33 ‘Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watch-tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. 34When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. 35But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. 37Finally he sent his son to them, saying, “They will respect my son.” 38But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” 39So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’ 41They said to him, ‘He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.’
42 Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures:
“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes”?
43Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. 44The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.’
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. 46They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.
BLOG DISCUSSION QUESTION: WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF VERSE 44? IS THAT GOOD NEWS OR BAD NEWS?
3 comments:
I find this parable very difficult to understand. I'm looking forward to some good explaining discussions.
It is hard to see good news in being "crushed or broken to pieces". There are many characters in this parable. It seems the Pharisees realized Jesus was speaking about them as "stumbling blocks". The "other tenants" that the vineyard was given can give us hope who view Jesus as their "cornerstone".
Is verse 44 good news or bad? Michael Card has a song about this verse, and he, like I hear a word of hope in this verse. The hope is that Christ is the rock over which we stumble, and it is the rock that crushes us.....good news? Yes...if our hearts are hard...and they are...something needs to crack them open...if our wills are stubborn...and they are...we need to trip over something. For if something else doesn't crush or trip us up we will be hopelessly imprisoned in our stubbornness and selfishness.
It seem to me that this parable is a stern reminder of to whom the kingdom of God belongs....it belongs to God. No one else can make it theirs. No one else can claim its harvest. The Kingdom of God is God's. Thank God!
The pharisees apparently had forgotten that, and had treated the kingdom of God as if it were theirs - theirs, deciding who was in and who was out - theirs, deciding what one had to do to be in it - their's, even to the point of killing the rightful heir of the kingdom, in hopes of preserving it as theirs.
The kingdom of God is God's. Thank God! It trips up our pride, and it crushes our foolish arrogance. The kingdom of God is God's!
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