God’s vineyard
Scriptures for November 14th include Psalm 16, Daniel 4:28-37, and Mark 12:1-12. Listen to verse 12 of Mark: Then he [Jesus] began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watchtower; then he leased it to tenants and went to another country.
I have been trying to grow grapes for at least three years now and I have learned much more about vines. Vines require good soil, the right amount of water, nutrients, and extensive pruning. Grapes won’t grow just anywhere and here is an established vineyard ready to be worked. So imagine if you created a vineyard and then employed some folks to run it for you and the outcome was that they tried to seize the vineyard from you. That is what I focused on when I read the parable. I focused on tenants who were so ungrateful that they acted as if the vineyard was theirs. They seized the owners servants when they came to collect his share of the harvest. Then they beat and killed the owners servants and even killed the owners son. When Jesus asked his audience: what the owner will do in this situation? It must have come as no surprise that the owner would exercise severe punishment to such ungrateful tenants.
So are we hopelessly condemned because we are ungrateful tenants of our bodies and the gifts and talents God gave us? No. There is good news here for those who believe in Jesus Christ. The good news is that just when God would have every right to punish us for being ungrateful stewards, we were redeemed by the blood of Jesus. We were redeemed because of the awesome power of God’s love being revealed through our Savior Jesus. Let us trust that God’s desire is for us to share eternity with him and not that we be condemned. God offers us forgiveness of our sins for those who truly repent and this is grace.
Whatever history you have in taking care of God’s vineyard, don’t despair. Trust in the power of God to forgive you through Jesus Christ.
