Who does Jesus think he is? Luke 20:1-18.

Well,

it's good to see faces I don't see every

week. It's good to see faces I do see

every week. It's good to be together,

isn't it? To look at the Lord's um word

together.

Do you know many years ago when I was

fresh out of um college, I sat at my

computer in a small design studio in my

first job being amazed that someone was

willing to pay me for doing this thing

that I thought was very fun for

designing things and having fun

basically and they were going to pay me

for that. I thought this is magnificent.

What a wonderful thing. I was sitting

there feeling quite smug to myself when

all of a sudden in burst a John Cle type

of man, cigarette on the go, uh,

bellowing at the top of his voice about

the parking situation. And, uh, I sat

there dumbfounded at this whirlwind of a

man. I had no idea who he was and why he

could erupt into our sanctuary of

creative serenity like that. I I did

honestly feel slightly tempted to ask

him, "Who do you think you are just

coming in here and making this great

racket?"

I'm glad I didn't.

He was a veteran advertising guru. He

owns the company who shared our office

and basically kept my boss and me in

business. That's who he was.

Effectively, my boss's boss. and

22year-old fresh out of college me

thought I was in a position to ask who

he thought he was.

It could have been quite embarrassing.

But this is effectively the question

that is put to Jesus. Who do you think

you are coming in here doing these

things?

And you know that is the question that

humanity

have been asking God.

Who do you think you are to tell us what

we are meant to do and who we are meant

to be? Well, we're going to look at the

at that and our first point. Who do you

think you are? Just to remind us of the

context. Jesus has been on his way to

Jerusalem since uh chapter 9:51.

He knew where he was going. He was going

to Jerusalem. He was going to the cross.

And Jesus knew that that's where he's

been going. But he's been taking the

scenic route. Many months have gone

past. He's been t taking the time to

teach and to train and to heal. But

after many months, Jesus makes his final

approach to Jerusalem. And as we saw

last week, when he came round the

corner, when he saw Jerusalem,

he wept.

He didn't weep for himself.

He saw Jerusalem. His heart went out to

them. He wept for them publicly,

profusely for the hard-heartedness of

Israel.

Now the next day, Monday, he entered the

temple. He was outraged by what he saw

going on. His father's house, the place

of worship, had been made into a common

market turned into a den of thieves. And

so he drives out all the sellers,

overturns their tables, and and won't

let them return. and he stands there in

the middle of the temple taking their

place and he teaches them and he heals.

What did he teach?

We're going to come back to that at the

end.

But needless to say, Jesus's actions

drew attention.

And so, possibly on the Tuesday or the

Wednesday, we're not quite sure of the

time there, a coalition of highprofile

people approached Jesus to get some

answers.

There's the chief priests. Now, they

would have been a group made up of the

current high priest, former high

priests, and all the prospective new

high priests. All the important bigwig

priests were in this chief priest group

when they come along. And there's the

scribes as well. There were mostly

Pharisees. They were trained

professionals. It was their job to study

and to interpret and to teach scripture.

So, they're there. And finally, you get

the elders as well. They were

distinguished laymen who were respected

heads of tribes and towns and cities.

And so they all together, those three

groups constitute the supreme judicial

council of Judaism. The 71 strong

council called the Sanhedrin.

The chief priests, the scribes, the

elders. There we are. The Sanhedrin. So

this um uh deputation of of important

people have come representing the

highest order of religion in Judaism and

they come to him and they don't seem

particularly pleased to see Jesus. In

verse two they said to him tell us by

what authority you do these things or

who it is that gave you this authority.

What things these things what things do

they have um an issue with? was probably

what Jesus did in the temple. He came

in, he turned everything upside down,

he's ruined their money-making racket,

and he's now standing there teaching

without their say so.

So, they want to see his credentials.

Who do you think you are coming in here

doing what you're doing?

But no, make no mistake, this isn't a

friendly request or they're not actually

after information here. This is a trap.

They know they haven't given him

permission to be teaching there.

They know that if he says, "Well, you

didn't give me permission." He's going

to have to say, "Well, I've given myself

permission or I have an authority that

comes from somewhere else." And so,

that's going to look very undermining if

it appears that Jesus doesn't have the

necessary authority. But Jesus perceives

the situ situation perfectly and he

doesn't blindly walk into their trap,

but he counters with his own question.

