The Parabel of the Tenants - Do we mistreat others from our un-forgiveness?

Let's take our Bible. Let's turn to Matthew chapter 21. Matthew chapter 21, we're gonna be in verses 33 to 46, verses 33 to 46. That's been a little while since we've been in our study in the parables. I have missed it and it's really good to be back. But the last time we were in our parables, we finished up the parable of the unforgiving servant. And from that parable, we were asking this very important question. Remember, we were asking, "Do we freely forgive our brothers?" Of course, that parable was the first of what we would call or categorize the judgment parables.

Now listen, I'm gonna say this twice throughout the message as your pastor. Get those messages. Study those verses. Go back into that parable. You need to get that parable. You need to get that teaching. I said it one time through those messages that we will repeat those messages. We will repeat that parable. But in that parable, Jesus taught us a whole lot of truth.

At the heart of that parable, Jesus is and was teaching us that unless there has been such a radical change in our lives, so much so that we can and do forgive others just like we have been forgiven, well we cannot assume that we've been born again, even if we do attend church, even if we know the Bible, even if we serve and even lead in the church. I like what the Bible commentator Jim Boyce says here.

He says, and I'm quoting, "We are not saved by a transformed life, but if we have been saved by the mercy of God in Christ, received through faith alone, transformation will follow as surely as spring follows winter and day follows night." And something that will follow a truly transformed life in Christ is forgiveness. As born-again believers, we will forgive as we have been forgiven. Just as spring follows winter, a day follows night, forgiveness will follow. Forgiveness will come into the heart, it will come into the life because of our transformed life in Christ. I love what John MacArthur says here.

He says forgiveness reflects the highest human virtue because it clearly reflects the character of God. Now again, get that parable. Study that parable. Go back over your notes. Go back over that teaching if you have to re-listen to those messages. Now notice something about that parable. This is the parable of the unforgiving servant and what we study there. It did not go to the next logical step. In our study of the parable, we asked that question, "Do we freely forgive our brothers?" But we did not take the next logical step. Now think with me here. If people do not forgive others, then what happens next?

If we do not forgive brothers and sisters, really enter any person, what happens next? Well, there are natural results. Bitterness, resentment, animosity, a contemptuous spirit and attitude. There's a lot of different adjectives we could use. But unforgiveness naturally produces these things. And if these things are not resolved, then things naturally digress into things like mistreatment and even abuse of others. Simply, if we do not forgive a brother or any person, then there is a natural and logical step. That unforgiveness festers. That unforgiveness grows and it turns into bitterness and resentment and contempt and animosity.

And then the natural or logical result is mistreatment and even abuse. It's going to happen. And as a matter of fact, I think it's just about going to happen every time in time. Well, this parable that is before us, the parable of the tenants, shows us this next logical but sinful step. But if you notice, I've already given you or us part of the application of the parable. I have given us a spiritual point, a spiritual principle that we can draw out of the parable that can be applied to us. But there is an application which is immediate to those that were listening in that day. So we will see that this is a parable.

It applies to us in two ways. It's going to relate to us about this thing called judgment and this is going to relate to forgiveness. And I'm going to come back to this and tie all this together at the conclusion. Now let me show you how we're going to approach the parable. First, I want to look at the parable, which is obviously a teaching illustration, and then I want to examine three things from Jesus' teaching and all that's going on here in the parable. So the parable, which is seen in verse 33 to 39, let's read verses 33 to 39. But I want to go on down to verse 41, but the parable is really in verse 33 to 39, Matthew chapter 21.

Jesus said, "Here, another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and he put a fence around it and he dug a winepress in it and he built a tower and he leased it or rented it to tenants and he went into or traveled to another country. And when the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants or slaves to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and they beat one. They killed another and they stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first and they did the same to them.

Finally, he sent his son to them saying, "They will respect my son." But when the tenant saw the son, they said to themselves, "This is the heir. Come let us kill him and have his inheritance." And they took him and they threw him out of the vineyard and they killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, and this is Jesus pivoting here from the parable, when therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants? And they, this would be the scribes, the religious leaders who were there, those Jews.

They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out or lease out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in the seasons." Of course, we know what a parable is. And here we have an earthly story that is infused with teaching that would have been relatable to those that were listening. Just like with all of the parables, this was a simple story that was easy to understand. And even though there were startling and offensive things in the parable, it was easy for them to grasp. But here we have a landowner who planted a vineyard, which was very common in their day.

