THE TENANTS

Matthew:21.33-41
“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey.
When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit
“The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third…….

Jesus taught this parable in the temple after some elders and chief priests had questioned his authority whiles he was teaching. He also knew very well that these elders were hoping to arrest him.

‘The Tenants’ is one of the parables that seeks to teach us how the kingdom of God is. The kingdom of God is a vineyard owned by God and which has been handed over to tenants. These tenants are to work in this vineyard and give back to the yard owner. When it was time to give the produce to the owner, these tenants refused. They refused to acknowledge the authority of God as the owner of the vineyard. Hence they maltreated the people the vineyard owner sent and even killed his son. He called them wicked tenants and when he returns, he shall take the vineyard from them and hand it over to other people.

Even the life we have isn’t ours. We need to acknowledge this truth and make it a point to acknowledge God by fulfilling our obligations to him.

As believers we need to acknowledge the authority of God in our lives. We need to acknowledge Jesus Christ as the son of God and treat his prophets with honour. Unlike the chief priest and elders who taught they knew it all and set themselves against the people God had sent, let’s seek the will of God and make it our priority to obey God. Then we can give to God the produce of the vineyard.

Let’s meditate on this. What obligation do we owe God? What ways can we acknowledge God in our lives?