WEBVTT 00:00:20.399 --> 00:00:26.160 Jerusalem was a tinderbox. Songs of freedom on 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:29.399 every street, Rome's shadow in every corner. 00:00:29.559 --> 00:00:34.100 And into that combustible week walks Jesus, hungry 00:00:34.100 --> 00:00:37.799 for figs, furious at a temple -turned marketplace, 00:00:38.100 --> 00:00:41.000 and unflinching for leaders who had mistaken 00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:46.200 stewardship for ownership. What do a cursed tree, 00:00:46.340 --> 00:00:48.740 an overturned table, and a murdered son have 00:00:48.740 --> 00:00:53.020 in common? They all tell the truth. God's hungry 00:00:53.020 --> 00:00:56.259 for fruit, not leaves, and he's not fooled by 00:00:56.259 --> 00:00:59.500 show. In this episode, we walk the dusty trail 00:00:59.500 --> 00:01:02.420 from the fig tree to the vineyard. Through judgment, 00:01:02.460 --> 00:01:05.879 stings, and mercy that saves. This is not a safe 00:01:05.879 --> 00:01:10.000 story, but it is a necessary one. And if you 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:12.099 find yourself stirred, I'd be grateful if you'd 00:01:12.099 --> 00:01:14.620 like, share, subscribe, so the gospel keeps reaching 00:01:14.620 --> 00:01:16.819 the weary who thought God forgot their address. 00:01:17.780 --> 00:01:25.849 I'll see you on the other side. We ready, Wayne? 00:01:26.549 --> 00:01:33.109 Wayne says begin. So parables, tonight is the 00:01:33.109 --> 00:01:36.390 parable of the tenants. And we find this story 00:01:36.390 --> 00:01:38.890 beginning in Matthew, I'm sorry, Mark chapter 00:01:38.890 --> 00:01:43.790 11, beginning with 12. Same story is also found 00:01:43.790 --> 00:01:46.750 in Matthew, we'll reference it. But just let 00:01:46.750 --> 00:01:50.090 me set in our minds where we're at. So it's that 00:01:50.090 --> 00:01:53.340 final Passover week. This is the week that will 00:01:53.340 --> 00:01:56.840 end with Jesus on the cross, okay? So in your 00:01:56.840 --> 00:02:00.859 head, this is the setting of the movie. Jerusalem 00:02:00.859 --> 00:02:05.239 is swelling like a balloon about to burst. It 00:02:05.239 --> 00:02:08.919 is that final Passover week, and pilgrims stream 00:02:08.919 --> 00:02:11.580 in from every corner of the empire. The Mount 00:02:11.580 --> 00:02:15.400 of Olives is dotted with tents and campfires 00:02:15.400 --> 00:02:21.180 flicker in the Kidron Valley. Every street hums 00:02:21.180 --> 00:02:24.520 with songs of deliverance. Psalms 113 through 00:02:24.520 --> 00:02:28.740 118, those are known as the Hallel. And Hallel, 00:02:28.740 --> 00:02:31.800 you might know the word hallelujah, where it 00:02:31.800 --> 00:02:35.919 comes from. Psalms 113 through 118, they're songs. 00:02:37.039 --> 00:02:43.259 They're actually songs that you would sing. And 00:02:43.259 --> 00:02:47.430 you might even know. One line from one of these 00:02:47.430 --> 00:02:52.629 songs. Psalm 118, 24. This is the day that the 00:02:52.629 --> 00:02:56.310 Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in 00:02:56.310 --> 00:03:00.669 it. Over the city looms Herod's temple, a mountain 00:03:00.669 --> 00:03:05.270 of white stone and gold. Roman soldiers patrol 00:03:05.270 --> 00:03:08.530 its courts, watching for sparks in the scene. 00:03:09.069 --> 00:03:14.840 To them, Passover is not religious. but revolutionary. 00:03:15.979 --> 00:03:21.159 A memory of Israel's liberation sung right under 00:03:21.159 --> 00:03:26.199 Caesar's nose. Every fig tree on the road in, 00:03:26.419 --> 00:03:29.319 every lamb led to slaughter, every psalm sung 00:03:29.319 --> 00:03:34.000 feels like dry tender just waiting for a match. 00:03:34.840 --> 00:03:39.860 Into this combustible moment walks Jesus of Nazareth. 00:03:40.969 --> 00:03:43.870 He's just entered the city to cries of hosanna, 00:03:43.990 --> 00:03:48.069 palm branches waving. He looked around the temple 00:03:48.069 --> 00:03:51.449 courts, then slipped back to Bethany at nightfall. 