AUGUST 24 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#26 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those called to labor for him?” (Matthew 21:40)

 

AUGUST 24  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   JQ#26

  “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, 

what will he do to those called to labor for him?”  

(Matthew 21:40)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer   

JESUS, Giver of Life, You alone are Worthy — Lord, it would be more

 than enough for You to provide Salvation for us but when we 

consider “How” and “Why” You provided that most precious

 Gift of ETERNAL LIFE, it is truly more than we can begin to understand.

 Lord Jesus, for You to come down from Your Glory in Heaven to this 

sin-filled earth is one thing, but to descend from Your Deity to take 

on flesh is beyond comprehension — add to that mix that You chose 

to be born of a woman and then to live a perfect example, not as a king

 or ruler but as a “servant” and then to take that Perfection and use 

it as the DIVINE Perfect Sacrifice for the sins of the world — O Lord,

 we shall never in this mortal body and limited intellect know, but when 

You give us our glorified bodies and we take on the TRUE MIND OF CHRIST, 

then we will finally understand and then THROUGHOUT ALL ETERNITY

 we will give to You all praise and Glory due to the

 ONE THAT DIED TO REDEEM OUR LOST SOULS!!!!!   

AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus is living and Teaching His last week on earth in Jerusalem

 where He has made His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem as the Son

 of David and His first order of business was to clean out the temple of 

God which had become a “den of thieves” and Jesus re-established 

the temple as a “house of prayer”. Jesus immediately was confronted 

by the religious rulers who did not question His “works” ——

— however, they were indignant that Jesus had not come to get 

permission from them so they questioned His “authority” — obviously

 these “rulers” were blinded by their self-assumed authority and missed the

 Truth of God that only God had the power to do miracles 

and healing and that these miraculous works of God was 

being accomplished through Jesus, the Chosen One under 

the leadership of the Holy Spirit in the temple at Jerusalem 

right before their eyes, with their permission or not!!! Jesus went right

 to the point of correcting their mistakes and He started with returning

 their question of “authority” by pointing out that

 ALL AUTHORITY AND POWER COMES FROM GOD 

— If there were no God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob there 

would be no Israel, no City of David and no Temple of God

 and all the “rulers” would have NO authority whatsoever

 outside the existence of God! 

When the “rulers” continued their confrontation, Jesus then began

 to Teach with parables as only the Master Teacher could do. Just as 

Jesus had taught by the “the-baptism-of-John”  Question 

the Truth of God that ALL SIN is against the True Authority of God 

and that God will “Judge” all that do not “Repent”!!! (Matthew 21:28-32) 

Jesus is now using the parable of the two sons to continue

 the Lesson — as a continuation of His Lessons to the “rulers” Jesus 

goes immediately into the next parable as He said to them, 

“Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner who

 planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress

 in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers 

and went into a far country.” (Matthew 21:33) 

Keep in mind to whom Jesus is “Teaching” and what “Lesson” He

 will convey with these 3 parables Taught in succession — for these

 three parables all address the issue of how we should respond to the

 True Authority of God! 

 Oswald Chambers in his commentary on SEPTEMBER 22

 (from the journal “My Utmost for His Highest”) really nails what

 the whole problem really is with not only “rulers” but with everyone

 who denies the reality of God and His Perfect Plan of Salvation

 as Oswald writes: 

“To have a master and teacher is not the same thing as being mastered

 and taught. Having a master and teacher means that there is

 someone who knows me better that I know myself, who is closer 

than a friend, and who understands the remotest depths of my 

heart and is able to satisfy them fully. It means having someone

 who has made me secure in the knowledge that he has met 

and solved all the doubts, uncertainties, and problems in my mind.

 To have a master and teacher is this and nothing less

—for One is your Teacher, the Christ…” (Matthew 23:8) 

Jesus is “Teaching” in Matthew 21-22 through parables about 

“True Authority and Lordship” 

and then in Matthew 23 He sums up the “why and how” for all who 

will listen and allow themselves to be “Taught” by the “Master”.

 The question each of us must ask ourselves is 

“Are we willing to be taught by the Master 

who is the One True Lord of Life?” ——— 

Jesus immediately started the second parable but where the first

 parable established the penalty for not obeying the father, the 

second parable is prophetic as He summed up the history of Israel 

and the hope of the Messiah as Jesus said that the landowner planted

 a vineyard and equipped it with everything they needed to have 

a good crop and a good living and then he “leased” the vineyard and 

 “went into a far country”. Jesus has been telling His disciples

 that He was going to be betrayed into the hands of men and He 

would be crucified and buried but on the third day He would be 

“resurrected” and Jesus repeats that prophecy of His death as 

He teaches in this prophetic parable that when the

 “vintage time drew near” that the landowner sent 

servants (prophets) and vinedressers (religious rulers) “beat one,

 killed one, and stoned the other…” (Matthew 21:35)

 then the landowner finally sent his son saying 

“they will respect my son…” (Matthew 21:37) 

Jesus then predicts His death as He continued,

 “the vinedressers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir.

 Come let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’” (Matthew 21:38) 

Jesus then asked JQ#25 “Therefore when the owner

 of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?”

 (Matthew 21:40). 

Once again the religious rulers gave the obvious answer that the

 landowner would “destroy those wicked men miserably, and 

lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to 

him the fruits in their seasons.” (Matthew 21:41) 

Jesus then let the scriptures pronounce the religious rulers fate 

as He quoted from the Psalms: 

“The stone which the builders rejected has become the 

chief cornerstone. This was the LORD’s doing, and it is marvelous

 in our eyes…” (Psalm 118:22-23) (Matthew 21:42). 

Then Jesus let the ax fall on the Sanhedrin and all the “religious rulers” 

of Israel that had rejected Him as the Son of God 

as Jesus gives His final judgement:

 “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken 

from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.” (Matthew 21:43)

 This parable about the landowner really hit home because 

“Now when the chief priest and Pharisees heard His parable, 

they perceived that He was speaking of them.” (Matthew 21:45) 

But even though they could answer the obvious Question they could 

not see the prophetic picture of God coming back to His Creation and

 will require an accounting of all that He has called into His labors 

— The question we must ask ourselves is:

 

“Have we been doing everything we should have been doing

 to render to God the ‘fruits in their season’?”