Refusing to Pay Rent

The vineyard owner gave the tenants a place to work. A job is a blessing… the tenants had plenty of time to be prepared to pay the owner his share. Grapes take a season to mature. The tenants knew they were renters. What happened that they would beat three of the owners servants and refuse them payment? How could they think killing the owner’s son would stop the owner from collecting his rent?

Why couldn’t they understand that killing the son would bring death to them?

Now, the rest of the parable:

 “‘What will I do?’ the owner asked himself. ‘I know! I’ll send my cherished son. Surely, they will respect him.’ “But when the tenant farmers saw his son, they said to each other, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’ So, they dragged him out of the vineyard and murdered him. “ What do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do to them?” Jesus asked. “I’ll tell you—he will come and kill those farmers and lease the vineyard to others.” “How terrible that such a thing should ever happen,” his listeners protested. Jesus looked at them and said, “Then what does this Scripture mean? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’ Everyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.” The teachers of religious law and the leading priests wanted to arrest Jesus immediately because they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers. But they were afraid of the people’s reaction.” Luke 20:13-19

Remember what started this parable?

The teachers of the law, the chief priests and religious leaders were questioning the authority of Jesus. Here’s another word to describe these people. It’s harsh. They were hypocrites. Since the flood Jewish religious leaders had crafted God’s 10 Commandments into over 600 “laws.” The religious leaders questioning Jesus thought they had greater authority than Jesus. But we shouldn’t be too hard on them.

There is another harsh thing that must be said: I am a hypocrite…and so are you. We take authority that belongs to God. We make our own laws. We “throw out” God’s messengers. We even deny His Son.

My sin-your sin sent Jesus to the cross. We deserve the same treatment the vineyard owner gave to the murderous renters. But then Jesus died in our place. He paid the penalty for our denying God’s authority. Like the owner in the parable Jesus will one day return to His “vineyard.” This is not a fantasy.

Here’s the big shocker-in real life- we killed God’s Son.

But Jesus did not come to collect “rent.”

He came to pay the “rent.” Because He loves you and me, He came to solve our problem with hypocrisy-our sins. Jesus came to earth to die for us. He is the only way to save us from the punishment we deserve for denying God is the owner of all things. Someone must pay the “rent” for human sin. Jesus did.

Believe that Jesus is the Savior…yes-it’s true-all authority is His.

“…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9