The Big Buts of Passion Week
Tuesday 4.3.07
Read Matthew 21:23-24:51, Mark 11:27-13:37, Luke 20:1-21:36
Tuesday found Jesus teaching in the temple, and controversy continuing to mount. ‘By what authority do you do these things?’ the religious leaders protested. In responding to them, Jesus turned to His preferred teaching method – parables.
Jesus told the religious leaders that there was a man with two sons, and the father directed them both to go and work in his vineyard. The first son replied ‘I will not! But later he changed his mind and went’. The second son, we’re told, told his father, “I will go, sir. But he did not go’. Jesus asked the leaders which son did what his father desired. They rightly answered that the son who went to work in the vineyard pleased his father. And then, like the blunt force of a hammer, Jesus applied the parable to his audience, warning ‘I tell you the truth: tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of Heaven before you.’
In another parable, Jesus tells them of a landowner who planted a vineyard and hired tenants to oversee its operation. In Mark’s gospel the story turns on a couple of big ‘buts’. The landowner sent a servant to check on the progress and to bring back some of the fruits of the harvest, ‘but they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty handed’. Other servants were killed. So finally the landowner sent his son, expecting that they would respect him. ‘But the tenants said to one another: This is the heir. Let’s kill him and the inheritance will be ours’. Jesus again concluded by asking the religious leaders what a just outcome of this story should be. They rightly answered that the owner had every right to come and kill those tenants and give the land to others more deserving. And just as quickly as before, Jesus applied the parable to his hearers.
On which side of these ‘buts’ do you find yourself standing? Are you like the son who speaks respectfully, ‘I will go, sir’, but then act with indifference towards the Father? Are you like the religious leaders who cherish the benefits of the Kingdom but live with contempt towards the King? He who has ears, let him hear.
Father: Will you draw me deeper into relationship with you through these teachings? Will you forgive me where I’ve been slow to follow after you? Will you restore me again?
Read Matthew 21:23-24:51, Mark 11:27-13:37, Luke 20:1-21:36
Tuesday found Jesus teaching in the temple, and controversy continuing to mount. ‘By what authority do you do these things?’ the religious leaders protested. In responding to them, Jesus turned to His preferred teaching method – parables.
Jesus told the religious leaders that there was a man with two sons, and the father directed them both to go and work in his vineyard. The first son replied ‘I will not! But later he changed his mind and went’. The second son, we’re told, told his father, “I will go, sir. But he did not go’. Jesus asked the leaders which son did what his father desired. They rightly answered that the son who went to work in the vineyard pleased his father. And then, like the blunt force of a hammer, Jesus applied the parable to his audience, warning ‘I tell you the truth: tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of Heaven before you.’
In another parable, Jesus tells them of a landowner who planted a vineyard and hired tenants to oversee its operation. In Mark’s gospel the story turns on a couple of big ‘buts’. The landowner sent a servant to check on the progress and to bring back some of the fruits of the harvest, ‘but they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty handed’. Other servants were killed. So finally the landowner sent his son, expecting that they would respect him. ‘But the tenants said to one another: This is the heir. Let’s kill him and the inheritance will be ours’. Jesus again concluded by asking the religious leaders what a just outcome of this story should be. They rightly answered that the owner had every right to come and kill those tenants and give the land to others more deserving. And just as quickly as before, Jesus applied the parable to his hearers.
On which side of these ‘buts’ do you find yourself standing? Are you like the son who speaks respectfully, ‘I will go, sir’, but then act with indifference towards the Father? Are you like the religious leaders who cherish the benefits of the Kingdom but live with contempt towards the King? He who has ears, let him hear.
Father: Will you draw me deeper into relationship with you through these teachings? Will you forgive me where I’ve been slow to follow after you? Will you restore me again?
Technorati Tags: Interactive Sermon, Big Buts, Passion Week Devotional
1 Comments:
I know these two parables well, BUT the two questions you left us with at the end were not only thought provoking, but like a knife piercing my own heart. I sadly must admit there are to many times in my daily routine where I realize God is there, but I am indifferent as I am too busy to put aside menial things to pursue Him. Thank you for keeping my feet to the fire, that my love may never grow cold.
Blessings,
Carol
By Carol, at 4/03/2007 9:00 AM
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