When reading Christ’s parable about the wicked vineyard farmers it is most helpful to recognize the symbolism involved within. Israel is the vineyard, God is the owner, and the religious leaders are the wicked tenant farmers. The messengers are the prophets and the son represents God’s only Son, Jesus Christ. Read the parable found in Luke 20: 9-18Luke 20: 9-18
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
Renters of a Vineyard
9 . Jesus told the people this story:
A man once planted a vineyard and rented it out. Then he left the country for a long time.
10 When it was time to harvest the crop, he sent a servant to ask the renters for his share of the grapes. But they beat up the servant and sent him away without anything.
11 So the owner sent another servant. The renters also beat him up. They insulted him terribly and sent him away without a thing.
12 The owner sent a third servant. He was also beaten terribly and thrown out of the vineyard.
13 The owner then said to himself, “What am I going to do? I know what. I'll send my son, the one I love so much. They will surely respect him!”
14 When the renters saw the owner's son, they said to one another, “Someday he will own the vineyard. Let's kill him! Then we can have it all for ourselves.”
15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
Jesus asked, “What do you think the owner of the vineyard will do?
16 I'll tell you what. He will come and kill those renters and let someone else have his vineyard.”
When the people heard this, they said, “This must never happen!”
17 . But Jesus looked straight at them and said, “Then what do the Scriptures mean when they say, ‘The stone that the builders tossed aside is now the most important stone of all’?
18 Anyone who stumbles over this stone will get hurt, and anyone it falls on will be smashed to pieces.”
WP-Bible plugin and think about it in this way.
I’ve never read this parable without wondering why the landowner would risk sending his son to the vineyard after seeing how horribly the tenant farmers had treated the servants he had previously sent. This apparently was the owner’s only son because the inheritance was to be completely his. It makes no sense that the landowner would jeopardize his son’s safety in this way. All three servants had been beaten, but the fate that awaited his son would be far worse. It was unimaginable to the father.
I sometimes have just as hard a time understanding why God would provide our salvation through such a similar scene. He not only knew that His Son would be killed, but He laid out a detailed plan for this to take place. Our sins would require a perfect sacrifice that only Christ could fulfill. God’s knowledge that Jesus would rise again did not diminish the pain and agony of seeing His son brutally murdered.
What did God see in us that would be worthy of this sacrifice? What kind of love could He have for us that would drive Him to such drastic action?
When I think about my unworthiness, I want to crawl into a hole and hide myself from the presence of God. My human brain will never be able to grasp such love, mercy, and grace. His mercy, in not giving me what I deserve – an eternity in hell. His grace, in giving me what I do not deserve – forgiveness and eternal life with Him. And His love…I can’t expound on that because I have a complete lack of understanding of a perfect love living in my imperfect world. I think it is a love that our human spirit and mind could never understand because it is totally encompassing. It would literally and completely blow us away! But all believers will know it fully one day. When we see God face to face, we will understand His love and bask in it for all eternity.
In the parable the son did not live to see his inheritance. In reality we ARE the Son’s inheritance! Praise His holy name!
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