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PARABLE OF THE HUSBANDMEN: A NECESSARY REBUKE!
THURSDAY, APRIL 30
Matthew 21:23-32

Memory verse: Matthew 21:32

 

“There was a certain householder,
which planted a vineyard…

and let it out to a householder.”

 

PARABLE OF THE HUSBANDMEN: A NECESSARY REBUKE!
 
This is another parable without the phrase “the kingdom of heaven.” The target audience is the same as before: the chief priests and elders. Jesus directed this parable emphatically against them. They understood Jesus targeted them (cf. Matt 21:45). Instead of repentance, they sought to lay hands on Him, but they dared not because they feared the multitude.
 
Rebuke is good for the soul of every sinner. Jesus rebuked them because the chief priests and elders needed to see the sins in their hearts. Their self-righteousness had blinded them. Their system of religiosity had blinded them into thinking that they were already, for hundreds of years, on their way to heaven. Despite the clear teaching of Jesus as Christ, as evidenced by the many miracles they could not deny, they refused to accept. They stubbornly held on to their pride and arrogance, to their own damnation if they did not repent soon.
 
The parable of the Two Sons revealed to them that the door to salvation was still open if they believed. Jesus’ rebuke was to shock them from their spiritual stupor that had numbed their minds and hardened their hearts their whole life. Perhaps with this shock treatment, they might stop and look deep into their hearts and be saved from their sin.
 
Many of us think that because we know and teach the Bible, we must be Christians. Those who have theological degrees and are ordained or hold high positions in seminaries and Bible Colleges like a principal or president think they are Christians. They are no better than the Pharisees and chief priests in Jesus’ time. They believe the same. They felt they have nothing to repent of because they think they know God, and God must also know them since they handle the Word of God! How foolish and blind are the eyes of sinful men. A man must be born-again to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. He is one who lives the life of Christ in the midst of his fellowmen. Through his interaction, his faith is turned from theory to reality.
 
THOUGHT: Do I walk in Christ or talk only?
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, help me to know my salvation by my walk and not by my talk, for Christ’s sake. Amen.

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