When We Killed the Son

He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” (Luke 20:16 ESV)

When we killed the son, we deserved to be killed in the same way we killed the son. I mean vengeance for our actions is the expected outcome for killing the son of our benefactor. That was a confusing introduction, so let me explain. Imagine if you will, that our lives are operating on borrowed time. As in, we are here for a set number of years before we one day die. It’s true, we know that the day is coming. However, in living on this borrowed time, we were given certain responsibilities: kids, wealth, property, friendships, jobs, etc, and we needed to give those things our very best. Moreover, those things that we do toward our God given responsibilities and obligations should be tribute to the one being we have gained those things from. Yes, all those burdens you carry, that is a gift that God has loaned you for your life. If you dropped the ball or rebelled against it then undoubtedly you deserved to be kicked to the curb. Now, from this passage, you can see that the people did far worse than simply “drop the ball.” These people took the property owner’s heir and blatantly murdered him– a far more heinous act than can be imagined. This is our sin. We have done this. We have sent the Son of God to the cross because of our sin. We did this by breaking relationships, and obligations. We then trampled on Jesus by boldly rebelling everyday and in every way imaginable. The fate suffered by the tenants doesn’t have to be our own. We can be welcomed into good standing with the ruler. The question is: are you willing to accept God into your hearts and your realm of life, or will you keep pretending that the borrowed skin and bones you claim to be your own is really wasn’t borrowed?