00:03:51.889 --> 00:03:55.009 But now in the morning light, he sets out again, 00:03:55.129 --> 00:03:59.310 hungry. And the air is ripe for confrontation. 00:04:01.009 --> 00:04:06.400 And you can feel the tension in the stones. Zealots 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:10.300 whisper beneath archways. Pilgrims trade rumors 00:04:10.300 --> 00:04:14.379 heard in the alley. A centurion's hand rests 00:04:14.379 --> 00:04:17.879 a little too comfortably on the hilt of his blade. 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:23.319 Passover is a lit fuse. Liberation remembered 00:04:23.319 --> 00:04:29.100 and empire watching. God's story ready to flare 00:04:29.100 --> 00:04:33.430 into the present. The city smells like lamb fat 00:04:33.430 --> 00:04:37.769 and incense, sweat and dust, hope and fear, like 00:04:37.769 --> 00:04:41.149 a revival camp pitched under the shadow of a 00:04:41.149 --> 00:04:47.410 fort. Beloved, hush your heart. Let the den of 00:04:47.410 --> 00:04:51.389 the pilgrims fall quiet. Stand with the disciples 00:04:51.389 --> 00:04:55.589 on the road from Bethany, fig trees heavy with 00:04:55.589 --> 00:05:00.569 green leaves lining the path. Temple courts glinting 00:05:00.569 --> 00:05:03.329 in the morning sun. Lift your ears, my dear friends, 00:05:03.509 --> 00:05:07.629 for the word is walking among us. Thus says the 00:05:07.629 --> 00:05:09.649 gospel according to Mark, beginning in chapter 00:05:09.649 --> 00:05:14.350 11, verse 12. On the following day, when they 00:05:14.350 --> 00:05:18.329 came from Bethany, he was hungry. Seeing in the 00:05:18.329 --> 00:05:22.110 distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether 00:05:22.110 --> 00:05:24.689 perhaps he would find anything on it. When he 00:05:24.689 --> 00:05:29.459 came to it, he found nothing but leaves. for 00:05:29.459 --> 00:05:33.000 it was not the season for figs. He said to it, 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:38.800 May no one ever eat fruit from you again. And 00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:42.439 his disciples heard it. In the morning as they 00:05:42.439 --> 00:05:45.720 passed by, they saw the fig tree withered away 00:05:45.720 --> 00:05:49.699 at its roots. Then Peter remembered and said 00:05:49.699 --> 00:05:53.120 to him, Rabbi, look, the fig tree you've cursed 00:05:53.120 --> 00:05:57.060 is withered. Jesus answered, Have faith in God, 00:05:57.139 --> 00:06:00.240 truly I tell you. If you say to this mountain, 00:06:00.379 --> 00:06:03.639 be taken up and thrown into the sea, and if you 00:06:03.639 --> 00:06:06.620 do not doubt it in your heart, but believe what 00:06:06.620 --> 00:06:09.699 you say will come to pass, it will be done for 00:06:09.699 --> 00:06:14.180 you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, 00:06:14.339 --> 00:06:16.360 believe that you've received it and it will be 00:06:16.360 --> 00:06:20.980 yours. Whenever you stand praying, forgive. If 00:06:20.980 --> 00:06:23.639 you have anything against anyone so that your 00:06:23.639 --> 00:06:27.189 Father in heaven... may also forgive you your 00:06:27.189 --> 00:06:32.009 trespasses. Now we turn the page, chapter 12, 00:06:32.170 --> 00:06:35.970 verse 1. This is our subject matter tonight. 00:06:36.670 --> 00:06:40.829 Then he began to speak to them in parables. A 00:06:40.829 --> 00:06:43.430 man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, 00:06:43.529 --> 00:06:46.810 dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watchtower. 