They were an agricultural society and grapes and vineyards were a part of everyday life. As a matter of fact, vineyards and grapes were a major part of their economy. In their day, the land was covered with vineyards all along the hillsides of Palestine or Israel, however you describe the land. Now we know that when Jesus was teaching this parable that Israel was occupied by the Romans. And much of the rural Roman Empire was controlled by wealthy landowners and it was not unusual for a wealthy man to buy land and to develop it into a vineyard. I thought about an example that we could understand.

It's not uncommon for us in our day to see someone buy up land and then convert that land maybe into a tree farm. It's not uncommon for us to see people buy up land and convert it into a cattle farm. It's not uncommon for us to see people take land and use it for maybe row crop farming. So it's not uncommon for us to see the same thing in a different way in our day. We can relate to that. Now this is what they would do. After the land was prepared and the vineyard was planted, a wall would be built around the vineyard to protect it from thieves and animals.

Sometimes that wall would be made of stones and at times it would be even like a hedge of thorn bushes. Then the wine press would be built. And basically the press would be two basins or two portions. Sometimes it was cut out of bedrock and sometimes it was in the hillside. In the upper basin the grapes would be pressed or trodden by men and then the grape juice would run down into a lower basin. Sometimes it would run down into what would be called a cistern. And from there the juice would be stored in wine skins and clay jars. And of course it was processed so as to be used. But there was more to this farming operation.

If I can use that term. The owner would also build a tower and the tower was a lookout for someone to keep watch. They were on constant lookout for thieves that could raid the vineyard. If you think about it at harvest time they had a lot of money tied up in the goods. And so they would look out for thieves and they would also look out for animals that could damage the vineyard. And also the tower could be used to store grain and other things like that. So in this parable, in this story, we see a very basic description of a landowner planting and developing a vineyard. And at this point things are complete but the rest of the parable.

After planting the vineyard and after everything associated with the vineyard is finished the owner rented out his vineyard to vine growers or tenants. And we can see that in verse 33. In the English Standard Version which I'm reading verse 33 says the owner leased his vineyard to tenants and then he went to another country. And as we can see starting in verse 34 things get interesting to say the least. They get startling. They get shocking. On the time for the harvest was near the owner of the vineyard sent one of his servants his slaves to the tenants to settle the accounts.

This would have been the agreed-upon percentage of the produce from the vineyard and scholars tell us that the percentage was usually about 25% of the harvest if not more. Well at this point Jesus adds a shocking twist to the story. Instead of paying the owner of the vineyard what they owed the tenants took the servants they abused them they beat one they killed one and stoned one. We see that they did that another time as well. And Jesus adds another twist a shocking twist to the story. After the tenants beat and killed and stoned other servants the owner then sent his son to collect his collect what was his.

Jesus even gives the thoughts of the vineyard owner in the story. He says in the story that he would send his son he was saying that they would respect my son. Jesus continues with an even more shocking twist to the story. Instead of respecting the son they killed the son. Not only did they kill the son but they killed him so as to take the vineyard. It seems that in the beginning they just wanted to keep 100% of the profits from the vineyard but as their wickedness increased it seems that they hatched this plan so as to take the entire vineyard. So they put out the son they killed the son so as to take the vineyard.

Now at this point in the parable all of the Jews those Jewish leaders any who were listening were completely drawn in. This was a lot of drama. This was shocking. They would have been angry. This story was extremely shocking but this certainly could have happened in their day. Simply Jesus had drawn them into the palm of his hand for the point of the parable. Jesus had them right where he wanted them to be so as to make his point. And notice Jesus then draws them even further and notice how he reveals their anger at the situation in the story. Go back and look at verse 40 and 41. After he tells the parable what does he do?

"When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes what will he do to those tenants?" They said to him he will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out or rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons. Now at this point Jesus drew the religious leaders in even further. You see he asked them to decide what the owner should do and the religious leaders immediately replied in great anger. They said that the owner should bring those wretches to an end.

The King James says the owner should miserably destroy those wicked men and then rent out the vineyard to other trustworthy tenants who will give him the profits, his profits. So we have a parable about some wicked tenants who rented a vineyard from a wealthy landowner and instead of giving the owner of the vineyard the produce from his vineyard the tenants plotted to take the vineyard from the owner. They abused, they killed the owner's servants who came for his profits and ultimately they killed the owner's son who came for his profits and they did all of these things so as to take the vineyard from the owner.

Now at this point I want us to see three things from the teaching. First I want us to see Jesus explanation of the parable and his revelation of certain things in the parable. Second the immediate application which was for the Jews in their day and then third the reaction of the religious leaders and the Jews. This will be easy for you to follow me. So number one this is what I call the explanation and the revelation. It's found in verse 42 but I want to go back and I want to read verses 40 and 41 as well. So go back to verse 40 and 41. He's told the parable and what does he say?

