May 30 2025

Friday May 30

Luke 20:9-16 – The Great Cost of Rejecting Jesus

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!"

As I said yesterday, we are looking at Tuesday of Passion Week, the week Jesus is crucified, His last week before the cross. He is back in the temple, teaching the people. Yesterday, on Monday, He had cleansed the temple. Now today, Tuesday, He is back teaching, and the scribes, the priests, and the elders of the people have confronted Jesus, asking, “By what authority are you doing this?”

Jesus answers them with a question; “I’ll ask you a question,” and He points out, “By what authority did John the Baptist do what he was doing with his baptism?” Of course John was proclaiming, “The Messiah is here, the Lamb has come,” and yet they rejected him and his message. They rejected John the Baptist’s message, showing their recent past rejection of the Messiah.

Then in verses 9-16, Jesus turns from them to the people and tells them a parable; “A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time. 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. Again, he sent another servant, and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. Again, he sent a third, and they wounded him also and cast him out. 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. 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.” In Jewish law, if the owner of a piece of property had disappeared, someone else could claim it, and Jesus is making this very specific. So, they cast out the son of the master, the owner of the vineyard, and killed him. Therefore, what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others. When they heard it, they said, “Certainly not.”

The priests, scribes, and elders have been listening to this. And when you read John 11:47–54, it is obvious that Jesus knew what these religious leaders were thinking. When he tells this parable, they know he’s speaking of the vineyard, which is Israel. God, in the Old Testament, had sent prophets to call the nation to repentance. Read Jeremiah 7:25–26, where Jeremiah said the Father, who has this vineyard sent prophets to ask you to repent, to turn back, but because you have not repented, judgment is coming.

Also, in Nehemiah 9:26, Nehemiah, after the captivity in Babylon, in one of the longest recorded prayers in the Bible, prays a public prayer before the remnant that returned to Jerusalem. In this prayer he mentions how that God sent prophets, teachers, and people calling the people to repentance, but they rejected and killed them.

In John chapter 11:47-53, we read: “Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, "What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation." And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish." Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad. Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death.”

Jesus knows what these religious leaders are thinking when He shares this parable. They know He is saying that He is the Son that the owner of the vineyard sent to claim His vineyard and they are rejecting him. Jesus is proclaiming that judgment will surely fall upon them, and that’s why they said, “Certainly not.”

Jesus, the Messiah, is there, presenting himself openly, and religious leaders know that if the people receive Christ and accept Him as the Messiah, it is all over for their religious hypocrisy, and that’s what they fear. Already, when John the Baptist baptized Jesus, and the Spirit came upon Jesus, and people saw this. They also heard the voice from heaven say, “This is my beloved Son.” Now, when here Jesus in this parable said, “He sent his beloved son,” they knew He was speaking of Himself. And these scribes, lawyers, priests, and elders knew that He was speaking of them rejecting him as the Messiah. And that God’s judgment would come upon them and the “vineyard” would be given to others.

What a powerful parable. My friend, it is a costly mistake to reject Jesus as your only hope for salvation. He is your only Way to avoid the judgment to come. Don’t be like these religious Pharisees, hypocrites. Trust Jesus, focus on him, and live for him every day.

God bless!