Luke 20:9-19
God’s Due
We are now into the last four days of Jesus’ earthly life. He was in
Jerusalem; the Jewish leaders had determined to kill Him; Judas was
putting into motion his plans to betray Christ; and the disciples
were pretty much oblivious to it all.
Just in the way of review, let me remind you that this is the "trap
chapter."
Luke 20:20 And they watched him, and sent forth
spies, which should feign themselves just men,
that they might take hold of his words, that so
they might deliver him unto the power and
authority of the governor.
The religious leaders already attempted to trap Jesus in
\\#Luke 20:1-8\\ with their question of "Who sent You?" Luke, as
well as the other gospel writers, will record several more attempts.
The parable Jesus gave in these verses was directed to the religious
leaders because of their rejection of Him and \\#19\\ makes it clear
that they knew that.
This parable is very similar to the one given in \\#Luke 19:11-27\\.
That parable was about a nobleman going to receive a kingdom. In
fact, the parables are similar in at least five details.
1. Both deal with a person in authority having a great
possession:
a. Luke 19 - Nobleman and his kingdom
b. Luke 20 - An owner and his vineyard
2. Both deal with time - In both, the person in authority leaves
for a long period of time \\#9\\.
3. Both deal with his servants:
a. Luke 19 - The servants serve with different amounts of
determination and success.
b. Luke 20 - The servants refuse to serve and plot to steal the
vineyard.
4. Both record the person in authority returning.
5. In both parables the servants are judged.
Despite the similarities, the parables have completely different
purposes. The primary purpose of the parable in Luke 19 was to teach
the saved that they will be held accountable for what they do FOR
Jesus Christ. The primary purpose of the parable in Luke 20 was to
teach the Jews that they will be held accountable for what they do
WITH Jesus Christ.
Let’s note some truths:
I. Parables are earthly stories with heavenly meanings.
A. To understand them, we must understand the symbols.
B. In this parable:
1. God is the Owner of the vineyard.
2. The vineyard is God’s kingdom.
a. You might be thinking this parable has something to do
with the church and with Jesus’ return at the
rapture.
(1) The parable in Luke 19 did. This one does not.
(2) This is a parable to the Jews and especially to
the Jews of Jesus’ day.
b. God has promised the Jews a kingdom and that the Jews
will have a great part in that kingdom.
c. Remember, both John and Jesus had come preaching that
the kingdom of God was at hand.
d. God's kingdom is what is in sight here.
3. The husbandmen are the Jews.
a. The Jews were to serve God both in the kingdom and
while they waited for the kingdom to come.
b. The kingdom had not come yet, but the Jews were still
to serve the Master.
4. The long time is the time waiting for the kingdom to be
established. The Jews have been waiting for their kingdom
longer than we have been waiting for the return of Jesus
Christ by at least 1,000 years!
II. \\#10\\ Notice what God desired.
A. God sent a servant to get something from the husbandmen.
1. These servants are the prophet.
2. Something was due to God and the husbandmen were not
sending it so God sent prophets to Israel to get it.
B. God doesn’t pick the analogies by accident or without purpose.
1. Having a vineyard is not like having a swamp. A vineyard
produces something.
2. Even though the Jews were waiting on the kingdom. God
expected fruit from them.
3. We can call that "God’s due."
C. What is "God's Due"? It is always the same.
1. God expects obedience.
2. God expects our trust.
3. And if it is not asking too much, God would also like:
a. …some gratitude…
b. …and maybe some love.
D. By the way, while we are waiting for the return of Jesus, God
is expecting some fruit from us. That is also "God’s due."
1. Nothing has really changed here.
2. Oh, some might say, "God did away with the rule book,"
meaning the Old Testament laws.
3. That is true but then He gave us the Coach, the Holy
Ghost, to guide us.
a. What is the difference?
b. They had a book of rules we have a Coach, both of them
are to guide us and in both cases, God expects
obedience, trust, and a little gratitude and love.
