Christ Rejected

Luke 20:9-20

GOLDEN TEXT: “Blessed are ye, when men shall reproach you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake.”—Matthew 5:11

TODAY’S lesson deals with the parable of the wicked husbandmen. The chief priests and scribes promptly recognized it as being spoken against them. It aptly represented their state of heart. Because of this its effect was to arouse them to renewed energy to fill up’ the iniquitous measure of their guilty fathers; as predicted in the parable. The foundation of the parable is in language similar to the prophecy of Isaiah 5:1-7, which is explained thus: “For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah. His pleasant plant: and He looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.”—Verse 7

The obvious interpretation of the parable is that the man who planted the vineyard represents God; the vineyard itself being the house of Israel. (Psa. 80:14,15; Jer. 2:21) The divine Law, the testimony of the prophets, the special supervision and fatherly guardianship of God and the ministrations of His faithful servants, all of which served to separate them from surrounding, ungodly nations and to protect them from their influence, seem well to represent the hedge that was placed around the vineyard.

Because of God’s special provision for His chosen people, Israel, He had a right to expect fruitage from His vineyard. There should, indeed, have been the fruitage of gratitude, love, obedience, meekness and readiness of mind and heart. But when the end of their age came, very little of such fruitage was in evidence. Therefore, the Israelites as a nation were not prepared to enter into the still greener pastures of the Gospel dispensation—pastures into which they would have been led by the long-promised and then present Messiah, the Son of God.

The development of similar fruitage throughout the entire period of their age would have caused them to have taken a different attitude toward all the prophets that God sent to them for their correction and blessing. But instead of this, and because the fruits of the vineyard were lacking, all those who were sent previous to Jesus’ time were likewise persecuted, and many of them put to death.

Finally, at the end of the Jewish age, the One who planted the vineyard sent His Son to the husbandmen. This part of the parable was fulfilled in the first advent of Jesus, who, while He came to His own, yet His own received Him not. Instead of receiving Jesus, the leaders of the Jews plotted to kill Him, even as the parable indicates. However Jesus did not wish His followers to get the idea that His cause would be forever defeated. To offset this thought He called attention to another prophecy concerning Himself; namely that of Psalm 118:22,23, saying, “Have ye not read this Scripture, The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?” (Mark 12:10,11) Jesus called attention to this prophecy as portraying His triumph in the resurrection, and His future glory as the King of the whole earth.

The Golden Text is specially refreshing in contrast to the attitude of selfishness reflected in the parable. In this beatitude the Master makes it plain that those who receive the greatest blessing are the ones who humbly endure the persecutions which come upon them. The blessing of this Golden Text beatitude is in bold contrast to the woe pronounced upon the scribes and Pharisees who, like the Israelites of the past, continued to persecute the servants of God who were sent to them. Concerning this Jesus said:

“Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous, and say, if we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets; wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers; ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?”—Matt. 23:29-33

One of the practical applications of the lesson to us as Christians is that we should strive to be found among those who, because of faithfulness to the Lord, are being persecuted, rather than among those who are persecuting the servants of the Most High God.

QUESTIONS:

Who is the one who planted the vineyard in the parable discussed in the lesson?

What is represented by the vineyard, and what is illustrated by the hedge around the vineyard?

What is one of the practical lessons of the parable to us as Christians?

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