The Bible says, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1). The hymn says, “This is my Father’s world. O let me ne’er forget that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the Ruler yet. This is my Father’s world:
I began to wonder, as I studied this
parable of Jesus, what would have happened if the tenants would have been
allowed to get by with their rebellion. I think we know, because we live in the
world that the parable is about. The farmers would have first rebelled against
the landowner and then begin to fight among themselves. A fractured
relationship with God always leads to fractured relationships with others. There
would have been war among the tenants over who owned the land. As a result the
vineyard would have been destroyed. There would have been great loss of life
and suffering, but whomever the victor happened to be would think it was worth
it all — even if all that was left was ashes.
Even in the arena of religion God is not really
welcome by some. He is too radical. He is too awesome. His person and power are
overwhelming. We prefer a god we can understand, control and even manipulate. We
like the Old, white haired Grandfather type of God…This is the story of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden… where they are the tenants of the world God has made. They live in a wonderful garden paradise. But he goes away for awhile and they are easily convinced that it is not enough to be a tenant. It is not good enough to be the friend of God, they want to be God. Like them, we begin to question the goodness of God, and we want to taste our independence. In our ear we hear the words: “God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God” (Genesis 3:5). How tempting! What an exhilarating thought! We begin to look around us and we decide we want to be in control. We throw off the control of God along with restraint. We stop worshiping the Creator and begin worshiping creation. We take the Giver and his gifts for granted. The vineyard will become our own.
The book of Acts describes many times when the messengers of God were beaten and mistreated by a God-hating world. They were often in danger of death, and it was often through those immersed in religion who were the greatest threat. At one point, Peter and the other apostles were about to be killed by the religious leaders of the land. They had the religious power and they were not about to let go of their control.
However Gamaliel, one of the honorable men among them said, “I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God” (Acts 5:38-39). “Fighting against God.” That is what it is all about. We are still resisting and fighting God himself. We don’t want the Ten Commandments or any commandments, especially since they begin with the words: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). We will worship anything: the sun, moon and stars; trees, rocks and water; money, sex and power — anything but the Landowner.
One of the interesting things about the parable is that the landowner does not demand everything, he only asks his share. He would have treated the tenants fairly, more than fairly, but they did not want equity, they wanted it all.
God has been rejected and his Son has been killed. But Jesus quoted the scripture that said: “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes” (Psalm 118:22-23; Matthew 21:42). So Jesus gives us the real end of the story. It doesn’t end in defeat, but victory. The very stone, this One who has been rejected and killed outside the city, will return and become the foundation of a new kingdom. The end of the story is found in the book of Revelation: “The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever’” (Revelation 11:15).
In verse 40 – Jesus asks the ultimate question – “What do you think the landowner will do with those tenants?”… I Don’t think God likes what we are doing to this earth… I don’t think he likes what we are doing to each other in this world…I don’t think He likes being taken out of government and schools and wherever else the tenants think they have control. And, I know He doesn’t like an unfruitful and selfish “it’s all about me” church. I wonder if this is what the world was like just before the flood?
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