Luke 20:9 - 18
9 And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while. 10 When the time came, he sent a servant[b] to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. 12 And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. 13 Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ 14 But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ 15 And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” 17 But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written:
“‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone’?
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”
Questions:
ReplyDelete1. Who are the cast of characters in the parable?
2. Did God destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others?
3. What is the meaning of the prophecy (about the cornerstone)?
4. What is the meaning of everyone who falls on the stone?
https://hartmangroupdevotionsmark.blogspot.com/2018/11/mark-121-12-jesus-then-began-to-speak.html says:
ReplyDeleteBackground: There are 6 main characters in this parable: 1) the landowner—God, 2) the vineyard—Israel, 3) the tenants/farmers—the Jewish religious leadership, 4) the landowner’s servants—the prophets who remained obedient and preached God’s word to the people of Israel, 5) the son—Jesus, and 6) the other tenants—the Gentiles. The imagery used is similar to Isaiah’s parable of the vineyard (it would be prudent to study this also) found in Isaiah chapter 5. The farmer was apparently away at the time of harvest and had rented the vineyard to the tenants. This was customary of the times, and he could expect as much as half of the grapes as payment by the tenants for use of his land.
The law at the time provided that if there were no heirs then the property would pass to those in possession. This amounts to conspiracy to commit murder by the Jewish leadership, and it is prophetic in the sense that Jesus is now telling them what they are going to do to Him (see Psalm 118:22; Isaiah 28:16).
Jesus now (vs.40-41) asks the question, what will the owner do to the evil tenants? What He is doing is forcing the religious leaders/priests to declare their own miserable fate: condemnation for their blatant disobedience.
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Jesus continues the stone metaphor in verse 44 to show how a stone can be used to build something beautiful, such as His church, or it can be used to crush and destroy, depending on the situation. This could be likened to God’s word: to some it is salvation, peace and comfort. To others it is foolish and disconcerting because of its ability to convict man of his sins (2 Timothy 3:16).
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The passage is concerned not with the displacement of Jews in general, but with the inclusion of the new covenant community over against the corrupt leaders of Jesus’ day. Clearly, the parable is based on Isaiah 5:1–7; thus, the vineyard of Matthew 21:33 is the old covenant community. Jesus does not say that the vineyard is uprooted; rather, the vineyard’s tenants, those responsible for its upkeep and care, are judged (v. 43). These wicked tenants are ethnic Israelites, but not every ethnic Israelite. Furthermore, the new tenants are not of Gentile stock alone. Jews like the twelve disciples are also included.
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Now that He has been resurrected from the dead, He Himself is the replacement of the current Jewish leadership – the chief priests and elders of the people. From now on, “Israel” will be defined by its relationship to Jesus. Many Jews who thought they were on the “inside” will now find themselves on the “outside.” Many Jews who thought they were heirs to the promised kingdom will now find themselves disinherited and excluded.
But all who take their stand upon the stone—whether Jew or Gentile—will find that they are secure – citizens of the true Israel, the “nation” to whom the kingdom of God belongs. “This [is] the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.”
https://hartmangroupdevotionsmark.blogspot.com/2018/11/mark-121-12-jesus-then-began-to-speak.html continued:
ReplyDeleteMy 2 cents: Questions and findings:
1. Has God killed the tenants, and if so, who did He give the vineyard to?
The tenants are not Israel, they are the leaders of Israel. The vineyard is Israel, who are the people of the Promise. The vineyard is the community of God's chosen, which was exclusively the people of Israel before Jesus sacrifice, and has been expanded to include Gentiles. The tenants are no longer the leaders of the nation of Israel, but the leaders of the church.
2. If the rejected stone became the cornerstone, how is the vineyard given to others?
The leaders who rejected the stone have been excluded from the vineyard. The Stone is now the cornerstone of the expanded vineyard. There has been a change of tenants in the vineyard.
3. Why did the elders know that Jesus spoke this against them?
They were very aware of Israel's past killing of the prophets (who they now honored). They were very angry at Jesus portraying himself as one of them. They thought it was a dirty trick.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-20-commentary says:
ReplyDeleteMattoon says this parable "was designed to force His foes to face their terrible and chronic unbelief. Jesus told this parable that (1) indirectly answered the religious leaders' question about His authority, (2) showed them that He knew about their plan to kill Him, and (3) revealed the judgment that awaited them for rejecting their Messiah."
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Isaiah 5:1 - 6:
Let me sing for my beloved
my love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
2 He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
and he looked for it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.
3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem
and men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
4 What more was there to do for my vineyard,
that I have not done in it?
When I looked for it to yield grapes,
why did it yield wild grapes?
5 And now I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge,
and it shall be devoured;[a]
I will break down its wall,
and it shall be trampled down.
6 I will make it a waste;
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
and briers and thorns shall grow up;
I will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-20-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteJames A Brooks notes that "Absentee landlords of huge estates and landless tenant farmers were quite common in Galilee in Jesus’ day. The tenants usually were required to turn over between one-fourth and one-half of the produce to the owner’s agents. As a result they were barely able to survive—a situation that produced much discontent."
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-20-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteHere Jesus is prophesying to His murderers, the religious leaders, exactly what they are about to do! They may be keeping their evil plan under cover, but Jesus exposes them openly before the assembled Jewish crowd.
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Why didn’t they believe? Listen to John 12:42. “Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.” It never was a question of evidences. Never. They even say, “We know that You speak the true words of God.” They never argued about His miracles. They never denied one miracle. It just was not acceptable to them to believe in Him because they loved their own religion and the praise that it brought them more than they loved God. It was not a head issue, it was a heart issue.