"When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes what will he do to those tenants? And they said to him he will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out or rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits of their seasons. And Jesus said to them, "Have you never read the scriptures? The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in your eyes." Now the Jewish leaders must have been proud of themselves and how they reacted to the parable and answer Jesus. They ended the parable properly.

The owner of the vineyard should have punished and destroyed those wicked tenants and rented out the vineyard to trusted tenants. But they had no idea that Jesus had drawn them into a trap. And this trap was sent to reveal the religious, self-righteous pride and murderous thieving hearts. And then Jesus asked them another question but this time this second question is saturated with sarcasm. He sarcastically asked them if they had ever read the scriptures. Now pause for a minute. He asked them if they had ever read the scriptures. And then he answered by quoting Psalm 18. I want to read verse 42 in the Amplified. It amplifies it a little.

It helps me. Maybe it'll help you. Jesus asked them, "Have you never read the scriptures?" And of course immediately they would have been offended. The very stone which the builders rejected and threw away has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous and wonderful in our eyes. And he's quoting Psalm 18 22 to 23. And get this, Jesus quoted the same Psalm that the crowds had quoted when they welcomed him into the city in his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. He quoted the same Psalm that the crowds of Jews quoted when they declared him to be the son of David, the very Messiah of God.

And in asking those Jewish leaders if they had ever read Psalm 18 and then quoting from the verses Jesus was doing two things. First he was explaining the parable. And second he was revealing who they were and what they would do. So first the explanation of the parable. God is the owner of the vineyard. Israel is the vineyard. The wall around the vineyard is the law of God which was to differentiate the Jews from the Gentile peoples and to preserve them as a unique people set apart unto God. The produce of the vineyard speaks of the spiritual produce which the nation of Israel should have produced for God.

And the tower speaks of God's watchful care over his people. And there's more. God continuously throughout the history of Israel sent his servants, the prophets to Israel, looking for spiritual produce, trying to produce spiritual produce, the produce of holiness unto God and God's purposes for the nation. But the nation did not receive the prophets. They persecuted the prophets and they even killed some of God's prophets. But there's even more. Eventually and ultimately God sent his son to Israel looking for the produce that his father demands and deserves from his vineyard Israel.

And the chief priests and the scribes and the religious leaders saw that the son had come and they killed him. They said and did just like we see in the parable. They said this is the heir we must get rid of him we must kill him and take the inheritance. In John 11 verse 48 they said among themselves and I'm paraphrasing the verse they said if we let this Jesus continue in his ministry everyone will believe in him and the Romans will come and take away everything. Isn't that what they said? So they rejected Jesus. They threw him out of the vineyard and they killed him. Of course these things were to come.

They had not happened yet but they certainly did happen. And then second the revelation in this parable. Jesus revealed to them who he was and he revealed to them who they were and what they would do. He clearly declared to them and all who were listening that they were the wretched and murderous tenants in the parable. He revealed their prideful self-righteous murderous thieving hearts and he told of what they would ultimately do and that is to try to steal the father's vineyard. And he clearly revealed that he was indeed the Son of God the Messiah of God.

And notice when we understand this parable we can see from Jesus a clear claim to be the promised Messiah of God. Psalm 118 is clearly a Messianic Psalm and he was clearly claiming to be the chief cornerstone. You see? So if you ever think well Jesus never claimed to be God yes He did. So we see that Jesus gives an explanation of the parable and a revelation of who he was and who the religious leaders were and all that they would do. So an explanation of the parable and a revelation of so much. And then number two the immediate application. Let's look at verse 43 and 44.

"Therefore I tell you the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits and the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces and when it falls on anyone it will crush him." Now if there was any ambiguity as to the application of the parable to the nation of Israel and to the religious leaders Jesus removed it by clearly and boldly explaining that the kingdom of God would be taken from them and given to another people that would bear fruit for God. I like how John MacArthur phrases this application.

He says and I'm quoting in the first half of the verse of verse 43 and in verse 44 the Lord reiterated the judgment on unbelieving Israel and her ungodly leaders and in the second half of verse 43 he reiterated their replacement by believing Gentiles. I like how William McDonald phrases this application. He says and I'm quoting "and so what happened Israel has been set aside as God's chosen people and has been judicially blinded. A hardening has come upon the race that rejected its Messiah." But a question. Who is this nation or people who will bear fruit for God?

In verse 43 I'm reading from the English Standard Version it says "Therefore I tell you the kingdom of God will be taken away from you," that's Israel, the religious leaders, "and given to a people producing its fruits. The King James says therefore I say to you the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." So who is this nation? Who is this people who will bear fruit for God? This word can be translated nation or people. That's why you will see it two different ways but its basic meaning is people and this people or fruit bearing people is none other than the church.

