Today’s Podcast
Today’s Scriptures
Today’s Bible reading plans include:
Ready – Luke 20:9-19
Set – Ezra 7; Luke 20
Go! – Ezra 7-8; Luke 20
Luke 20:9-19
9 He told the people another parable:
Jesus: A man planted a vineyard. He rented it to tenants and went for a long trip to another country. 10 At the harvest time, he sent a servant to the tenants so he could be paid his share of the vineyard’s fruit, but the tenants beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed. 11 The man sent another servant, and they beat him and treated him disgracefully and sent him away empty-handed too. 12 He sent a third servant who was injured and thrown out. 13 Then the vineyard owner said, “Now what am I going to do? I’ll send my much-loved son. They should treat him with respect.”
14 But when the tenants recognized the owner’s son, they said, “Here’s our chance to actually own this vineyard! Let’s kill the owner’s heir so we can claim this place as our own!” 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and murdered him. What do you think the owner will do to these scoundrels?
16 I’ll tell you what he’ll do; he’ll come and wipe those tenants out, and he’ll give the vineyard to others.
Crowd: No! God forbid that this should happen!
Jesus: 17 Why then do the Hebrew Scriptures contain these words:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the very stone
that holds together the entire foundation?
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to fragments, and if that stone falls on anyone, he will be ground to dust.
19 That was the last straw for the religious scholars and the chief priests; they were ready to attack Him right then and there. But they couldn’t for fear of public opinion, and they realized that Jesus, through this parable, had exposed their violent intentions.
Today’s Devotional
From today’s background scripture God might say:
What did the crowd mean when they cried out, “No! God forbid that this should happen!” Were they upset that the owner’s son was killed or were they upset that the owner came and wiped out the tenants and gave the vineyard to others? It is interesting to stop and think about their answer, isn’t it?
When you think about what will happen to Me in the next few days, you might begin to wonder who the crowd was thinking about when they cried out. Did they consider themselves the tenants, want to remain in the vineyard and live off the fruit of their labor? Did they think they would gain control of the religious authority that I alluded to as I gave them this parable? Did they think that by doing the same things they had been doing that they would keep control of all they had?
Or were they finally seeing the falacy of their religious practices? As you see from the reaction of the scholars and chief priests, they thought I was talking about them and want to kill Me right then. But what about the crowd? Whose side were they on? I spoke to the crowd and everyone there heard the same parable. Did they think I was about to take Abraham’s blessings away from them and give it to the Gentiles who occupied their city? It would be easy for the Roman army to move the Jews out of the temple and take it over. I could give it to them because of the apostacy I saw among My own people. So what did the crowd think of the parable?
More important, what do you think of the parable? If you were in the crowd and listening to the parable of the vineyard owner, the servants and the son, what would you think? Who would you think I’m talking about? There’s no interpretation, just the parable. Would you see the vineyard owner as the Father above? Would you see his servants as the prophets the Father sends to try to guide you onto the path of righteousness and bring you back into a right relationship with Him? Would you recognize that the pastors and priests He puts in your path are there to help you know Me and follow Me? Would you abuse them and fail to listen to them as My people did the prophets I sent to teach them and try to rescue them from the destruction they faced?
The parable fits today as much as it did when I gave it to the crowd that day in Jerusalem. Put yourself in the crowd. Think carefully about what your reaction to the story would be today. Would you react as the scholars and priests and determine to kill Me? Would you cry out with the crowd, “God forbid that this would happen!”? And if you cried out with the crowd, who would you mourn, the servants, the son, or the tenants who will be thrown out of the vineyard at the owner’s command?
I trust you have the right answers. Your eternity depends on it!
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.