87. Tenants

[Pastor Ralph]

Please share your thoughts on one or more of the questions in this lesson. 

[hanks]

1. How did tenant farming work in Jesus' day? In our day? What did the owner of the vineyard expect of his tenants? 
In Jesus’ day the wealthy owned much of the land and rented it to tenant farmers. The landlord typically lived elsewhere, even perhaps in another country. He had tenant farmers work the vineyard, their hard work earned them a percentage of the harvest, the balance going to the owner. On site the owner would normally have a servant looking after his interests. I should imagine that similar arrangements are made today. The owner providing the capital needed while tenant farmers contribute their labour and perhaps management skills. Depending on the contract, tenants make cash payments to the owner for his percentage. In Jesus’ time, the owner of the vineyard would send his servants to collect his portion of the harvest which according to contract belonged to him. 
 

[hanks]

2. What does the vineyard itself represent? The owner? The tenants? The servants who are sent to collect the owner's portion? Who is the son? Historically, how did God destroy the "tenants"? (20:9-16) 
The vineyard = Israel.
The owner = God.
The tenants = Religious leaders.
The servants = The prophets God sent to Israel. From Moses to John the Baptist.
The Son = Our Lord Jesus Christ. 
God destroyed these murderous “tenants” by the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70. “He will give the vineyard to others” (20:16). The others who will inherit the vineyard being the righteous remnant (believing Israel and the Gentiles. 
 

[hanks]

3. In 20:17 who is the stone? Who are the builders? In your opinion, why did they ultimately reject Jesus after studying Him carefully? 
The Stone = Jesus Christ. 
The builders = Jewish religious leaders.
The Jewish religious leaders rejected Jesus because He did not fit their preconceived idea of a warrior king who would deliver them from political oppression. Their minds had been hardened by pride and unbelief. He was also getting in the way of their money-making rackets they had operating in the temple. The builders, the Jewish religious leaders, had no place, no use for Jesus Christ, the Stone in their building plans. They threw the capstone aside as useless. Even the people rejected Jesus, when Pilate offered to release Jesus after the flogging, they shouted for a criminal to be released: "Away with this Man! Release Barabbas to us!" (23:18). But following His death He was raised from the dead and given the place of pre-eminence by God, making Him the cornerstone, the most important stone in God’s building. “God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name” (Php 2:9). 
 

[hanks]

4. In what ways did the Pharisees and Chief Priests stumble on the stone and were broken to pieces? In what ways are they crushed by the "falling stone"? 
Both the Pharisees and Chief Priests stumbled on the “stone” they rejected and were broken to pieces. This depicts His first coming. When our Lord comes again to judge all, the “stone” is depicted as falling from heaven and grinding unbelievers to powder. Anyone who persistently opposes Christ is going to be crushed. They will find out, in a dreadful eternity, what it means to reject the mercy of God. Especially this world today, there are many who think that this world has outgrown the old Gospel of salvation through the redemption of the blood of Jesus. 
 

[hanks]

5. How can we detect when our hearts are rebellious against God? What should we do when we are angry at God? How can we prevent "a root of bitterness" against God to grow in our heart? Is this only hypothetical or is there any danger of the Stone crushing us to powder? 
When things go wrong we begin to question God. Our hearts become rebellious against God, we start complaining, we may get angry, blaming God for what is happening. This is dangerous for it gives Satan a foothold in our lives. We need to understand that God is sovereign and recognise His attributes of love, mercy, grace, kindness, righteousness, justice, and holiness. At the same time try to see the difficulties we are going through in the light of His Word. One of the greatest verses in the Bible is Romans 8:28:” We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”  And then there is my favourite: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight” (Prov 3:5-6). We begin to see our problems in a different light. To be angry with God is a sin, we are telling Him that we don’t trust Him. Of course, anger against our Heavenly Father, being a sin, there will be judgment. 
 

[Irmela]

1. How did tenant farming work in Jesus' day? In our day? What did the owner of the vineyard expect of his tenants?

It seems very much the same. Tenants or contract workers keep a percentage of the yield of the harvest and a fixed portion is paid to the owner. 

[Irmela]

2. What does the vineyard itself represent? The owner? The tenants? The servants who are sent to collect the owner's portion? Who is the son? Historically, how did God destroy the "tenants"? (20:9-16)

The vineyard = Israel

The owner= God

The tenants= the current rulers

The servants sent to collect the owner's portion = prophets, apostles

The son = The Messiah, Jeshuah Himself, the Son of God

The destruction : In 70AD the Fall of Jerusalem by General Titus

[Irmela]

3. In 20:17 who is the stone? Who are the builders? In your opinion, why did they ultimately reject Jesus after studying him carefully?

The stone = Jeshuah

The builders = the religious leaders

He did not fit their description of the Messiah King Who was to rule over His people. Also they were jealous of His "popularity". They stood to loose their "followers" who blindly did what they, the religious leaders expected of them, thus filling their pockets with filthy lucre. They would no longer be looked to for guidance. 

[Irmela]

4.  In what ways did the Pharisees and Chief Priests stumble on the stone and were broken to pieces? In what ways are they crushed by the "falling stone"?

They were loosing face. The way of life that they were used to was fast falling away and changing. They were no longer being held in awe by the people. They were recognized for who they were and being rejected. In this way they were stumbling and being broken. 

The end result of Jeshuah's enemies will be that they will be crushed to powder. (At the second coming) No longer will they have any say. Messiah will rule. 

[Irmela]

5. How can we detect when our hearts are rebellious against God? What should we do when we are angry at God? How can we prevent "a root of bitterness" against God to grow in our heart? Is this only hypothetical or is there any danger of the Stone crushing us to powder?

