Matthew 21:33-41..Ready

Matthew 21:33-41..Ready

21:33 Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it (To press grapes into juice. (See below) and built a watchtower. Then he rented (Leased) the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. (The absence of God is from our human perspective only. We perceive Him as absent because we don’t see Him, but in truth the bible says God is everywhere and present all the time.-(Ps. 139:7-10))  34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.  35″The tenants seized his servants;  they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them in the same way. 37 Last of all he sent his son (Jesus) to them. They will respect my son he said. 38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, (Reasoned, conspired) ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ (The Talmud actually says after three years if the owner hasn’t been around the tenants can claim the land.) 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.  (In order not to defile the vines with blood, making the crop ceremonially unclean and unfit for market,) 40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” (Calls for self-inspection. Jesus flips the script on them, like Nathen did to David in getting him to condemn himself for Uriah’s death-(2-Sam. 12:1-10) 41 “He will bring those wretches  to a wretched end,” they replied, (They unknowingly pronounced condemnation on their own heads) and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time. (For Complete Expository See Book)

Extended Sermons

“Teaches how God expects us to be good Stewards, using our gifts and talents not for ourselves, but for His glory and service.” ⇒ Will you be good stewards with the blessings of God? Will you use your resources, your time, your freedom, your connections, etc. to advance God’s Kingdom. Will you use the opportunities that God has given you to impact others. Will you share the Gospel with those you come into contact with, from your spouses, to your children, to your friends, to your neighbor, to your co-workers, to the cashier at Home depot, or even to total strangers. Will you pray God use me for your purpose and glory in bringing more people to Your Son Jesus Christ.

“Emphasize God’s care and provision in setting us up to succeed, providing every resource needed to flourish and grow.”→ Being New Creations in Christ Jesus God has provided all that we need.  As a believer there’s no excuse in not being able to overcome and defeat lust, anger, rage, impatience. There’s no excuse not to be able to conquer addiction, greed, profanity, envy, worldliness. We have every divine resource at our disposal to love, forgive, serve, commit. Through God’s ongoing patience and generosity, He creates a path where we can grow in faith, transformation, generosity, and fruitfulness no matter who you are, stewarding His blessings and fulfilling our calling in ways that honor Him.

“Displays the gracious patience and kindness of God in giving us every opportunity to repent and change course.” ⇒ Whether you’re a believer or unbeliever God continues to pursue and chase after you. God keeps putting people in your life to get your attention and get you to turn. Maybe it’s a family member or a co-worker who’s inviting you to bible study or reminding you of the Gospel. For those who are truly seeking to live for God can take encouragement. God pursues us even when we sin, even when we backslide, even when we rebel against Him. For others, we’re just like the farmers, we abuse God’s grace. We mistake the patience and grace of God as indifference or as affirmation of how we’re living. You can image the Tenants, after killing the servants who came  to collect the rent. They probably expected the landowner to come with an army and evict them and burn their Vineyard down. But the landowner did nothing. They probably thought maybe the landowner isn’t as serious about this fruit bearing thing after all. Maybe it was a suggestion and not a demand? Maybe the landowners is okay with us holding back? Maybe He doesn’t care. And just like the Tenants we can sometimes distort God’s grace in not punishing us as indifference or that’s it’s okay. Thinking maybe we can get away with this. Maybe God isn’t that bothered by the way I’m living. After all we didn’t get struck down by lightening, the house didn’t fall down on top of us. In fact everything’s going fine. I got promoted at work, money’s coming in. I’m living the life I want to live. The wife is happy., the kids are happy. But don’t let God’s lack of punishment fool you. God’s grace may be unconditional and unlimited in scope, but not in duration. There will be a day of reckoning coming when accounts become due. Where all will be laid bear before God, and will have to give an account for how we lived.

