Blogging Through The Gospels: Matthew 21, Part 2

Today we cover the last half of Matthew 21, which talks about the Pharisees questioning Jesus. As usual, it's the Pharisees who are humiliated, not Jesus!

In short, the Pharisees ask Jesus by what authority he was doing all the things that he was doing. Jesus replied that he would tell them, if they answered his question: John's baptism--where did it come from?

This sent the Pharisees into a frenzied huddle, as if they replied that John's baptism was from heaven, Jesus would ask why they hadn't believed. If they replied that John's baptism was from men, they would get the people angry at them, as everyone held that John was a prophet!

So in humiliation the Pharisees replied, "We don't know." Neither did Jesus tell them by what authority he was doing things!

As if that wasn't enough, Jesus started telling parables that weren't to hard to decipher and figure out that Jesus was talking about the Pharisees. The first parable talked about a guy with two sons. He asked both of his sons to go work in his field. The first one said, "No way! I'm not gonna do that!" but later changed his mind and worked in his father's field. The second son told his father that he would work in his field, but didn't.

Jesus asked the Pharisees which son did what his father wanted. They naturally answered, "the first". Well, Jesus said, tax collectors and sinners are entering heaven ahead of you Pharisees! Then Jesus launched into a second parable, which I'll talk about in my SOAP.

Scripture:

"But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.'" ~Matthew 21:38

Observation:

Here's the gist of the parable. There was a landowner who built a vineyard. When he went away on a long trip, he rented the vineyard to some farmers, and expected at harvest time that he would get some of the harvest. Harvest time came. The landowner sent some servants to collect the harvest. But the farmers--or tenants--were mean. They beat, killed, or stoned the servants. The landowner was very unhappy with this. He sent more servants, more then the time before. These servants met the same fate. Finally the landowner decided to send his son. They'll respect my son, he thought. Oops. The tenants saw the son, realized that he was the heir, and killed him too.

Then Jesus dropped the bombshell on the Pharisees: what will the farmer do? They answered correctly that the landowner will oust the current tenants and rent the vineyard to tenants who don't kill his servants and that do give him a share of the harvest.

Application:

I don't think you have to be a theologian to figure out the meaning of this parable. God the Father is the landowner that built the vineyard. The vineyard is God's people, church, whatever you want to call it. The tenants are the Pharisees, and the servants are the prophets of old. The Pharisees, or current leaders, always tried to kill and shush these voices. Finally, the son in the story represents Jesus. I think that the meaning is very clear, and both the common people and Pharisees understood it.

Now I have a question for you: do you kill Jesus? Not physically, of course. But do you disown, dishonor, or kill him by the books you read? The websites you surf? The movies you watch? The music you listen to? Could you read, surf, watch, and listen to the same things with Jesus by your side? I kind of wonder that at times.

Prayer:

Dear God, help me to honor you wherever I go and in whatever I do. Amen.

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P.S.--To learn more about this blogging-through-the-gospels program, or if YOU would like to join yourself (you're more than welcome-jump right in!!) click here.