PARABLES OF CHRIST
THE WICKED TENANTS
DR. JIM DIXON
MATTHEW 21:33-43
DECEMBER 20, 1998
In Florence, Italy, there stands Michelangelo’s “David.” This majestic sculpture rises almost 18 feet above the floor. This sculpture of the Old Testament king is considered to be one of the artistic masterpieces of the world. It has been seen by millions of people over a period of 450 years. Some of you have been to Florence, Italy and you have seen it.
The most amazing thing about Michelangelo’s “David” is that Michelangelo sculpted this statue out of rejected stone. The block of marble that he chose had been rejected by other sculptors of his day. It had been rejected by Duccio. It had been rejected by Bassalino and by Rossellino and the other sculptors of Michelangelo’s day. They had rejected this block of marble, but Michelangelo took this rejected stone and from it he created a masterpiece.
The Bible speaks of rejected stone. The Bible prophesies that God will build His kingdom on earth, and the Bible prophesies that God will found that kingdom on rejected stone. The Bible prophesies that the cornerstone upon which the kingdom of God is to be founded is rejected stone. The capstone upon which the kingdom of God is to be founded is rejected stone. The foundation stone upon which the kingdom of God is to be established in this earth is rejected stone. That prophesy is given in the book of Psalms, the 118th chapter.
In our passage of scripture for today, our Lord Jesus Christ takes Psalms 118, and He applies it to Himself. He is the rejected stone—rejected by men but in God’s sight, chosen and precious. He is the foundation stone upon which the kingdom of God is to be established on this earth, the capstone, the cornerstone. Rejected by men but in God’s sight, precious.
Now, in this passage of scripture in Matthew 21, we also have, of course, the parable, the Parable of the Householder, and the Wicked Tenants. This parable gives us two teachings. The first teaching is a warning given to those who reject the Cornerstone. It’s a warning given to those who reject Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
In this parable, there is a householder, and the householder represents God. In this parable there is a vineyard planted by the householder, and the vineyard represents the kingdom of God planted in the world. In this vineyard, there are tenants, and these tenants represent the Jewish leaders, and through them all of Israel, because, for a time, the kingdom of God was entrusted to Israel. In this parable, there are servants, servants of the householder sent to the tenants, and these represent the prophets of God sent by God to the leaders of Israel. These messengers of God were rejected by Israel, sometimes beaten, sometimes stoned, sometimes killed. They were abused. And so, the householder sends his son which, of course, represents the cornerstone, represents Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
This warning is given to those who reject the Son of God, that you do so at your own peril. The results are tragic if you reject the Son of God. You will miss the kingdom of heaven if you reject the Son of God. This warning is given in this parable to Israel and to the Jewish leaders, but it is also given to the world. It’s a dangerous thing, a stupid thing, to reject the Son of God.
Most of you have heard of Manuel Noriega. In 1984, Noriega seized control of the military in Panama. In 1987, Noriega became the President of Panama, and he established a corrupt government. He assassinated his political enemies. He involved himself in drug trafficking, and he built ties to international drug cartels. There is some evidence that Noriega was actually, for a time, in relationship with United States government who sought to use Noriega in the war against drugs. But Noriega tried to play both sides for his own power and for his own wealth, and the United States government began to warn Noriega.
Manuel Noriega began to thumb his nose at the United States government. He did this again and again. Finally, on December 20, this day, December 20, 1989, President George Bush decided he couldn’t take it anymore. He sent American forces into Panama, and he toppled the Noriega government. Noriega fled into the Vatican Embassy. Ultimately, he was given over to the United States government where he stood trial. In 1992, Manuel Noriega was sentenced to 40 years in prison, being convicted, and today he is incarcerated in Miami, Florida.
His conviction is under appeal, but I think it is very clear to all of us that it’s a dangerous thing to thumb your nose at a superpower. But, of course, this superpower called the United States of America has limited power, and it is true that Saddam Hussein of Iraq and Muammar Qaddafi of Libya have both thumbed their noses at this nation and this government, and they remain enthroned over their respective nations.
This superpower called the United States of America has limited power. The Bible tells us there is one true superpower. That power is God, and He is omnipotent. His government is called the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of Christ. It is a stupid thing, indeed, to thumb our nose at God. It is a stupid thing to thumb our nose at the kingdom of God. But, you see, this little parable tells us that that’s exactly what some people do when they reject the messengers of God and abuse the messengers of God and then ultimately reject the Son of God. This is to thumb your nose at God. What a scary thing it is. The Bible says, “He who has the Son has life and he who has not the Son of God has not life.” So, we have this warning from this little Parable of the Householder and the Wicked Tenants. Don’t reject the Son of God.
Christmas is coming up this week. We celebrate God sending His Son into the world. In a sense, into the vineyard. How are you going to respond and how have you responded? A dangerous thing, to reject the Son of God.