The nation or people is the church which is comprised of both believing Jews and Gentiles. They, the church, we the church have become a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 1 Peter 2.9. And look folks, we are a part of the fruit bearing people of God. We are part of the church. The kingdom of God has been given to us. Think about that. He took it from the Jews because they rejected him and he gave it to the church. Don't think that was a plan B now. Plan A all along.

I reiterate that to you all throughout my teaching. There's no such thing as a plan B in the plan and the heart and the mind of God. But let that sink in. We are a part of the fruit bearing people. We are a part of the church. The kingdom of God has been given to the church. We're in the church age folks and the longer we are part of the church and God's work around the world the more we will see that the true church is the people of God producing fruits for the owner for the vineyard which is his kingdom. I saw that happen Sunday morning when I was preaching on partnership in the gospel and our connections with Anchored in Truth.

One of the men of the church stopped me in the hall and he was gripped by the fact that there is a pastor that we are connected with in Poland Max Barkowski and how God is using him and I could see light bulbs going off. I could see just the picture being painted in his mind. He's realizing we are a part of a bigger work. But there is more to this immediate application. Go back to verse 44 and the one who falls on this stone, who's the stone? Jesus. Will be broken to pieces and when it, that's the stone, that's Jesus, falls on anyone it will crush him. Simply this is speaking of judgment.

The religious leaders fell on Jesus when they rejected him and killed him and they were ultimately judged for rejecting and destroying Jesus. And the ones on whom Jesus falls will be destroyed as well. Now there's a lesson right here for us. There are those in life who reject, judge, and seek to destroy Jesus. Well they will be destroyed. And then there are those who simply do not accept Jesus savingly but they will be destroyed as well. Remember, listen folks, remember, all who reject Jesus either actively or passively will be judged.

All who reject Jesus either actively and aggressively or passively they will be judged and we will come back to, we will come back to that. But then number three, the reaction of the religious leaders. So verse 44 and verse 45 and verse 46. Go back to your copy of God's Word. When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard this parable, his parables, they perceived, they understood, they knew that he was speaking about them. And although they were seeking or scheming to arrest him, they feared the crowds because they held him to be a prophet. Now if there was any ambiguity in Jesus' parables, at this point in his teaching it had been erased.

If there was any misunderstanding about what Jesus was teaching, at this point it was cleared up. So the religious leaders knew that Jesus was speaking about them and to them. And they did not receive his teaching or even contemplate his teaching. They rejected more light. They embraced more hatred for Jesus. They reacted with more scheming, more and more scheming so as to arrest him and to kill him. But they held off because they feared the people. And there's a lesson here.

There are people who reject Christ and when you give them more gospel and more truth and more light, instead of receiving it, they choose to harden their hearts even more. Instead of contemplating Christ, they choose to hate Christ all the more. And those who speak of Christ and represent Christ, they hate them all the more. Think about it. There will be people in your life. They hate Christ. They reject Christ. They hate the things of God. And you begin to share the gospel with them and how do they react? They hate it even more. They reject it even more.

The light that is put before them, the truth that is put before them, the gospel that they hear, they grit their teeth, they jut their jaw. They hate that even more. And they hate you. I was talking with some Christian brothers, sisters this past week at the True Church Conference. They're from another church and they were talking about a wayward child who was not converted. They were lost. They were raised in the life of the church and they've gone the way of sin. They've went out from the church because they never were of the church. And they were talking about how that son hates them and hates the church and hates the truth.

And they were explaining how they're trying to navigate loving that son and ministering to that son and accepting that son and rejecting their sin. And the more truth they give, the more light they give, the more animosity, the more bitterness, they continually jut their jaw and harden their heart at the truth. Now I have said that these parables that we are studying are commonly called, they're commonly categorized, judgment parables. We first studied the parable of the unforgiving servant and we've got two more. And with the parable of the tenants this evening, we see this judgment in two ways.

First, and I've used this term, the immediate context. This is a parable about God's judgment meant for the religious leaders, the Jews, and the nation of Israel. Because they had for the most part all along rejected God and they would totally reject God by rejecting His Messiah while God judged Israel. As a matter of fact, 70 years later the Romans completely annihilated them. Again, William McDonald, he summarizes their judgment well. And so it happened. Israel has been set aside as God's chosen people and has been judicially blinded. A heartening has come upon the race, the race of God that rejected the Messiah.

