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Mark 12:1-12 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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I don't know if anybody else feels this way, or maybe from time to time.
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I'm having just a crazy morning.
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In a very kind of microcosmic way, we were getting ready.
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Sam and I were running late this morning trying to get the boys rallied.
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Sunday morning breaks their normal routine.
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They normally get up and they get to watch a cartoon while they eat their breakfast.
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Sunday mornings we throw them in clothes and throw them in the van and they eat on the run.
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And Judah really, really wanted, Sam had said he could get two animals,
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and he really wanted this one particular tree frog that he had.
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And so I was helping him and he really thought it was in his bucket and we couldn't find it.
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We had this whole selection process of the replacement tree frog for the one he really wanted.
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And just in this little five-minute absolute frustration for me,
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I realized that's how my whole morning has been going.
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And after that, got a call that the water wasn't functioning too well in the building this morning,
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which I'm sure many of you have already experienced.
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We're on a well.
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The filter was really dirty, so we thought maybe that was it.
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Threw a new filter in.
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That's not it.
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It seems that just generally in the county, the water table is really low.
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And so praise God for the potential rain that's coming to bring the water table back up.
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The pumps are shut off, so there is no water in the building if you're wondering at this moment what's happening with that.
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But the time I would have normally spent just re-going over my notes,
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I spent running up and down the stairs and playing with the pump
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and trying to figure out what in the world was going on with that.
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And I'm in this really bad habit.
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I wouldn't suggest any of you who are intending to preach to make notes like I do notes,
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because I essentially preach to myself all week.
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I'm just constantly looking at the scriptures,
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and literally in my head I preach to myself.
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I don't picture you guys.
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I picture me, and I tell me what I need to hear from this particular text.
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And then when I go, oh, that was good, I write it down.
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But usually in this very abbreviated form that will just help jog my memory to say it the way I said it in my head.
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And so it's really important that I go back and review my notes so I know what in the world I'm talking about.
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In fact, I do this to the degree that I've gone back thinking, for example,
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college Bible study right now is going through 1 Peter, which a bunch of years ago we preached through 1 Peter.
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Oh, like three years ago.
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And I got assigned a text that I'd previously done.
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I remember doing it.
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So I went and found my notes, and they made no sense to me.
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There were some references that made sense.
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I mean, obviously I had some framework going on there, but why did I write that down?
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And what did I intend to say as a result?
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So that's kind of where I find myself this morning as I'm coming to my notes.
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I looked at them briefly and went, I don't even know what that means.
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So let's pray together.
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For God's grace, for the preaching of his word this morning.
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We always need it.
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We need it more.
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We feel our need for it more at some time.
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So let's pray together.
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Father, it is a blessing to get to come to your word.
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For us to all hold copies of various sort, translation, some digital, some in paper,
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some big and some small in our laps this morning.
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And to have a church that celebrates the truth and desires to come around it
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and to align our lives with it is a great grace wrought by you.
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Father, as we all come from different directions this morning with different levels of craziness in our day,
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I would ask that you be very gracious to us.
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Still our hearts focus our minds that we might hear what you would say to us by your word this morning.
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There is no authority in my speaking except for the authority of your written word.
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Help us to cherish it.
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Help us to want to hear from you this morning.
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To desire to have our little worlds crushed by your astounding love to us.
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And Father, help all of this, the great end of it all,
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be that we love you more as a result of what we do here together today,
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that we will proclaim your excellencies,
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that we will leave this place shouting to the mountaintops how great our God is.
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We pray all of this in Jesus' precious and holy name.
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Amen.
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So we are now in Mark chapter 12.
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It is Wednesday of what's been called Passion Week.
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Jesus will be crucified on Friday.
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And we're going to spend a good majority of the rest of our time in Mark in Wednesday.
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Quite a bit of the text itself is on Wednesday.
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Things are winding down in one sense and certainly winding up in another sense.
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He's entered Jerusalem on Monday, which we see at the beginning of chapter 11.
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He cleanses the temple on Tuesday.
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Begins to make quite a hubbub in town already.
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And then Kyle last week preached from the very end of chapter 11.
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And we see the confrontation that begins in Jerusalem with the scribes and the Pharisees,
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all these religious elite leaders that eventually leads to his crucifixion on Friday.
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And so that's where we find ourselves as we come to the beginning of chapter 12.
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So follow along as I read to you, starting in verse 1.
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And he began to speak to them in parables.
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A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower
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and leased it to tenants and went into another country.
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When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.
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And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
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Again, he sent to them another servant and they struck him on the head and treated him shapefully.
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And he sent another and him they killed.
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And so with many others, some they beat and some they killed.
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He had still one other, a beloved son.
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Finally, he sent him to them saying,
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They will respect my son.
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But those tenants said to one another,
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This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and the inheritance will be ours.
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And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.
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What will the owner of the vineyard do?
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He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.
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Have you not read this scripture?
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The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
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This was the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes.
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And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people for they perceived that he had told the parable against them.
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So they left him and went away.
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This is God's word to us.
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It was written for his glory and our good.
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We would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.
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Jesus begins, verse 1, we see, to speak to them in parables.
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And I think it's important for us to note who it is that he's talking to.
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Chapter 11, verse 27.
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It's the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.
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Essentially, all of those at the top.
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The upper echelon of apostate Judaism is who he's speaking this parable to.
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And Jesus is such a masterful storyteller.
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I would encourage you at some point to take a brief break from whatever study you're doing in the scriptures
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and spend some time just studying the parables of Jesus.