00:06:46.910 --> 00:06:50.949 Then he leased it to tenants and went to another 00:06:50.949 --> 00:06:55.339 country. When the season came, He sent a slave 00:06:55.339 --> 00:06:58.639 to the tenants to collect from them his share 00:06:58.639 --> 00:07:02.259 of the produce from the vineyard. They seized 00:07:02.259 --> 00:07:05.079 him, and they beat him, and they sent him away 00:07:05.079 --> 00:07:09.579 empty -handed. And again he sent another slave 00:07:09.579 --> 00:07:12.480 to them. This one they beat over the head and 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:16.399 insulted. Then he sent another, and that one 00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:20.279 they killed. So it was with many others. Some 00:07:20.279 --> 00:07:23.560 they beat, others they killed. He had still one. 00:07:24.189 --> 00:07:28.810 a beloved son. Finally, he sent him to them, 00:07:28.889 --> 00:07:34.529 saying, They will respect my son. But those tenants 00:07:34.529 --> 00:07:38.689 said to one another, This is the heir. Come, 00:07:39.009 --> 00:07:44.149 let us kill him, and his inheritance will be 00:07:44.149 --> 00:07:48.670 ours. So they seized him, killed him, and threw 00:07:48.670 --> 00:07:53.639 him out of the vineyard. What then? will the 00:07:53.639 --> 00:07:58.180 owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy 00:07:58.180 --> 00:08:01.139 the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 00:08:02.139 --> 00:08:05.180 Have you not read the scripture, the stone that 00:08:05.180 --> 00:08:07.439 the builders rejected had become the cornerstone? 00:08:07.959 --> 00:08:11.459 This was the Lord's doing, and it is amazing 00:08:11.459 --> 00:08:16.199 in our eyes. When they realized that he had told 00:08:16.199 --> 00:08:19.500 this parable against them, they wanted to arrest 00:08:19.500 --> 00:08:23.519 him, but they feared the crowd. So they left 00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:28.439 him and went away. The tree, the temple, the 00:08:28.439 --> 00:08:31.620 tenants. Leaves without figs, courts without 00:08:31.620 --> 00:08:35.360 prayers, stewards without fruit. A hunger unmet, 00:08:35.460 --> 00:08:38.940 a house overturned, a son cast out. The word, 00:08:38.940 --> 00:08:42.299 friends, has spoken. Let it trouble us, let it 00:08:42.299 --> 00:08:48.360 sift us. Let it bear fruit in us. It begins with 00:08:48.360 --> 00:08:51.700 hunger, not symbolic hunger, not mystical hunger. 00:08:52.840 --> 00:08:57.000 Real hunger. Jesus walks up from Bethany, stomach 00:08:57.000 --> 00:09:00.259 growling and spots a fig tree that's flush with 00:09:00.259 --> 00:09:04.220 leaves. He walks up to it, hoping for breakfast, 00:09:04.259 --> 00:09:10.000 but all he finds is show without substance. Leaves 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:13.659 waving in the wind, but not a single fig in sight. 00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:19.960 And so he speaks a curse. May no one ever eat 00:09:19.960 --> 00:09:23.850 fruit from you again. And the disciples hear 00:09:23.850 --> 00:09:28.190 it, and they don't yet understand, but the words 00:09:28.190 --> 00:09:34.330 hang heavy in the morning air. And let's not 00:09:34.330 --> 00:09:39.070 soft -pedal this, guys. Jesus killed a living 00:09:39.070 --> 00:09:44.490 thing. Even if it was barren, the tree was alive 00:09:44.490 --> 00:09:49.029 when he spoke death over it. And that shocks 00:09:49.029 --> 00:09:55.299 us, or it should. But the prophets before him 00:09:55.299 --> 00:09:59.279 performed harsh, unsettling actions as well. 00:09:59.500 --> 00:10:02.740 Jeremiah smashing a pot, Ezekiel lying on his 00:10:02.740 --> 00:10:07.159 side and rationing his bread, Hosea burying unfaithfulness. 00:10:07.419 --> 00:10:10.419 These weren't cruel whims, they were prophetic 00:10:10.419 --> 00:10:16.580 theater. Truth of God acted out in flesh and 00:10:16.580 --> 00:10:20.159 soil where words alone would simply slide off 00:10:20.159 --> 00:10:24.710 of hard hearts. So the fig tree becomes more 00:10:24.710 --> 00:10:29.549 than a tree. It's a parable enacted in bark and 00:10:29.549 --> 00:10:36.070 sap. Just like Israel's worship, the green leaves 00:10:36.070 --> 00:10:40.210 of the temple, the bustling courts, priests in 00:10:40.210 --> 00:10:43.470 their glorious robes. But when God comes hungry 00:10:43.470 --> 00:10:49.129 for justice and mercy, for the sweet fruit of 00:10:49.129 --> 00:10:54.330 righteousness, There's nothing there. There's 00:10:54.330 --> 00:11:00.269 just leaves, noise. And friends, fruitless religion, 00:11:00.490 --> 00:11:04.450 however alive it may look, cannot live long. 00:11:05.090 --> 00:11:11.669 It withers. Picture the disciples standing there, 00:11:11.730 --> 00:11:15.429 wide -eyed, glancing between Jesus and the tree. 00:11:17.129 --> 00:11:19.769 The sun hasn't burned off the morning chill yet 00:11:19.769 --> 00:11:22.610 and already something irreversible has happened. 