And then second, our context. In a sense this parable is also about any and all who reject God's Son. There are those in life who reject, judge, and seek to destroy Jesus just like the religious leaders did. And listen, they will be judged. And then there are those who simply do not accept Jesus savingly. They may not openly reject, judge, or seek to destroy Jesus, but they do not accept Him. Well, they will be judged as well. And it's important for us to see whether someone actively, aggressively rejects Jesus or passively rejects Jesus.

They will be judged, they will be destroyed because to not accept Jesus as Lord and Messiah is to openly and aggressively reject Him. There's no middle ground. Well, we need to ask, how does this parable truly relate to the parable of the unforgiving servant and the question of forgiveness? I've called you to go back and ask that question. How does this all relate? I dealt with this in our introduction, but we need to see how these parables are really related and we need to take this a little further, so you need to follow me.

In the parable of the unforgiving servant, Jesus taught us that unless there has been such a radical change in our lives, so much so that we can and do forgive others just like we've been forgiven, well, we are in no way. We can no way assume that we've been truly born again. And Jesus taught us that we are to forgive just as we have been forgiven. It's not a matter of how much or how many times we forgive. We are to forgive our brothers as much or as many times as needed. We do not approach forgiveness in terms of law but in terms of grace. So that led us to the question, do we freely forgive our brothers? And we must ask that.

But what happens when we do not forgive? Well, unforgiveness festers. It festers and it grows and it becomes this ugly sore that oozes all kinds of things. Bitterness, resentment, animosity, contempt. And if all of that is left unchecked and unrepentative, this unforgiveness can and will turn into mistreatment and abuse. I remember years ago a gentleman that I went to church with, professed Christ, served in the life of the church. Oh, he was faithful, faithful. Taught Sunday school, ultimately was a deacon. He served in various capacities in the church. And in many ways he was seen as a leader in the church.

A lay leader, very well respected, had his children in Sunday school. I mean, he was considered a leader. But you know he had this thing of unforgiveness. When people would hurt him or wrong him or hurt his family or wrong his family, when people just didn't do things the way he thought they should be done, unforgiveness. It was always unforgiveness. Something never went right at work. Something never went right in the family. Something never went right in church. Unforgiveness. Now it took a long time for this to really be made known in his life. But over years, see time always tells all folks.

Over time, that unforgiveness, it turned into bitterness, turned into resentment, it turned into animosity. And it became this big oozing sore in his life. And ultimately, that same man who was at one time a leader in the church, began to be ugly to people, and rude to people. And it turned into mistreatment and abuse. And if I showed you a snapshot of what he was 30 years ago, and a snapshot of what he is like now, you wouldn't think it was the same person. And the truth from the parable before us tonight that can be applied to our previous parable is this. Abuse and mistreatment of others actually reveals a hatred of others.

And any abuse, any mistreatment, and any hatred of others reveals a hatred of God. Now think with me here. You're gonna need to think with me spiritually. This is all the opposite of the first and the second greatest commandments. The first and greatest commandment says that we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength. Matthew 22 37. And the second commandment of the second greatest commandment says that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. Matthew 22 39. Well, refusing to forgive our brother is the opposite of the second greatest commandment.

Holding on to unforgiveness, which naturally turns into bitterness and resentment and animosity, is the opposite of the second greatest commandment. And unforgiveness, which then turns to abuse and mistreatment, is the opposite of the second greatest commandment as well. Actually, these things reveal that the person does not love their neighbor, they actually hate them. And if someone does not love their neighbor as themselves, well, they are actually expressing a hatred of God. Just like what we've seen with the religious leaders. They were full of unforgiveness. They didn't know God. They knew the scriptures, but they didn't know God.

And because they didn't know God, they were full of unforgiveness. And they were full of bitterness. And they were full of animosity. And they were full of all types of contemptuous attitudes towards all types of people, except for people just like them. And what did they do? They abused others, they mistreated others, they hated the Gentiles, they looked down on women, they hated everybody that wasn't like them. And because they were full of hate, it proved that they didn't love men and they didn't love God. And it's the same today. And I hope we see this. Because listen, this is far more needed than you know.

Because as a believer, we cannot let unforgiveness get even a toehold in our life. And if you understand this, number one, it will prevent you from being sucked into this trap. And number two, when there's someone in your life that might be very respected in the life of the church, and ultimately you see this happening in their life, you'll understand why. Will it remove the pain? No. But you'll understand why. Now what's the title of the message? The Parable of the Tenants. It was a lot. But here's my question. Do we hate and mistreat others from our unforgiveness? Heaven help us if we ever do. But with Christ, we can forgive. Let me pray.

Let's commit these things to the Lord and then we'll look at some prayer requests.