Fall On Jesus and Be Restored
“And he began to tell the people this parable: ”A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while.
When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out.
Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’
And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.“ When they heard this, they said, ”Surely not!”
But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written: ”‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’?
Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”
The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people.”
The reaction of the leaders is funny. “Surely Not!” They say when Jesus says the landowner will give his land to other tenants.
They know this parable is directed toward them. They know that they are God’s chosen people out of all of the nations of the world. But could God take away all that they have and give it to someone else?
LIke He did during the 400 years of Egyptian slavery? Like He did in the book of Judges over and over? Like Adam and Eve kicked out of Eden or 99% of Israel and Judah killed or hauled off to Babylon?
He very much can.
Jesus is as real and true as gravity. We can either build bigger and bigger rockets to defeat Him (though NASA even has to deal with gravity while passing Neptune!) or we can fall to our knees and submit to it.
The reality of the Kingdom of Heaven may look like it isn’t doing much good. We can despair over the church scandal of the week all we want. But the truth is that God is busy in the lives of millions and millions of people.
The Kingdom of Heaven is advancing, it’s coming, and it’s already here. It is the best thing in the world for us to participate in it.
–
You can get the Daily Bible Readings to your inbox via email every day by subscribing on our home page. Join the discussion online on Facebook or Twitter.