Now, this isn't a red herring just to

kind of throw them off and just get out

of a difficult situation. Actually, if

they answer the question Jesus asks

them, that will go a long way

into answering their own question. So,

this isn't just a whoa, let's change the

subject. If they answer correctly and

honestly, this will answer their own

question. So he says in verse three, he

answered them, I also will ask you a

question. Now tell me, was the baptism

of John from heaven or from man?

And you see that's a bit of a dilemma

for them because if they say from

heaven, they're going to be open to the

charge of, well, why didn't you believe

him then? Why didn't you go and get

baptized like the others who believed

him? And furthermore, John the Baptist

accredited Jesus. Behold the lamb of God

who takes away the sin of the world. He

spoke about Jesus. He pointed to Jesus.

So if they

believed what John the Baptist had said,

if they believed he was from heaven,

they will be agreeing with him and by

extension endorsing Jesus and thus

giving Jesus the credentials they

themselves were asking about.

But they didn't want to do that.

But the trouble was if they say he comes

from man, they risk this violent

response because the crowd still

venerated John as prophet. And it's

interesting, they don't seem to actually

pause

and consider

the the actual question. They don't seem

to be taking time to think, well, let's

let's work out what's true here. That

doesn't seem to be a concern. What

they're trying to do is is is regain the

upper hand. Their minds are already made

up about Jesus. They're trying to get

rid of him and remove him from this this

their their their place, their turf. And

he's destabilizing their privileged

positions and income. And we're not

being disingenuous by saying that. Cast

your eyes back to verse 47. These are

the exact same men who were seeking to

says destroy Jesus. They want him gone.

But it was the fear of people, not the

fear of God. It was the fear of people

that restrained them. So after they've

huddled and they've had this brief

consultation, they return to this well,

they return this rather embarrassing

and dishonest answer. We don't know.

Well, that's a lie because they knew.

They knew what they believed. They knew

that they didn't believe John the

Baptist was from God. And they knew that

G they didn't think Jesus was from God.

But they're too scared to say. But since

in their hearts they have rejected John

the Baptist, Jesus knew that they were

rejecting him too. The one who John the

Baptist pointed to.

And so Jesus declines to indulge their

question as they aren't really they

don't really want the truth. They were

just looking to undermine Jesus.

But it does rather beg the question

then. How do we see Jesus?

I wonder if we've actually taken the

time to stop and think what gives Jesus

the right to do what he did, to say what

he says, to to be the judge of all

humanity,

to say that that is right and that is

wrong. What gives Jesus the right to

tell you

what he does? To tell you how you should

be, how you should treat others, how you

should treat God. What gives Jesus the

right to claim to be the way, the truth,

and the life, and that no one comes to

the father except through him. It's a

rather huge claim if he's actually got

no credentials, isn't it? It's massive.

Have you ever considered

who do you think Jesus was?

Who do you think Jesus was?

Have you seriously taken time to to

consider the claim he has on your life?

Or perhaps you're really quite happy and

comfortable with your life and you don't

really want Jesus interfering too much

with the way you like to do things. you

know, you you kind of examine him or you

honor him in a certain kind of way. You

keep him an arms distance. Yeah, he's

nice. He's nice. Nice. Good religious

leader. And I'll lead leave him there. I

don't want him getting too close because

if he gets too close, what he might do

is he might come into our lives and

start overturning some of those

traditions and those things that we hold

really dear in our lives because Jesus

has a habit of doing that.

Tells us how we should be, who we should

worship.

So who does he think he is? And and the

way we answer that has massive

implications?

What right does Jesus have? He may not

be willing to directly answer the

religious elite on their terms, but he's

going to let the crowd know and he'll do

it by way of a shocking and damning

parable which we'll look at in our next

point, the beloved son.

And Jesus presents what would have been

a familiar scenario. A man plants a

vineyard. He moves away and so he rents

it out so that people can look after it

and bring in an income and return some

produce to him. But why on earth is

Jesus suddenly speaking about a

vineyard? Seems a bit odd, doesn't it?

Well, the meaning apparently would have

been quite obvious to the people back

then um if they would have known the

scriptures. It was a reference to Isaiah

Isaiah 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5. So I'll read it for you. You

can turn there if you like. Isaiah

chapter 5:es 1 and 2.

By the way, it's really good to have

your Bibles open in front of you, isn't

it? Cuz you just need to make sure I'm

telling you the truth. So cross

reference. What's where's Matt getting

this from? You know, so do have your

Bibles. Bring them along. Really

important. So Isaiah chapter 5:es 1 and

two. Let me sing for my beloved my love

song concerning his vineyard. My beloved

had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.

He dug it and cleared it of stones and

planted it with choice vines. He built a

watchtower in the midst of it and he

hued out the wine vat in it and he

looked for it to yield grapes,

but it yielded wild grapes.

probably not really understanding much

more about what that's talking to. But

thankfully Isaiah in a couple of verses

verse 7 he goes on to explain for the

vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the

house of Israel.

So the owner and the planter is God and

the vineyard is his people. This is God

establishing his rights. He owns it. He

planted it. He brought Israel into being

as his special people. And this of

course can be widened to include all

people, the whole world. We all belong

to him. Everything belongs to him. But

firstly, this is speaking about his

chosen people, Israel.

And those left to tend it were the

leaders. They were meant to cultivate

Israel so that it produced good fruit

and ready to give back to the owner, to

give back to God what was owed. But when

the time comes, back to the parable,

when the time comes, a servant is sent,

and they don't want to give the owner

what belongs to him. So they they beat

each servant as their scent, sending

them away empty-handed. Uh who who does

that represent?

Well, we can turn to Jeremiah. If you

want to, I'll read it for you, but

Jeremiah chapter 7.

Jeremiah 7 · chapter mention

Jeremiah 7:es 25 and 26. Uh, and that

gives us some insight. From the day that

your fathers came out of the land of

Egypt to this day, I have persistently

sent all my servants, the prophet, to

them day after day. Yet they did not

listen to me or incline their ear, but

stiffened their neck. Israel had a long

history of rejecting the prophets,

mistreating the prophets, even killing

the prophets. And you can read through

the Old Testament and see that for

yourselves. So in the parable when Jesus

uh gets to the third servant uh being

sent, we're starting to think, you know,

what's the point? This is just like

Israel's history. Prophet after prophet

have been sent. And in this story,

servant after servant have been sent and

we think, what's the point? They're just

not listening. They're not responding.

Don't bother sending another servant.

They're not worth the effort. Be done

with them. Just think, well, blow them.

But we might might think that until we

realize but wait a minute because

actually we ourselves

are included in those people who don't

listen to God. How long did it take for

you

to hear and respond to God?

Maybe you haven't. Even now perhaps

you're resisting him. you don't want to

hear. Insisting on going what you doing

what you know goes against what God

says. And yet God is so gracious and he

is so patient with us. He gives us so

much grace. He gives us so much time to

change. And we we can think about it

nationally. We can think about it

globally. how patient God is with

sinners, with people who just keep

saying no, no, no, no.

God has given us everything that we have

and we take that and yet we do not want

to give back to him what he deserves.

Our reverence, our worship, our

obedience. We say, "Well,

who does God think he is? Why? Why

should I listen to him? Second Peter 3:9

2 Peter 3:9

gives some insight. It says, "The Lord

is not slow to fulfill his promise as

some count slowness slowness, but is he

is patient towards you, not wishing that

any should perish, but that all should

reach repentance." Those verses go on to

say that the day of the Lord will come

and then it will be over. But for now,

each day is a day of mercy. So why

doesn't God just come and sort out all

the evil and all the problems in the

world?

Because he is patiently restraining

himself.

And through his word, he calls us, each

one of us to come to him in repentance.

He calls all peoples everywhere to come

to him in repentance

just as he called his people back then

in Israel to come in repentance. But

they and so often we

just won't listen.

In the parable the owner is so

determined to show mercy that he says

what should we do? He decides to send

his son, his beloved son. Verse 13, I

will send my beloved son. Perhaps they

will respect him.

