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Day 84 Luke 20:1 Luke 20:1 And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders, 2 And spoke unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority do thou these things? Or who is he that gave thee this authority? 3 And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me: 4 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? 5 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not? 6 But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet. 7 And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was. 8 And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. 9 Then began he to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time. 10 And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. 11 And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. 12 And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out. 13 Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him. 14 But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. 15 So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them? 16 He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid. 17 And he beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? 18 Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. 19 And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them. Whenever you do something, people want your credentials. They want to know you have the authority to do the work you claim you can do. The Pharisees and scribes asked Jesus where his authority to teach the people came from. It took education for them to be in the positions they were in, but Jesus didn’t have an education. At least none they were aware of. Jesus answered their question with another question and told them a parable to illustrate his answer. A parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. In the parable you see a man who planted a vineyard, God who created the earth. You see husbandmen who took care of the vineyard, God’s chosen people. The man who owned the vineyard sent servants to collect the harvest, prophets sent by God to tell Israel what was to come. Then the man sent his son to collect the harvest because the husbandmen had wounded the servants and had not given him the harvest. God sent his Son, the promised Messiah, and when the people saw the Son, they didn’t treat him as their Messiah, but killed him. Then God gave the vineyard over to other people who would care for it. God gave the message about his Son, their Messiah to the nations, who until today have spread the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Stone the builders rejected. He is our Cornerstone. As Christians, you know it is better to fall on the Sone, Jesus Christ, accept him and his message, turning your life over to him, than for the Stone to fall on you and crush you because you rejected Jesus as Savior and Lord. What have you done with the gospel of Jesus Christ? Have you accepted or rejected him? Let’s pray: Father, you are my God. Help me take your good news to the world, so the world will know your Son, Jesus. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen. Copyright © 14 November 2018 by Valerie Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay