As you all know, I'm a comic book fan, back in
the day, but one of the ones that I used to collect
four years at a time was Superman. Now, in 1992,
what we discovered is that apparently DC Comics
wanted to do something major, so Superman died.
Superman died in 1992. I mean he was in his late
50s by that point so way too early. But one of
the things that we see though is that with all
this happening is that in 92 he ended up dying
in battle but in 93 they started hinting that
there might be something happening soon that
we should be aware of. Well with Superman gone
there was this strange question of who was left
to go and protect all the people. And there was
this thing called the Reign of the Superman and
they had these four characters. And these four
characters were kind of like Superman substitutes
in a sense. But each one was a little bit different.
They had a different way of living out the legacy
of Superman. And so there was one that clearly
was a little bit different. He wore a metal suit
and he definitely was human. But he seemed to
really care about people and was willing to put
himself out there and lay himself on the line
to protect the people of Metropolis. Then there
was one that was a lot younger and he seemed
a little different, kind of cocky and just sort
of brash. He did a lot of good things but it
always seemed like he was self -serving. And
then there was one who seemed to look like him
and in many ways seemed to have the same kind
of power but at the same time not just the fact
that he wore sunglasses, he also seemed to be
brutal, hurtful, merciless instead of merciful.
Then there was a fourth one, and this one acted
a lot like the original Superman. He looked different,
he seemed to be part machine in a lot of ways,
but the question was, could this truly have been...
Superman come back to life. He seemed to be kind.
He seemed to be patient. But there also seemed
to be something not quite right. That on the
inside, there wasn't something truly kind and
good about him. But with all these things, I
was asking this question, which of these four
would actually be the one that Superman would
want to take his place? But they also left us
with this question. Could any of them truly be
the real Superman? Because nobody could actually
find Superman's body in the tomb anymore. Yes,
comic books do have a lot of Christology within
them. But one of the things about this is that
it stood out to me of this question of what happens
when someone is leaving behind a legacy for others
to fulfill. And do they always fulfill what they've
been left? to do. And that's this idea that we
end up seeing when we understand the parable
of the wicked tenants. You see, the master of
this land, of this property, had left this land
to these farmers. See, the thing with this is
that the land needs to keep being used. Even
if the farmer, even if the original owner is
not there, someone needs to take on the work
that is to be done. And so the farmers not having
their own property can come in and can work this
soil, be able to not only make food for their
families, but also to make income from it. But
of course, a part of what they would earn would
also end up going to the master, some of the
food, some of the fruit. But in looking at this,
we end up discovering that the tenants, they
don't have any fruit. of repenting. See, that's
the thing with this is that this vineyard, this
land, this would have reminded the people listening
to Jesus of Isaiah. Isaiah spoke in the fifth
chapter about this land that had these grapes
where the Master had come and taken care of everything
that was needed, but yet some of the grapes did
not end up becoming very good. So in hearing
about this land, people would have had this idea,
this original story in their mind as they see
those who are good and those who are evil. But
what we end up seeing here is that the tenants
who are there in the midst of this sequel that
we have, they want nothing to do with the Master.
Even though the fruit that was there was intended
for the Master. They wanted to hold it for themselves.
And that's something that we want to make sure
to point out is that the people knew who Jesus
was actually talking about. You see, the fruit
was supposed to be the fruit of repentance. The
fruit where people are realizing their need to
come back to God. Their need to end up going
to God and revealing that they had failed, that
they had sinned, that they were in need of change.
But notice that the tenants don't want to give
the fruit over to God. The tenants don't want
to actually repent. They don't actually want
to realize that who they are, that the lives
that they live, are meant to belong to God. Instead,
it's only for themselves. Now, in seeing this,
you should be able to hear and see some hints
in there. about how the religious leaders are
uncomfortable. Why? You know how there are times
whenever you're saying something and you're not
outright saying it but everybody knows you or
knows exactly what you're trying to get at? But
you're trying to be subtle and you're just trying
to allow it to say what you need to say and let
it sit and rest with people? And that's the thing
here is that everyone around knows that Jesus
is speaking of the religious leaders. He's been
preaching for quite some time. There's no mystery
here. But what is interesting is to see how it
is that they have reacted. Because every time
the master of the land sends someone to come
along and to say, I am here for the fruits of
what I have given to you. I am here for what
it is that your work was meant to create. and
they keep beating up and harming the ones who
have come, because they do not want what they
have held for themselves to go back to God. Now,
it is not that difficult to know who these workers,
these servants from the Master really were. The
servants who had come from the Master were the
prophets. Time and time again, whenever they
had come along and they were speaking and they
were saying, You need to change to come back
to God and to listen to what it is that God has
to say to you. Stop getting distracted with everything
else. Stop following your own paths. And what
would the people of Israel do? They would either
reject them, cast them out, harm them. Maybe
even from time to time take their life. And that's
the thing with this is to realize that maybe,
maybe these tenants just didn't quite realize
the nature of these servants. Maybe there was,
in a sense, they weren't listening because they
didn't understand that they truly were from the
Master. And maybe the same thing could be an
excuse, that maybe the people of Israel did not
know that these prophets were actually speaking
from God. Maybe there was a mistake there. But
notice what the parable says, I will send my
son, they will listen to him. But here's the
question, would the people actually listen to
the one with authority? Would they listen to
one with authority? Because if you'll notice
in the parable, they clearly did not. See, when
the religious leaders are seeing Jesus coming
along, They're not actually asking the question,
is this actually the Messiah, the Son of God?
