#DailyDevotion Will You Live Under The Son Or Be Crushed By Him?

Luk 20:13-18  Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’  (14)  But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’  (15)  And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?  (16)  He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!”  (17)  But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’?  (18)  Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him

This parable of Jesus goes through the history of Israel, in particularly the leadership of Israel. Israel is the vineyard or you could even make the world the vineyard. God had put the vineyard under the care of Israel and its leaders. However Israel and its leaders sinned, in particular its leaders. Instead of leading the people to righteousness and to the Lord, they led the people astray. Instead of worshipping the Lord alone, they led them to other gods. Even in Jesus’ day the leadership while having the appearance of worshipping the Lord alone, they did not teach the way to righteousness.

So the Lord sent many prophets over the centuries to call the leadership and Israel to repentance. They didn’t repent. They would mock the prophets. Sometimes they would abuse the prophets and other times lock them up. At other times they would kill the prophets. Finally, in these last days, the Lord sent his only begotten son, Jesus Christ to the people and leadership of Israel. Well we know what happened, they had a mock trial, handed him over to Pilate and had him crucified, dead and buried. The result would be that the Lord did take away the vineyard from them and handed it over to others and they were destroyed when Rome came and demolished Jerusalem forty years later. The Father handed it over to the apostles, evangelist, pastors and teachers. They proclaimed the good news of Jesus Christ and the leadership mistreated them as well. He gave them forty years to hear and to repent. Many Jews and many priest did convert to Jesus and believe.

Jesus is still the capstone the builders have rejected. He holds the Church together and guides the whole building, i.e. his people, his vineyard. Many people are still offended at Jesus and his gospel. They may like a lot of things Jesus says, but Jesus doesn’t allow us or them to pick and choose. His teachings are a whole as he is a whole. He calls for all men everywhere to repent of their sins and to trust in him alone for their salvation. He calls for us to live a new life in him and live according to the way of love that he has shown us. Will you honor the heir or will you find yourself crushed to dust or broken upon him?

Heavenly Father, may we always look to Jesus alone for our salvation and grant us your Holy Spirit that we may live our lives according to your will. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.