Who is this beloved son? That language

is really um it's not accidental.

this beloved son.

Turn, if you've got your Bibles, turn um

back to uh Luke chapter 3 verse 22.

Luke 3:22

Luke 3:22.

Luke 3:22

Now, we know that John the Baptist was

in Jesus's minds already because what

Jesus has said, the question about John

the Baptist. So, that's kind of the

context anyway. Uh but here's another

link. So after John the Baptist has

baptized Jesus, a voice from heaven

called out, you are my here it is

beloved son with you I am well pleased.

So this is Jesus providing the answer to

the question who do you think you are

coming in here disturbing the peace

overturning the tables preaching to

everyone what gives you the right

where's your credentials who sent you

Jesus

is God's beloved son

sent on a mission of mercy he has all

the authority in heaven and on earth if

only they would just stop for a minute

and humble themselves and listen and

really give proper consideration to the

to the question they're asking.

But they're too full of themselves.

They're trying to protect their little

bit of power, their reputation, their

little bit of income that they've got,

their thing, their kingdom. They're so

full of themselves, they can't see

Jesus. sadly that's like so many people

today bristling at the idea that there's

a God who has the right to speak into

their lives so busy trying to prove that

they are something

that they miss the one who is everything

in the parable when the farmers see the

son approach him they recognize him as

the heir and they think if they kill him

they stand a chance of inheriting the

vineyard there was a legal precedent for

that in Israel at that time. So that's

why they're thinking that. Um but that's

what's in their mind. Kill the air, keep

the land. And that's what we try to do

to God. Often in our modern thinking,

you know, we we've outgrown him. We

don't need him. If we dispense with God,

we mistakenly believe that we can be

free to be who we really are. We can

actually come into full happiness and

really then start to enjoy ourselves

throwing off the shackles that God might

put upon us.

The basic human problem is we don't want

God or anyone else telling us what to

do. We want to be God of our lives.

And we certainly don't want or like the

idea of bowing before this being whoever

he is and worshiping him

because we see that as beneath us.

Our love, our worship, and our obedience

is given to ourselves instead of to God.

And so, how do we deal with that? Well,

we can try and explain God away.

Atheism, we don't believe him. We don't

need him anymore. Or we make a false

god, some other religion that is just

that it fits in a bit easier. It's a bit

easier. It ticks our boxes and we're

happy with that. So, we create some

false religion. Or we just say, "Well,

we don't know.

I don't know if he's there, so I can't

worship what I don't know." But you

know, it's hard to ignore God if he's

standing right there in front of you.

And Jesus was right there in front of

them. And representing proud humanity in

front of Jesus are the religious

leaders. And they don't like being

confronted with Jesus one bit. Who does

he think he is?

And the parable, they seize the

opportunity and they seize the air and

they kill him. And this is where the

parable turns from looking at the past

and how there was that consistent

rejection of the prophets in the past.

It now turns prophetic and it's looking

to the future to what's about to happen.

You see, Jesus is fully aware of what's

in their hearts. They want to kill him.

Verse 47, it's already there in their

hearts. Jesus is like exposing them

right then and there, isn't he?

Jesus is describing precisely what is

going on. And Aaron's going to be

speaking more about this next week. But

God has sent his beloved son and they

plan to kill him. These tenants in the

parable represent Israel's religious

elite who refuse to accept God's beloved

son. But they also represent the nation

of Israel. They also represent us as

well. anyone who looks at God and his

word and his son and refuses to

seriously listen.

And perhaps

perhaps that's what some of us are doing

here this morning.

We're still coming to Jesus proudly

demanding, "Who do you think you are?"

And so we refuse to bow before him as

our Lord and our God.

So

maybe that's not you. So even if you are

amongst those who say no, no, I

recognize he is my lord. He is my

savior. There still remains the

question, doesn't it? How how willing

are we really to bow before him and

submit to him in every aspect of our

lives? How sold out are we for Jesus?

You know, if you think about his demands

on our lives for holiness,

are we serious about that?

As we consider how we are to love each

other like Jesus loved us, how serious

do we take that? We just go, "Well,

yeah, yeah, yeah." It's just

how serious are we about our worship

is that how where does that hit in our

priorities in our daily lives? You know,

worship God or just I need to get

through my day and then might maybe

think of God a little bit tiny bit.

