A Simple Word from the Lord
Scripture – Luke 20:9-13: 9He went on to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. 10At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. 12He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out. 13“Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’
Reflection: A safe assumption is that the Jewish leaders were still standing in front of Jesus when He turned to the people and launched into this parable. It seems innocent enough – a story about a vineyard. I can imagine people wondering at first what this has to do with anything.
We, again, have the advantage of knowing the story and the context. God entrusted His word to the Jews. He taught them, empowered them and then left them to carry out His plan for humankind. Over the centuries, they got off track. God raised up prophets from time to time to speak His truth and get them back on track. These prophets were ignored, abused, imprisoned and sometimes killed.
Finally God sent His Son to straighten things out. The Jewish faith had evolved into a deeply ritualistic religion. The focus was on the rules and regulations rather than the Lord who had given them. People were kept farther and farther away from God. Their only hope of pleasing God was follow the rules laid out for them by the Jewish leadership. And this system of laws and rules was impossible to keep.
Jesus came with a simple message – God loves everyone He’s created and He wants everyone to live in a safe and right relationship with Him. What’s more, we can come to Him directly through Christ. Jesus is the perfect mediator – the perfect connecting link – between us and God, because He is fully human and fully divine. I don’t have to be good enough to be accepted by God. He accepts me and loves me just as I am. I don’t have to follow a bunch of rules to gain his acceptance. I just need to open myself to Him and accept Him into my life as Savior and Director. It’s a gift of grace I can accept or reject.
An Invitation: A small group will be meeting this coming Sunday morning from 9:45 – 10:30am to share what we’ve learned and seen in this week’s readings. We meet in the Pastor’s office at Bethel Baptist Church, 13330 Trenton Road in Southgate. Everyone’s welcome to join us.
Reflection: A safe assumption is that the Jewish leaders were still standing in front of Jesus when He turned to the people and launched into this parable. It seems innocent enough – a story about a vineyard. I can imagine people wondering at first what this has to do with anything.
We, again, have the advantage of knowing the story and the context. God entrusted His word to the Jews. He taught them, empowered them and then left them to carry out His plan for humankind. Over the centuries, they got off track. God raised up prophets from time to time to speak His truth and get them back on track. These prophets were ignored, abused, imprisoned and sometimes killed.
Finally God sent His Son to straighten things out. The Jewish faith had evolved into a deeply ritualistic religion. The focus was on the rules and regulations rather than the Lord who had given them. People were kept farther and farther away from God. Their only hope of pleasing God was follow the rules laid out for them by the Jewish leadership. And this system of laws and rules was impossible to keep.
Jesus came with a simple message – God loves everyone He’s created and He wants everyone to live in a safe and right relationship with Him. What’s more, we can come to Him directly through Christ. Jesus is the perfect mediator – the perfect connecting link – between us and God, because He is fully human and fully divine. I don’t have to be good enough to be accepted by God. He accepts me and loves me just as I am. I don’t have to follow a bunch of rules to gain his acceptance. I just need to open myself to Him and accept Him into my life as Savior and Director. It’s a gift of grace I can accept or reject.
An Invitation: A small group will be meeting this coming Sunday morning from 9:45 – 10:30am to share what we’ve learned and seen in this week’s readings. We meet in the Pastor’s office at Bethel Baptist Church, 13330 Trenton Road in Southgate. Everyone’s welcome to join us.
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