“‘Let us kill him.’”

Luke 20:13-15, “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ And 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 destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”

When told as a parable, it is amazing to think of tenants who first kill the servants sent to receive a share of the fruit of the vineyard. And it is no surprise that the owner of the vineyard would have to deal severely with the tenants. The parable relates directly to the nation, that had for many generations killed the prophets and now searches for a way to kill the son, Jesus. How amazing that even though he gives the vineyard to others, he has not forgotten his nation. Are we who have been given charge of his vineyard good stewards?

We want to produce good fruit with as stewards of your vineyard, O Lord.

ESV Lectionary