A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ 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.’ And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others” (Luke 20:13-15). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! The key to understanding any of the parables is to look for the point where it departs from everyday life. Well, good luck with this one! No one behaves in the way that we would normally expect them to behave. I mean, what landowner would keep sending his servants to collect the rent when they’re being so mistreated? Couldn’t he send a couple of big guys with swords? Maybe the sheriff? Or the militia? And then he’s even so naïve as to send his...

Click here to listen to this sermon. “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ 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.’ And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others” (Luke 20:13-15). Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Do you remember last week when I told you the key to understanding any of the parables is to look for the point where it departs from everyday life? Well, good luck with this one! No one behaves in the way that we would normally expect them to behave. I mean, what landowner would keep sending his servants to collect the rent when they’re being so mistreated. Couldn’t he send a couple of big guys with swords? Maybe the sheriff? Or the mili...

Click here to listen to this sermon. Or here. Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?’ Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits” (Matthew 21:42-43). Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! He plants a vineyard. Sets a fence around it. Digs a winepress. And builds a tower to watch for thieves and robbers. So far so good. Sounds a lot like the song of the vineyard that we just heard in our reading from the book of Isaiah, doesn’t it? Then the owner of the vineyard makes his first mistake. He leases it to tenants. He’s asking for big trouble. He should keep the vineyard for himself. Nobody else will ever care about it as much as he does. Then the owner compounds his error. He decides to go off to another country. He takes a trip, an ex...

Click here for an audio version of this sermon.   The text for this message our Luke 20:9-20. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. "The Tenants in the Vineyard" by Jan Luyken Whenever I hear this parable (like many other parables), I end up shaking my head.   Nobody acts the way you would reasonably expect.   Their actions seem foolish, at times, even absurd.   But that is actually the key to understanding any parable: Look for the point of departure from how things are in ordinary, everyday life.   And there are plenty of detours in this one.   We’ll look at them and I think you’ll see what I mean.   But first, let’s look at the context. With the parables, you always have to pay attention to whom Jesus is speaking.   Is it His disciples?   The crowds?   The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law?   In this case, it is the people who are gathered in the temple to hear Jesus teach, no...

The text for today is Matthew 21:42-43: Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?’   Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.”   Here ends the text. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He plants a vineyard.   Sets a fence around it.   Digs a winepress.   And builds a tower to watch for thieves and robbers.   So far so good.   Sounds like the song of the vineyard from Isaiah.   Then the owner makes his first mistake.   He leases it to tenants.   He’s asking for big trouble.   He should keep the vineyard for himself.   Then the owner compounds his error.   He decides to go off to another country.   He takes a trip, an extended holiday.  ...