All they're saying is He's threatening our place
among the people. He is undermining our worship.
And that's one of the things with this is that
they had the Son with them. But just like the
tenants, it wasn't a question of whether or not
He actually had the authority to speak. but rather
whether or not Jesus was actually bothering them
and the fruits of what they wanted for themselves.
And isn't that true though? About what we end
up seeing. How often it is that we're not genuinely
looking for truth. We're not genuinely looking
for what God says is good. We're not genuinely
looking to see what it is that God wants to actually
do among us, to change us, to lead us and guide
us, but rather what is it that offends us because
it bothers what we value. It bothers what it
is that we wanted in our life and in our world.
And that's the difficulty here is that what they
saw was a threat to what they wanted, their desire
for their own fruits. So instead of the son of
the master truly convicting them, they end up
killing him. And that's the thing, is that it
points out here that instead of justice, there
was bloodshed. Instead of righteousness, there
is an outcry because this reminds us of Isaiah
5. And here's the thing to know about the original
Hebrew from Isaiah 5. See, it turns out that
the word for justice in Hebrew is mishpat. But
the word for bloodshed is mishpach. So instead
of mishpat, there's mishpach. You should notice,
I know, try to say that three times fast. It's
a bit much. I'll try not to spit on you. But
in realizing that the words are meant to sound
similar because it's meant to get your attention.
is that instead of the one, there's the other.
Instead of justice, there's bloodshed. Or righteousness,
which is tzedakah, instead there's an outcry.
Tzedakah. Tzedakah. Tzedakah. Because here's
the thing about this, is that it's a subtle difference,
but it ends up revealing what's happening in
their hearts. See, that's the funny part about
Jesus. is that Jesus being the Son of God, Jesus
being the one who has come to say, have you come
to repent with the Father? Are you ready for
the new life that you are truly being given?
Is it time to have the fruits of all of this
work being done among the people? And instead,
not only are we not giving it to you, we're going
to kill you. because we don't want what you represent.
Because what should be mishpah ends up becoming
mishpah. Because they would rather have bloodshed
than have to do what is right that may take away
their power, their strength. They would rather
have sa 'akah. They would rather create an outcry
in the world, in the country. among the people
than to do what is right in God's eyes. But the
good part, though, is to realize that the main
character may die, but he's not actually replaced.
One of the things is, you know, I was like...
13, you know, catching up all the comics and
everything. I was going through hospital treatments.
This was back during the cancer days. And every
day that I would get a chance to go check if
there was another comic there. And I remember
when I saw that this was the time when Jesus
was, sorry, this is the time when Superman was
coming back, at a moment. The thing with it is
that even though there were four individuals
that were attempting to take on his name is that
Superman was always still Superman and When he
did come back though it ended up revealing Who
the other four truly were? The man in the armor
truly was a good man, but also human there was
only so much he could do the young guy was showing
that he was never truly able to do it on his
own. He always was going to need to turn to the
grown -up in the room. And the guy with the glasses,
well, he really was brutal, but turned out he
was actually some version of artificial intelligence
back then, and he was always supposed to point
back to Superman. Because it turns out that the
guy who was part machine actually was trying
to destroy those around him. But it ends up that
what he was trying to do to destroy Superman,
the guy with the glasses ends up turning it around
and using it to empower him and to bring him
back to full strength. Isn't it funny how the
comics always seem to have those religious undertones?
But the thing with it is that when Jesus returns,
it ends up speaking that he destroys the tenants.
