The Parable of the Vineyard

The imagery of a grapevine or vineyard is frequently used in Scripture as a metaphor for the nation of Israel. Isaiah specifically used this analogy to describe the lower kingdom of Judah. The prophet composed a song comparing them to a vineyard for which God had carefully prepared the soil, planted it with the most superior quality of grapevines, built a tower in it and dug out a winepress. This vineyard, however, produced bad fruit instead of good and was utterly and completely destroyed. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God asked the people the following sobering question:

 

I planted you, a choice vine from the very best seed. How then could you turn into a degenerate, strange vine?

 

In fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophetic sonnet, as an act of God’s judgement against them, Israel was conquered by the Assyrians in 722 B.C. and Judah was destroyed by Babylon in 586 B.C. Jerusalem was ransacked, the walls torn down and the temple demolished.

 

The people were carried away into exile in a foreign land. When they returned, the nation of Judah came to be called Judea and the people were called Jews. The parable of the vineyard owner that Jesus spoke was about their second chance. God allowed them to be re-established as a nation, to reconstruct the walls around Jerusalem and to rebuild a new temple. He built the vineyard anew:

 

There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. He leased it to tenant farmers and went away.

 

When the time came to harvest fruit, he sent his servants to the farmers to collect his fruit. The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another and stoned a third. Again, he sent other servants, more than the first group, and they did the same to them.

 

Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

 

Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers? ‘He will completely destroy those terrible men’ they told him, ‘and lease his vineyard to other farmers who will give him his fruit at the harvest’

 

…Therefore, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit…When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew he was speaking about them. Although they were looking for a way to arrest him, they feared the crowds because the people regarded him as a prophet.

 

The Landowner Established His Vineyard

 

God the Father is the Landowner. A landowner looking to get into the grape business would:

 

1. Carefully terrace a hillside

2. Choose and plant seeds from the best vine stock

3. Construct a fence to protect the vines from predators

4. Build a watchtower to look out for thieves

5. Dig out and provide a wine press for the harvest

 

In the same way, God, who owns everything, carefully prepared the promised land, chose the descendants of Jacob to inhabit it, constructed a hedge of protection to protect them from their enemies and provided the means for them to build the first temple.

 

God allowed his vineyard to be regrown. The vineyard is the land of Judea. He allowed the people to return from exile and to rebuild the city of Jerusalem and the walls surrounding it. They constructed a new temple and re-established the priestly order and the sacrificial system. This was different than the first time the nation was established. Having learned their lesson, many of the people were quite devout. They faithfully celebrated the Biblical feasts, offered sacrifices and taught the Scriptures to their children. The nation should have been a bright shining light to the world showing forth God’s goodness.

 

The Mistreated and Murdered Servants

 

The servants who were beaten, stoned and killed bring to mind the Old Testament prophets who were horribly mistreated and often killed. Acts 7:52 asked:

 

Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One…

 

God’s servants are often abused. This portion of the parable makes me think of Stephen who was stoned, Paul and Silas who were beaten and the many disciples and early Christians who would be martyred. But the real question is, Who were the ones doing the mistreating?

 

The Evil Tenant Farmers

The religious leaders are the tenant farmers in this parable. They wanted to enjoy the fruits of God’s vineyard, the blessings that had been bestowed upon Israel, all for themselves. They were in cahoots with Herod who had monetized religion, charging a temple tax. People were selling sacrificial animals and exchanging currency for profit in the temple. The religious elite were raking in the dough from the temple commerce, living the big life with extravagant clothes and fancy feasts. They were sort of religious celebrities. The corruption was widespread, much like it is with millionaire celebrity Christians today. This makes me consider the vast and overwhelming amounts of money (hundreds of millions of dollars yearly) that is being hoarded and misspent by corrupt church officials in our day.

 

As trained priests and Pharisees, these religious leaders were aware of the signs that had been foretold by the prophets that would identify the Messiah. They knew that a chosen deliverer had been prophesied but they did not want to give up their power, control and position. Some, like the chief priests, the family of Caiaphas and Annas, were absolutely drunken with power. Many, if not most, of the Pharisees, Sadducees, priests, experts in the law, and members of the Sanhedrin had seen the evidence that Jesus was God’s chosen one, the Messiah. They even witnessed our Lord performing miracles and they deliberately rejected his rule. They may not have realized he was the Son of God at first, but Jesus told them. They refused to believe and accused him of blasphemy. The Jewish leaders became angry that Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath—claiming that healing was “work,” though Jesus did not break any of God’s actual laws.