Now, how are we responding to this

Jesus? Maybe we're not quite as blatant

as saying, "Well, who do you think you

are, Jesus?" But we are quite tempted to

quietly pretend we didn't hear what he

said to us about that issue, that thing

he keeps nagging. And it's like someone

keeps repeating and you're going, "Oh."

And you just don't want to hear. The

tenants didn't want to give to the owner

what belonged to him. But are we willing

to give to Jesus what belongs to him?

Our

love,

our obedience,

our trust,

our time,

our hopes,

our future,

our talents, our resources, whatever it

is, Lord, it's all yours. Are we willing

to just say, "Lord, have it. If you want

it, take it. I'm yours. I'm completely

yours.

or we just do we just wish he'd go away

and and let us get on with enjoying our

lives as we see fit. Who do you think he

is? Because the answer is he is the

beloved son of God with all authority

and he deserves all.

The truth is rejecting Jesus and trying

to take his place

doesn't end well.

When the finite tries to correct the

infinite, when the mortal tries to

replace the immortal, when the creature

tries to erase the creator, when the

worshipper tries to displace the one who

rightly deserves all all worship,

it it's actually us who suffer.

And that's what we see in our final

point, the stone that makes and the

stone that breaks.

So after the son and air had been

killed, Jesus asks what the owner should

do. And our sense of justice really is

with Jesus in it. He concurs with Jesus

as he says in verse 16, "He will come,

the owner will come and destroy those

tenants and give the vineyard to

others." But having have had a basic

understanding of the message, his

listeners were horrified at this thought

because they kind of understand what

he's saying and they say, "Surely not."

[laughter]

Because this was a shocking truth for

Jesus to be saying back then. It's

dawning on them what Jesus is saying.

And

some people don't even like this today,

but it's just like, whoa, this is

shocking.

So verse 16,

he will come and destroy those tenants

and give the vineyard to others. Surely

not they cry.

Isn't that how people speak about God

though? Still, you know, if he's if he's

a God of love,

is he really going to send people to

hell? Surely not. We can't quite believe

that. Or, you know, God's going to bring

this world to an end. Surely not. Or God

would give this vineyard to others.

Surely not. God's going to call everyone

to an account for their lives. Well,

surely not. He would just, you know, he

just see that I'm a good person.

We We don't It's hard to believe God

when he says these big things, isn't it?

This vineyard going to others. What's

that about?

Well, there's a time for patience. And

God is very patient.

But God's patient patience will come to

an end. And God's patience has come to

an end here. This is first and foremost

speaking about how God will remove from

the Jews the privilege of being God's

special people. And it was utterly

utterly unthinkable.

And so that's why they're saying surely

not. Surely surely we've heard that

wrong. that that can't be what Jesus is

saying that God is going to remove from

the Jews that special privilege of being

his people.

Matthew's gospel brings it out a little

bit more clearly. Chapter 21:43,

Jesus says, "Therefore, I tell you, the

kingdom of God will be taken away from

you and given to a people producing its

fruits."

That is the unthinkable

shocking truth that Jesus is sharing

with them right then and they're going

surely not.

But that is what we see taking place

under the new covenant. And the words

should appear on the screen. Galatians 3

28. There is neither Jew nor Greek.

There is neither slave nor free. There

is no male and female. For you are all

one in Christ Jesus. And if you are

Christ's then you are Abraham's

offspring, he hes according to the

promise.

And we saw this in our studies in

Ephesians Ephesians chapter 2:14. And

that should appear on the screen as

well. Uh for he himself is our peace who

has made us both one and has broken down

in his flesh the dividing wall of

hostility by abolishing the law of

commandments expressed in ordinances

that he might create in himself one new

man so out of Jew and Gentile one new

man in place of the two so making peace

and might reconcile us both that's Jew

and Gentile to God in one body through

the cross thereby killing the hostility

Do you see that's what God is doing? Jew

and Gentile are now made into one new

man, one new people of God. And what

matters now is not whether you are

ethnic Israel.