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Brilliant in every regard.
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Direct to the point.
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Speaks to these people in terms that they understood.
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Drew their minds to the exact place that he intended for them to go.
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For us, it takes a little more work sometimes.
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We have to understand context a bit more.
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But boy, were these stories pointed and perfect in every regard.
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Now, we've seen parables serve some different purposes.
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Back in Mark chapter 4, he's speaking in parables to the crowd at Barad.
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And in verse 10, it says that when he was alone,
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those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables.
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And he said to them,
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to you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God.
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But for those outside, everything is in parables so that they may indeed see,
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but not perceive and may indeed hear, but not understand,
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lest they should turn and be forgiven.
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So Jesus has used the parables to veil the truth in a sense,
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to speak about the kingdom of God in such a way that only those whose hearts had been enlightened by the spirit
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understood what he was saying to them.
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It was kind of a shrouding of the truth.
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But now, he's using a parable in a much more pointed fashion.
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These darkened, hard-hearted religious leaders fully understand that he is speaking about them.
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We see this to be the case in verse 12.
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For they perceived, brilliant fellas, glad you figured it out,
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that he was talking against them.
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These religious leaders, these apostates,
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these who were leading the people of Israel astray.
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And the story starts out with a man.
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This man here is God who plants a vineyard,
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puts a fence around it, digs a pit for the wine press, builds a tower.
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And for us, these might seem like unimportant details,
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but all of these things were necessary for the flourishing of a vineyard.
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In fact, in this area, the valleys are very, very fertile, soft, good ground.
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The mountains are full of stones.
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It took a lot of work to prepare the hillsides,
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and this is where they grew.
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Wheat in the valley, wine, grapes up on the hillside.
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They would have put a tower in the middle of it,
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so they could have guarded over it,
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from animals that would come and eat the grapes,
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as well as any marauders that would come and try to take over the vineyards.
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They would build a pit and a wine press,
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so that they could process the grapes into something that was useful for their consumption.
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These things were all necessary,
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and so already he's catching them up into this story.
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A man who builds a good vineyard.
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A right and a proper vineyard.
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But what does the vineyard represent in the story?
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What or who is the vineyard?
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The vineyard is Israel.
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He's making here a direct reference to Isaiah 5,
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verse 1 and 2.
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You're welcome to turn there, or just listen.
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Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard.
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My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
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He dug it and cleared it of stones and planted it with choice vines.
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He built a watchtower in the midst of it and hewed out a wine vat in it,
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and he looked for it to yield grapes,
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but it yielded wild grapes.
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There are many other Old Testament references as well to this as a symbol,
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like Psalm 80, verses 8 and 9.
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This is a psalm of Asaph.
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You brought a vine out of Egypt.
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You drove out the nations and planted it.
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You cleared the ground for it.
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It took deep root and filled the land.
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This symbol is used most often to speak positively about the Lord's planting of His vineyard,
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His keeping of it, His tending of it,
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the way in which He sustains it.
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But it's also used to speak in negative about Israel,
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this vineyard that He had planted,
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and the way in which it lacked the proper fruit.
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We saw that Isaiah 5 at the end of verse 2.
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Looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes,
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which was not a grape that was good for wine making.
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Again, later on in Isaiah 5, verse 7,
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For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,
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and the men of Judah are His pleasant planting.
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And He looked for, here's the fruit He's looking for,
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the good grapes,
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He looked for justice,
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but behold, bloodshed.
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For righteousness,
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but behold, an outcry.
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Again, Jeremiah 2, verse 21,
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Yet I planted you a choice vine,
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holy of pure seed.
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How then have you turned degenerate
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and become a wild vine?
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They did not produce the fruit
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that was keeping with righteousness.
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They didn't produce the fruit that was proper
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for the people of God.
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Now, much of this was because
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the tenants,
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those that were put in charge
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over this vineyard,
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speaking here of those with spiritual leadership,
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did not lead well.
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Now, Israel is certainly held accountable as a nation.
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Individuals will be held accountable
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as individuals in our church.
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You will be held accountable
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for the sins that you commit,
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both those of omission and commission,
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but I will be held accountable
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to a higher degree
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for the way in which I teach you
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to obey the Word of God.
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What a weight that is,
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especially on a morning like this.
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So here we see in this parable
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a particular indictment
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against the religious leaders.
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Jesus is not dismissing Israel
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for their lack of following Him,
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but particularly as these men
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come to confront Him,
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which is not a new thing for Jesus,
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He's already experienced this
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as He's traveled all over Galilee.
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They've been sending men out to Him.
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They've already been trying to trap Him.
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He's been avoiding them all along.
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But here we see in this final week
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as things are coming to a head,
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the great climax of this redemptive story
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is about to happen.
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The confrontations also increase.
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And so specifically,
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He's speaking against these men.
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Again, chapter 11, verse 27,
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the chief priests, the scribes,
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and the elders who came to Him.
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Listen to what He says in Matthew 23.
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You'd do well to turn here.
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Matthew 23.
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There's a well-known chapter
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where Jesus speaks out
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against the Pharisees,
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the woes.
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He says,
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woe to them,
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woe to them,
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woe to them.
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Beginning in verse 1 of Matthew 23,
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then Jesus said to the crowds
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and to His disciples,
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the scribes and the Pharisees
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sit on Moses' seat,
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meaning they were given authority,
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they were religious leaders,
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over the people.
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So, do and observe
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whatever they tell you,
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but not the works they do,
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for they preach,
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but do not practice.
