The following message is based upon Luke 20:1-20, which reads:
"1 One day as he was teaching the people in the temple courts and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. 2 "Tell us by what authority you are doing these things," they said. "Who gave you this authority?" 3 He replied, "I will also ask you a question. Tell me, 4 John's baptism-- was it from heaven, or from men?" 5 They discussed it among themselves and said, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will ask, 'Why didn't you believe him?' 6 But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet." 7 So they answered, "We don't know where it was from." 8 Jesus said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things." 9 He went on to tell the people this parable: "A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. 10 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. 12 He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out. 13 "Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.' 14 "But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. 'This is the heir,' they said. 'Let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' 15 So 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 kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others." When the people heard this, they said, "May this never be!" 17 Jesus looked directly at them and asked, "Then what is the meaning of that which is written: "'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone'? 18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed." 19 The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people. 20 Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be honest. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor."
I recall a conversation I once had with a unbelieving friend at work. It was one of those times when, for some reason, the topic of discussion in the office had turned to spiritual matters. This friend of mine openly admitted that he was not convinced that Jesus Christ was important. I professed my belief in God’s Word that Jesus Christ was the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one could come to the Father apart from Him. I said that Jesus Christ was and is the only way to salvation.
The conversation became very pointed when, from across the room, my friend asked me straight out: “So, you’re telling me that if I died tonight, that I would go to Hell?” I still remember how my heart broke, how tears started to come into my eyes as I was forced to tell him the truth.
It’s not something I wanted to tell my friend. It would have been so much easier if I could have backed away and given him an easy lie. But I would have been guilty of playing games with his eternal soul. So I looked down for a second, gathering my thoughts and then looked right at him and said, “Yes, Joe . . . I am telling you that. You would go to Hell.”
For the last five Sundays—since February 25th—we have been on the road to redemption. We’ve walked along this road called Lent, walking alongside Jesus Christ as He heads towards Calvary. As we’ve walked with Him towards the cross, we’ve been witness to a series of scenes, a series of teachings. As Jesus has interacted with others along that road, He’s been able to give us glimpses in our own lives . . . He’s been able to reveal to us some of our own sinful attitudes . . . He’s revealed how He is not just the Savior, but our Savior. He’s shown how He redeems us from our sins.
It hasn’t always been easy to hear. Certainly it hasn’t always been easy to preach. Because we’ve dealt with some very serious issues in these sermons. Jesus has seen those times when we’ve given into temptation. Jesus has showed us times that we’ve been unwilling to hear His instruction, when we’ve despised the preaching of His Word. Jesus has shown us the times that we’ve been inclined to point out someone else’s sin . . . and He’s turned out attention away from them and held a mirror up in front of us. He’s convicted us of those times when we’ve refused to join in the celebration over a sinner who repents . . . those times when we’ve felt so self-righteous that we forgot there was always room for one more.
But in each of those times Jesus has been present and active in our lives. Not satisfied to leave us in our sin, He has taken our lives and redeemed them. For every time that He’s shown us where we’ve gone wrong and were burdened down by the heavy weight of sin, He’s shown us how He shoulders our burden, taking it away from us and nailing it to the cross so that we might have eternal life with Him. During this Lenten journey, He has truly shown us that He is our Savior.
I suppose that’s what makes today’s message so difficult. Despite the fact that our God is gracious, despite the fact that He is patient and long-suffering, despite the fact that Jesus is ready, willing, and able to save completely those who come to God through Him, there will nevertheless be those who turn away from His free offer of forgiveness and life. There will be those who choose to walk their own path and leave the road of redemption.
In today’s Gospel lesson Jesus is faced with a hard situation. The background for the story is in Luke chapter twenty verse one, where we find Him teaching in the Temple courts. He is approached by the religious leaders of the day, and they demand to know on whose authority He is teaching. They seem to feel that the Temple and its grounds are their sole domain, that they have authority over all that goes on there.
Jesus sidesteps the question, and instead proceeds to tell the people listening to him this parable: Luke 20:9-15, “A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. 10 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. 12 He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out. 13 Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.' 14 "But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. 'This is the heir,' they said. 'Let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.”
Now to get the meaning of this parable you must understand that the story Jesus tells is an allegory of a true story. The story of the vineyard is really a story about the salvation history of Israel. Israel is the “vineyard” which God has planted. It is His vineyard, He owns it. And as His right as the landowner, He entrusts His property to certain tenants. Those tenants are the ones given the task of caring for the vineyard and ensuring that the vines will grow and produce rich fruit. They are to value the property as though it is their own while still acknowledging the true ownership of the landlord, God.