E. Friend, that is the only fruit God has ever asked of any human
being!
1. What else could He ask for? What have we to give God?
2. God doesn’t need our money. Our tithe is nothing more
than a display of our obedience, trust, and love.
3. God certainly did not need their dead sacrifices! They
were only a display of their obedience, trust, and love.
F. The Jews, throughout history, refused to give to God His Due.
III. \\#10-15\\ Notice what the Jews did.
A. \\#10\\ The Owner of the vineyard (God) sent servants to
collect His due from the vineyard.
1. These would be the prophets, those whom God sent over
thousands of years to get the Jews to give God His due.
2. In all of those years, the prophets never told the Jews to
give God any more than the things I have mentioned:
obedience, trust, a little gratitude and love.
B. \\#10-12\\ What did the Jews do with the prophets?
1. \\#10\\ The husbandmen beat some and sent them away with
no fruit.
2. \\#11\ They treated others shamefully.
3. \\#12\\ They wounded some.
C. \\#13\\ So what did God do?
1. He sent His Son. Guess who that is? JESUS!
2. Certainly, the husbandmen should have respected the Son.
3. But as was obvious by what was happening on the very day
that Jesus spoke this parable, the Jews were NOT.
D. \\#14-15\\ What were they about to do?
Luke 20:14 But when the husbandmen saw him, they
reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the
heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance
may be ours.
15 So they cast him out of the vineyard, and
killed him….
1. They were about to kill God’s Son!
2. Notice the mindset that Jesus gave for the behavior of the
husbandmen, "that the inheritance may be ours."
3. They wanted ownership.
4. Friend, that is always what rebellion is about.
a. It is what Satan’s rebellion was about.
b. It was what the Jew’s rebellion was about.
c. It is what your and my rebellion is about.
5. We don’t want God owning us and telling us what to do.
IV. \\#15-19\\ Notice the point of the parable.
A. This parable was being directed to the rebellious Jews who had
made plans to kill Jesus, made payment to Judas to betray
Jesus, were setting traps to win public support for what they
determined to do with Jesus.
B. Jesus asked what they thought God was going to do as a result
of their crime.
Luke 20:15 …What therefore shall the lord of
the vineyard do unto them?
C. And was Jesus answer?
Luke 20:16 He shall come and destroy these
husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to
others….
1. Jesus was telling the Jews that they were about to be
given to the Destroyer.
a. They were given to the Destroyer.
b. For 1900 years, the Destroyer has destroyed them.
c. While most Jews have come to hate God for failing
them, they fail to realize that the fault was
theirs!
d. That they failed God repeatedly and then killed God’s
Son!
2. And that the responsibility and the privilege of giving
God His due while the world waits for His kingdom was to
be giving to another!
a. The "others" are the church.
b. We are still waiting for God to set up His earthly
kingdom, but because the Jews refused to give God
His due, they have been removed.
c. In time, God will restore them but for right now, the
vineyard is in our care.
d. We are to keep the vineyard up and to give God His
due while we wait for the establishment of the
kingdom.
e. What is God’s due? It is obedience, trust, some
gratitude and a little love.
3. It is amazing how clear and plan God has been to those who
would read His Word.
D. The Jews UNDERSTOOD.
Luke 20:16 …And when they heard it, they said,
God forbid.
E. Jesus then emphasized the point by quoting Psalm 118:22.
Luke 20:17 And he beheld them, and said, What is
this then that is written, The stone which the
builders rejected, the same is become the head of
the corner?
18 Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be
broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will
grind him to powder.
1. Did God want the Jews to reject His Son?
2. No. It was their choice.
3. That is why Jesus wept over them coming down the Mount of
Olives!
4. But they would reject.
F. Indeed, they became even more determined to carry out their
evil plot.
Luke 20:19 And the chief priests and the scribes
the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and
they feared the people: for they perceived that
he had spoken this parable against them.
What do you think, folk? Can we give God His due tonight?
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