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They were great hypocrites.
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The great picture of hypocrisy.
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And sadly, I think we too often reflect
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the way in which they live.
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Verse 4,
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they tie up heavy burdens,
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hard to bear,
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and lay them on people's shoulders,
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but they themselves
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are not willing to move them
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with a finger.
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They do all their deeds
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to be seen by others,
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for they make their phylacteries broad
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and their fringes long,
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and they love the place of honor
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at feasts,
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and the best seats
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in the synagogues,
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and greetings in the marketplaces,
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and being called rabbi
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by others.
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These men had taken these positions
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and used it for their own
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self-exaltation.
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The phylactery was a small leather box
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that carried the law of God
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on their foreheads,
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and their fringes were on their
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prayer shawls,
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and them having longer fringes
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was supposed to be a greater thing.
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They were more serious
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about their devotion
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to the way in which God
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had called them to live.
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It seemed that they were
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getting into a competition
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about who could be better
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and greater
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and be exalted by people.
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Is this not the way
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that so many of us live?
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Do you identify in any way
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with these rulers?
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Piling up for yourself
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praise and exaltation.
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Don't forget where we've been
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in Mark.
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Put yourself back in Mark 8.
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The ways in which
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that Jesus has now set Himself aside.
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He's teaching the disciples.
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He's traveling towards Jerusalem.
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He's got this final few months
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with them moving along.
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And He says some incredible,
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shocking things about what it looks like
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to follow Him.
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The high cost of discipleship.
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Chapter 8, verse 34.
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If anyone would come after Me,
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let him deny himself
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and take up his cross
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and follow Me.
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You must die.
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You must lay down who you are
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if you want to be found in Christ
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and be found to be called His.
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Chapter 9, verse 35.
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If anyone would be first,
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he must be last of all
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and servant of all.
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Chapter 10, verse 31.
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But many who are first
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will be last
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and the last first.
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Chapter 10 again, verse 43.
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But whoever will be great among you
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must be your servant.
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And who will be first among you
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must be slave of all.
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And He puts the great punctuation mark
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on all of this
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as Himself as the example.
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He has yet to do this,
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but we're here coming to it
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in this week we're studying.
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Verse 45.
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For even the Son of Man
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came not to be served,
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but to serve
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and to give His life
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as a ransom for many.
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This is what it looks like
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to follow Jesus.
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This is what it looks like
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to not be apostate
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and to follow God.
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This is not at all
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what these religious rulers
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were doing.
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They were the antithesis of this.
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The very opposite
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of this thing.
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And we see that even
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they are aware of it.
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By the end of His story
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in verse 12,
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they have perceived
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that He's talking about them.
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The indictment is on them.
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And yet they fail to repent.
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They instead seek to kill Him
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at the appropriate time
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when they feel that
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they can get away
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with such an act.
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And back in our story,
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verse 2.
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When the season came,
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He sent a servant
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to the tenants
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to get from them
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some of the fruit
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of the vineyard.
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Now this whole practice
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of leasing out a property,
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even setting it up
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and then giving it
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to people to work
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was very common
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in this day.
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It's not entirely uncommon
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in our day either.
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But the way that they
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would go about this exchange
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is that the owner
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of the land
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would get some percentage
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of the crop
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that was yielded.
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So that's all He's saying here
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is driving this story along.
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He's bringing the people
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who are listening,
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particularly these religious leaders,
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along in this story.
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So they see
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there's a good vineyard built,
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there's tenants put over it,
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and when the fruit comes,
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the proper thing
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is to follow.
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The man who's gone away
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has sent somebody
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to collect
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what is rightfully his.
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What would have been expected.
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Verse 3,
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And they took him,
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and they beat him,
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and sent him away empty-handed.
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So the servant is beaten
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and sent back.
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Verse 4,
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Again he sent to them
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another servant,
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and they struck him on the head
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and treated him shamefully.
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And he sent another,
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and him they killed,
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and so with many others.
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Some they beat,
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and some they killed.
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Now note for a moment
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this man with this vineyard
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and his great,
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great patience
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and mercy
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towards the tenants.
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In fact,
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at this point,
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the people listening
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would have already been
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kind of enraged
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by the activity
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of this man.
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Why did he not go
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and destroy these tenants
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after they beat
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and sent away a servant
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the first time?
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The proper and right thing
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for them to have done
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on the first sending
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of the servant
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would have been to
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yield the crop,
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give to him
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what was rightfully his,
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and send it back,
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and they refused to do it.
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This was grounds
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for their very dismissal.
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In fact,
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he would have had
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much room to punish,
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right?
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To destroy them
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and to drive them out.
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Well, we see this man
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standing as a symbol
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for our Lord
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and the way in which
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he dealt with Israel
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with great patience,
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sending to them
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another,
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and another,
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and another.
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Listen to the words
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of the Lord.
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Return to me.
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You are my people.
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I will be your God.
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These words echo
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all throughout
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the Old Testament.
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The way in which
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he beckons his people
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to come back to him.
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And so,
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who are these servants
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in our parable?
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Who do they represent?
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They're the prophets.
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They're the prophets.
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And what had the leaders
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of Israel done
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with the prophets?
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All of you are scholars
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of your Old Testament.
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I know you know it
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so well.
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From Moses
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all the way
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to John,
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the baptizer,
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they largely rejected them.
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Largely rejected them.
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Some repentance.
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Some turning back.
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But for the most part,
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they rejected them.
