it, that is when we placed ourselves outside the grace of God. And God can't do anything.
[00:13:25] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:26] Speaker B: The Holy Spirit cannot work on us. Because we have committed this unpardonable sin. The sin that cannot be repented.
[00:13:36] Speaker A: Let us pray. Father God, it can be scary thinking about the unpardonable sin.
But I thank you that you are bigger than our little arguments and disagreements. And you are willing and able to forgive us again and again and again. And I thank you, Father, that your holy spirit keeps working with us. So that even if we think about desiring repentance, it shows that we've not gone too far.
I pray that we'll be able to surrender to you. That we will be able to give you everything. And to see you working in our lives when we realize we're in the wrong. Help us not to double down and to continue in a wrong path, but to surrender it to you. To be broken to pieces on the cornerstone. In Jesus name, amen.
[00:14:31] Speaker B: Amen.