00:11:24.370 --> 00:11:28.690 You can almost hear one of them whisper, he spoke 00:11:28.690 --> 00:11:35.370 and it died. If a word from his lips can do that 00:11:35.370 --> 00:11:40.549 to a tree, what might his words do to a soul, 00:11:40.750 --> 00:11:47.690 a temple, to a nation who refuses him? leaves 00:11:47.690 --> 00:11:54.269 impress, fruit feeds. And that is a knife at 00:11:54.269 --> 00:11:59.230 our own root. And Jesus walks straight from that 00:11:59.230 --> 00:12:04.730 barren tree into the temple. Imagine it, the 00:12:04.730 --> 00:12:09.830 largest marketplace in the world. Currency exchangers 00:12:09.830 --> 00:12:13.610 calling out rates, merchants selling doves, animals 00:12:13.610 --> 00:12:17.779 bleeding, coins clattering. What should be a 00:12:17.779 --> 00:12:21.500 prayer for all nations is now a bazaar for profit. 00:12:22.340 --> 00:12:27.399 And tables flip, coins scatter, doves flutter 00:12:27.399 --> 00:12:32.360 free, merchants shout in anger. And Jesus' voice 00:12:32.360 --> 00:12:35.960 cuts through the chaos. My house shall be called 00:12:35.960 --> 00:12:39.860 a house of prayer for all nations. But you have 00:12:39.860 --> 00:12:43.159 made it a den of robbers. And that last phrase. 00:12:44.110 --> 00:12:46.370 It isn't about petty thieves in the sanctuary. 00:12:47.090 --> 00:12:50.350 It's actually from Jeremiah 7 and 11. It's his 00:12:50.350 --> 00:12:54.309 temple sermon. A den is the cave where robbers 00:12:54.309 --> 00:13:00.350 hide out after the stealing. He's saying, you've 00:13:00.350 --> 00:13:03.929 turned the temple of worship into cover for injustice. 00:13:05.549 --> 00:13:09.710 He doesn't just speak justice. He enacts it, 00:13:09.809 --> 00:13:14.559 just like the fig tree. Leaves without fruit. 00:13:15.340 --> 00:13:20.000 Worship without justice. Religion without mercy. 00:13:21.139 --> 00:13:25.059 The enacted sermon lands where polite preaching 00:13:25.059 --> 00:13:31.080 won't. See the faces. Pilgrims who have saved 00:13:31.080 --> 00:13:36.080 for years watch coins roll into the dust. Priests. 00:13:36.950 --> 00:13:40.669 gasp as their carefully managed economy suddenly 00:13:40.669 --> 00:13:45.610 unravels. And in the corner, poor widow, priced 00:13:45.610 --> 00:13:50.029 out of approved doves, watches cages break and 00:13:50.029 --> 00:13:54.429 the sky fill with wings. For her, this is a gospel. 00:13:55.509 --> 00:14:01.269 For the powerful, it's a threat. The next morning, 00:14:01.370 --> 00:14:03.809 the disciples pass by the same tree. Now it's 00:14:03.809 --> 00:14:07.950 withered to its roots final. Peter blurts out, 00:14:08.049 --> 00:14:10.470 Rabbi, look, the fig tree you cursed has now 00:14:10.470 --> 00:14:15.269 withered. And Jesus doesn't gloat. He teaches. 00:14:16.230 --> 00:14:19.529 Faith that moves mountains isn't some magic trick. 00:14:20.470 --> 00:14:25.350 It's a life rooted in God's world. Prayer that 00:14:25.350 --> 00:14:29.649 believes isn't swagger. It's trusting God enough 00:14:29.649 --> 00:14:33.590 to forgive. And that's the fruit God is after. 00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:40.039 Not leafy show, but living trust. Not religious 00:14:40.039 --> 00:14:45.820 noise, but reconciling mercy. The tree shouts 00:14:45.820 --> 00:14:50.720 a warning, fruitless piety dies. But Jesus pairs 00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:54.340 it with invitation, right? He doesn't just kill 00:14:54.340 --> 00:14:56.440 the tree, but then he starts talking about prayer 00:14:56.440 --> 00:15:00.639 and forgiveness. He says, believe, pray, forgive. 