Jesus told a story about a vineyard owner whose tenants rebelled against his authority, mistreating his representatives and ultimately killing his son. Though this parable was a searing indictment of the leaders in Jerusalem, it also conveyed the surprising, persistent grace of God. Even when we reject God, he pursues us, reaching out again and again.
The basic meaning of the parable of the vineyard owner is clear. This man leased his vineyard to tenants and went away. Later, he sent one of his slaves to collect his share of the produce, the rent, if you will. But the tenants beat the slave and chased him away. So the owner sent another slave, who received similar treatment. Then he sent a third slave, who once again was mistreated. Finally, the vineyard owner sent his own “beloved” son in the hope that he would be respected. But the tenants killed the son, thinking foolishly that they might inherit the vineyard. Not surprisingly, the owner finally destroyed the rebellious and murderous tenants, giving his vineyard to others.
Those who heard this parable responded with alarm, saying “Heaven forbid!” (Luke 20:16). The “scribes and chief priests,” realizing that Jesus had told the parable “against them,” “wanted to lay hands on him at that very hour, but they feared the people” (Luke 20:19). These leaders got Jesus’s main point. God had repeatedly sent his representatives to Israel, but they were routinely rejected. When God’s own Son is rejected and killed, judgment will fall on those who are responsible. Jesus’s parable is a searing indictment of the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem.
Though the people and the leaders were understandably disturbed by Jesus’s story, I wonder how many of them were also perplexed by the early behavior of the owner. After all, how much sense did his actions make? When his first representative was beaten and sent away empty-handed, the owner tried again, which was exceedingly hopeful. Even after the second slave was mistreated, the owner persisted, sending a third, who was similarly mistreated. At this point, any reasonable owner in the ancient world would have realized that his tenants weren’t going to pay what they owed, and would have taken action against them. But the vineyard owner in Jesus’s story tried again, sending his beloved son, and clearly not with a small militia as a backup. What sort of person would do this? Was he naïve? Foolish? Or curiously, persistently, and extravagantly gracious?
Jesus’s parable spoke directly to the situation of Israel in relation to the prophets and to himself as God’s son. But we can see in this story a picture of the way God relates to us, living centuries later. Even when we resist God’s activity in our lives, even when we rebel against his authority, God keeps after us. God reaches out to us. God extends his grace to us, revealing “the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7).
When we step out of this story into history, we recognize that God’s grace is even more persistent and amazing than that of the vineyard owner. Yes, God did send his Son to humankind. And, yes, human beings did kill the Son. But this did not bring destruction upon us. Rather, the sacrifice of the Son brought about our salvation. God continues to reach out to us, drawing us by his love and grace.
You may be eager to respond, open to all that he wants to do in your life. Or you may be hesitant, even resistant, maybe even rebellious. The good news is that God’s love is more persistent than your hesitation, resistance, or rebellion. As the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:38-39: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
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