God sends His servants to collect some of the fruit of the vineyard. What kind of fruit does God look for in His vineyard, His people? __________________________ He looks for the fruit of repentance. He looks for the fruit of righteousness. He looks for the fruit of mercy. We could even perhaps say that the “fruit” God looks for is the addition of more people to His vineyard, the addition of more people to His Kingdom through the preaching of His grace.
But the tenants refuse to give God’s servants the fruit. Instead, they beat the servants and send them away. They reject the servants—those are the prophets of God—and in so doing reject His rightful claim on the fruit of His vineyard.
How does God respond to such harsh treatment? Does He call down wrath from Heaven and obliterate His precious vineyard? No . . . instead He sends another servant, another prophet, and another . . . and another . . . and another. And each prophet receives the same treatment. The very people who are entrusted with producing fruit according to God’s Word reject His prophets and reject His Word. Until finally, God sends His very own Son, thinking that perhaps they will finally listen to Him.
And instead of listening to the gracious words of the landowner’s own Son, the tenants eject Him from the vineyard, kill Him, and claim the property of God as their own. Can a man rob God? No . . . yet they reject His prophets, kill His Son, and claim the vineyard as their own. They have rejected God’s servants, rejected God’s Word, rejected God’s own Son . . . and have sealed their own fate.
Luke 20:15, “What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?” What is the worst possible fate that could fall upon the tenants? They will receive the very treatment that they accorded the Son, “16 He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” And when the people heard this, they said, “May this never be!”
“May this never be!” How many times have you heard something like that? Maybe not those words exactly, but have you heard someone say, “God is a god of love . . . He could never condemn someone to Hell.” For some reason, there are people—from good church folks to the unchurched people on your street—who know one thing about God and one thing only: that He is a God of love. Are they correct? Yes . . . but they only have half of the story.
They know the half of the story that proclaims God as long-suffering and patient. They know the half of the story that tells about His great love for mankind. But they either forget or fail to understand the other half: while God is a god of love, He is also a God of judgment.
God’s mercy, God’s love . . . in fact all of the wonderful, pleasant qualities of God are revealed in Jesus Christ. But where Jesus Christ reveals God’s love, He also reveals God’s wrath. His anger. His condemning judgment.
The magnificent St. Louis arch is an architectural marvel. Over seventeen thousand tons of concrete and steel stand 630 feet high. And there the only thing that makes it possible to stand is the equal weight of both sides pressing against the centerpiece at the top. The entire weight of both sides of its massive structure press upon that one centerpiece—the capstone if you will—and without it the entire arch would collapse, crushing everyone inside and below.
Jesus invites us to think of an arch just like that. The wonderful, carrying force of God’s love presses against the crushing weight of His judgment, and Jesus Christ at the center balances the weight of both. You can’t have one side without the other: God’s arch must both have His mercy and His judgment, it must have Jesus Christ at the center, or else all of salvation collapses.
Jesus Christ is the capstone of salvation. And that means that His appearance draws a hard and fast line in the sand. In Him alone there is mercy, but to those who reject the Son and claim the vineyard of salvation as their own there is only judgment of the harshest kind: Luke 20:17-18, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone. 18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”
Do you know someone who knows only about God’s love but doesn’t know anything about His judgment? Do you know someone who trusts in a vague sense of a loving God but doesn’t trust in Jesus Christ the capstone? What does God’s Word say will happen to them? They will be crushed. Condemned. For all eternity.
There is no getting around it. It’s sad. It’s tragic. But it’s true all the same. Without a faith and hope Jesus Christ the people we know will be crushed by the tremendous weight of God’s judgment. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Just for one minute, put yourself into the beginning of Jesus’ parable. Make yourself the tenant. God sends His servant to you requesting from fruit from His vineyard . . . what can you give Him?
Let me just suggest that you can give God the fruit of having told one more person about Jesus Christ. Every good vineyard owner wants healthy fruit . . . but he also wants more fruit. God is the same. He gets no joy from condemning sinners to be crushed by His judgment. God wants more and more fruit on the vine. He wants more and more people to come to know Him and the power of His resurrection. And He wants you—the tenants of His vineyard—to do the things that produce fruit. He is looking to you to care for others and tell them of the salvation that waits for them in Jesus Christ.
You already have His vineyard. You have been redeemed by Jesus Christ. You have had your sins forgiven through His cross. You walk with Christ on the road to redemption and in Him are in no danger of being crushed by the capstone. He doesn’t ask you to produce fruit for Him so that you can be saved . . . but so that others can.
And the only way that they can be saved is the same way that we are: by looking to Christ. By trusting that Christ the capstone can and does bear the weight of both God’s mercy and His judgment.
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