00:15:01.560 --> 00:15:05.879 Judgment and mercy are interbraided like thunder 00:15:05.879 --> 00:15:10.360 and rain in the same storm. Back in the temple, 00:15:10.519 --> 00:15:14.220 priests, scribes, and elders demand, by what 00:15:14.220 --> 00:15:17.139 authority are you doing these things? Authority 00:15:17.139 --> 00:15:22.879 is the coin of the realm in Jerusalem. Rabbinic 00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:27.460 pedigree, priestly lineage, Caesar's seat, and 00:15:27.460 --> 00:15:31.330 Jesus appeals to none of it. His authority is 00:15:31.330 --> 00:15:35.730 unborrowed. It is unsettling and it is heaven 00:15:35.730 --> 00:15:39.649 sourced. So he flips their question with one 00:15:39.649 --> 00:15:43.230 of his own. John's baptism, John the Baptist, 00:15:43.470 --> 00:15:47.769 heaven or human? And they won't answer because 00:15:47.769 --> 00:15:52.929 the truth would cost them their power and a lie 00:15:52.929 --> 00:15:58.169 would cost them the crowd and their dodge unmasks 00:15:58.169 --> 00:16:03.860 them. They're like the tenants, playing like 00:16:03.860 --> 00:16:09.759 they're the owners. Stewards of a vineyard, acting 00:16:09.759 --> 00:16:13.919 like they're the sovereigns of the earth. Leafly 00:16:13.919 --> 00:16:20.039 robes bearing no fruit. Everyone in that crowd 00:16:20.039 --> 00:16:23.720 knows the song from Isaiah, chapter 5, 1 through 00:16:23.720 --> 00:16:28.940 7. God planted Israel like a vineyard, hedged 00:16:28.940 --> 00:16:32.879 it. Watched over it, expected justice, but found 00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:36.659 bloodshed. Expecting righteousness, but heard 00:16:36.659 --> 00:16:41.179 a cry. And Jesus retells this prophecy with teeth. 00:16:42.039 --> 00:16:47.639 A landowner plants, fences, digs a press, builds 00:16:47.639 --> 00:16:52.259 a tower, then leases to tenants. Harvest comes. 00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:58.860 He sends servants to collect his fruit. That's 00:16:58.860 --> 00:17:03.379 his ownership. And they beat them and they shamed 00:17:03.379 --> 00:17:08.240 them and they killed them. Finally, he sends 00:17:08.240 --> 00:17:11.259 his beloved son. They'll respect my son, but 00:17:11.259 --> 00:17:14.839 the tenants whisper, this is the heir. Let's 00:17:14.839 --> 00:17:18.640 kill him and the inheritance will be ours. So 00:17:18.640 --> 00:17:20.460 they kill him and they throw him outside the 00:17:20.460 --> 00:17:23.500 vineyard. Now, I want to pause here and go real 00:17:23.500 --> 00:17:27.000 slow, because if you listen, you think, why would 00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:30.759 anyone think that? They work on the land. Why 00:17:30.759 --> 00:17:34.359 do they think if they kill the son that the vineyard 00:17:34.359 --> 00:17:39.579 would become theirs? Okay. Why do they think 00:17:39.579 --> 00:17:42.440 that murder might equate ownership? Because in 00:17:42.440 --> 00:17:46.420 that world, in that time, absentee land ownership 00:17:46.420 --> 00:17:51.009 was very, very common. If heirs to the inheritance 00:17:51.009 --> 00:17:56.990 had died far away and no claimant returned, tenants 00:17:56.990 --> 00:18:02.349 sometimes just stayed put, squatting until possession 00:18:02.349 --> 00:18:07.890 felt like right. It wasn't lawful, but it happened. 00:18:08.789 --> 00:18:14.529 And Jesus names their crooked logic. You're not 00:18:14.529 --> 00:18:18.759 negligent stewards. You're violent usurpers. 00:18:19.940 --> 00:18:23.900 You're scheming to seize that which never belonged 00:18:23.900 --> 00:18:30.559 to you. What will the owner do, Jesus asks. His 00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:33.619 answer is hard and just, judgment on the violent, 00:18:33.700 --> 00:18:37.660 the vineyard entrusted to others. And here's 00:18:37.660 --> 00:18:40.220 where Matthew's line needs to be brought in. 00:18:40.359 --> 00:18:44.289 Matthew 21 and 43, same story, different. telling, 00:18:44.410 --> 00:18:46.710 therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will 00:18:46.710 --> 00:18:49.589 be taken away from you and given to a people 00:18:49.589 --> 00:18:54.309 producing its fruits. Not a transfer of ownership. 