“Teaches men who want authority & control will push God out of the picture so they can sin undisturbed. (No God, no accountability)” ⇒  Rejection of Jesus doesn’t start with violence, it starts with our own self-preservation. We may not be as violent as these Tenants in getting rid of God. Yet, in our own ways, we can subtly attempt to sideline God by justifying our choices, ignoring His commands, or rationalizing our actions to avoid conviction and maintain our autonomy. Even without overt rebellion, we might compartmentalize our faith, keeping God at arm’s length in certain areas of our lives so we can pursue what we desire without feeling accountable. This attitude, while less dramatic than the tenants’ outright rejection, ultimately seeks to quiet God’s voice and dismiss His rightful authority over us. Recognizing this tendency is crucial, for true stewardship and discipleship require us to invite God into every aspect of our lives, submitting to His authority and embracing the accountability that comes from living under His loving rule. Is there some corner of life you’re resisting God because you want to maintain control. Are you leasing just a little space in your heart to God while living like the rest is still yours?

“Even today, were only Stewards, everything we have; Our money, our homes, our jobs,  our time, our talents is a gift from God that’s to be used for His glory and blessing others” ⇒ It’s important to recognize that we are merely stewards, that everything we have is an underserved gift from God. It’s easy to be tempted to think, “I worked hard for this, it was my talent that got this.” “It was my resources and intellect that achieved this.  As we move through life God calls us to remember that every gift—whether time, talent, or treasure—ultimately belongs to Him and is given that we might fulfill His purpose and calling. The opportunities and blessings we enjoy are meant to serve God’s glory and the good of others. As Christians we need to remember that everything we own and the blessing we enjoy really comes from God. We should be able to say this house isn’t really mine, this car really isn’t mine. Ya I may have bought it with my own money. But the truth is, if God didn’t bless me with a job in the first place, I would have never been able to afford it. We should be able to say with the Psalmist “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”-(Ps. 24:1) Or again the Apostle Paul “He has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places”.-(Eph. 1:3)  When we start living as if God owes us this, it is mine, I deserve it. It all just starts to go downhill. Will start to lose out on God’s purpose and plan for our lives and what we were meant for. There’s a great freedom and peace in knowing everything is God’s. We no longer have to live in fear of losing it all! Our whole identity is rooted in our relationship with God and no longer in what we own or who we know. We no longer have to establish our identity by what kind of job we have, what kind of car we drive, what kind of success we have, how much money we make.

Additional Notes & Applications

Teaches how God’s law and rules are a hedge put there to protect us and keep us safe that we may know right from wrong.-(V. 33)

Teaches how God expects a return on His investment with a life of obedience & holy living. (Will you give God His rightful due?)-(V. 34)

Teaches when receiving criticism or conviction of sin, rather than attack or get defensive see it as an opportunity for repentance and course correction.-(V. 34)

Teaches how God doesn’t give up on us immediately or easily, but tries all ways to reform us and call us back to Himself.

Teaches how God expects us to take care of the things He’s entrusted us with.

Teaches how God doesn’t give up on us immediately or easily, but tries all ways to reform us and call us back to Himself.

Teaches how God doesn’t ask for much, just a little gratitude and appreciation  for all He’s done.

Warns against thinking we can live independently and self-sufficiently on our own without God

Teachers how even the wicked can perceive the treasure that Jesus really is.-(V. 37)

Teaches how Jesus is the final and complete revelation to come. (There is no other messengers to come, no Joseph Smith, no Muhammad)-(V. 37)

Teaches how oftentimes we want all the benefits of God’s blessing, but we don’t want to hand over control,-(V. 38)

Warns against thinking we occupy the office of spiritual authority.-(V. 38)

Warns how oftentimes we’re more interested in maintaining our position and authority at the cost of enslaving people to our own rule than we are about rightlessness and truth.-(V. 38

Warns against living with a sense of entitlement, that God owes us for all we’ve done and achieved.-(V. 38)

Warns against shooting the messenger just because you don’t like the message.-(V. 38)

