That’s exactly what these tenants in the parable were doing.
True enough – their biggest sin was mistreating and even killing those who came representing the vineyard owner. They even murder the owner’s son!
But the essential sin is that they desire to take what rightfully belongs to the owner. They claim to be His servants but are not producing fruit for Him.
The Teacher concludes - the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit!
The key to the parable is that God's people are called to produce the fruit of the kingdom. This is what God wants from us!
The kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
This may seem harsh. If we claim to be servants of God but do not produce this fruit, we too are stealing from God.
This makes it personal. Is my life bearing the fruits of the kingdom? Do I have Jesus' love, joy, peace, patience…in my heart?
This is what the kingdom of God is all about. And this is what being a student of Jesus means - seeking to become more like our Teacher!
Right on!
ReplyDeleteThe obvious application is to the first century Jews who were supposed to be the People of God yet missed that Jesus was the Son of God, and treated him similar to the other prophets. That's easy to see, and easy to do because it takes the lesson away from us.
ReplyDeleteGreat point in making it applicable to us!
What fruit are we producing?
And how do we steal from God by not being His servants in His vineyard?
Are we laboring in the Kingdom,
or merely meandering through the vineyard?