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Some examples for you.
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Tradition holds
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that Isaiah was
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sawn in half
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and Jeremiah
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was stoned to death.
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Ezekiel hated.
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Amos had to flee
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for his life.
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Zechariah was rejected
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and stoned.
22:06
Micah was beaten.
22:08
And here in our
22:09
Mark's Gospel account,
22:11
John the baptizer
22:12
was beheaded.
22:15
They rejected
22:16
the messengers of God.
22:19
They didn't want to hear
22:20
what they had to say.
22:22
Jesus sums this up
22:24
again back in Matthew 23.
22:26
I should have had you
22:26
keep your finger there.
22:28
Beginning in verse 29.
22:31
Woe to you,
22:33
scribes and Pharisees,
22:35
hypocrites,
22:37
for you build
22:38
the tombs of the prophets
22:39
and decorate
22:41
the monuments
22:42
of the righteous,
22:44
saying,
22:45
if we had lived
22:46
in the days of our fathers,
22:47
we would not have
22:48
taken part with them
22:49
in the shedding
22:50
and shedding the blood
22:51
of the prophets.
22:52
They were so self-righteous
22:54
they thought themselves
22:54
above their forefathers
22:56
who had done these things.
22:58
Right?
22:58
Who had destroyed
22:59
these prophets.
23:00
So they're building
23:00
for them monuments.
23:02
They're decorating
23:02
these monuments
23:03
and they're saying
23:04
we would have
23:04
nothing to do
23:06
with the murder
23:07
of the prophets.
23:09
Verse 31.
23:10
The indictment
23:11
Jesus delivers to them.
23:13
Thus you witness
23:14
against yourselves
23:15
that you are sons
23:16
of those who
23:17
murdered the prophets.
23:19
Fill up then
23:19
the measure
23:20
of your fathers
23:21
you serpents
23:22
you brood of vipers.
23:24
How are you to escape
23:25
being sentenced
23:26
to hell?
23:28
That's our Lord.
23:31
Therefore I send you
23:33
prophets
23:33
and wise men
23:35
and scribes
23:36
some of whom
23:37
you will kill
23:37
and crucify
23:38
and some you will
23:39
flog in your synagogues
23:40
and persecute
23:41
from town to town
23:42
so that on you
23:44
may come
23:44
all the righteous blood
23:45
shed on earth
23:46
from the blood
23:47
of righteous Abel
23:48
to the blood
23:49
of Zachariah
23:49
the son of Barakai
23:50
whom you murdered
23:52
between the sanctuary
23:53
and the altar.
23:54
Truly I say to you
23:55
all these things
23:56
will come
23:56
upon this generation.
23:58
So what is he saying
23:58
to them?
23:59
He's saying
23:59
I'm going to prove
24:00
that you are as evil
24:01
as your forefathers.
24:03
You're going to kill me
24:04
and then I'm going to send
24:05
to you many people
24:06
who are going to come
24:07
and profess the truth
24:08
of God
24:08
and you're going to
24:09
kill them too.
24:10
And we see this
24:10
all play out
24:11
in this prediction
24:12
that happens here.
24:13
that's who these men are.
24:18
And boy
24:18
the scathing way
24:19
in which Jesus
24:20
speaks to them.
24:22
He gives them
24:22
no space
24:23
to wiggle out
24:24
of this whatsoever.
24:26
Serpents
24:27
brood of vipers
24:29
evil men
24:31
with evil intentions
24:33
proclaiming to be
24:35
men of God
24:36
and yet
24:37
were not
24:38
in any way whatsoever.
24:39
Now Jesus uses
24:43
two titles of himself
24:44
in the coming verses
24:45
and we really need
24:47
to hone in on this
24:48
and really pay attention
24:49
to this.
24:50
So we see the different
24:51
slaves are sent.
24:52
Kind of this
24:53
amassing number of slaves.
24:55
It would appear
24:55
that this man
24:56
runs out of slaves.
24:57
He sends so many
24:58
different servants
24:59
to them
25:00
that he's out.
25:01
He's tapped out.
25:02
No more servants
25:03
to send
25:04
because verse 6 says
25:05
he still had one other.
25:08
A beloved son.
25:09
Who is this?
25:13
It is the Christ.
25:14
It is Jesus.
25:16
The beloved son.
25:18
The man says
25:19
they will respect
25:21
my son
25:22
but the tenants
25:23
said to one another
25:24
this is the heir.
25:26
This is the Christ.
25:28
Come let us kill him
25:29
and the inheritance
25:30
will be ours.
25:33
And they took him
25:33
and killed him
25:34
and threw him
25:35
out of the vineyard.
25:38
Jesus is coming
25:39
and he is disrupting
25:41
their little world
25:43
of their religious
25:44
eliteness.
25:45
They are getting
25:46
knocked down
25:47
off of their thrones
25:49
that they have set up.
25:51
For the second time now
25:52
Jesus has come
25:53
and he has taken over
25:54
the temple.
25:55
It happens previously
25:56
at the very beginning
25:57
of his ministry.
25:57
We see that in John 2.
25:59
This is the second time
26:00
he's come back now
26:02
and he's done it again.
26:03
This courtyard
26:05
of the Gentiles
26:06
was a huge space
26:07
and I would just
26:08
love, oh would I love
26:10
to see it.
26:10
I hope that when we
26:11
get to heaven
26:11
we somehow get
26:12
the revelation
26:13
of what that looked like
26:15
and we watch the DVD
26:16
or something
26:16
of him driving out
26:19
and controlling
26:20
this massive,
26:22
massive space.
