Passion Week of Christ (Part 4)
Friends Don’t Want Friends To Reject Jesus - Matthew 21:28-46

(This sermon preached on a 'Bring a Friend' Day)

Have you ever caught yourself saying ‘with friends like you, who needs
enemies?" Friends can be both a blessing and a curse, can’t they...but
when truth be told, we can’t live without them!

· Lending money to friends is dangerous--it usually damages their memory.
· When a stranger identifies you from a friend's description, it's
probably best that you don't hear the description.
· Real friends are those who don't think you've done a permanent job when
you make a fool of yourself

We’ve all probably heard the story of the of the soldier who asked his
officer if he might go out into the "No Man's Land" between the trenches
in World War I to bring in one of his comrades who lay grievously
wounded.
"You can go," said the officer, "but it's not worth it. Your friend is
probably killed, and you will throw your own life away." But the man
went. Somehow he managed to get to his friend, hoist him onto his
shoulder, and bring him back to the trenches. The two of them tumbled in
together and lay in the trench bottom.
The officer looked very tenderly on the would-be rescuer, and then he
said, "I told you it wouldn't be worth it. Your friend is dead and you
are mortally wounded." "It was worth it, though, sir," he said. "How do
you mean, 'worth it'? I tell you your friend is dead."
"Yes, sir," the boy answered, "but it was worth it, because when I got
to him he was still alive, and he said to me, 'Jim, I knew you'd come.'"

To those who are here today due to an invitation of someone sitting close
by....thanks for coming! And realize that friends don’t want friends to
reject Jesus.
_______________________________
We’re in the midst of a study of the Passion Week of Jesus – a look at
the last week of His life upon this earth.

The Jews questioned the authority of Jesus, and He took them back to the
ministry of John the Baptist. They knew John told the truth, yet they
rejected him. God does not reveal new truth until we obey what He has
already revealed.

When John came ministering, the religious crowd showed great interest in
his work, but they would not repent and humble themselves and be baptize.
The nonreligious crowd, however, confessed their sins and obeyed John’s
words and were baptized.

Their rejection of John was actually a rejection of the Father who had
sent him. But God is gracious, and instead of sending judgment, He sent
His Son.

* The two sons (vv. 28-32).
Matthew 21:28-32: "What do you think? There was a man who had two sons.
He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.'
{29} "'I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
{30} "Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He
answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go. {31} "Which of the two did
what his father wanted?" "The first," they answered. Je-sus said to them,
"I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are
en-tering the kingdom of God ahead of you. {32} For John came to you to
show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the
tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you
did not repent and believe him."

All three parables are designed to show how the Jews had rejected God’s
authority through Jesus. With each parable both the rejection and
punishment grow progres-sively worse:
· In the first parable, those who reject Jesus are like the wicked son
who didn’t do what the father asked.
· In the second, they are like the wicked servants who kill the son and
will receive just recompense.
· In the third parable, they are like those who rejected the king’s
invitation and will thus be rejected from the Messianic banquet.

Jesus wanted to convey a message that would determine their eternal
destiny...even to the end He was giving them the opportunity to repent
and believe:
· The command "go work" is an emphatic imperative—there is no other
choice or alternative
· It needed to be done "today" – there’s no guarantee of tomorrow
· How often do we say "I will" and then not do it.....and somehow we can
justify ourselves and "feel ok about it"

The lesson is clear: it is not our intentions or even having the correct
answers to the question: we can and must turn from what can even be
disrespectful rebellion and do what is asked of us!

* The marriage feast (vv. 1-14).
This parable is based on Isaiah 5:1-7: "I will sing for the one I love a
song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile
hillside. {2} He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with
the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress
as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only
bad fruit. {3} "Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge
between me and my vineyard. {4} What more could have been done for my
vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did
it yield only bad? {5} Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my
vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will
break down its wall, and it will be trampled. {6} I will make it a
wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow
there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it." {7} The vineyard of
the LORD Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the
garden of his delight. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for
righteousness, but heard cries of distress."

Jesus describes a vineyard that is well prepared with:
· a wall, to protect the crop from wild animals and thieves
· a winepress, so the grapes could be harvested and "stomped" into wine
right there on the site
· a tower, where a worker could watch for fires or robbers.

Jesus reminded the Jews of God’s goodness to them as a nation:
· God delivered them from Egypt and planted them in a rich land of milk
and honey.
· He gave them material and spiritual blessings and asked only that they
bear fruit for His glory.
· From time to time, God sent His servants (the prophets) to the people
to receive the fruit.
· But the people mistreated the servants, and even killed some of them.
· Then God sent His Son—and they killed Him!

The Father invited the guests (Israel) to enjoy blessings because of His
Son. How-ever, the nation spurned the invitations given.

No landowner is going to put up with this kind of behavior. So when Jesus
asks, "What will he do to those tenants?" the answer is obvious. He will
destroy them and replace them with tenants who will respect the owner and
pay their debts.

The response of the religious leaders of the day:
They know the correct interpretation but badly miss its application. They
are the wicked tenants. God has sent prophets to them time and again whom
they beat and killed.

Now God is sending them his very own Son. But they are plotting to take
his life in order to save their own positions and prestige (cf. Jn
11:45-54). They are about to fulfill Psalm 118:22. They will reject Jesus
by killing him. With that act, Jesus will be placed by God as the
cornerstone.

The Father is still inviting the people of Israel to come, in spite of
what they did to His Son. When we study the first seven chapters of Acts,
we discover that the message is going out to none but Jews (Acts 2:5,
10, 14, 22, 36; 3:25; 6:7).

· "To the Jew first" was God’s plan (Acts 3:26; Rom. 1:16).
· In Acts 8 we read that the message went to the Samaritans, and in Acts
10 we read that it even went to the Gentiles.
· How did the nation’s leaders respond to the ministry of the Holy Spirit
through the Apostles? They rejected the Word and persecuted the church.
· The same rulers who permitted John to be killed, and who asked for
Jesus to be killed, themselves killed Stephen!
· Israel also rejected the Holy Spirit! This was Stephen’s indictment
against the na-tion: "You do always resist the Holy Ghost" (Acts 7:51).
· With the stoning of Stephen, God’s patience with Israel began to end,
though He delayed the judgment for almost forty years.

In Holman Hunt's famous painting, "The Light of the World," the latch
is on the inside of the door. One critic, when first viewing the
painting, called the artist's attention to the missing latch. The artist
said that the door represented man, who, when Christ knocked, must open
himself.
When a small boy had seen the painting, he asked his father, "Daddy,
why don't they let Jesus in?" "I don't know," the father answered. A
moment later the boy said, "Daddy, I know why they don't let Jesus in.
They live in the basement, and they can't hear him knock."

Whether we like to acknowledge it or not, our response to Jesus says a
great deal about our position in life...and it definitely affects our
eternity!

Last modified: April 18, 2006