00:18:55.250 --> 00:19:00.829 God never sells his land. A transfer of stewardship 00:19:00.829 --> 00:19:07.589 to those who will finally yield fruit. And remember 00:19:07.589 --> 00:19:11.559 too, the ones that will be the new tenants, The 00:19:11.559 --> 00:19:14.140 parable says that they are to accept the son. 00:19:15.660 --> 00:19:20.119 Now remember, when you read that, at the time, 00:19:20.119 --> 00:19:24.000 that doesn't mean become a Christian. No such 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:28.880 category existed yet. When Jesus says this, he's 00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:34.160 saying, recognize the heir to receive him as 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:38.000 the beloved of the owner and to hand over the 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:42.130 fruit that is due. To say with actions, the vineyard 00:19:42.130 --> 00:19:47.309 is yours, and so is the harvest. Inside Jerusalem's 00:19:47.309 --> 00:19:51.430 courts, it meant acknowledging that Jesus is 00:19:51.430 --> 00:19:56.230 God's true representative, the one with the Father's 00:19:56.230 --> 00:20:00.630 seal. To accept the Son is to surrender the illusion 00:20:00.630 --> 00:20:05.829 of control. To bear fruit not for your own eating 00:20:05.829 --> 00:20:10.180 or enjoyment, but to bear it for God. To yield 00:20:10.180 --> 00:20:13.480 authority to the one who comes in the Father's 00:20:13.480 --> 00:20:20.140 name. It's humility and soil and sweat. It's 00:20:20.140 --> 00:20:25.779 the first figs handed over with joy. The leaders 00:20:25.779 --> 00:20:31.559 could have done it. They would not. And that 00:20:31.559 --> 00:20:36.160 refusal echoes through every age that prefers 00:20:36.160 --> 00:20:42.259 status to surrender. Control over communion. 00:20:43.859 --> 00:20:49.059 Leaves to fruit. And Jesus drives it home. Remember 00:20:49.059 --> 00:20:52.400 the psalm I referenced earlier, Psalm 118, the 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:56.240 very soundtrack of the week of Passover? The 00:20:56.240 --> 00:20:59.960 stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 00:21:00.519 --> 00:21:03.619 This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous 00:21:03.619 --> 00:21:07.680 in our eyes. Imagine masons sorting blocks for 00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:11.559 the temple. A stone looks wrong, crooked, cracked, 00:21:11.720 --> 00:21:17.000 and they toss it aside. God takes that very stone 00:21:17.000 --> 00:21:21.680 and sets it at just such an angle where two walls 00:21:21.680 --> 00:21:26.720 become a house. That's Jesus' claim, rejected 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:31.630 by builders, chosen by God. cast out of the vineyard, 00:21:31.710 --> 00:21:36.269 enthroned as the cornerstone of a new temple 00:21:36.269 --> 00:21:40.869 not made with hands. And the irony is sharp. 00:21:41.869 --> 00:21:45.569 The one they discard is the one who holds everything 00:21:45.569 --> 00:21:47.890 together. And the people have been running around 00:21:47.890 --> 00:21:52.089 town singing his vindication all week without 00:21:52.089 --> 00:21:58.640 even realizing it. Mark makes us feel it. The 00:21:58.640 --> 00:22:02.079 acted parable, thunder in the bones, tree, temple, 00:22:02.299 --> 00:22:07.160 tenants. And Matthew gives us a verdict, taken 00:22:07.160 --> 00:22:10.579 away and given to a people that will produce 00:22:10.579 --> 00:22:14.500 fruit. One rolls like a storm over the lake. 00:22:14.539 --> 00:22:18.420 The other reads like a decree in court. And together 00:22:18.420 --> 00:22:23.559 they say, God will have fruit from his vineyard. 