The
Parable of the Tenants (part 2)
[Luke
chapter 20, verses 14-26]
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Last
week when we left off at verse 13, Jesus was relating his parable of
the tenants in the (hypothetical) vineyard, who had rented it from
its owner, who was gone on a long journey. As you recall, the owner
had sent a couple of servants to try and collect “some of the fruit
of the vineyard”, as my NIV Bible puts it. My NLT Bible says the
owner “sent one of his servants to collect his share of the crop”.
But the servants get sent away empty-handed, and with a good
butt-whupping to boot. So the man decides he will send his son in the
mistaken belief that he will be respected because of his status as
the heir to the estate. So at this point let's take up where we last
concluded last week's study, beginning at verse 14.
“But
when they saw him, they talked the matter over. 'This is the heir',
they said. 'Let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' 'So
they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What will the
owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and kill those tenants
and give the vineyard to others.' When the people heard this, they
said, 'May this never be!' 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'? (Psalm
118, verse 22)
Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on
whom it falls will be crushed.' 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.” (Luke 20, verses 14-19)
One
of the first things that jumps out at me from the above quote is that
there are times in life when one's social or economic status is
meaningless, and the owner of the vineyard failed to realize that at
first. His failure to grasp the fact that he had rented his vineyard
to a gang of criminals cost his son his life. It appears to me that
this is a similar situation to what the American people are facing
today. If the 'vineyard' were Washington, DC, then the 'tenants'
would be our elected officials, and it would not be an inaccurate
statement to say we have a bunch of evil tenants that have taken over
the US government. But according to the Declaration of Independence,
not to mention the US Constitution, it is “we the people” who are
the true landowners and stockholders of this still-great country of
ours. So the moral of this part of the story is that if we as a
united American people fail to act preemptively against America's
thoroughly corrupt and abusive government, that government, if left
unchecked, will ultimately turn on us and kill us all. There are
numerous examples from history of this occurring, with Hitler's Nazi
Germany, Stalin's Soviet Union and Mao's Red China being three
examples from just the past century alone. If we don't intervene now
against the rampant corruption in our government, the American people
would be next on this infamous list.
Keep
in mind, too, that this whole conversation got started when the
Pharisees and teachers of the Law (like modern-day instructors and
professors in Yeshiva's or Seminaries) had walked up to Jesus while
he was teaching at the Temple at Jerusalem and demanded to know the
source of his authority. They clearly failed to recognize Jesus as
the promised Messiah. In fact, they were downright suspicious of
Jesus, just to give you an idea of just how thoroughly whacked these
Pharisees really were. That's why Jesus quoted the Bible in his
response when he said, “Then
what is the meaning of that which is written: 'The stone the builders
rejected has become the capstone'? (Psalm
118, verse 22)
Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on
whom it falls will be crushed.”
Jesus is the capstone, or “cornerstone”, as my NLT calls it.
“Broken to pieces”, I'm pretty sure, is a reference to our old
selves being broken in the process of surrendering our lives to
Christ when we come to recognize and embrace him as our Lord and
Savior. But like a seed germinating, our old selves must die so the
new self can be reborn. Although we will be “broken to pieces”,
the new self God gives us in its place when we commit our lives to
Christ is an immortal soul destined for eternity with Jesus in
heaven. Those who refuse to believe, on the other hand, “will be
crushed”.
“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.”
Isn't this exactly what the authorities do in modern times when they
perceive someone as a threat? They are either arrested and jailed
like what happens to street protesters and other political activists,
or they are assassinated like the Kennedy brothers and Rev. Dr. King,
Jr., to name just a few. This kind of deadly shenanigans has been
playing out in governments for many centuries, much to the detriment
of the people those governments are charged with governing. But in
modern times, the ubiquitous nature of the internet is making
traditional government obsolete due to the way it decentralizes
everything, directly connecting people, business and organizations in
a way that was never before possible. But the last sentence is
something we should be taking to heart. If we want to be part of the
political and economic change we seek, it's time to make the
government really afraid of us, the American people. As you can see,
citizen reprisal against their government is in the Bible after all,
but that is a topic for another discussion entirely – so for now
let's conclude this week's lesson starting at verse 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 they might hand him
over to the power and authority of the governor. So the spies
questioned him: 'Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is
right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God
in accordance with the truth. Is it right for us to pay taxes to
Caesar or not?' He saw through their duplicity and said to them,
'Show me a denarius. Whose portrait and inscription are on it?'
'Caesar's', they replied. He said to them, 'Then give to Caesar what
is Caesar's, and to God what his God's..' They were unable to trap
him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his
answer, they became silent.” (Luke 20, verses 20-26)
To
use modern terminology, the Pharisees hired the equivalent of private
investigators to put Jesus under surveillance, presumably because
they had already tried and failed to get the governing authorities to
do so. This should be regarded as a testimony to the power Jesus had
over the people, who clearly recognized him as the promised Messiah
while the better “educated” religious establishment did not. So
much for 'religious education', which in the case of the Pharisees
turns out to be an oxymoron. Yet there is one truth the Pharisees and
their henchmen did recognize about our Savior, even though they did
so begrudgingly; “....we
know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show
partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the
truth....”.
I don't know about you, but the part about not showing any partiality
is the first thing I notice here. They meant 'showing partiality'
like the Pharisees did, because they were known for their snobbish
and arrogant behavior, as well as their openly being condescending
towards those they regarded as inferior to themselves. Despite their
devout religiosity, these were mean and nasty people, and I'm pretty
sure that's what our Lord and Savior hated most about them.
So
then the “spies”, as my NIV Bible calls them, or “secret agents
pretending to be honest men”, as my NLT Bible puts it, ask Jesus
what we would call a 'loaded question'. “Is
it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?' He saw through their
duplicity and said to them, 'Show me a denarius. Whose portrait and
inscription are on it?'”
'Since you are from God rather than from men as you claim, aren't you
exempt from taxation?', is the modern equivalent of what they were
asking our Lord and Savior. Technically, since Jesus was of the
clergy he would have been tax exempt by law similar to today, so an
affirmative answer would have been a truthful one. But then he would
have been accused of being a tax evader. Had Jesus answered
negatively, on the other hand, meaning Jesus would want the taxes
paid to himself and not Caesar since he claimed – though not
directly – to be the promised Messiah, he would have been judged as
having started an insurrection and turned over to the authorities
immediately.
But
Jesus' response is classic Jesus as only he could be: “Then
give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what his God's.' They
were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public....”.
'Give to each his due and leave me alone so I can work', is the
modern equivalent to what our Lord and Savior was saying to the
“secret agents”. Remember, all this had gotten started when the
Pharisees, together with their hired henchmen, burst into the temple
and interrupted our Lord while he was teaching there. But instead of
tripping Jesus up like they thought they could (sometimes people do
dumb things due to a lack of faith), Jesus turned the tables on his
adversaries instead – and all in full view of Jesus' apostles and
his many followers who were there with him. So a final lesson we can
derive this week is that trying to fool God, let alone his Son, is
always a really bad and pathetically dumb idea. Let's not forget
that, like a marriage, our relationship with Christ must be based on
honesty and accountability. So let's never forget to always remain
transparent in our relationship with our Lord and Savior, because a
rich reward awaits all those who execute this faithfully! And next
week we'll move on to part 3 of Luke chapter 20.
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