26:24
He's totally disrupted
26:25
and that's why
26:26
they're coming to him
26:26
and that's why
26:27
as Kyle was talking about
26:28
they're saying
26:30
by what authority?
26:31
You can't just come in
26:32
and take over like this?
26:35
He's putting them
26:35
in their place.
26:37
He's disrupting
26:37
all of this.
26:39
And they don't want that.
26:41
They want the temporary good.
26:42
They want the temporary glory.
26:44
They want him out of the picture
26:45
so they can continue
26:46
to persist
26:47
in leading in the way
26:48
that they have.
26:49
Amassing for themselves.
26:50
Getting all of the praise
26:52
in that time.
26:54
Jesus is the beloved Son.
26:57
Remember back in Mark 1
26:59
when Jesus was baptized
27:01
by John the baptizer.
27:04
We see this beautiful picture
27:06
of the Trinity
27:07
all in one place.
27:08
Jesus being baptized.
27:10
The Spirit of God
27:11
descending like a dove
27:13
and a voice coming from heaven
27:14
that says,
27:15
You are my beloved Son.
27:17
With you,
27:19
I am well pleased.
27:20
Places this seal
27:22
and this mark on him
27:24
and his ministry
27:24
really kicks off
27:26
at this point.
27:27
The amazing thing,
27:32
beloved,
27:32
and the reason I call you that,
27:35
is that if you're in Christ,
27:36
we are also now
27:38
children of God.
27:41
Jesus is the Son of God.
27:43
This complex,
27:44
mind-blowing,
27:46
Trinitarian truth
27:47
and the ministry apprenticeship
27:49
that we have going on here
27:50
this afternoon.
27:50
We're going to talk about
27:51
the Trinity.
27:52
It is such a difficult thing.
27:54
It's clearly biblically taught.
27:55
So hard to understand.
27:57
We've got this equal,
27:59
coexisting,
28:00
three-part God
28:01
and yet it exists
28:03
in some hierarchy.
28:04
The Son yielding to the will
28:06
of the Father.
28:07
The Father loving the Son.
28:09
It's a complex deal.
28:11
But this passes to us.
28:12
We get to join in.
28:14
Not that we're part of God,
28:16
but we get to be part of this
28:17
wonderful family
28:18
and this communion
28:20
that exists in that way.
28:24
John writes in 1 John,
28:25
1-3,
28:27
See what kind of love
28:29
the Father has given to us
28:30
that we should be called
28:32
children of God?
28:34
And so we are.
28:36
The reason why the world
28:37
does not know us
28:38
is that it did not know Him.
28:42
Beloved,
28:43
we are God's children now
28:44
and what we will be
28:46
has not yet appeared,
28:47
but we know that
28:48
when He appears
28:48
we should be like Him
28:49
because we shall see Him
28:51
as He is.
28:52
And everyone who thus hopes
28:54
in Him purifies himself
28:56
as He is pure.
28:59
If you have placed your hope,
29:00
if you have placed believing faith
29:01
in Jesus Christ,
29:03
you are a child of God.
29:06
And you see that the
29:07
clear expectation
29:09
as we've been studying
29:09
through Mark
29:10
is that we're also
29:11
going to experience
29:13
the kind of suffering
29:14
that Christ experiences.
29:15
We've seen this now
29:16
a number of times
29:17
throughout the text.
29:20
Prosperity gospel,
29:22
be damned.
29:23
It's not the truth.
29:25
We will suffer
29:26
and we will die
29:27
for our faith.
29:29
We live in a comfortable place
29:31
where this isn't a reality to us.
29:34
And the shameful thing
29:36
is because most of us
29:37
aren't living for Christ.
29:40
Most of us have bought into
29:41
this cheap grace idea.
29:44
Right?
29:44
You check a box.
29:45
Christian.
29:46
You show up for an hour and a half.
29:48
Maybe some bonus things.
29:50
You plug in somewhere
29:51
and do your monthly service.
29:53
And you think you're good
29:54
and right with God.
29:57
Discipleship is costly.
29:59
It costs you everything.
30:00
But it's worth it.
30:03
Trade what you can't keep
30:04
to that eternal thing
30:05
that you cannot lose.
30:07
Right?
30:07
This is the high call
30:09
of the gospel.
30:10
To be children of God.
30:13
John very poignantly says
30:16
the reason the world
30:17
does not know us
30:18
is that it did not know
30:19
Him.
30:21
We will be rejected
30:22
by the world
30:23
but we will be accepted
30:23
by God.
30:25
Isn't this a better thing?
30:27
Here we see these scribes,
30:29
these Pharisees,
30:30
these elders,
30:31
the religious leaders
30:32
who were highly accepted
30:34
by the world.
30:35
Jesus said in Matthew 23,
30:37
how will you escape hell?
30:41
How?
30:42
This is what you're looking for
30:44
in life.
30:45
Your end is destruction.
30:47
What a tragic thing.
30:48
Place your faith in Christ.
30:50
Accept what comes with that.
30:52
The high cost of discipleship
30:54
and be called a child of God.
30:59
It says in the text
31:00
that they killed Him
31:02
and then they threw Him out.
31:05
This is likely a reference
31:06
to the wide rejection
31:07
of Jesus by Israel.
31:10
They threw Him
31:10
out of the vineyard
31:11
altogether.
