Passion Week - Pt 2

“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet. (Matthew 21:33-46 ESV). Today’s reading points to the judgment of the religious leaders in Jerusalem. There is a wonderful lesson here. For many people in America, from the time that we were little children, many of us learned to say, "Jesus died for me." Sometimes I wonder what that means to some of the people that I have heard say it. I especially wonder when I occasionally hear the phrase, "Jesus died to save our sins." Even when it is correctly stated that Jesus died to save us from our sins, what does that actually mean to us? This week and this day bring us face to face with the Biblical and other images of the atonement, the act of God that reunites us with Him as His children. But consider also the part that others played. What possessed the scribes, priests, elders and Pharisees to want Jesus dead? Who declared that war and why? Caiaphas and the others were concerned that Rome would get wind of Jesus' popularity and make trouble for the Jews. They were afraid that Judaism itself would be blamed and the Temple desecrated. They didn't even want God to mess with their religion, let alone Rome! Even with that understanding, and with the advice of Caiaphas that it was better that one man die than that the whole nation perish, I have a hard time imagining why they would become so blood-thirsty. I agree with the sniper's instructor. Killing doesn't make sense. Then again, it never does, but when I pick up the newspaper or turn on the TV news, I hear one account after another of someone being killed. People die every day over politics and national causes, let alone over dope, or for a few dollars in a cash register. As impossible as all of that is to understand, the bigger question comes when we consider that Jesus went to Jerusalem knowing what would happen there. When they arrested Him, He did nothing to stop it. When they accused Him falsely, He didn't defend Himself. And when they went through with their plans, He didn't stop them. It staggers your imagination even more by knowing that Jesus let it all happen...all the suffering and the dying...for you. You matter that much to Him. Now repeat that phrase, "Jesus died for me." What a reason to celebrate in humility and awe!