 

Jesus responded to them, “My Father is still working, and I am working also.” This is why the Jews began trying to kill him: Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God.

 

On another occasion:

 

The Jews picked up rocks to stone him. Jesus replied. “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you stoning me?” “We aren’t stoning you for good work,” the Jews answered, “but for blasphemy, because you—being a man—claim to be God.”

They refused to acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God. They knew Jesus was the chosen Messiah but they rejected him anyway and worse…

 

They Killed the Heir

 

Jesus is the heir from the parable. He is the Son of God and rightful heir of the vineyard. Mark tells us that this was the Father's beloved son. Luke reveals that he was sent in hopes that they would show reverence for him. In the ancient near East a son was equal to his father. All that the father had belonged to him. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. It wasn’t just the land of Judea, but in fact all of the world that belonged to Christ. This world rejected him and the religious leaders intentionally put him to death. They held a sham trial, beat, mocked and scorned him and then brutally murdered this innocent man on the cross. They refused the rule of God’s chosen one. They rejected King Jesus.

 

In the ancient world, if there was no heir, a tenant farmer could have claimed the land. The religious elite thought their stranglehold over the people would be secured with the death of the bothersome Messiah. But Jesus wasn’t just a man, he was also God. He rose from the dead. Jesus is still the heir. All things have been given to him. Matthew 28:18 records the words of Christ:

 

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

 

Jesus is indeed the heir and he is very much alive.

 

The New Tenants In The Vineyard

 

Jesus asked the religious leaders what should happen to the wicked vinedressers who murdered the owner’s son. They replied that he would doubly destroy those horrible men and give the vineyard to new servants, not realizing that they were pronouncing judgement on themselves and naming their own punishment. In 70 A.D. Jerusalem was sacked and the temple torn down and burned, ending the system of sacrifice and removing all authority and means of financial gain for the wicked religious leaders of 2^nd temple Judaism.

 

The Kingdom of God, a spiritual kingdom, was taken away from the pretentious, self-serving religious leaders of the nation of Israel and given to all Christians, both Jews and Gentiles including all people from any nation who would believe. The vineyard represents, not only Israel, but the whole world. The vineyard represents the Kingdom of God. Now that the vineyard has been taken away from the religious leaders of Israel, it has been given to the church.

 

I would like to unpack the symbolism of the vineyard that I presented earlier in the article as it applies post-resurrection. God has:

 

1. Carefully prepared this world as his vineyard

          -the whole world is now our mission field to cultivate

 

2. Chosen His people to be the tenant farmers

-In contrast to those who rejected the Messiah, God has chosen those who accept Jesus as Savior to be the new vinedressers in his garden

 

3. Constructed a Fence, a hedge of protection around our souls

          -Once we are in Christ, our salvation is secure & sealed. We can’t lose it by just making a mistake and sinning. Just like a fence protects the fruit inside of it, the Holy Spirit inside of us keeps us in Christ and keeps our souls safe from being stolen or lost

 

4. Built a Temple—His Church

-There is an insert in the parable that initially seems out of place. Jesus quotes from Psalm 118:22 to describe the way that the religious leaders rejected him: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The watchtower in the vineyard represented the temple. Now, God has constructed his temple on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Jesus as the chief cornerstone upon which the whole structure rests

 

5. Made preparations for the Harvest.

-The winepress is the sobering part of the metaphor because it represents God’s judgement. Revelation 14 describes God’s judgement on evildoers as them being crushed in a winepress.

 

The compelling realities of this symbolism bring us back to the fact that God has now appointed the followers of Jesus to tend his vineyard.

 

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. -1 Peter 2:9

It is now our job to produce fruit for his kingdom and prepare for the harvest. We know the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness and self-control. But the fruit we are discussing here goes beyond the change in our hearts to call us into action and productivity in the Christian life. John the Baptist told people to produce fruit in keeping with repentance. Paul preached that people should repent, turn to God and do works worthy of repentance. We are to proclaim the goodness and praises of God. The fruit God wants us to produce is inviting others into a saving relationship with Jesus. He said:

 

Open your eyes and look at the fields, because they are ready for harvest. The reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. –John 4:35b-36

 

We are the new tenant farmers, the new vinedressers. The primary fruit of the harvest is souls won to Christ. Be fruitful. 

