Luke 20:9-18
9 Then He began to tell the people this parable: “A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time. 10 Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. 12 And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out.
13 “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Probably they will respect him when they see him.’ 14 But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.’ 15 So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others.”
And when they heard it they said, “Certainly not!”
17 Then He looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written:
‘The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone’?
18 Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”
Jesus communicates this parable in order to teach a hard but clear lesson to those who reject Him. In His audience are those same chief priests, scribes, and elders from yesterday’s reading from the first 8 verses of Luke 20; they are His main target.
The parable is simply describing how God continually sends His messengers to preach His Gospel, and how some people not only refuse to hear or receive it, but also inflict harm on those same messengers of God. The Gospel, of course, is the Good News of Christ’s atoning sacrifice for the sins of all mankind, and that full forgiveness and pardon are offered to all who hear. Those who believe this Gospel have, by God-given faith, the forgiveness of their sins and the promise of eternal life with God in heaven. Those who, in their stubborn unbelief and pride reject Christ Who is the “chief cornerstone,” have nothing but the horrors of eternal damnation awaiting them.
As it is with all of our Lord’s parables, Jesus’ words at the end tell us what the parable means. It’s about Him and what will befall those who reject Him. He who is offended at the lowliness of Christ and therefore does not accept Him in faith shall be shattered into pieces and ground to powder. It is a terrible thing for unbelievers to fall into the hands of the living God. For he who objects to Christ as Savior robs himself of true peace and reconciliation with God through that same Christ and seals his own eternal doom and destruction.
But whoever believes in Christ has eternal life. “God so loved the world in this way – that He gave His only-begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (Jn 3:16)
Let us pray: O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy, be gracious to all who have gone astray from Your ways and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of Your Word; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