There’s a second teaching in this little parable. This teaching is given not to those who reject the Son of God but rather, this teaching is given to those who accept the Son of God. In this little parable, Jesus is telling us that if you accept the Son, you must bear fruit. You’ve not been called to barrenness. In this little parable, we see how the householder planted a vineyard in the earth. He did all the things that vineyard planters did in biblical times. He built a hedge around the vineyard. He dug a winepress within the vineyard, built a tower, let it out to tenants. The hedge was a thorned hedge, and it was designed to keep thieves out. and it was designed to keep animals out.
The winepress was there to produce the fruit of the vineyard. Of course, the vineyard was to grow grapes, but grapes were only part of the fruit because the vineyard was to produce, as well, the fruit of the grape in the form of wine.
Of course, tenants were hired to work the vineyard for the sake of the vineyard’s productivity. A tower was built so that in inclement weather, the tenants would have a place to sleep. Also, it was built so that they might be able to look over the thorned hedges and see approaching danger.
All of this was to provide a vineyard that could be productive and bear fruit. But the householder in the parable was denied his fruit. At the end of the parable, Jesus poses this question. When the owner of the vineyard comes, when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do with those tenants? The response that is given to Jesus is he will put those wretches to a miserable death, and he will let out the vineyard to other tenants who give him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus said to those who heard Him, Jesus said to the Jewish leaders, the Scribes, and the Pharisees, “the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it.” Productivity, fruit bearing. That is the purpose of the kingdom of God on earth.
Jesus said the kingdom of God would be taken away from Israel and given to a nation producing the fruits of it. The word for nation is the word “ethnos.” This word is used in the New Testament as a title for the church, the church of Jesus Christ. It is the nation Jesus is referring to in this parable. The Bible says of the church, “You are a holy nation, “hagios ethnos,” a holy nation. There is this warning in the parable given to this holy nation called the church which consists of people of all races—red, yellow, black, and white, Jew and gentile, whoever accepts the Son. There is a warning given to the church. You must bear fruit. You have been called to bear fruit.
And so, this morning, on this Communion Sunday, Christ would ask you, “Have you accepted the Son? Have you accepted Him, and are you longing and seeking to bear fruit for His kingdom’?”
In 1747 in the British Isles in the region of Wales, a man named Thomas Coke was born. Thomas Coke was a brilliant young man. He went to Oxford University, and he graduated in 1768 at the age of twenty-one. That was also the year that Thomas Coke accepted Jesus Christ, asked Jesus into his heart, invited Christ to be His Lord and Savior. He soon felt the call to the gospel ministry, and he went to theology school, received his theological education, and he was ordained as an Anglican priest. But in 1776, at the age of 29, Thomas Coke was fired, his pastorate terminated by the Anglican Church because, they said, “his preaching was too fervent.” At that time, in the 18th century, the Anglican Church did not much like fervent preaching.
One year later, at the age of 30, in 1777, Thomas Coke was hired by John Wesley, the great evangelist who shook continents for Christ. John Wesley loved Thomas Coke’s fervor and made him his chief assistant. In 1783, John Wesley appointed Thomas Coke to be the Superintendent of Methodist Churches in North America. It was in September of 1785 that Thomas Coke was traveling from the British Isles across the Atlantic by sea to Nova Scotia, bringing missionaries to plant churches there and evangelize there. It was an ill-fated voyage. I mean Coke had made many journeys across the Atlantic as the Superintendent of Churches in North America, but this particular voyage, in September of 1785, was ill-fated. The winds were mask-breaking, and the waves were powerful and strong and high. The captain of the ship was so afraid. He had never seen storms like this. He began to wonder whether Thomas Coke and his missionaries were not Jonahs, and he actually threatened to throw them overboard. Fortunately, he did not.
It normally took one month to travel across the Atlantic to Nova Scotia. It took them three months, and they did not arrive in Nova Scotia. They were far off course. They limped into St. John’s Harbor on the island of Antigua in the Caribbean. It was Christmas morning when Thomas Coke and the missionaries came into that harbor at St. John’s in Antigua. Christmas morning, early in the morning.
Thomas Coke knew of one Christian on the island of Antigua, a missionary named John Baxter. He had never met him, but he decided to look him up. He began to walk through the streets of St. John, looking for John Baxter. He saw a man walking down the street, decided to ask him if he knew where John Baxter was, and the man was John Baxter. John Baxter was on his way to conduct a Christmas morning church service. Thomas Coke said, “Well, let me join you.” Well, the word spread throughout Antigua and throughout St. John’s that Thomas Coke, the Superintendent of Churches in North America in the Methodist Church, was on the island. People began to come. Normally John Baxter had very few people come to church even on Christmas. He was expecting a small crowd, but because Thomas Coke was there, the crowd just came in masse. They filled this little church in St. John’s. People could not get in, so they decided to have another service, and the church was filled again. Again. some people could not get it, so they decided to have another service, and the church was filled again.
