Matthew 21:33-45

Pentecost 19 | October 8, 2023 | A Sermon Based on Matthew 21:33-45 | David Zersen |

“Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.” 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 amazing in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produce the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet. (NIV)

TRIPPED UP BY THE CROSS

One thing I learned from my great professor, Joachim Jeremias, whom students lovingly referred to as JJ (in German, Yut Yut), is that Jesus didn’t typically use allegories. His parables compared life in God’s kingdom with life here on earth, but one didn’t have to find hidden meanings behind words and characters. The four parables that form the Gospel lessons in our current reading through Matthew provide a case in point. Today’s parable is particularly challenging. If we make the landowner God, then he turns out to be a tyrant who crushes his opposition in the end. However Matthew has Jesus begin each parable with a double designation. In this case, it is “a certain man, a landowner”. Perhaps the double designation is a way of making clear that this guy was not God, but a certain man—and that was it!

In any case, he at first interacts lovingly by inviting those who are renting his property to provide him with an agreed-upon return on their contract. The tenants are bad guys and they refuse—twice!! Then he sends his son—the heir—and the tenants not only refuse again, but they kill the heir—BECAUSE  THEY THINK THEY MIGHT GET THE INHERITACE— we are told. Now, how stupid can these tenants be? Are they like cartoon stooges? Why should they even imagine that they can get the inheritance? Then Jesus asks his audience— NOTICE HE DOESN’T TELL THEM—he asks them what the landowner should do. We can probably answer with them: “Bring them to a wretched end!” Fancy language. We might do a lynching!

Of course, if this were an allegory, we might see God the Father in the landowner and Jesus as the son who was killed at the cross by outrageous and ungrateful rebels. That’s of course problematic because the God we know as our loving father does not retaliate and destroy his problem children. Instead of destroying the crucifiers,  Jesus is raised from the dead, forgiveness is proclaimed in his name, and all are not troubled by such a proclamation, but embrace it and are assured of new life that has both meaning and a lasting dimension to it.

When Jesus met with his disciples after the crucifixion, they had every reason to believe that because they had not stood up for him, he would denounce them. Instead, he said what? He said “Shalom” as he entered the room. “Peace be with you.” In other words, between us there is no judgement, no antagonism. There is only forgiveness and love. It is good news; it is the basis for a new life into which all baptized Christians are admitted. It is the foundation for the future that people who call themselves Christian cherish.

At the heart of our faith is this challenge, always and in every conflict that we create, to see the possibility for forgiveness and new life as God’s assurance. Admittedly, this is not easy for anyone! I for one am very troubled that media personalities seem to take pleasure in finding some badly chosen words, some unfortunate act, even a criminal act, as the basis for writing someone off. This is not a political statement on my part. It is simply a way of celebrating that we Christians are all sinners who have been ransomed from our past and we don’t find it useful to demean others for their failures just to score an advantage on the networks. Media types like to encourage us to shake our fingers at others—but we who know we are set free from our pasts are really beyond that.

Nevertheless, the cross at which we have been set free is a “stone of stumbling” for many who do not understand how we can walk away from the crucifixion and hear God say: Even though all of you are implicit in this murder because all have sinned and fallen short of my expectations, this kind of thing never needs to happen again.” Murder has been ruled out for Christians. Hate is ruled out as well. Theft and betrayal and dishonesty and disrespect are ruled out. THEY DON’T HAVE TO HAPPEN AGAIN!

But if they do, do not let the cross of Jesus become a stumbling block for you. Do not let it be something that crushes you. As the Old Testament lesson for today (Is. 5: 10) reminds us, there is no longer a place for bloodshed among us, but rather justice; no longer a need for distress, but always a call for righteousness. Too many are troubled when they see the cross, for some a symbol reminding them of evils performed ignorantly by Christians.

The solution that our God provides those of us who have been involved in atrocities, mean-spirited activity of all kinds, is not vengeance as those who first heard the parable surmised. It is rather repentance, forgiveness and hope. Jesus is quoting the Psalms when he asks, “Have you never heard that the stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone?” (118:22). As he implies, an object like a stone can be understood in different ways. It can create problems for you—prevent you from moving forward in life– or it can send you on your journey refreshed and renewed.

In the last decade, Germany decided to build on this understanding. The horrible aspect of the holocaust was gradually forgotten by new generations who didn’t experience what happened eighty years ago. It was decided to createStolpersteine, stumbling stones, 4 x 4 inches wide, made of bronze, that brought back a memory of some event in a given place. More than 70,000 of these stumbling stones now lie ensconced in pavement all around Europe. They are placed as reminders, when people walk across them, to be careful how one walks, how one lives, how one thinks. Some people are antagonized by them and think they are being challenged to focus unnecessarily on evil. Many, however, allow the stumbling stones to help them consider new directions in their lives.

It is a meaningful example for us as we reflect on our lives today. What stumbling stone impacts you at this time? Is there something that prevents you from moving meaningfully and joyfully into your future? A bad relationship? A failure you find it difficult to confess? Or is there a Stolperstein that no longer trips you up, but helps you to appreciate the new steps into which the good news of God’s love has propelled you?

Because of your appreciation for the love and forgiveness that is yours as a result of Christ’s death and resurrection, do you have the assurance that although some are tripped up by the cross, you know that you have been freed from stumbling around to walk forward in confidence and peace. Some find the cross objectionable, seeing no need to be reminded of failures in their lives. Others who are tripped up by the cross have learned to embrace it in faith and thanksgiving because through it we are given a fresh tomorrow.

And a fresh tomorrow is a day we can begin by saying, “the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” (Ps. 118:23; Mt. 21:42)

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David Zersen, D.Min., Ed.D., FRHistS

President Emeritus, Concordia University Texas

zersendj@gmail.com