31:14
The vineyard itself
31:15
did not contain Him
31:16
any longer
31:16
but they tossed Him
31:17
outside of its walls
31:19
and so Jesus
31:20
opens the indictment up
31:21
a bit more.
31:24
And then He asks
31:24
the question
31:25
in verse 9,
31:27
what will the owner
31:30
of the vineyard do?
31:34
Now in the parallel text
31:35
in Matthew 21,
31:37
verse 41,
31:38
they respond,
31:39
they said to Him,
31:40
He will put those wretches
31:42
to a miserable death
31:43
and let out the vineyard
31:44
to other tenants
31:45
who will give Him
31:46
the fruits
31:46
in their season.
31:48
Now remember
31:49
who He's talking to.
31:50
He's talking to these
31:51
religious scribes.
31:52
These people
31:53
who should have
31:55
had all the answers.
31:56
And they did in this case.
31:57
In Matthew's account,
31:58
they respond
31:58
with the right thing.
32:00
Jesus has so caught them up
32:01
into this story
32:02
that they've yet to really realize
32:04
that they're now
32:05
delivering judgment
32:07
on themselves.
32:09
What's He going to do
32:10
to these men
32:11
who have treated Him
32:13
so shamefully,
32:14
who in every way
32:15
have made themselves
32:15
His enemy?
32:17
They say,
32:18
who put Him
32:18
to a miserable death?
32:19
That's the right
32:19
and proper thing to do.
32:21
They understood
32:22
capital punishment.
32:23
Genesis 9, 6.
32:26
God speaks to Noah
32:27
and says,
32:27
whoever sheds
32:28
the blood of man,
32:28
by man shall his blood
32:30
be shed.
32:30
For God made man
32:32
in His own image.
32:34
They would have been
32:35
furious
32:36
as much as they were
32:38
engaging in this story,
32:40
this fiction
32:41
that's happening
32:41
before them,
32:42
at the way in which
32:43
these tenants
32:44
treated the man
32:45
who owned
32:46
this vineyard.
32:47
Put them to death.
32:48
Come.
32:50
Put them to death.
32:50
Drive them out.
32:51
Give the vineyard
32:52
to other tenants
32:53
who give Him
32:55
the fruits
32:56
in their season.
32:59
And then Jesus
33:00
brings another title
33:01
into our scene
33:03
in verse 10.
33:05
Jesus is
33:06
the cornerstone.
33:09
He's the cornerstone.
33:11
Have you not read
33:13
this Scripture?
33:14
Now, when Jesus
33:15
uses words like this,
33:16
He's really mocking
33:17
these men
33:18
because they had
33:19
read it.
33:20
They clearly had read it.
33:22
These were the experts
33:23
on the law.
33:25
I can't hold myself
33:26
in comparison
33:27
to the way
33:28
they understood
33:28
the Scriptures.
33:29
I'm not like this
33:31
in my knowledge.
33:32
We know men
33:33
who are in our country
33:34
we look to,
33:35
we use their commentaries
33:37
and go and source them
33:39
for help in understanding
33:40
the Scriptures.
33:41
So they knew this.
33:43
They had read the Scripture.
33:44
The stone
33:45
that the builders rejected
33:46
has become the cornerstone.
33:48
This was the Lord's doing
33:50
and it is marvelous
33:51
in our eyes.
33:52
Now, if you don't know much
33:53
about this ancient architecture,
33:55
the cornerstone
33:55
was incredibly important
33:57
for the building
33:57
of a building
33:58
because it had to be hewn,
34:00
right?
34:01
They chipped away.
34:02
They built these things,
34:03
blocks of rock.
34:04
They built stones
34:05
to be stacked.
34:06
Incredible.
34:07
I hope someday
34:07
to get to travel
34:08
and see firsthand
34:09
some of this ancient architecture.
34:11
That cornerstone
34:12
was so important
34:13
because it had to be
34:13
laid out perfectly square
34:16
on all sides
34:16
because it built
34:17
the walls out
34:18
as well as
34:20
the way in which
34:21
the wall would be built up.
34:23
Right?
34:23
So if it was crooked
34:23
in any way whatsoever,
34:24
the wall would lean
34:25
or the walls would gap out
34:27
or they would narrow in.
34:28
The building wouldn't
34:29
be put together properly.
34:30
The cornerstone
34:31
was key
34:32
to the function
34:33
of the entire building.
34:35
Without it,
34:36
the building
34:37
could not hold together.
34:38
It could not be
34:39
properly built.
34:41
This is further significant
34:44
because
34:44
he's quoting here
34:46
Psalm 118,
34:48
22,
34:49
and 23.
34:52
Now I know all of you
34:53
have great memories.
34:55
So you're remembering
34:56
a number of weeks ago
34:57
when Clay
34:58
spoke
34:59
at the beginning
35:00
of chapter 11
35:01
about the triumphal
35:02
entry.
35:04
And they called out
35:05
all the people
35:07
called out
35:08
Hosanna!
35:09
Blessed is he who comes!
35:11
in the name of the Lord.
35:13
And guess what
35:13
they're quoting there?
35:14
Psalm 118,
35:16
verse 26.
35:17
Just a few verses
35:18
after this very thing
35:20
that Jesus is quoting.
35:22
The stone that the builders
35:23
project
35:23
has become the cornerstone.
35:24
This was the Lord's doing
35:26
and it is marvelous
35:27
in our eyes.
35:28
So by the profession
35:29
of the people
35:30
as he came in
35:31
on Monday,
35:33
he is that cornerstone.
