Matthew 21:28-46 | Psalm 118:19-25 | Gospels in Lent Track: John 19-20
Remember, we’re in Lent, the season building up to and going through Jesus’ suffering and death. These passages in Matthew are leading us there. We continue to see Jesus’ actions and words become a growing bane to those in power. It will get worse.
Today he miffs them with a couple of parables.
Matthew 21:28-46
“What do you think? A man had two sons. Now he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’
“‘No, I don’t want to,’ he replied. But later he changed his mind and went.
“The father said the same thing to the other son, who replied, ‘Yes, sir.’ But he didn’t go.
“Which one of these two did his father’s will?”
They said, “The first one.”
Jesus said to them, “I assure you that tax collectors and prostitutes are entering God’s kingdom ahead of you. For John came to you on the righteous road, and you didn’t believe him. But tax collectors and prostitutes believed him. Yet even after you saw this, you didn’t change your hearts and lives and you didn’t believe him.
“Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. Then he rented it to tenant farmers and took a trip. When it was time for harvest, he sent his servants to the tenant farmers to collect his fruit. But the tenant farmers grabbed his servants. They beat some of them, and some of them they killed. Some of them they stoned to death.
“Again he sent other servants, more than the first group. They treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
“But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come on, let’s kill him and we’ll have his inheritance.’ They grabbed him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
“When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenant farmers?”
They said, “He will totally destroy those wicked farmers and rent the vineyard to other tenant farmers who will give him the fruit when it’s ready.”
Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read in the scriptures, The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The Lord has done this, and it’s amazing in our eyes? Therefore, I tell you that God’s kingdom will be taken away from you and will be given to a people who produce its fruit. Whoever falls on this stone will be crushed. And the stone will crush the person it falls on.”
Now when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard the parable, they knew Jesus was talking about them. They were trying to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, who thought he was a prophet.
Psalm 118:19-25
Open the gates of righteousness for me
so I can come in and give thanks to the Lord!
This is the Lord’s gate;
those who are righteous enter through it.
I thank you because you answered me,
because you were my saving help.
The stone rejected by the builders
is now the main foundation stone!
This has happened because of the Lord;
it is astounding in our sight!
This is the day the Lord acted;
we will rejoice and celebrate in it!
Lord, please save us!
Lord, please let us succeed!
Prayer
God,
Save us from mediocrity.
Unless it be your will that we sit in laziness, apathy, and indecisiveness, move us to action. Help us face situations with discernment and the certainty that we are your creation, designed to be creatures of purpose. Keep us from things that don’t matter. Save us from activities that rot our hearts, our minds, and our bodies. Help us to live with the mindful intentionality of Christ whether we’re a CEO, giving someone CPR, making a million dollar purchase…or whether we’re mopping a floor, putting gas in the car, or eating an apple. In all things, make us thoughtful lovers of truth, and truthful practitioners of love. Save us from being boring, for your Kingdom, which is for us, who are for you. By your Spirit & in Christ,
Amen.