Warns how sin always leads to making foolish and illogical decisions. (Sin clouds our judgment and distorts our perception of right and wrong.) -(V. 38)

Warns how sin and rebellion only escalates if not repented of.-(V. 38)

Warn of the eventual destruction for all those who continually harden their hearts and reject Jesus.-(V. 41)

Displays how even wicked people can have a sense of justice.-(V. 41)

Teaches how evil always require a response from God. (God does not let wickedness go unanswered.)-(V. 41)

Displays how people can be critically negative of the sins of others, and not see the same sins in their own lives. (Pointing out the sins of others has been a great way of ignoring our own.) (V. 41)

Teaches how God doesn’t suffer loss, when we say no to Him, there’s always others who will respond to His Saving grace.-(V. 41) God’s plans are never thwarted by human rejection or disobedience. God is able to accomplish His will, regardless of human response. His work continues through those who are willing, and His purposes are ultimately fulfilled.

If not careful we can start to rebel against the rightful rule and authority of God to seeking our own rule. We often think that if we can get rid of God we can live the way we want. Many try to silence God by doing all they can to silence His people and His preachers. What happens when God tells you how to live, and you don’t like what He says. You don’t do it because this is your life and no one’s going to tell you how to live it. As sinful fallen creatures we don’t like to surrender or submit to anyone, even to God. For many of us God is our counselor, but not one who owns of lives. We can either take His advice or we don’t.

Just as the owner entrusted the Vineyard to the care of the Tenants as He went on a long journey.-(V. 33b) So too we have been entrusted with the spiritual oversight of God’s people. This is not just limited to Pastors and Church leaders. It includes everyone. If your a husband you have been entrusted with the spiritual oversight of your family. If your a parent you have been entrusted with the spiritual oversight of your children. If not careful, as with the absence of the Vineyards owner, we can think that the Lord is not coming back anytime soon, and start to abuse, belittle, insult, and take advantage of the Lord’s people.

Emphasizes God’s loving grace in sending His best to the worst! God sends the best thing He has to the worst people He knows. He gives us Hs Son, His precious boy, so that we can become His sons and daughters

Teaches how God works all things for our good. Even the worst event to happen in the history of our world in the betrayal and murder of Jesus Christ by these wicked Tenants was planned and ordained by God’s sovereign decree for His glory and our good. That Jesus came into the world to die,

It wasn’t uncommon for wealthy landowners lease out their Vineyards to tenants who would work and cultivate the land, pick the crops, and then pay a percentage of the harvest to the land owner at harvest time. Similar today, where tenant farmers are usually paid by allowing them to keep a portion of the harvest, with a fixed percentage going to the owner.  In Jesus’ time, biblical scholars tell us that it would typically be five years before the landowner would expect to see a profit from His investment. In the owner’s absence, the Tenants would cultivate the vineyard, prune the branches, and raise grape crops between the vines during the first few years. For the first few years the owner would have to support them. After those years of toil were past, the vineyard would be lucrative source of income for the owner. There was an agreement that in due time, the Tenants would pay the owner a portion of the crop in the form of wine, fruit, or money.

Many who heard Jesus’ parable would have been immediately reminded of the Prophet Isaiah’s Song of the Vineyard from the Old Testament.-(Is. 5:1-7)

“I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard:                                                                 My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.                                                                            He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with                                                                the choicest vines.                                                                                                                                He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well.                                                       Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.                                 “Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between                                       me and my vineyard.                                                                                                                       What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it?                                 When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?                                                         Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard                                                                   I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed;                                                                            I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled                                                                                 I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated,                                                             and briers and thorns will grow there.                                                                                                  I will command the clouds not to rain on it.                                                                                    The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the nation of Israel,                                                                and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in.                                                                      And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed;                                                                                for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.     

