seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Luke 20:9 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, “God forbid!”
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 cornerstone’?
has become the cornerstone’?
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone 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.
Jesus is still in Jerusalem, arguing with the Pharisees, Sadducees, Teachers of the Law and the elders. He has flipped the tables on the money changers and the venders selling those sacrifices. They, no doubt, went running to the Pharisees for justice. On top of that, Jesus healed a man right in front of the Pharisees, at the dinner table, on the Sabbath. They just needed to get Jesus off to Himself, or they had to get Him to say or do something that would get rid of the crowds for them. It was the crowds they couldn't deal with. Rome wouldn't like it if thousands of Jews started to riot in the streets.Look at verse 16. God already did that a couple of times. The first that comes to mind is Sodom. He threw a meteor shower at them. The second time, He used the Flood to wash the earth of the morons. He started fresh with a man, his three sons, their wives, and a boatload of livestock. God also sent John the Baptist to warn them all to Repent. He's using the story to show them what they were doing. Then when He sent His Son.... they sent Him to the Cross. They were His priests, and they wouldn't even give Him a thanks.
God gave us a beautiful vineyard, and we give Him nothing in return, not even a thank you.
And the verse says, "God Forbid!".
Now, verse 17 talks about Jesus being the cornerstone. I have a couple of things running thru my mind.
The first is building stability and the second is turning the corner.
A cornerstone is the strength of the building. It will bear the burden of the joining of two walls. So let's see, Jesus is the cornerstone, God is one wall and the Holy Spirit is the other. They all work together to make the building stand tall. It's just the same as what Jesus does for us, He lets God and the Spirit work so we can stand tall.
When making a grannie square, we have to turn the corner. The easiest way to turn the corner and continue down the other side is to place three stitches there. See the similarity? We use Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit to keep our work square and true.
They knew He was talking about them. They didn't change their ways. They just kept looking for a way to get those crowds to release Him to them.
The people heard the parable. They knew what Jesus meant.
The Pharisees heard the parable. They knew who Jesus was talking about.
They weren't afraid of what God would do.
They were afraid of the crowd.
