19th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 22) – October 8th, 2023
Trinity Lutheran Church, Block, Kansas
Rev. Joshua Woelmer
Text: Matthew 21:33–46
“The Vineyard of the Lord”
Theme: God has built his vineyard and sets tenants over it to tend it.
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Whether you grow a garden or crops in the field or a pecan grove or even manage landscaping around your house, you know that different plants grow at different rates and have different needs. You might grow something that grows fast but will not last very long—it’s got to be harvested when the plant has died and the seeds have dried out. Other plants will keep producing for you as long as it’s alive, but you know that it will die at the first freeze. Other plants grow slowly, but they will last for many years. God uses many plants as he teaches us about his work among us. Sometimes we are fields that produce grain, and sometimes we are trees or, in the case for today, grape vines. There are two major Bible passages that compare Christians to a vineyard. The first from Isaiah 5 speaks to the vineyard itself, and the second from Matthew 21 speaks to the religious leaders of the vineyard.
The first example is from Isaiah 5. I want you first to notice all the things that God says he has done for his vineyard. He found a fertile hill for it. He dug the vineyard and cleared it of stone (2). He even built a watchtower in the midst of it to protect it from wild animals. He dug a winepress nearby—not an easy task.
You can imagine doing something similar for your garden or crops. You put a lot of time and effort to help them produce much. It might be fertilizer. It might be nitrogen or pesticide. You’ve got to do a lot just to get a yield.
But, what comes up for the master in the parable? Well, every gardener knows that there will be weeds. You can deal with most of those in different ways. But that’s not the case here. The grapes themselves are bad. That’s not what God wanted. He thought he planted good grapes. After all the effort he put into the grapes, this is how they turn out? So he promises to remove the hedge and break down the wall so wild animals can have free reign devouring the plants. Imagine giving up entirely on your garden. I’ve had to do this before. Just set your mower up high and mow it all down.
This is what God promised upon his people, the tribe of Judah. He planted them in the Promised Land, but “he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!” (7). God would certainly punish his people by sending them to Babylon into exile. They would cry out for mercy, and he would return them after 70 years.
Nonetheless, the image of a vineyard is vibrant even for us today. You are a vine that God has planted. He prunes you by discipling you, cutting away your sin. God puts up a hedge—a wall—around his church. We could compare this to the Ten Commandments. If you intentionally and continually break those commandments, then you will find yourself outside the vineyard, the church. But God still cares for his vines. He gives you water and good soil in which your faith can grow. He feeds you with knowledge of Him. He feeds you with His body and blood. He strengthens you when you are weak. He desires that this life that he gives you will produce faith and good works.
Let’s shift focus to the parable that Jesus tells. A vineyard is again prominent. A master of a house has worked hard to do all the things that Isaiah 5 mentioned. He plants it, puts a fence around it, digs a winepress, and builds a tower. But, this master leases out his vineyard to others. The tenants are supposed to do everything that the master would do. They are supposed to prune the vines, protect it from enemies, and nourish it. When harvest time comes near, the master desires some of the fruit.
But the tenants don’t want to give up the fruit, so they beat, kill, or stone those whom the master sends. It’s possible that they are greedy for the fruit themselves. I wonder if they so mistreated the vineyard that there is no fruit, but they don’t want to admit that to the master. Regardless, the master even sends his own son, whom the tenants then kill. I find their statement as the see him coming rather ridiculous: “This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance” (37). That’s not the way inheritances work. You’re not the son. You’re tenants. That’s not how inheritances work. What you’re doing is stealing.
It’s a rhetorical question that Jesus then asks: “When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” (40). Well…what do you think? It certainly won’t be good. He’s going to kick them out and replace them with different tenants.
This parable is about Jesus and His ministers. Jesus is clearly the son who is killed by the tenants. His Father had sent the prophets of the Old Testament to gather in the faithful fruit of Israel. But the leaders of Israel, both political and religious, were negligent in their duties. They then killed most of the prophets whom God sent to call them to repentance. The Pharisees and priests even put Jesus, the Master’s son, to death. Jesus will remove them from leadership over the faithful and entrusted his vineyard to other tenants, to pastors and such leaders in the church.
What is Jesus’s message to me and likewise to you as well? Be faithful in His message. Care for the flock entrusted to you. Bring him the fruits of the faithful. So that is what I encourage in you: the most important fruit that God desires is faith in Him. Trust in God. Pray to him daily. Read His Word. Have joy in your hearts that He loves you. What Jesus goes on to say serves as encouragement for us.
That is the fact that Christ is our Cornerstone. “Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the Scriptures: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes”?’” (42). Christ is the cornerstone of the church. He is the cornerstone of your life too. In any building, the foundation is the most important. In a stone building, the foundation is linked to the cornerstone. All the weight of the walls and roof are sunk down to the foundation and to those huge cornerstones. They’ve got to carry immense weight.
Christ can handle the weight of building of the church. You can rest on him as well, knowing that he will not crumble. If you need a fundamental truth to base your whole life upon, nothing other than Jesus will work—everything else will crumble, like a house built on sand.
That foundation of the truth of Christ and the truth of the Bible is what we need. Our world is crazy. You only need to look at the headlines to see that. But our hope is not in this world. Our hope is in our Lord. He has come, He comes to us, and He will come again one day. He is all in all for us, so we rely on Him, knowing he will never change.
This Cornerstone that was rejected has become the chief cornerstone. He is also the master of the vineyard. Both of these images in our text today are comforting. God has put in the time and the labor to plant you and feed you. The greatest of his works was accomplished despite the evil of this world, despite the evil tenants. For by dying on the cross, he accomplished everything.
Now may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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