In speaking to these people directly, Jesus is addressing the Jewish nation. By this, I mean that Christ addressed those responsible for directing that nation under the covenant it had with God. I point not only to the government of that nation, but also to a type of government that misuses its religious edicts, redirecting them into personal and political goals. It has to be understood that this redirection is counterproductive to the goals of God. In other words, what God wants from the deal is blocked by the very people set up to ensure the result.
The parable is couched in terms of a vineyard and its fruit. Only one landowner own the vineyard, and only he has any right to expect the fruit it produces. The harvest belongs to him. So in the parable, we see one with the wherewithal to purchase land, build upon it, plant it, and hire husbandmen to oversee its operation.
While the owner lives afar, he sends servants time and again to receive the harvest. They are sent away empty-handed, abused, even killed. Finally, the son is sent. Not content to steal the fruit from the owner, the husbandmen hatch a scheme to steal the land as well. It is apparent that they have gravely underestimated the owner's resources.
So Christ asked a question directed to the leaders of the Hebrew nation. What will the owner do? While these men were evil in their own right, they still recognized evil in others, and their response played right in Jesus' hands. The owner would marshal his forces and destroy the wicked men, giving the vineyard into the hands of men who would “render him the fruits in their seasons.” If one set of servants fails, perhaps another set will do what they are supposed to.
This parable is clearly an indication of the sacrifice of the son of God, but it is also a clear indication of a change in management. One phrase tells the tale. It is found in Matthew 21:43, “Therefore I say unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.” Read this sentence closely; go back and study it with open eyes. What does it really say?
Christ tells us that the nation of Israel will lose its contract to service the kingdom of God. That contract will be given to a different nation. That nation will be called upon to honor the terms of the contract – a thing the first nation failed to do. The second nation will be called upon to faithfully render the fruits of the kingdom of God. It will approach its charge in a way that differs from the failed approach of the first nation.
The first covenant was physical, geographical, genealogical, historical, and political. The overseers of that covenant used the rules and guidelines of that covenant to deprive the owner of his rightful due. All that was good and right was blocked and withheld for the sake of personal political gain. Make no mistake, religion was used in place of civil law. Moreover, religion was used like a legal weapon against, not only its own people, but all other peoples as well.
Let me use the words of Christ to clearly show what the chief priests and Pharisees were up to, Luke 11:52, “Woe unto you, lawyers! For ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.” We may understand, then, that the second covenant is about learning, knowledge, truth, wisdom, ans spirituality – the polar opposite of the first. Likewise, the second nation is the opposite of the first. It is a spiritual nation that lifts people rather than suppressing them. In that regard, the laws it employs to that end, while spiritually based, are set apart from religious application far enough to insure that religion does not hinder the societal development that God desires.
Admittedly, Christianity has seen darker days wherein it failed the will of the very one it professed to serve. Yet, Christianity has not ceased evolving, growing, and becoming the husbandman of choice. America, the nation I believe was referenced in the parable, has in like manner evolved passed it's less than promising performance. We are poised on the precipice of a successful society in which civil law insures the spiritual evolution of mankind, but America's place is by no means guaranteed – unless we as a people make a united stand for what is right and good.
America must be the beacon that guides the way – not in a national or political sense, but in a wholly spiritual sense. It is not the government alone who must take a step forward, but each and every responsible individual. All threats against the spiritual evolution of mankind must be addressed. Presently, radical Islam is a threat of global proportions that threatens to destroy the key of knowledge, and plunge mankind thousands of years into his dark past.
There are other threats as well. There are threats to the environment in which our children must live, there are threats to the very existence of our children who are destroyed in their most vulnerable stages for commercial gain. There are national rivalries which would be energies better spent as national cooperations. There are systems and inbred institutions that constrict the flow of needed goods to the people that need them – to the people made needy by the self-same systems and inbred institutions.
It would be incorrect to say it time for a change: it has always been time for a change, but two things have hindered that change. First are those who resist it, and second are all the rest of us who, while we support what is good in our thinking, have failed to stand up for it in any way that counts. I speak to Americans, and especially to Christian Americans: the ball is in your court – use your nation, use your government for what is good. The power is in your hands.
Christ made a disclaimer about the second nation, it goes like this: Matthew 21:42 and 44, “Did you never read in the scriptures, the stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing . . . and whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.”
Three things are clear: one, if you are built around the cornerstone of the new covenant, you will not fall, for you share the same power and authority. Two, if you fall upon the rock and you are not a rock yourself, you will be broken, for you are fragile and do not share in the strength. Three: the rock is not only hard and strong but larger and more elemental than all of the rest of us. Plus it is not static, but able to move – and it will move forward, bringing a wall with it, grinding all who get in the way to powder. So the definition here is directed to the new nation, to the Christian, to those mortared into the new covenant. The definition is directed to you, American people.
Knowing what is to come, you have one of two choices to make: choose the power, or choose the powder.
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