And that's the thing about this is that it ends
up creating fear. But why? See, what we know
is that when the sun comes, that could be the
time when people truly realize, are we giving
of what we had to the Master? But the people
are afraid. And why is that? They say, surely
not. And there are three things that... should
stand out. Number one, how could the tenants
kill the son? That's one of the things that's
hard to believe is that how could the people
at that time, they weren't willing to accept,
they weren't willing to realize what it was that
their leaders were truly going to do? They would
never do that. How could they truly do that?
Notice how the religious leaders They didn't
want to face the people because they knew the
people would never stand for that. Except when
they did. Or more than that, to go and to kill
the tenants because they knew exactly who the
tenants were. Could you really be overthrowing
our religious leaders? That's a hard part though.
Is that when the people of God are no longer
living for God, then they do not have a right
to the kingdom. Hard to hear, but it's true.
And even more than that is that they were going
to lose the vineyard. And see, what we end up
seeing historically is that the people of Israel,
they do end up being kicked out of the land.
They do end up having their temple destroyed.
They do end up losing everything, but it's not
just them. What about the things that we end
up seeing? Where we get so caught up in making
sure that our faith, our beliefs, our values
are serving our purposes instead of stopping
to say, are they producing the fruits that the
Son of God came to receive? Is what we're doing
in our lives creating love, joy, peace, patience?
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self -control. Do we actually see a lot of gentleness
and self -control in the world today? But when
we discover that the fruits of what we're creating
as the people of God do not end up proclaiming
God, then why would God want us to be His representatives?
And that's a hard piece of what we end up seeing
in today's world. See, we like to spend a lot
of time getting offended as the church about
all the things that we've been deprived and told
that we cannot do, we cannot have. But how often
is it that we're not being rejected as the church
because Satan is somehow getting a hold of the
world around us? How often is it that we're being
rejected because the things that we protest are
not actually the things of God. How often is
that we end up substituting the fruits that are
meant to be for God's kingdom with the fruits
of what make us feel comfortable in our kingdom?
Because in reality, as much as the death of the
Son might have been difficult in this parable,
is that what was really bothersome was the killing
of the tenants and the loss of the vineyard.
That's the truth about Jesus. That as the cornerstone,
He ends up being the one upon which we stumble,
and the one who comes down and crushes. See,
that is actually not the same thing. The stumbling
and the crushing. Because oftentimes when we
hear about this, the cornerstone is firm, solid,
and the rest of the church is built around it.
Just like a cornerstone determines where you
start and that everything is based around it.
But here's the problem with the cornerstone.
It doesn't move. It's not supposed to. See, the
difficulty is that the cornerstone that is a
stumbling block is actually supposed to be for
us as the Christians. We are supposed to stumble
because we're not supposed to keep going down
the paths that we did without them. It's supposed
to get in our way. The cornerstone is supposed
to get in our way. It's supposed to make us stop.
It's supposed to make us fall on our face. It's
supposed to say, hey, That is not what the point
was. Jesus is supposed to get in the way and
say you're going the wrong way. Because even
if we are saying we are His people, we still
keep getting distracted. But here's the reality
about it. Is that if it is not in place, If it
is not the corner upon which we have built everything,
what else does it do? That cornerstone, if it
falls, crushes all of those who do not build
themselves up with Him. And that's the reality
of what we see is that every work that we, every
fruit that we work to keep, instead of to offer
back to God, is something that condemns us. because
as much as Jesus came to seek and to save, not
to bring judgment, we keep ending up putting
ourselves under that cornerstone instead of being
built in our lives around it. See, that's the
difficulty is that when Jesus is the standard
around which the rest of the church is built,
when you build in a different spot, you don't
have Him holding you up. If you go in a direction
that doesn't let Him guide you, you will fall
on your face and you are supposed to. Because
that's the reality of what we see in a world
where we keep calling for bloodshed instead of
just seeking what is good and just. If we want
to make people cry out instead of doing what
is right and good. then the Master will send
His Son and will end up showing us who we truly
are. Are you willing to see the Son? Are you
willing to let Him have the authority? Are you
willing to give Him the fruit instead of keeping
it for yourself? Because my hope and my prayer
is that each of us are willing to let Him stumble
us so that we can truly see where we went wrong.
Because the only hope comes whenever He is our
cornerstone. And as much as we may want to replace
Him with our own ideas of what we want to see,
it's only when He is the one who leads us and
guides us that we actually create what is good
and beautiful in this world. So my hope and prayer
is that we see the fruits that we're creating,
and if those fruits are not the fruits of His
Spirit, that we'd be willing to change everything
we say and do, so that when the Son comes and
sees us, He says, well done, my good and faithful
servant. Come into my kingdom. Thanks be to God.