Tuesday, April 7th, 2020

Hey Church at the Grove.

My name is Dylan Wages, and I'm so excited and thankful that you're tuning in for today's devotional.

Today is Tuesday, April 7th, and this is day two of our Holy Week devotional and reading plan as we're reading through the last week of Jesus' life in preparation for his crucifixion and then later resurrection that we're going to celebrate this Sunday with Easter.

Today we're going to be looking at a passage of Scripture from Luke chapter 20 that's become known as the Parable of the Tenets.

Luke 20 · chapter mention

And in this parable, Jesus will give us a picture of how through all history the nation of Israel and the Israelites have rejected the truth of God, rejected the truth of the coming Messiah.

But now all of that will come to a culmination as the real Messiah, Jesus, will come has come, and he's going to die and resurrect three days later in order to establish God's kingdom on earth.

And God's going to establish that kingdom for his glory, whether they is whether the religious leaders recognize it or not, he's going to do it.

And so look with me now in verses 9 through 18 of Luke chapter 20 that say, Jesus went on to tell them this parable.

Luke 20 · chapter mention

He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.

And then the owner of the vineyard said, What shall I do?

I will send my son whom I love.

Perhaps they will respect him.

But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over.

This is the heir, they said.

Let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.

So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?

He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.

When the people heard this, they said, God forbid.

Jesus looked directly at them and said, Then what is the meaning of that which is written?

Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces.

Anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.

As we look closely at this passage, the characters become clear, right?

The owner of the vineyard, the man who planted the vineyard, is supposed to be God.

The tenants whom rented the vineyard, who rented the vineyard, are the religious leaders, and the vineyard itself represents the nation of Israel.

And the servants that God, that the owner or God sent represent the prophets that God has sent all throughout history to proclaim the Messiah that have been continuously rejected.

And then the last one, the last one sent, the owner's son represents Jesus, who would be sent and still rejected, but this time killed, would be killed as a result of the tenants' desire to establish their own kingdom and to receive all the benefits for their own glory.

And so Jesus asked the question, what then will the owner of the vineyard do after his son is killed?

He says, the owner will then come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.

And so Jesus here is prophesying his own death.

Whether the religious leaders realize it or not, he and he is telling them that you're gonna kill me this week because you still don't believe what God has said about the Messiah.

But what's gonna happen as a result?

God is going to come and he's going to establish his kingdom regardless.

He is going to establish his kingdom through my death, and I'm going to prove to you that I am the Messiah.

And then he says, Then it says Jesus looked at them directly and asked, What is the meaning of that which is written, the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, right?

So first understand this, we have to understand what a cornerstone is, right?

A cornerstone is a piece of a building, a piece of a structure, right, that holds all the weight of the building, right?

If you're to take the cornerstone out of the building, the whole building will collapse.

But if you put the cornerstone in its right place and you lean all the weight of the building on the cornerstone, it holds it into place.

So Jesus is saying that even though you reject me and even though you're gonna kill me, that I am going to resurrect, that I'm going to become the cornerstone of faith, the cornerstone of life, the cornerstone of God's new kingdom, whether you recognize it or not.

And he says, everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.

So what Jesus is saying is that you have a choice.

Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, right?

But anyone who falls on it will be crushed.

So what does this mean, right?

The word broken kind of kind of makes us think of negative, right?

Of negative, a negative connotation, but in God's dictionary, that's not what he's saying.

Here, brokenness is a good thing.

Not only is it a good thing, but it's essential.

He's saying that those who those who fall on the cornerstone, those who fall on Jesus will be broken of their hard-heartedness, will be broken of their sinfulness, will be broken of their pride and of their self-centeredness, and will be forced to put all of their life and their weight on Jesus, the cornerstone, right?

But anyone who does not put their life on the cornerstone will be crushed, will be crushed by life.

And I believe this is this is his proclamation of the gospel before he even dies and resurrects.

Jesus is saying that we have a choice.

We have a choice to put our hope, our faith, and our life on him.

We have our choice to lean on him, or we have a choice to try and support it, our support ourselves and ultimately be crushed.

So that's the truth that I want us to see now, today, through this passage, is that each and every one of you watching and listening to this has a choice.

You can choose to try to support your own life, to live for yourself, and to make yourself the cornerstone of your life.

But ultimately you will face being crushed and face destruction, right?

Or you can have um, or you can make the decision to make Jesus the cornerstone of your life and lean all your weight on him and receive salvation and receive eternal life, right?

We say often here at Church of the Grove that that giving our life to Christ is as easy as ABC, right?

It's as easy as A, admitting that we're messed up, admitting that we're broken, believing, B, believing that Jesus is the Son of God, that he died for our sins, that we would be reconciled to God, believing that and confessing it with our mouth, confessing it with our mouth that he is the Lord and Savior of our life.

And if you believe that wholeheartedly and you confess it with your heart, that he will save us and that we will have eternal life.

No, that doesn't mean that that this life is going to be easy, right?

We're living in that right now.

With everything that's happening as a result of the coronavirus, we're seeing that this life isn't always, we're not always promised as believers.

We're not always promised sunshine and butterflies, right?

We're not always promised the easy life.

But what we are promised is hope.

Hope of eternal life and hope that God is working all things out for our good, regardless of what's happening in this world.

And so today, as you go, as you go forward with this day and as you go forward with the rest of this week, I encourage you to do what what we're commanded in scripture, to set our minds on the things above, right?

To not be consumed by this world, to not let our minds be um transformed by this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind that Jesus can bring, right?

So this week is its holy week.

As we're preparing to celebrate the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus this weekend through Easter, I pray that you would set your minds on the things above and that you would make the decision to fall on Jesus as the cornerstone of your life, that you would believe that he is who he says he is, that he did what he said he did, and that he wants to save you.

Would you pray with me?

Jesus, thank you.

Thank you for this opportunity to proclaim your word, to proclaim the good news.

I pray that you would be glorified through this.

I pray that you would make yourself known through this.

I pray this week, um, no matter what's happening in the world, no matter what's happening as a result of the coronavirus, that your people would be called up today and this week to remember you, to celebrate you, and to give you glory regardless of what's happening in this world.

And I pray for those of you who haven't put their faith and trust in you yet, Jesus, that you would draw them to you and that you would lead them to put their life, faith, and trust in you as the cornerstone of their life.

Jesus, we love you and we thank you again, and we can't wait to celebrate you this week as we prepare for Easter.

It's in your holy and precious name we pray.

Amen.

Thank you guys for tuning in, and I hope that you'll join us online this Friday as we celebrate a Good Friday service, and then join us Sunday as well as we celebrate Easter.

Love you guys.

See you later.