00:22:24.680 --> 00:22:28.140 and he will entrust it to those who will bear 00:22:28.140 --> 00:22:33.519 it. So who are the new tenants again? The vineyard 00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:37.000 never changes hands. It's God's vineyard, always 00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:41.519 has been, always will be. The tenants are stewards, 00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:47.880 never owners. And the new tenants are not Gentiles 00:22:47.880 --> 00:22:52.019 replacing the Jews, because that poisonous misreading 00:22:52.829 --> 00:22:58.369 has fueled terrible sins over our history. The 00:22:58.369 --> 00:23:01.750 new tenants are simply those who bear fruit, 00:23:01.970 --> 00:23:07.470 Jew or Gentile, tax collector or Pharisee, whoever 00:23:07.470 --> 00:23:10.170 receives the Son and tends the vineyard with 00:23:10.170 --> 00:23:14.710 justice and mercy. In Jesus' day, that meant 00:23:14.710 --> 00:23:18.230 that tax collectors and prostitutes were closer 00:23:18.230 --> 00:23:22.579 to the kingdom than priests in their robes. In 00:23:22.579 --> 00:23:25.059 ours, it might not be polished institutions, 00:23:25.220 --> 00:23:28.740 but rather the quiet faithful, those feeding 00:23:28.740 --> 00:23:33.079 the hungry, forgiving their enemies, welcoming 00:23:33.079 --> 00:23:37.500 strangers, keeping the vines alive while others 00:23:37.500 --> 00:23:40.920 shake leaves for their applause. Paul's olive 00:23:40.920 --> 00:23:44.099 tree image hums beneath this. It's in Romans 00:23:44.099 --> 00:23:48.400 11. Wild branches grafted in, all of them living 00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:52.470 by the same root. It's not replacement. It's 00:23:52.470 --> 00:23:56.809 renewal. Hold the three seeds together for a 00:23:56.809 --> 00:24:00.069 moment. Feel the braid of judgment and mercy. 00:24:01.349 --> 00:24:06.009 The tree withers. Judgment. So the disciples 00:24:06.009 --> 00:24:11.930 learn to pray. Mercy. The temple is overturned. 00:24:12.490 --> 00:24:16.910 Judgment. So the nations might find a house of 00:24:16.910 --> 00:24:21.829 prayer. Mercy. The son is rejected, judgment, 00:24:21.970 --> 00:24:28.170 so he becomes the cornerstone, mercy. This is 00:24:28.170 --> 00:24:32.690 the gospel's rhythm, the axe and the shoot, the 00:24:32.690 --> 00:24:36.670 cross and the resurrection. Judgment is not God's 00:24:36.670 --> 00:24:41.549 last word, but it is a real word. Mercy does 00:24:41.549 --> 00:24:46.589 not flinch from truth, but it cuts in a deeper 00:24:46.589 --> 00:24:50.700 current. We don't get to choose one and discard 00:24:50.700 --> 00:24:55.720 the other. In plain spoken terms, we don't serve 00:24:55.720 --> 00:24:59.099 cheap grace that ignores the withered stump. 00:24:59.799 --> 00:25:02.940 We don't ladle harshness that forgets that green 00:25:02.940 --> 00:25:07.140 shoot. We must preach both and live both because 00:25:07.140 --> 00:25:10.299 that is the narrow way where fruit actually grows. 00:25:11.700 --> 00:25:14.599 And maybe one more Old Testament prophetic echo 00:25:14.599 --> 00:25:17.470 here from Amos. Seven and eight, I am setting 00:25:17.470 --> 00:25:22.049 a plumb line in the midst of my people. God isn't 00:25:22.049 --> 00:25:25.630 eyeballing the wall, he's hanging a line. Not 00:25:25.630 --> 00:25:29.910 to humiliate us, but to true us. To make the 00:25:29.910 --> 00:25:33.069 house square so that the cornerstone can bear 00:25:33.069 --> 00:25:37.190 weight without cracking the hole. So let's come 00:25:37.190 --> 00:25:41.130 down off the hill and stand in our own dust for 00:25:41.130 --> 00:25:45.400 a moment. Where are we leafy but not fruitful? 