We have a historical record of the persecution of God’s Prophets by Israel. Tradition has it that Isaiah was sawed in two with a wooden saw.-(Heb. 11:37-38) From scripture we know that Jeremiah was thrown into a pit of mud-(Jer. 38:6) and eventually stoned to death in Egypt. Ezekiel was rejected. Elijah and Amos ran for their lives. Micah was smashed in the face and starved to death in prison.-(1-Kings 22) The Prophet Zechariah was murdered right there in the Temple Court.-(2-Chron. 24:2)

In the parable you would think the landowner would send in the police or come with an army to take these Tenants out. But what’s even more crazy is knowing how evil and dangerous theses tenants are. The landowner sends His own son. We would think what landowner in their right mind would send their kid to talk to such evil and wicked people like this?  What kind of Father would send his Son to people who despise his authority and mistreat his servants, to people who’ve beaten and killed every single other person that he’s sent? So there must have been an incredibly good reason God the Father did so. And that reason is because God loves us and wants to reach us and Save us no matter what it costs. We need to remember this when we doubt or wonder whether God loves us.  He does. He sent Jesus His own Son.

We have to ask ourselves, how does it go from these hired farmers who were provided land, all the tools they needed to work it, houses to sleep in, etc. Who signed a totally fair contract saying yes I’m gonna pay the owner of the Vineyard the rent that is due at harvest time. To then killing any representatives of the landowners, even his own son. What changed or shifted in their minds in thinking this Vineyard should actually belong to them. What delusions motivated them to act with such wicked and violent behavior to kill people, and then to kill the owner of the Vineyards Son! Because Jesus does not paint in the details of this as part of His parable. Were left to fill in the blanks ourselves of what is happening here. So we have understand how do you get to a place of suddenly being part of the deal to rejecting that deal in wanting it all for ourselves. We do that when we get in the mindset of thinking everything is owed us, that we deserve it and earned it. The shift happens when we start to view things as mine. And were going to do everything we can to defend what is ours. Do you find yourself in the same mindset of the Farmers in seeing your life, your opportunities, your resources, your achievements, your relationships, as yours. When in reality everything is a gift from God. And that’s the delusion that Jesus is exposing in this parable. So we have to ask ourselves what are the things that are creating a delusion, causing us to rebel and pull away from the truth and from God?

Wine-Presses were pits that were either cut out of stone or dug out of the ground and then lined with stone. Wine-Presses consisted of two parts—the upper chamber that would hold the grapes while being stepped on. The juice would then flow down a channel into a lower chamber where the juice would be left to ferment for wine. Some very primitive wine-presses are spoken of as consisting of a single excavation in the rock, lower at one end than at the other, so that the wine when pressed out might find a place to settle. The place where the grapes are put may be of stone, or of wood. Near the bottom on one side, or else in the bottom, is a closely-grated hole, through which the wine flows into the vat beneath. Metaphorically wine-press were usually always associated as a symbol of God’ wrath, judgment & destruction of the wicked-(Is. 63:3, Rev. 14:19, 19:15) But in context here it is a picture of the abundance of God’ blessings given to Israel-(Deut. 15:14) Others understand as the pressing of God’ people to produce true righteousness.

HOW TO BE GOOD STEWARDS

• Learn what God values: Consider what matters to God and use your resources, skills, and time in ways that align with those values. 

• Donate money toward causes that are close to God’s heart: Donate to your church, a ministry, or a nonprofit organization. Support a missionary or practice generosity in your community. 

• Be spiritual leaders and examples to others

• Be trustworthy: Be honest and have integrity. 

• Be diligent: Avoid idle activities and be industrious. 

• Be prayerful: Turn to God for guidance and wisdom. 

• Be action-oriented: Be proactive in your responsibilities. 

• Share your time, talent, and treasure: Share with God and others. 

• Volunteer: Volunteer at church, events, or other places like retirement homes or homeless shelters. 

• Support other Christians: Offer to help and support your friends, relatives, and neighbors. 

• Set a budget: Make a budget and avoid impulse buying.