It's not about whether you have obeyed

the laws or have worshiped at the the

physical temple or been circumcised or

anything else like that. Next slide,

please. Paul writes, "If you are Christ,

then you are Abraham's offspring, hes

according to the promise.

All those in Christ are included in

God's people."

So the promise to God's people still

stands, but who are in God's people

isn't defined by ethnicity, but by being

in Jesus.

And the way to God for both Jew and

Gentile is through Jesus. It is through

faith in Jesus in his death and

resurrection. Jesus is the one to whom

the whole of Israelite history was

moving towards and as such what we do

with Jesus

decides everything.

Earlier I said Jesus was teaching them

in the temple, but we don't know what he

was teaching and we're not told. So

here's a speculation

on what perhaps he at least covered.

Since at his entry into Jerusalem, his

disciples were quoting from Psalm 118 in

their praise, saying, "Blessed is the

king who comes in the name of the Lord."

That's Psalm 118. And since Jesus is

about to quote from Psalm 118 again, I

do wonder whether Jesus is actually

teaching from Psalm 118.

And it's it's almost like the elite

religious leaders have interrupted his

teaching, but he brings it back to his

passage and quotes again from Psalm 118.

And and it's like he's got the scroll

open and he says, "Look, what's this

that's written here?" It's almost like

he's pointing to it. I could be wrong

but you know verse 17 he says but he

looked directly at them where they said

surely not this can't be true he looks

directly at them and said what then is

this that is written the stone that the

builders rejected has become the

cornerstone

the idea is this this huge stone

um and that the builders looked at this

stone and thought no we're not going to

use that one we'll just leave that one

aside

just as many were looking at Jesus and

saying, "Well, we don't want him. We're

not going to have him. We'll find

something else. Someone else will do

something else. We'll reject him."

And as they will later look upon him on

the cross and despise him and consider

him weak and finished and having lost,

it's as we look at Jesus and say, "No

thanks." It's like we're tripping up on

him and we're falling over and we're

broken.

If you trip up over Jesus, you will be

broken.

They scupper themselves, those who trip

up over Jesus, because the cross wasn't

the end of Jesus. For he he rose to life

and he is exalted high above all others.

He is the stone that holds all things

together. He is the foundation of God's

people. He is the capstone of our

salvation. He is the crowning glory of

the church and of humanity. Hebrews

chapter 1:3, he is the radiance of God's

glory. He is the stone that is

discarded, but then he's lifted up and

he's glorious and wonderful to be

praised, the King of Kings. If you

reject him and ignore him and think you

know better than him, he doesn't go away

because he's going to reign forever.

So if you go up against him, it's not

him who's going to break. If you smash

yourself against him, it's you that

breaks.

If you try to stand in your own strength

and your own cleverness and your own

righteousness and stand there in your

own sin, there will come a day when

God's patience comes to an end and

eventually you will stand before God and

his judgment will fall upon you. And

using the language of the par parable,

it says you will be crushed.

It's not nice, is it? That's what Jesus

warns. You will be crushed.

At the end of the day, it all comes down

to Jesus,

this stone, the heir, the beloved son,

and what you do with him.

Jesus will either be the one who makes

you, who gives you forgiveness and

meaning and new life and peace and joy

and assurance and salvation, or he will

be the one who breaks you and who

requires from you payment for your sin.

When that um flamboyant man burst into

my office making all sorts of noise and

acting as if he was the boss, I was

annoyed.

But I was wrong because he was the boss.

The religious rulers wanted to know by

what authority Jesus did what he did.

Who gives Jesus the right to tell us

what to do? Who gives Jesus the right to

judge the living and the dead?

Well, God gives him the rights. And

Jesus is the King of Kings. He is the

Lord of Lords. He is the son of God.

He's the beginning and the end. Nothing

is more important than what you do with

this Jesus.

But remember,

he's not just the all powerful king of

kings. He is the savior

who weeps over the lost. He came to seek

and save the lost. He would die and take

our punishment so that we can be saved.

And maybe maybe he is looking directly

at some of you this morning

patiently holding his arms out in mercy

calling you to come

come to Jesus.

So have you

will you

nothing is more important than what you

do with this Jesus.

Well, let's just consider how we stand

before Jesus this morning.