“HOW TO SATISFY YOUR LANDLORD”
God rejects our show of piety
(Matthew 21:18-46)
A lot of people buy property, like homes, cottages, and boats, then rent them to other people in order to supplement their income. It sounds like a very easy way to make money, but landlords take a lot of risk when they rent their property to others. If you are considering renting something you own, maybe the following stories will cause you to reconsider:
"I have a coin-operated laundry in one complex. The tenants try everything to get free laundry. Foreign change, metal objects, latex gloves with the quarter in the finger hole (thought that was creative). After they got tired of trying to get free laundry, they decided to just take the actual dryer! Just loaded it up, carried it off and threw it down a hill. I hope they enjoyed the 10 bucks they got out of it!"
"We recently bought a new house that was a little out of our league, but being that it was four bedrooms, we figured we could rent out a room for some help with the mortgage, and so we did. We found a tenant who was single, didn't drink, didn't smoke and didn't do drugs. He had a cat but said it would stay in the room (I'm allergic). So we accepted him. Long story short, his cat ran around the house, scratched my dog and the furniture, and he did drink, and he did do drugs. The one thing he never did: pay his rent on time. Oh, yeah, and he was married. One day, his estranged wife came to town with a one-way ticket and moved in with no money and a drug problem. Lo and behold, while we were out working all day, she was snooping around the house . . . "collecting" things. First, the boat hitch was missing, and then my shoes. We logged on to our banking account one day and saw there was a check made out to cash, not in our handwriting (and "dollars" was spelled wrong), with the wife's account number and signature on the back. Needless to say, we evicted them immediately and discovered she had half my wardrobe, and I am still finding things missing!"
"The tenant left us with garbage and tons of clothes throughout the house, holes in the walls, carpets destroyed and a large potbellied pig left in the backyard that was very hungry and chased after me."
“I leased my home to a tenant who promptly defaulted on her lease. When I went to the property to see her, I discovered she was stealing my appliances. I called the police to come and stop her from taking my washing machine. When the police arrived the tenant said I was trespassing on her property and she did not know who I was. I insisted that I owned the property, but the police did not believe me. They told me if I did not leave the premises they would arrest me. So, I sat in my car in disbelief while I watched my tenant steal my appliances from MY HOUSE!"
Did you know this “could happen? "We rented one of our rental homes to a family. They decided to fix up our house by replacing the flooring in the bathrooms and kitchen. We did not give them permission to do this, but we did not complain either. Next, they built a deck that covered our entire backyard. They did this without our permission also. Finally, they decided to replace the carpet. They removed the carpet in the master bedroom, but did not replace it immediately. They were late on their rent last month, so I charged them a late fee. They responded by saying they did not have to pay this fee when they had put so much money into the house. They also refused to replace the carpet in the master bedroom. Now they are moving and taking the deck with them. We do not have carpet in the bedroom and the grass in the backyard will be ruined. I will lose the cost of repairs and it will take time to find a new tenant who doesn't mind a mud hole in the backyard".....is this fair?”
INTRODUCTION
Last week we studied Matthew 21:1-17
and saw various ways that people responded to Jesus as He entered
These religious leaders got angry because Jesus didn’t meet their expectations for what they thought the Messiah was supposed to be like, plus, they viewed Him as a threat to their authority and to what they had going. They could see the positive reaction that the people had to Jesus, and were jealous that He was stealing their spotlight by obtaining praise and attention from people. Matthew 6 shows us that this kind of attention really motivated them.
The majority of Matthew 21 and all of Matthew 22 contain interaction that is exclusively between Jesus and the religious leaders. The way that Jesus deals with these men isn’t how one would want to respond if he were seeking election to a political office, or attempting to become a popular TV evangelist or mega church pastor. His direct confrontation of the Jewish religious leaders was probably the last straw because the next mention of the religious leaders in Matthew comes in chapter 26 when they plot to kill Him.
JESUS AND THE DISCIPLES
In Matthew 21:18-22, we see that only Jesus and his disciples are present. The events in these verses contain a couple themes that will be readdressed with the Jewish religious leaders later in chapter 21.
(Matthew 21:18-22)
(READ) Here we see that Jesus was hungry and intended on satisfying his hunger with some of the fruit from a fig tree. The tree had leaves, but no fruit – so Jesus cursed the tree and it immediately withered. The “lack of fruit” and “withering of the tree” themes are going to be woven throughout the remainder of the chapter.
(Matthew 21:20-22)
(READ) Seeing this miracle, the disciples wanted to know how it was accomplished. Jesus explained that one has to exercise faith in God in order to see results (as opposed to lip service, or through human efforts). This theme will come up again later too.
JESUS AND THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS
(Matthew 21:23-27)
The Jewish religious leaders were
used to having authority, and they wanted to know how it was that Jesus thought
He could come into
Now Jesus goes on the offensive to continue to bring out the true spiritual condition of the Pharisees and religious leaders. In the remainder of Matthew 21, Jesus uses two parables to make His point. In many other parables throughout the gospels, the explanation of the parable isn’t given or, isn’t given until later, or the hearers don’t figure what it means until later. And as we learned a couple weeks ago, there are several parables that people don’t necessarily agree on the interpretation of. However, we can see from Matthew 21:45 that the point of these 2 parables is immediately clear to the chief priests and Pharisees - Jesus is talking about them.
