Edible Words

In Luke 20, Jesus was being criticised by the religious leaders of Jerusalem. Physical violence can't get rid of Jesus, because of the adoring crowds (19:47-48), so he is plied with trick questions - first in the personal arena (1-8), then the political arena (19-26) and finally in the theological arena (27-39). By 20:40, each interested group has asked a question and every avenue has been explored. They've failed to expose Jesus; instead their own spiritual bankruptcy has become transparent whilst Jesus' authority is established more vividly than ever.

This attempt to unseat Jesus is a fulfilment of the dramatic conclusion of Palm Sunday recorded in 19:41-46. Jesus is cheered by the crowds into Jerusalem, but then he stops to make the very public gesture of weeping. He weeps because he can see the devestation to befall the city and the temple in 40 years time, devestation that will come as God's judgement because this city did not recognise her Lord when he visited. After weeping, he symbolically drives the profiteering merchants out of the temple, as a symbol of the judgement to come. The rejection he weeps over is all too apparent in the deceitful questioning of chapter 20.

At the heart of the chapter comes this parable of the vineyard. God left his vineyard - the promises of unrivalled blessing - to the descendents of Abraham as tenants. Being leaseholders not freeholders, God expects the fruit of a national life that honours him. Prophet after prophet is sent away empty handed, until finally God's son is murdered with a high hand.

But this is not the end of the story. God will judge the tenants by destroying them - the very thing they wanted to do to Jesus (19:47). Then, as a final act of grace, God will let his vineyard out to new tenants - to all (Jew and Gentile) who repent and believe in Jesus. The privilege of being God's tenants in his vineyard are now ours by grace, whilst the era of national privilege for Israel is over. With that comes the responsibility of bringing God the fruit he expects.

Jesus chose to tell this story not of an apple orchard or a strawberry farm but a vineyard. God graciously placed the first tenants in his vineyard - to give him its fruit as well as to enjoy it for themselves. Now there is a new tenancy in God's vineyard and God gives us the privilege of enjoying the fruit of living in his vineyard. Of course, we look forward to the day when the finest wine will flow from the hills. But for the time being, Jesus has left us with a meal at which we drink not cider or fruit juice but wine. Red wine to remind us tangibly that we have inherited, by grace, the privilege of cultivating God's vineyard. Red wine to stir up hope within us of the day when we will drink wine with him in a renewed creation. So as we eat and drink this morning, we are God's tenants - let's be reminded and stirred into hope by what we taste.