35:36
And this may be the point
35:37
we don't know exactly,
35:39
but this may be the point
35:40
at which
35:40
in their minds
35:41
it turns
35:42
and they get,
35:43
oh, aha,
35:44
he's talking about us.
35:46
Oh, he's saying
35:48
he's the cornerstone.
35:49
And it mentions there
35:50
in verse 12
35:51
that they feared
35:52
the people.
35:54
So they left him
35:56
and they went away.
35:58
Very clever of our Lord
36:00
to quote from Psalm 118,
36:02
22 and 23
36:04
in this case.
36:07
Now you remember
36:08
verse 9,
36:08
pulling us back up,
36:10
you remember in verse 9
36:11
that the tenants
36:13
are going to be destroyed
36:14
and the vineyard
36:14
is going to be given
36:15
to others.
36:18
In Matthew's account
36:19
it says
36:19
that the tenants
36:20
will give him
36:21
the fruits of their season.
36:23
The others will be
36:23
new tenants
36:24
that will give him
36:24
fruits in their season.
36:26
So who is Jesus
36:27
referring to
36:28
when he talks about
36:29
the others?
36:31
Who is this vineyard
36:33
going to be given to?
36:34
I think specifically
36:37
and firstly
36:38
we need to understand
36:39
to the apostles.
36:42
Already there's been
36:43
some authority shift.
36:45
Hasn't there?
36:46
Jesus has been teaching
36:47
them along the way
36:48
correcting their thinking.
36:50
He's given them
36:51
charge to go out
36:52
and preach the gospel
36:53
of the coming kingdom.
36:54
He's given them
36:55
the ability to cast out
36:56
demons and to heal people.
36:57
There's already been
36:58
a bit of a power shift
36:59
in the structure
37:00
already
37:01
and it will only
37:02
increase
37:03
as he sends his spirit
37:05
the helper
37:06
to come along.
37:07
Jesus says
37:07
that the apostles
37:08
are going to do
37:09
greater works
37:10
than he does.
37:12
They're going to become
37:12
the new leaders.
37:14
The new tenants
37:15
over Israel
37:17
being God's people.
37:21
Remember that 21
37:22
verse 43 of Matthew
37:23
Therefore I tell you
37:24
the kingdom of God
37:25
will be taken away from you
37:26
and given to a people
37:28
producing
37:29
its fruits.
37:31
producing good works.
37:34
These would be the
37:35
new heralds
37:36
of the truth.
37:38
The guardians
37:39
of it.
37:42
So specifically
37:42
the apostles
37:43
and then beyond that
37:45
to us.
37:47
We're in that lineage now
37:49
as those who believe
37:50
in the gospel
37:51
of Jesus Christ.
37:53
That message has passed
37:54
across the generations
37:56
and we are now
37:57
those heralds
37:59
of the truth.
38:02
If you don't believe me
38:03
I think you do.
38:05
But just in case you don't
38:05
let's turn to 1 Peter
38:07
together.
38:07
Chapter 2.
38:07
The scriptures are such a wonderful
38:29
web interweaving
38:31
of symbolism
38:32
written across
38:35
so many years
38:36
by so many different writers
38:37
but all inspired
38:38
by the spirit of God.
38:40
1 Peter
38:41
chapter 2.
38:41
I'll begin reading
38:42
in verse 4.
38:44
As you come to him
38:45
him is Jesus
38:46
here
38:47
a living stone
38:48
rejected by men
38:50
but in the sight
38:51
of God
38:52
chosen
38:52
and precious
38:53
you yourselves
38:55
like living stones
38:57
are being built up
38:58
as a spiritual house
38:59
to be a holy priesthood
39:01
to offer spiritual sacrifices
39:03
acceptable to God
39:04
through Jesus Christ.
39:06
So as we come to
39:07
Jesus Christ
39:08
the living stone
39:09
this cornerstone
39:11
we are also
39:13
stones
39:14
being built into
39:15
a house
39:16
to offer what?
39:18
Sacrifices
39:19
acceptable to God
39:20
through Jesus Christ.
39:21
Fruit
39:22
bearing good fruit
39:23
good works
39:24
preaching the gospel
39:24
loving our neighbors.
39:27
Verse 6
39:27
For it stands in Scripture
39:28
Behold
39:29
I am laying in Zion
39:31
a stone
39:31
a cornerstone
39:32
chosen
39:33
and precious
39:34
and whoever believes
39:35
in him
39:36
will not be put to shame.
39:38
So the honor
39:38
is for you
39:39
who believe
39:40
but for those
39:41
who do not believe
39:41
the stone
39:42
that the builders
39:43
rejected
39:43
has become
39:44
the cornerstone
39:46
Does that sound familiar?
39:48
Verse 8
39:48
And a stone of stumbling
39:50
and a rock of fence
39:51
they stumble
39:52
because they disobey
39:53
the word
39:54
as they were destined
39:55
to do
39:56
but you are
39:57
a chosen race
39:58
a royal priesthood
40:00
a holy nation
40:02
a people
40:03
for his own possession
40:04
Why?
40:06
That you may proclaim
40:07
the excellencies
40:08
of him
40:08
who called you
40:09
out of darkness
40:10
into his marvelous light
40:11
That's why
40:13
we exist
40:14
church
40:15
Once you were
40:16
not a people
40:17
but now you are
40:19
God's people
40:20
Once you had
40:21
not received mercy
40:22
but now you have
40:24
received mercy
40:26
verse 10
40:26
is borrowing
40:27
from Hosea
40:28
What a beautiful
40:30
beautiful picture
40:31
this is
40:31
of us being
40:32
built into
40:33
a holy dwelling
40:34
place
40:35
for God
40:36
Do you see
40:36
the great
40:37
juxtaposition
40:38
here
40:38
in the story?
