Words are not the message, but the messenger

Another parable that Jesus told was one about some “wicked tenants” (Luke 20:9-19). There was no question but that he was directing his remarks at a specific group – but let’s wait to identify them. The parable tells the story of a landowner who planted a vineyard and then leased it out before leaving on a long trip. At harvest time he sent some of his servants to collect his share of the harvest, but the tenants didn’t cooperate; they stoned one, killed another, and after beating the third, they sent him back empty-handed.
       Not good. So the owner sends a larger group next time and they got the same reception. Still not good, so he decided to send his son whom he dearly loved. “Certainly they will respect him,” he reasoned, but he was wrong. The tenants, thinking that the vineyard would be theirs if they got rid of the heir, dragged him out and killed him.
       Then Jesus asked his listeners what the owner would do when he returns and the religious leaders were quick to answer. “He’ll put those wretched scoundrels to death” (v. 15). As Jesus continued to talk about how the coming kingdom would be taken away from them and given to those who were living a fruitful life, the chief priests and Pharisees “began to realize that he was talking about them” (v. 19). Talk about impact! They would like to have taken Jesus into custody, but were afraid of the crowd who viewed him as a prophet.
      The parable was powerful in that the clerics who were listening suddenly realized that they were the very ones Jesus was talking about. They were caught in a bind because they had just pronounced judgment on themselves. They were the “wretched scoundrels” after all. What caught my attention is the way truth got their attention. They listened and, when Jesus asked for their decision on the wicked tenants, were quick to identify the “bad guys” in the parable. But then as Jesus began to elaborate on the subject, they suddenly caught on that they themselves were the real culprits.
       Truth can be stated, but to be “learned” it has to be experienced. The clerics had just learned something of genuine importance – they were to faithfully care for God’s garden of truth, but when they were called upon to honor God with genuine praise and a desire to carry out his plans they killed the messengers, even his Son, Jesus. That part of it was still future, but what if the tenants had carried out their role with hearts open to the truth and acted accordingly? One thing is certainly true and that is that there would have been no long “dispersion” of the Jewish people from AD 70 when Titus destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem until May 14th of 1948 when Ben-Gurion declared Israel a Jewish State.
       It is one thing to understand the meaning of a word, but something quite different to understand what a word means in context. The clerics understood the meaning of the words used by Jesus to tell his parable, but they didn’t understand what those words really meant in context. They heard them, but didn’t understand what they were meant to communicate until they became aware that Jesus was talking “about them.” This same thing often happens when we know what we are reading in scripture, but are not aware of what it actually means.
​       I have found that God doesn’t waste words nor does he speak rapidly. He wants readers to recognize the words being used, but more importantly to understand what he is saying through them. The message is far more important than the messenger who brings it. A recommendation for all of us is that we not run ahead of him but slow down and experience what God actually wants us to learn. Perhaps we will begin to realize that in the Word, God is not only telling us something, but trusting that we will hear His voice in the words he is using. One is accidental, the other experiential.