Today’s reading: Psalms 108-109; Luke 20
Yesterday we talked about the folly of approaching God on our own terms, demanding answers to questions He hasn’t chosen to reveal when He has given us enough to believe otherwise, and today we see the folly of following God on our own terms, as Jesus tells maybe the most damning parable against the scribes and Pharisees in all His recorded ministry.
The parable of the tenants is an incredibly powerful indictment against the Jewish leaders in their rejection of Jesus. The tenants, in the parable, not wanting to abide by the terms of their lease, kill those sent to collect what they owe to the owner. This is already bad enough, but then we see the utter foolishness of their thinking when the owner’s son shows up. They aren’t planning to make a run for it with the full amount of the produce and hide from the legal repercussions of murder and refusing to pay their lease, but they say, “If we kill the son, we will be the heirs and inherit the vineyard ourselves.” But in what world would inheritance ever work this way?? Rejecting the owner’s terms and trying to live by their own doesn’t entitle them to actually take control and decide how things should go. Their rejection accomplishes nothing more than inviting the wrath of the owner.
As obviously foolish as the tenants in Jesus’ parable are, aren’t the Jewish leaders doing the exact same thing? In rejecting Jesus, despite all the evidence He has given to validate His identity and claims, they are rejecting the terms of their lease and trying to lay hold of His rightful authority for themselves. But the Jewish leaders don’t get to decide how God should run things any more than the tenants get to decide whether or not they have to pay the owner or get to inherit his vineyard. They were acting as though rejecting Jesus would allow them to continue on in the role and authority they otherwise enjoyed, not considering the clear ramifications of overtly rejecting and opposing the Messiah.
The fact of the matter is, many churches and individual Christians operate a lot like the scribes and Pharisees. Sure, they recognize and admit who Jesus is and they supposedly follow Him as a result, but their lives are still lived under and by their own authority instead of His. They are happy to agree with those things that are agreeable and/or easy for them, but are also perfectly content to reject those teachings or doctrines they don't personally like, or that would encroach on the exercise of their personal freedoms, or that are displeasing to the world and culture around them. They are still like the tenants in Jesus' parable, but instead of murdering those that come to collect payment, they just offer them something other than what the owner is asking for and expect Him to be pleased. But if the son shows up expecting a cart-load of grapes from your harvest and you hand him a ziplock baggie instead, do you really expect him to be pleased...? Even 3/4 of a cart-load is still going to have him asking where the rest of what you owe him is.
When we say, "Yes Jesus, I'll follow you, but I'm also going to keep sleeping with my boyfriend or girlfriend," we're trying to buy Him off for way less than we owe Him. When we say, "Yes Jesus, I'll trust you, but I'm not going to let that trust touch the way I think about alcohol, money, or my anger issues," and we think that is going to be pleasing to the Lord, we are lying to ourselves.
Yes, there is growth in faith, and yes, there are issues and questions about which the Holy Spirit will have to do His work and change our hearts. God is not expecting perfection from us, nor expecting that the moment we give our lives to Him, there will never again be questions, sin, or distrust. But when we look at His word, know what He says, and choose to reject it, thinking that we can otherwise continue on with a "good" Christian life and be pleasing to Him, we are fooling no one but ourselves.
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