00:25:46.640 --> 00:25:50.599 Where have we made worship a cover for our habits 00:25:50.599 --> 00:25:54.539 that starve our neighbors? Where do we keep the 00:25:54.539 --> 00:25:57.819 coin tables polished while the poor widow can't 00:25:57.819 --> 00:26:01.599 afford a dove? This isn't about self -loathing, 00:26:01.599 --> 00:26:05.240 but it is about opening the cages. Let prayer 00:26:05.240 --> 00:26:10.400 be prayer again. Messy, global, generous. Let 00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:15.119 forgiveness unclench our fists. Let faith say 00:26:15.119 --> 00:26:18.160 to the mountain of cynicism, be thrown into the 00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:22.259 sea and then shove a shovel in the ground to 00:26:22.259 --> 00:26:26.339 plant something living. You don't have to manufacture 00:26:26.339 --> 00:26:29.519 figs, but you do have to stay rooted in Christ, 00:26:29.660 --> 00:26:35.079 in the soil of mercy and watered with real prayer. 00:26:35.740 --> 00:26:41.049 Fruit happens when that sap begins to run. The 00:26:41.049 --> 00:26:45.309 story is not about trees or tenants only. It's 00:26:45.309 --> 00:26:49.710 about us. When Christ comes hungry, will he find 00:26:49.710 --> 00:26:53.470 only leaves or the fruit of justice and mercy? 00:26:54.250 --> 00:26:56.809 When the owner comes to the vineyard, will he 00:26:56.809 --> 00:27:00.089 find faithful stewards or tenants hoarding the 00:27:00.089 --> 00:27:05.069 harvest? Will we accept the son? Hand him over 00:27:05.069 --> 00:27:09.599 those first figs. Let him call the shots. Or 00:27:09.599 --> 00:27:12.119 will we keep pretending that vineyard is ours? 00:27:13.299 --> 00:27:15.940 The rejected stone has become the cornerstone. 00:27:16.019 --> 00:27:18.799 This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous 00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:23.480 in our eyes. So may we bear fruit worthy of the 00:27:23.480 --> 00:27:26.160 kingdom. May we welcome the Son even when he 00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:29.519 unsettles us. And may we not wither, but instead 00:27:29.519 --> 00:27:42.519 live. Amen? Amen. Thanks, guys. Well, we've walked 00:27:42.519 --> 00:27:44.440 together through a fig tree that withered, a 00:27:44.440 --> 00:27:47.920 temple overturned, a vineyard where tenants forgot 00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:52.099 whose land it really was. Each scene cuts sharp, 00:27:52.240 --> 00:27:55.940 but together they whisper the strange mercy of 00:27:55.940 --> 00:27:59.440 God. Judgment clears the field, but mercy plants 00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:04.359 again. The tree dies, but prayer is reborn. The 00:28:04.359 --> 00:28:06.880 temple shakes, but the nations are welcomed in. 00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:10.359 The sun is rejected, but the cornerstone holds. 00:28:11.529 --> 00:28:14.849 Here's the good news, friends. You and I don't 00:28:14.849 --> 00:28:18.509 have to live as leaf -only people. We don't have 00:28:18.509 --> 00:28:20.990 to be hollow disciples or grasping tenants. By 00:28:20.990 --> 00:28:24.730 grace, we can be grafted into the vineyard, rooted 00:28:24.730 --> 00:28:28.089 deep, bearing fruit that feeds the hungry, heals 00:28:28.089 --> 00:28:32.410 the broken, and forgives the unforgivable. That's 00:28:32.410 --> 00:28:35.109 not our work alone. It's the Spirit's work in 00:28:35.109 --> 00:28:38.769 us. And if Jesus can turn a rejected stone into 00:28:38.769 --> 00:28:42.089 the cornerstone of a whole new house, then he 00:28:42.089 --> 00:28:44.410 can take what's broken in you and build something 00:28:44.410 --> 00:28:49.049 living, strong, beautiful. This word has been 00:28:49.049 --> 00:28:52.710 a balm or a fire for your soul. I'd be honored 00:28:52.710 --> 00:28:54.829 if you'd like, share, and subscribe. That's how 00:28:54.829 --> 00:28:57.490 these stories find their way to others who need 00:28:57.490 --> 00:29:00.150 a little mercy in the static, who need to know 00:29:00.150 --> 00:29:04.710 that grace is still on the dial. So, until we 00:29:04.710 --> 00:29:08.170 meet again, may you bear figs, may you tend the 00:29:08.170 --> 00:29:10.230 vineyard, and may you know the cornerstone holds 00:29:10.230 --> 00:29:12.279 fast. I'll see you next time.