 

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise. –Proverbs 11:30

The Parable of the Wheat and the Toxic Tares

In the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, Jesus delivered a stunning illustration to his followers of how the members of his kingdom would be different than the rest of the world.

 

The Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while people were sleeping, his enemy came, sowed weeds among the wheat, and left. When the plants sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also appeared. The landowners servants came to him and said,

 

‘Master, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?’

 

‘An enemy did this,’ he told them.

 

‘So, do you want us to go and pull them up?’ the servants asked him.

 

‘No,’ he said. ‘When you pull up the weeds, you might also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I’ll tell the reapers: Gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles to burn them, but collect the wheat in my barn.’

 

These weren’t just any garden variety weeds (tares), they were zizanion, bearded darnel, an invasive species of poisonous rye grass that is toxic to humans and animals. Its appearance is so similar to wheat that it is sometimes referred to as “false wheat.” But its deceptive debut disguises an ugly reality. The grain of this plant contains a soporific poison which reduces awareness and dulls the senses while inducing sleep and causing death. It would have been more accurate to call this the parable of the wheat and the poisonous darnel.

 

Wheat was a major source of life-giving food in the ancient near East. It provided grains that could be roasted and eaten, used to feed livestock or ground into flour for bread. The Jewish people celebrated the festival of Pentecost which is also called the festival of In-Gathering because it came at the end of the Wheat Harvest, similar to the way we observe Thanksgiving.

 

Eating wheat or bread laced with poison darnel seeds could have been similar to overdosing on opiates or narcotics. A person might have unknowingly ingested the poison with their evening meal and then become incoherent, falling into a coma before dying in their sleep.

 

While we call this the parable of the wheat and the tares, the disciples called it the parable of the weeds (poison darnel) in the field. After the crowd dispersed, they asked Jesus to explain the symbolism in the story. He replied:

 

The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world and the good seed—these are the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age and the harvesters are angels. Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels and they will gather from his kingdom all who cause sin and those guilty of lawlessness. They will throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Father’s kingdom. Let anyone who has ears listen.

 

1. The Son of Man

 

Jesus is the Son of Man. This title reminds us that while he is fully God, he is also fully human. He is the rightful King of heaven and earth. During his time on earth, he taught that his kingdom was not of this world. Until he returns, Christ's kingdom is a spiritual kingdom consisting of his followers. One day he will come back to exercise authority over all things.

 

2. The Enemy

 

The devil is the enemy of God and the enemy of our souls. Ephesians 2:2 refers to Satan as the spirit at work in the sons of disobedience. 1 Peter 5:8 warns:

 

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

 

3. The Good Wheat

 

The good wheat represents the children of God. As it grows, wheatgrass has a wonderful chlorophyll content and is full of life. This liquid sunshine has regenerative properties. This reminds me of the way that Christians have the light of Christ on the inside and even as we are maturing, we should be a life-giving force in our world.

 

Unfortunately, poisonous rye grass looks almost identical to wheat until it sprouts seed. Wheat is heavier than Darnel which causes the heads of the wheat to bow down, whereas darnel remains standing upright. This paints a marvelous picture of the way that God’s people are those who have humbled themselves and bow down to him. In the same way that the wheat yields to the weight of the grain and bows down, we yield to God’s will and worship him. We are the members of the kingdom of heaven.

 

The beginning of the grain harvest in Israel was marked by the festival of first fruits. It is difficult to tell the difference between the wheat and the poisonous rye grass until they develop grain. In the same way, Jesus taught that we could tell who is good and evil by the fruit produced in their lives. God’s children will produce good fruit such as love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness and self control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

 

4. The Poison Darnel

 

The poisonous darnel represents the children of the devil. They are part of his dominion. In the same way that the darnel does not bow, the children of the devil are those who refuse to bow down and worship God. They have not accepted Jesus as their Savior. All adults who are not in Christ are, by default, children of Satan. Jesus described those who refuse to accept his message in this way:

 

You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. (John 8:44)

 

The childhood song lyrics Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world based on the words of 1 John 4:4 correctly describe the difference between God’s children and the enemies’ children. They produce poisoned fruit such as jealousy, fits of anger, selfish ambitions, sexual immorality, impurity, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, heresies, envy, murder, drunkenness and revelries. (Galatians 5:19-21)