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This is the heir (Kleronomos) - This is amazing and answers a question I have had for more 38 years as a follower of Christ. And the question is did the Jewish leaders recognize Who Jesus was given all of the supernatural events that they personally witnessed? This parable answers the question -- Just as the tenants recognized the son as the heir, it is clear that the Jewish religious leaders recognized Jesus as the Son of God.
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Cole adds that "It was not through their failure to recognize the Son that they killed him; that would have been pardonable. It was, as in the parable, precisely because they recognized him for who he was!...We reject the claims of Christ not because we misunderstand them, but because we understand them only too well, in spite of all our protestations to the contrary.
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When they heard it, they said, "May it never be!" We know that every Bible translation is also in a sense an "interpretation" of the original Hebrew or Greek text and so it should not surprise us that some versions "interpret" the "they" for us (saving us work, but sometimes not accurate). And so the NET renders the Greek "When the PEOPLE heard this" reasoning that this is the "referent" because it is the "people" who are addressed in Lk 20:9.
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MacArthur on destroy (apollumi) these vine-growers that "This is prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. by the Romans. Hundreds of thousands, of Jews were slaughtered and the city and the Temple were leveled to the ground. From that moment on, no priesthood has ever existed in Israel, no Temple, no sacrifices, no ceremonies, no Sadducees, no Pharisees, no chief priests, no high priests, the whole system ended, never again has it been restored."
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Who are the others? Most commentaries say the "others" are the Gentiles which sounds reasonable considering the fact that the church is now predominantly Gentile. But as discussed below by John MacArthur, one should not overlook that the first individuals who received charge over God's "Gospel seed" were all Jewish - 12 Jewish apostles and then one additional Jewish apostle Paul. It was through their ministry that the Gospel of the Kingdom was spread throughout the known world. So MacArthur makes an interesting point that the "others" may not be Gentiles as normally interpreted but actually be the believing Jewish apostles who replace the evil "vine-growers," the unbelieving Jewish religious leaders.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-20-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteIsa. 28:16: 16:
Therefore thus says the Lord God,
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone,
A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed.
He who believes in it will not be disturbed.
Psa 118:22 - 22:
The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief corner stone.
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The Stone is also a messianic title. To Israel, Jesus was a stumbling stone (Isa. 8:14-15; Rom. 9:32-33; 1 Cor. 1:23). Israel rejected the Messiah, but in His death and resurrection He created the church. To the church, Jesus is the foundation stone, the head of the corner (Eph. 2:20-22; 1 Peter 2:4-5). At the end of the age, Jesus will come as the smiting stone
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How can people reject God’s chosen, precious cornerstone? Simply put, they want to build something different from what God is building. Just as the people building the tower of Babel rebelled against God and pursued their own project, those who reject Christ disregard God’s plan in favor of their own.
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J Vernon McGee - Today you and I can fall on that Stone, who is Christ Jesus, and be saved—that is, we have to come to Him as a sinner, broken in spirit, broken in heart. When we do this, we are on the foundation that no man can lay, which is Jesus Christ the Stone. “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:11). Daniel tells of that Stone which will fall in judgment someday and “grind to powder” the nations that reject Him (see Da 2:34-35+).
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What the Bible teaches - We have frequently heard gospel preachers apply this verse to repentance, contrasting those who fall upon the stone and are broken before God with all those who do not repent and will know the grinding judgment of the stone that shall fall on sinners. If a preacher chooses to use such an application, it is wise to explain the meaning of the verse first. Those who "fall upon that stone" are broken to pieces. Sunthlaō ("to break") is used only here and in Matt 21:44 with the meaning "to dash to pieces". It is not a word that can be rightly interpreted as repentance. The contrast is not between repentance and judgment, but between those who stumbled at the "stumbling stone" and rejected Christ at His first advent and those who will be here to experience His judgment in the second advent.
Questions:
ReplyDelete1. Who are the cast of characters in the parable?
1) the landowner—God, 2) the vineyard—Israel, 3) the tenants/farmers—the Jewish religious leadership, 4) the landowner’s servants—the prophets who remained obedient and preached God’s word to the people of Israel, 5) the son—Jesus, and 6) the other tenants—the disciples and apostles of the church.
2. Did God destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others?
The tenants were the leaders of the Jews. God did destroy these leaders and gave the care of His kingdom over to the church, which both included native Jews and Gentiles. It's important to get this straight. Jesus did not take the kingdom away from Jews and give it to the Gentiles. The remnant of Israel who did accept the Messiah was always God's nation. Now, that nation is inviting in Gentiles too.
3. What is the meaning of the prophecy (about the cornerstone)?
The cornerstone is Jesus. The Jewish leaders at that time rejected Jesus, but He became the capstone of the church / the remnant of Israel. The church (which includes both believing Jews and believing Gentiles) is now the members of God's kingdom.
4. What is the meaning of everyone who falls on the stone?
There seems to be two views on this. It's hard to tell, but I get the feeling that the more scholarly view is describing two types of judgements, one for the ignorant and one for the "seeing" but rejecting.
The more layperson view is that believers fall on the stone and are broken (which is required to come to Christ), but if people don't come to belief, that stone will be their judgement and they will be destroyed.
I don't know which view is the correct one. To me, the second view seems to have a cool teaching about what it means to come to Christ. Unfortunately, that may be putting a lesson into this parable that is not there (although the overall lesson is contained in the rest of the New Testament).