For the past month or so, I have been reflecting on this topic as my family and I have navigated some trying times. Today, I will look at one of Jesus’ parables, the parable of the tenants, with a new perspective:

Then Jesus began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a wine vat, and built a watchtower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey. At harvest time, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard. But they seized the servant, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. Then he sent them another servant, and they struck him over the head and treated him shamefully. He sent still another, and this one they killed. He sent many others; some they beat and others they killed. Finally, having one beloved son, he sent him to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ So they seized the son, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants, and will give the vineyard to others. Have you never read this Scripture: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? ”At this, the leaders sought to arrest Jesus, for they knew that He had spoken this parable against them. But fearing the crowd, they left Him and went away. Mark 12:1-12 BSB

This parable was one of Jesus’ clearer ones- God had sent many messengers ahead of Jesus himself to present a message to a broken world to be reconciled to God but the world did not listen! so God sends his beloved son and even Him would be rejected and killed. The religious leaders of the day understood the implication of what Jesus was saying and immediately took offence but a few days later, the same religious leaders condemned Jesus to a brutal death outside of Jerusalem where he was beaten mercilessly and hung on a cross to die.

A few weeks ago, I heard a sermon where the pastor was encouraging to look at this parable from another lens: the lens of the tenants. The tenants were renters of the vineyard. They had not planted the vineyard, neither had they put the wall around it, dug the wine vat, nor built the watchtower. The owner had put in all the work of creating this space and the tenants were mere renters of the vineyard who just had to share the fruit of the harvest with the owner. However, from the parable, the tenants were not acting as tenants at all! They were acting as if they were the owners of the vineyard when all they had to do was give the owner his due!

How many times do we act like we are owners of our own lives? How many times do we take all the glory for the things that happen in our lives, refusing to give God the glory that is due His name? We own nothing! Everything we have has been given to us.

After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. 1Tim 6:7 NIV

Even the bodies that we have, we do not own… we are just tenants in them! We live, move, and enjoy pleasures in this body but at the end of the day, it is just that: a borrowed body. When the true owner asks of it, we relinquish this body, give it back to its owner, and it returns to the earth from which it came as dust or ashes.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body. 1 Cor 6:19-20

These are very humbling thoughts! But that’s not all, lets continue to look at the story. Before the owner came a-calling, he sent many messengers, even his own son, to remind the tenants that they were to give him his due while they were operating the rented vineyard. While we are operating in our borrowed bodies, how many messengers have God sent to remind us that we are not our own, that we were bought with a price, a price that cost Him the blood of His Son Jesus on a rugged cross? Are we heeding the messengers? How has God been reminding you of late that this world is not your own and you are just passing through? How has God been telling you to put your vineyard in order and make an accounting of the life you have been given? When He asks for your body back, would you be ready to give account of what you did with it and how you glorified Him with your body?

Maybe this post comes as a messenger to you today… what are you going to do about the message? The owner gave the tenants countless opportunities to turn things around before sending his son. But one day, they ran out of time and the owner himself came to the vineyard and it was game over for them. God will continue to send invitations to us to be reconciled to him and it will keep coming and coming and coming and coming until the day it stops. Oh God may I not be found wanting on that day!

Search me O God and know my heart today….try me O Saviour and know my thoughts I pray. See if there is any wicked way in me and cleanse me from all my sins and set me free.

Martin Luther

Finally, to cap it off, lets talk about giving God his due. As I reflect over my life, there have been many times that I have looked at my accomplishments and thought to myself, “wow see what you have achieved!” I credit my intellect, strength, skills, and abilities for my achievements and sometimes the glory that is due God takes a back burner as I pursue opportunities to continue to grow my fame and acclaim and amass all these great accolades and achievements. This struggle is as old as time. The people of Babel said “Come let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world (Gen 11:4 NIV).” King Nebuchadnezzer said, “Look at this great city Babylon! By my own mighty power, I have built this city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendor (Daniel 4:30 NIV).” The rich fool said, “This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”(Luke 12: 18-19 NASB).” In each of these examples, God showed them that He is owner of everything they had amassed, had accomplished, and even of their very lives! If we ought to boast, let it be in what God has done for us and has accomplished for us: let us boast in the work of the cross and just like the Apostle Paul, may this be our confession:

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Galatians 6:14 NIV

I leave you with these lyrics to ponder:

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Stuart Townend

Yours Truly.

P.S. In memory of KODA. Rest easy!