 

In order to rescue people from the devil, 1 Timothy 2:24 provides these gracious instructions:

 

The Lord’s servant must not quarrel, but must be gentle to everyone, able to teach, and patient, instructing his opponents with gentleness. Perhaps God will grant them repentance leading them to the knowledge of the truth. Then they may come to their senses and escape the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

 

It is important not to take the metaphor of the poisoned tares too far. Unlike a weed which can only ever be a weed, no person is a lost cause or beyond the saving, changing power of Christ. The point of the parable is that we cannot simply look at a person and know their future or if they will bow down to Jesus and be saved.

 

4. The Harvest

 

The harvest is about the end of the world as we know it. Angels will be sent out to reap the harvest and destroy the poisonous weeds. While the wheat harvest was cause for celebration in Israel, it also signaled the destruction of the toxic rye grass. Wheat and Tares were both either pulled up or harvested with a sickle in the Ancient Near East. The 14^th chapter of Revelation describes God’s angels as the reapers, wielding their sickles and harvesting the earth. It describes God giving an angel power over fire.

 

In the same way that bundles of poisonous darnel were gathered up and thrown into the fire to be consumed, the devil’s children will be gathered up and thrown into the Lake of Fire. The Israelites couldn’t allow any harmful seeds from the toxiferous tares to remain because these lightweight grains could be blown away by the wind and sprout up all over the wheat fields the next year. The dangerous soporific seeds had to be totally destroyed. In the same way, God cannot allow evildoers to exist, they will perish in the flames of judgement at the end of the age. All who cause sin and practice lawlessness, all who harm others and do evil will meet an ugly and definitive end along with the devil. There is coming a day when all sin and evil along with the pain and suffering they cause will end.

 

In the same way that amber waves of golden brown wheat were harvested and brought into the storehouse, God will send angels to collect his people and bring them into his house. Those who have bowed their heads and placed their faith, hope and trust in Jesus will enjoy eternal life as part of God’s family.

 

Conclusion

 

The last line of explanation provided for this parable is the stinger. Jesus declared:

 

Let anyone who has ears listen.

 

Other translations ready Let anyone who has ears to hear, hear. People who have rejected God grow spiritually deaf. Jesus had to offer explanation of his parables because people did not readily understand. This potent declaration is meant to empower people through the working of the Holy Spirit to understand and respond to the message. I pray that if you are not a follower of Christ this teaching will not fall upon spiritually deaf ears, but that you will listen, understand the teaching and take it to heart.

Study Materials

Enhanced Strong's Lexicon

Illustrated Dictionary of Bible Life and Times

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Harmony of the Gospels, HCSB, Cox & Easley

Various online botanical resources

Christian Standard Bible

ESV Bible

KJV Bible

Logos Bible Software

John F. Walvoord's Commentary on Matthew

Biblehub.com 

Be Careful What You "Affirm"

Affirming sin is cruel, not kind. Affirming sin is an act of hate, not love. I was once asked by a student if I was "affirming." I replied that I tried to be a positive, encouraging teacher to my students. Back then I had no clue that "affirming" was some sort of code word for approving of sinful lifestyle choices.

 

Affirming Sin

 

Affirming sin shows a complete disregard for the well-being of another human. Affirming sin reveals a lack of either true belief in or correct understanding of God. The first chapter of the book of Romans gives a lengthy dissertation about the dangers and consequences of abandoning God’ design for sex. Verse 32 warns against affirming sinful homosexual behavior and the other issues that grow out of it:

 

Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

 

A decree is a judgement or sentence. Those who continue in rebellion against God will not receive eternal life. They will die a physical death and suffer the second death, the death of the soul, in the Lake of Fire. The word translated as give approval is suneudokeo. It means to give consent, to agree with, to applaud and even take pleasure in seeing someone else sin. It means to support and affirm. When you affirm sin, you are applauding people on their way to destruction and that is evil.

 

Diversity

 

Diversity is good when it means accepting people whose skin is a different color than our own as brothers, sisters and equals. Diversity is evil when it means accepting sinful LGBTQ behaviors and false religions as our society is pressuring us to do.

 

Revelation 7:1 describes what it will look like in heaven:

 

After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb!