How did the religious leaders
quickly came to the conclusion that Jesus was criticizing them? Well they knew about events that had taken
place in
THE PARABLE OF THE TWO SONS
(Matthew 21:28-32)
First, Jesus uses a parable to
emphasize what it takes to truly show obedience. (READ). I think this parable contains a reference to
faith that is similar to what we read in verses 20-22. That is, faith without action is
worthless. Which son did the will of his
father – the one’s whose actions followed, not the one who merely said the
right thing. Jesus very clearly says
that the sinful people whom the religious leaders looked down on, were going to
enter the
God desires those who obey from the heart. He wants us to repent then let our actions prove our dedication. He isn’t impressed with piety and smooth talk.
THE PARABLE OF THE LANDOWNER
(Matthew 21:33-46)
Just in case the Pharisees needed more evidence of their spiritual immaturity, Jesus tells them another parable. Here is where the concept of lack of fruit comes back into the discussion. (READ)
The farmers were renting the land from the landowner. Notice that the landowner provides resources and opportunity to the tenants-a wall for protection, a winepress (used to turn the grapes into juice), and a watchtower. As farmers renting the property, they were supposed to use the resources provided and produce fruit. Apparently, the farmers would keep some of the grapes they harvested and some would be given to the landowner. Each party would benefit from the arrangement. When you rent there is an agreement made by both parties and there are obligations to fulfill. (Bi-lateral promise).
(v. 33) The landowner went away on a journey. So obviously he wouldn’t be looking over the shoulder of the tenants, they’d have to dedicate themselves to farming without obtaining any direct feedback or reward until the landowner returned. However, while the landlord was away, they started to take things for granted. It started to feel kind of like the property was theirs. They liked the freedom to be able to do things as they wished.
(v. 34) Slaves are sent to remind the farmers of their responsibility and to ensure that they are living up to their end of the agreement.
(v. 35-39) By killing the slaves and landowners son, the renters had hoped to keep the land, property, and fruit for themselves. They were basically stealing something that wasn’t theirs.
(v. 40-41) Anyone who hears the parable comes to the conclusion that the farmers deserve to be punished severely – even put to death.
Explanation of the
parable
(v. 33) The landowner
represents God. The vineyard represents the nation of
(v. 34-36) The slaves represent the prophets whom God had sent to the Israelites before Jesus.
(v. 37-39) The landowners son represents Jesus. We know that the Jewish religious leaders were going to kill Jesus in order to keep the power and recognition for themselves. Jesus was a threat to what they had going.
(v. 42) Jesus uses Old Testament scripture to help the
religious leaders see the similarities between the parable and to
(v. 43) Jesus was
using the same analogy in His parable. He explained how
(v. 44) Jesus refers to the stone again. Falling on the stone and being broken to pieces is what would happen if one humbles himself, but if one refuses to acknowledge that Jesus is the son of God, that results will be like when the stone falls on a person and scatters him like dust.
(v. 45) When the chief priests and Pharisees recognized that Jesus was judging them, they looked for a way to eliminate Him.
APPLICATION TO THE CHURCH
There are always two alternative ways to respond to Jesus. We have the same choices today as the religious leaders did so many years ago. We can be broken in humble surrender before God or exert our pride for a while, but eventually be completely broken in judgment.
We aren’t part of God’s chosen
nation
Two weeks ago my family took a week
long vacation in
If you put yourself into the shoes of the farmers in the parable of the landowner, how would you have treated the property that was in your care? When the landowner is away it can be tempting to become complacent and even careless with how we live. Even though we have now been entrusted as workers, servants in God’s kingdom we are susceptible of living in a way that doesn’t produce fruit.
Walk worthy
The New Testament is filled with
warnings about our spiritual growth and the amount of fruit we are
producing. Matthew
In 1 Timothy 6:20, Paul warns Timothy to not fall back: “O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly {and} empty chatter {and} the opposing arguments of what is falsely called "knowledge" which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you.”
In Ephesians 4:1-7, Paul warns the Ephesian Christians as well, “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.”
The Jewish religious leaders in our
scripture aren’t the example we should follow – rather, we need to be humble,
remain in Christ, and not become too comfortable living in this world.
James 4:4-10 contains this warning, “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us"? But He gives a greater grace. Therefore {it} says, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. “
We need to always remember that a Godly, fruit bearing life will please God and result in a rich entrance (rewards) in heaven.
Peter says the following in 2 Peter
1:3-11, “Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining
to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His
own glory and excellence. For by these
He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you
may become partakers of {the} divine nature, having escaped the corruption that
is in the world by lust. Now for this
very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral
excellence, and in {your} moral excellence, knowledge, and in {your} knowledge, self-control, and in
{your} self-control, perseverance, and in {your} perseverance, godliness, and in {your} godliness, brotherly kindness,
and in {your} brotherly kindness, love.
For if these {qualities} are yours and are increasing, they render you
neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus
Christ. For he who lacks these
{qualities} is blind {or} short-sighted, having forgotten {his} purification
from his former sins. Therefore,
brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and
choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never
stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. “
On the other hand, if we aren’t careful, we can actually cause ourselves to lose rewards. 2 John 1:8 says, “Watch yourselves that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.”
May we remember as children of God
that this world isn’t our home, in a sense we are just renting for a
while. May the fruit we produce be
acceptable to the landowner when He returns.