40:40
Jesus is using
40:41
this story
40:42
directly as an
40:43
indictment
40:43
against these men
40:45
that he's talking
40:45
to
40:46
but it broadens
40:46
out
40:47
as he talks
40:48
about who
40:48
he is
40:49
and we have
40:49
a great
40:50
understanding
40:50
now on
40:51
this side
40:51
of all
40:52
of the
40:52
gospel
40:53
realities
40:54
who we
40:55
are now
40:56
in
40:56
him
40:57
this is
41:00
why we're
41:00
created
41:01
this high
41:02
cost
41:02
of discipleship
41:03
for us to
41:04
walk in
41:05
all of us
41:06
all of us
41:07
a holy
41:08
priesthood
41:09
all of us
41:10
are meant to be
41:11
going and sharing
41:12
going and doing
41:13
it's not reserved
41:14
for my position
41:15
in this church
41:16
all of you have
41:17
been given
41:17
this responsibility
41:19
my job
41:20
primarily
41:21
is to help
41:22
you
41:22
go do
41:22
your job
41:23
2nd
41:25
Corinthians
41:25
chapter 5
41:26
makes the
41:29
point again
41:29
and I'm going
41:30
to close
41:30
with this
41:31
2nd
41:32
Corinthians
41:32
chapter 5
41:33
beginning
41:33
of verse
41:33
17
41:34
therefore
41:36
if anyone
41:37
is in
41:37
Christ
41:38
he is a
41:39
new
41:39
creation
41:40
the old
41:41
is passed
41:42
away
41:42
behold
41:42
the new
41:44
has come
41:45
all this
41:46
is from
41:47
God
41:47
who through
41:47
Christ
41:48
reconciled
41:49
us to
41:49
himself
41:49
and gave
41:50
us the
41:51
ministry
41:51
of
41:52
reconciliation
41:52
understand
41:53
that we
41:54
are enemies
41:54
of God
41:55
and the
41:56
ministry
41:56
of reconciliation
41:57
is that we
41:58
help people
41:58
make peace
41:59
with God
42:00
verse 19
42:01
that is
42:01
in Christ
42:02
God was
42:03
reconciling
42:03
the world
42:04
to himself
42:05
not counting
42:06
their trespasses
42:07
against them
42:07
and entrusting
42:08
to us
42:09
the message
42:09
of reconciliation
42:11
therefore
42:12
we are
42:13
ambassadors
42:13
for Christ
42:14
God
42:15
making his
42:15
appeal
42:16
through us
42:17
we implore
42:18
you
42:19
on behalf
42:19
of Christ
42:20
be reconciled
42:22
to God
42:22
so if you
42:24
are in
42:25
Christ
42:25
you have
42:25
the ministry
42:26
of reconciliation
42:27
to be about
42:27
the work
42:28
of bringing
42:29
people to
42:29
peace
42:30
with God
42:30
and understand
42:31
beloved
42:32
this is a
42:33
big deal
42:34
just before
42:35
this in
42:35
2nd
42:36
Corinthians
42:36
Paul said
42:37
that we
42:37
no longer
42:37
regard
42:38
anyone
42:38
according
42:39
to the
42:39
flesh
42:40
and what
42:40
he's
42:40
meaning
42:40
there
42:41
is
42:41
that
42:41
they
42:41
see
42:41
people
42:42
as
42:42
eternal
42:43
beings
42:44
no one's
42:46
life gets
42:46
snuffed out
42:47
and it
42:47
ends there
42:48
they go
42:48
on forever
42:49
and where
42:49
do they
42:50
go on
42:50
to
42:50
we should
42:52
really want
42:53
to know
42:53
this
42:53
we should
42:53
be really
42:54
concerned
42:54
about this
42:55
with everyone
42:56
we encounter
42:57
do you
42:57
understand
42:58
the weight
42:58
of sin
42:59
and its
43:00
subsequent
43:00
consequence
43:01
oh if you
43:03
do plead
43:03
with people
43:04
to come
43:04
to the
43:05
Lord
43:05
that they
43:06
might have
43:06
life now
43:07
and for
43:07
eternity
43:08
this is
43:08
the message
43:09
of
43:09
reconciliation
43:10
God has
43:11
granted it
43:12
to us
43:13
he makes
43:13
his appeal
43:14
through us
43:15
and that
43:15
appeal is
43:16
simply this
43:17
if you
43:17
do not
43:17
know
43:18
where you
43:18
stand
43:19
in this
43:19
if you
43:19
think
43:20
I may
43:21
I may
43:22
be in
43:22
the camp
43:23
of these
43:23
religious
43:23
elite
43:24
I go
43:24
through the
43:25
motions
43:25
I do
43:25
the things
43:26
outside
43:27
I'm looking
43:27
pretty good
43:28
inside
43:28
I'm full
43:29
of dead
43:29
people's
43:30
bones
43:30
I'm full
43:31
of hypocrisy
43:32
if you
43:32
think you
43:33
align with
43:34
them in
43:34
this way
43:35
this is
43:36
the appeal
43:36
to you
43:36
we implore
43:37
you
43:38
on behalf
43:39
of Christ
43:39
be reconciled
43:41
to God
43:42
let's pray
43:43
together