 

People with every beautiful variety of skin color from all over the world who trust in Jesus for salvation will be saved and will be in heaven. There is a popular quote that says Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America. What a horrifying reality if that is true. Much work needs to be done in the Kingdom of God to foster brotherhood and unity.  Embracing diversity in the church means that my brothers and sisters in Christ are more important to me and take priority over my allegiance to any nation, organization, group, creed or cause.  For this reason, I cannot stand idly by and allow sinful factions such as the advancing LGBTQ army to  foist their agenda upon the struggle for racial equality and justice. 

 

Inclusion

 

Inclusion is good when it involves loving, supporting and celebrating people with differences in appearance, physical differences or disabilities. This honors our fellow human beings, respects them as equals and acknowledges that they were created to be image bearers of God. Inclusion becomes evil when it involves celebrating and abiding with sin because this disrespects and defiles humanity.

 

I was deeply offended to see a commercial at the movie theater yesterday that compared a talented artist without arms painting with her feet to people with sinful sexual orientations and gender identity choices. It was disrespectful, exploitive and inappropriate. In the same way, when the LGBTQ movement compares their sinful lifestyle choices to the struggles of People of Color, this is ugly, exploitive, nasty racism.

 

All people are descended from our original parents, Adam and Eve, the first human beings, who God created in his own image. Mankind has continually degraded ourselves through sin, divided ourselves into ethnic groups by skin color, and excluded those with disabilities. But there is only one Creator, God. And there is only one race, the human race.

 

With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in Gods likeness. Blessing and cursing coming out of the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way. Does a spring pour out sweet and bitter water from the same opening?

 

All people should be treated with dignity, honor and respect. This means that all people deserve to be told the truth that Jesus loves them and gave his life so that they could be saved, if they will turn away from their sins and toward him. We have to tell the truth. But we must constantly strive to do it in a way that is respectful and winsome, extending grace and kindness.

 

Sin causes division and exclusion. Sinful attitudes toward people with disabilities must be repented of and replaced with appreciation, love and respect.

 

Sinful behaviors, including degrading sexual behaviors must be repented of so people can be forgiven and brought into fellowship. This includes turning away from LGBTQ sin, but it equally includes repenting of heterosexual activity outside of marriage, pornography and all manner of sexual manipulation, harm and abuse. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul warned about the ultimate source of exclusion, Sin:

 

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

 

Affirming homosexuality is like affirming theft or alcohol abuse or adultery or wild partying or usury. The most inclusive action a person can take is to include someone in the family of God. This requires inviting them to turn away from sin and toward Jesus, to ask him to come into their heart, save them and change them through the power of his Spirit. There is only one way to find true unity and inclusion and that is through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ who is restoring things to the way they were meant to be through His church.

 

For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.

 

True Compassion

 

Compassion and Empathy should lead us to speak difficult truths in the most respectful way possible, NOT to affirm and encourage sin.

 

Here’s the twist: Compassion and empathy are frequently preyed upon by those with agendas. People seeking approval for their sinful choices and actions often manipulate those who exhibit these admirable qualities. For example: it is commonly reported that suicide rates are higher among individuals who identify as LGBTQ and this fact is used to elicit support and affirmation. But encouraging someone to live a lifestyle that is likely to lead to their suicide is evil…

 

Affirming someone in their choice to rebel against God causes pain and hurt in this life and ultimate judgement against their souls in the next. Don’t be fooled, applauding someone in their sin and in their harmful, self-destructive decisions is not kind at all. In reality, it is cruel and lacking in true compassion. Jude, the brother of Jesus wrote:

 

Have mercy on those who doubt, save others by snatching them from the fire, have mercy on others but with fear, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.

 

The most loving thing you can do is to tell the truth and rescue people from sin.

 

Conclusion

 

It is not appropriate to compare sexual sins to the color of someone’s skin. It is not appropriate to compare sinful lifestyle choices to someone’s disability or physical difference. To do so is exploitive, prejudiced and sinful.

 

Affirming sin is actually the most heinous type of hate speech. It shows a complete disregard for the well-being of our fellow man.

 

Calling people to turn away from sin is an act of love. Inviting people to come to Jesus so that they can be included in the family of God is an act of kindness, compassion and respect.

__________________________________________________________

Here is a link to detailed explanations of Biblical teaching about human sexuality:

The Trustworthy Word: IDENTITY CRISIS: Created In The Image of God as Male and Female