John Baxter was amazed. He had never had a ministry response like this. He decided that, at least in terms of his ministry, things really do “go better with Coke!” Of course, Thomas Coke left the missionaries on that island of Antigua, left his missionaries there. He continued his service of North America. When Thomas Coke died in the year 1814, 17,000 men and women had accepted Christ at St. John’s on the island of Antigua through the missionaries he left there—17,000. Thomas Coke wound up witnessing … he was privileged to see hundreds of thousands of people come to Christ throughout North America. I love his story because he accepted Christ when he graduated from Oxford at the age of twenty-one and accepting Christ, he knew one thing. He was called to produce fruit. He gave his life to the productivity of the kingdom of God. He gave his life to the productivity of the vineyard of the householder. Is that true of you? Even if you are not vocationally in Christian ministry, do you long and live to see the vineyard prosper?
This church, Cherry Hills Community Church, seeks to serve the vineyard of the householder. I do not know many of you. I know some of you. I do not know how well most of you know this church, but surely you know this. This church seeks to bear fruit for Jesus Christ and for the household. We desperately want to be productive for Christ on this earth. Some of the things that we seek to do are hard and they take a lot of faith, but, you see, we want to serve Christ with all of our energy and with all of our life.
If you are a part of this church and you are a member of this church, we trust that you have made this commitment with us, that having accepted Christ, you seek the fruit of his kingdom. When we ask you to volunteer your time and your talent in Christian service in this church… When we seek to mobilize the laity, it’s all because of the productivity of the vineyard. When we ask you to give of your tithes and your offerings, we don’t do that because we’re money grabbers or because we want to put you out. We do that because we seek the productivity of the vineyard of the householder.
And so, the question that Christ asks us this morning is, “Are we committed to the bearing of fruit or, indeed, are we barren?” Jesus said, “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed you to go and bear much fruit.” Jesus said, “I am the True Vine, and My Father is the Vine Dresser. Every branch of Mine which bears no fruit He takes away. Every branch which does bear fruit, He prunes it that it might bear more fruit.” This is the call of Christ by the power of His Holy Spirit.
Most of us were not alive in 1939. A few of you were. In 1939. was a banner year in terms of entertainment and literature. It was in 1939 that Jimmy Stewart starred in Frank Capra’s classic movie “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” It was in 1939 that Judy Garland starred in “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and Dorothy walked the yellow brick road. It was in 1939 that John Wayne starred in John Ford’s award-winning classic western called “Stagecoach.” Of course, it was in 1939 that Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh starred in “Gone with the Wind,” considered by many to be the greatest motion picture ever made. It was in 1939 that John Steinbeck wrote “The Grapes of Wrath.” It was in 1939 that C.S. Forester wrote “Captain Horatio Hornblower.” It was in 1939 that James Joyce wrote “Finnegan’s Wake,” and it’s considered one of the greatest novels ever written.
All of these things, by the world’s standards, were great accomplishments, great accomplishments. But, for me, the greatest thing that happened in 1939 was the writing of the little song by a very humble Christian man whose name was George Beverly Shea. The name of that song was “I’d Rather Have Jesus.” You see, in 1939, George Beverly Shea was a young man. He had felt the call of Christ to vocational Christian ministry. He had a great voice and great musical talent. He was offered a lucrative contract with a national radio station. He was tempted by the money. He came home that night and began to play the piano. His mom came in and put a poem on top of the piano, a poem by Rhea Miller, a poem called “I’d Rather Have Jesus.”
George Beverly Shea looked at that poem and he read the words, “I would rather have Jesus than silver or gold. I would rather be His than have riches untold. I would rather have Jesus than houses or lands. I would rather be led by His nail-pierced hands. I would rather have Jesus than mankind’s applause. I would rather be faithful to His dear cause. I would rather have Jesus than worldwide fame. I would rather be true to His holy name than to be the king of a vast domain or be held in sin’s dread sway. I’d rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today.” That little poem changed George Beverly Shea’s life and he consecrated himself to the service of the householder of the vineyard. That night, as he sat at his piano, he wrote the music to the poem and he created the song, “I’d Rather Have Jesus.”
I have asked Marcia to sing that song in our time of communion together. Of course, George Beverly Shea, in the next few years, met Billy Graham. Billy Graham and George Beverly Shea and Cliff Barrows felt the call of the Holy Spirit to give their lives in the service of the kingdom of God and in the bearing of its fruit. They formed the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. George Beverly Shea and Billy Graham and Cliff Barrows have seen millions of people come to Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit upon their ministry. Today, George Beverly Shea and Billy Graham and Cliff Barrows still labor, still serve Christ together. They are old and they are frail. They have “fought the good fight.” They have “kept the faith.” They are near “finishing the race.”
Don’t you want that to be true of you? I know I want it to be true of me. I want to fight the good fight. I want to keep the faith. I want to finish the race. I want to serve the householder’s vineyard. Having accepted Christ, I want to bear the fruit of His kingdom. If that is true of you, would you join with me this morning as we come to this table, consecrating ourselves anew to the bearing of the fruit of the kingdom of God.
If you have not yet accepted Christ and you are not ready for communion this morning, then this is the time to get right with God and accept His Son. He is the Cornerstone of the kingdom of God. Without Him, you will never enter that kingdom. If you have accepted Christ, this is the time to commit yourself anew to the bearing of His fruit. Let us look to the Lord with a word of prayer.