THE PARABOLIC FULFILLMENT OF A PROPHETIC PSALM

THE PARABOLIC FULFILLMENT OF A PROPHETIC PSALM
Matthew 21:33-46

Dr. Charles Franklin DeVane, Jr., Pastor
Lake Hamilton Baptist Church
Hot Springs, Arkansas

October 11, 2015

33 “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. 35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son. ’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance. ’ 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”
42 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’?  43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” 45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.
— Matthew 21:33-46, ESV


In the days before He died, Jesus would have been meditating upon Psalm 118.  It is one of a handful (Psalms 113-118) of celebratory and prophetic psalms that are traditionally sung at major Jewish festivals, especially the Passover.  Psalm 118:22-25 says,

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.  This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.  This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.  Save us, we pray, O Lord!  O Lord, we pray, give us success.

It predicts a rejection leading to a coronation that brings salvation to those who successfully call upon the name of the Lord.  The parable Jesus preaches here elaborates on the success of seeing Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord by pointing out the failure of those who do not.  The stone will roll.  Heads will roll.  What will your role be?

The Failure of Israel

At first glance this is a pointed parable that clearly points out the failure of Israel to recognize Jesus of Nazareth as their appointed Messiah.  The master is God, the vineyard is His kingdom, and the first lease was given to the nation of Israel via the Old Covenant.  The servants are the prophets and authors of Scripture, and the son is, of course, the Son of God, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus told the existing chief priests and Pharisees, to their face, to face up to what they were about to do, namely reject, arrest, and crucify the Messiah.

This is exactly what Israel did, and Israel has never been the same.  Upon the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, God took His kingdom away from the Jews and gave it to the fledgling church.  The church embraced the Son, received the Spirit, and to this day produces the fruit for which God is looking for.  Israel can no longer be considered God’s people, for you cannot be God’s people when you reject God’s Son, Jesus Christ.  

Perhaps I should reiterate here that I love the modern state of Israel, having traveled there myself for the adventure of my life.  They are an ally to our country, an admirable democracy existing in a sea of hostility, a beautiful people with a wonderful heritage.  But they are not God’s people, no more than any people from any country who reject the gospel and refuse to belong to the church, which is God’s New Covenant vineyard, the visible expression of the kingdom of God.

But not all members of the church are God’s people, either.

The Failure of the Church

A second glance at this parable portends potential problems for the church, too.  At the first coming of Jesus, our Lord found very little faith in the flock of Israel.  I fear He will find only a true remnant of faith within the church when He comes again.  I believe this is what Jesus meant when He said what He said in Luke 18:8,

    Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?

Consider also that the failure of the Hebrews at the end of the Old Covenant is also the failure of many in the church during the New Covenant, according to Hebrews 6:4-8,

For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.  For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God.  But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.

People within the church and in heavily churched societies, like ours, reject Jesus Christ all the time in all kinds of ways.  Professing Christians deny the authority of the prophets who wrote Scripture, persecute pastors who preach the truth, and contradict central doctrines like the Trinity, the historicity of Christ, and the substitutionary atonement that cancels sin, and the fact that anything is a sin in the first place.  

Whether they stay in or walk out, they choose to reject the word of God and the gospel in exchange for a vague belief in works righteousness that would make any ancient Pharisee proud.  They are not God’s people, either, no matter how many times they have been baptized or received communion, for you cannot be God’s people when you reject the life, death, and resurrection of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.  

So, there are at least two ways to fail according to this parable.  You can be an Old Covenant Jew who rejects Jesus as Messiah, or you can profess to be a New Covenant Christian and deny the Lord all the same with false professions of faith or the faulty practice of the faith.  Jesus puts these two ways in another two ways in verse 44:

"And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

Attack Jesus, fall on the stone, and you will fail.  Ignore Jesus, let the stone fall on you at death or at His second coming, and you will fail.  Failure is ultimate the rejection of the word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ.  And it is the default position of Jews and Gentiles alike.

Not many fail to admire, appreciate, even love Jesus.  But almost no one needs Him.  The chief priests and Pharisees did not, for they thought they were good enough without Him.  So do most people sitting in synagogues, churches, and living rooms today.  They are living relatively good and utterly failed lives, and one day the stone will roll.

The Opposite of Failure

The opposite of failure is success.  But just what is success, according to God?  Consider a couple of words from both Old Covenant and New, from Joshua 1:8 and Hebrews 11:6:

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Success as defined by God is hearing and heeding the word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Another term for success on these terms is faith.  “Success” is not found per se in the New Testament, but it is full of “faith.”  

Fortunately for us, there were a few Jews in Jesus’ day who successful recognized Jesus as God’s Son and Savior.  By grace through faith they made sense of the person and work of Jesus Christ.  They were the fledgling apostles and disciples who became the first church.  Since then, the successful church has grown into a multitude of true believers from every race and country on earth.  We produce the fruit of the Spirit that God is looking for now and when He returns to earth.  And when He does, the true church will be singing Psalm 118:22-25,

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.  This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.  This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.  Save us, we pray, O Lord!  O Lord, we pray, give us success.

The stone is rolling with ever increasing speed.  Do not attach Him or ignore Him.  Successfully give and live your life for the Lord Jesus Christ, in true repentance, real faith, and trusting obedience to His word.  Then you will avoid the pessimistic point of this prophetic parable.  Then you will have true and everlasting success.