When there is no peace and we can no longer have fellowship with Him then the warning is there to examine ourselves. Often we find we are then angry about the way things went (they didn't turn out to go our way.) We should immediately ask God to remove rebellion, bitterness or anger in our hearts and to replace it with peace and submission to His will and direction. 

Yes, as Mr Hanks has mentioned Rom 8:28, that truly allows us to accept situations as they come our way, much easier. For 50 yrs, that verse has been my saving in many a situation and enabled me to hold on and see or look towards the end of the dark tunnel i was in. 

If we do not accept God's way we are bound to be crushed and not stand with Him in victory. 

[Old Jerry]

How did tenant farming work in Jesus' day? In our day? What did the owner of the vineyard expect of his tenants?

 

A. tenant farming would be like renting the land but in Jesus’ day they would pay with a part of the crop. In our day they pay with money. The owner of the land expected the tenants to pay the rent.

 

What does the vineyard itself represent? The owner? The tenants? The servants who are sent to collect the owner's portion? Who is the son? Historically, how did God destroy the "tenants"? (20:9-16)

 

A. The vineyard itself represented the people, the owner is God and the tenants were the Pharisees. The servants that were sent to collect the goods were the prophets. The Son is Jesus Christ. God destroyed the “tenants” by destroying Jerusalem.  

 

 

In 20:17 who is the stone? Who are the builders? In your opinion, why did they ultimately reject Jesus after studying him carefully?

 

A. The stone is Jesus, the builders are the Pharisees, and in my opinion they ultimately rejected Jesus because they were afraid He would take the power away from them.

 

In what ways did the Pharisees and Chief Priests stumble on the stone and were broken to pieces? In what ways are they crushed by the "falling stone"?

 

A. The Pharisees and Chief Priests stumbled on the stone and were broken to pieces when they didn’t believe Him. They were crushed when crucifying Him.

 

How can we detect when our hearts are rebellious against God? What should we do when we are angry at God? How can we prevent "a root of bitterness" against God to grow in our heart? Is this only hypothetical or is there any danger of the Stone crushing us to powder?

 

A. When we start blaming God for the misfortunes we have in life. When we are angry with God we should go to him and ask for forgiveness. There is always a danger of the Stone crushing our hearts into power.

[Katy]

Q1. In Jesus’s day a wealthy land owner would hire men to work in his farm and the land owner would be entitled to his share of the produce. Now days the land owner would go to a certain place in the town where men would be standing waiting to be hired for the day and they would be paid a days wage. Or a tenant farmer might pay rent to farm the land and give a nominal amount of produce to the owner.

Q 2. The vineyard represents Israel.

         The owner represents God.

          The tenants represent the religious leaders in Jesus time.

             The servants represent the prophet that God sent to Israel that were rejected by the people.

               The Son is Jesus who came to die on the cross to redeem us from our sins. 
                 The tenants were ultimately punished with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD.

Q. 3. The stone is Jesus. The builders are the Religious Leaders. They rejected Jesus because they didn’t believe He was the Messiah. He was different to the Conquering King they expected to deliver them from Roman rule. Jesus called them out on their dishonesty and their lack of integrity and their unrighteousness. They didn’t like this so they planned to get rid of Him. They manipulated the people to call for His death and even though Jesus was sinless and innocent He was condemned to death. 
 

[Katy]

Q.4. The Pharisees and the Religious leaders declared war against Jesus because they didn’t like the way He challenged them on their actions and their pride. Although they were scholars who studied the Torah they didn’t recognize Jesus or maybe wilfully refused to accept who He was! This was a big mistake , even after getting to know Him and observing His ways they rejected Him. Jesus was the cornerstone sent by God . The religious leaders should have been building their lives and the people’s lives around the cornerstone instead they rejected Him. It was this wilful rejection and hardness of heart that brought about their downfall and they are crushed by the cornerstone. It is a lesson for us to learn from if we reject and turn away from our Merciful God we too will stumble and ultimately be crushed by the cornerstone.

Q.5.We will be crushed if we reject God. If our hearts are becoming hard towards God we must repent and turn away from bitterness so that we do not allow a root of bitterness to take root in our hearts. We need to question ourselves as to why this is happening: have we been spending time in His presence, seeking His face to help us with the difficulties we have in life. Are we reading His word. Are we spending time in Christian fellowship, and seeking Godly advise from a trusted mentor. Are our eyes fixed firmly on Jesus? If we do these things Jesus will help us not to become hard hearted and bitter towards the things of God. 

[haar]

1.    How did tenant farming work in Jesus' day? In our day? What did the owner of the vineyard expect of his tenants?

In Jesus’ day, a tenant farmer pays the farm owner some pre-agreed rent that could be produce for the farm use.

This is not significantly different today in Nigeria. In this case, payment is mostly in cash for renting the farm for a period of time.

2.    What does the vineyard itself represent? The owner? The tenants? The servants who are sent to collect the owner's portion? Who is the son? Historically, how did God destroy the "tenants"? (20:9-16)

In Jesus parable, the vine yard represented the nation of Israel, the owner represented God while the tenants represented the Jewish leaders. The servants represented the prophets and the son represented the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

3.    In 20:17 who is the stone? Who are the builders? In your opinion, why did they ultimately reject Jesus after studying him carefully?

Jesus is the stone rejected. The builders are the Pharisees and leaders. It could be any of us who refuse to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as savior.

4.    In what ways did the Pharisees and Chief Priests stumble on the stone and were broken to pieces? In what ways are they crushed by the "falling stone"?

Rejection of the Messiah would lead to the physical destruction of the Pharisees (and anyone who rejects him) by their enemy eg. Romans as well spiritual destruction in hell..

5.    How can we detect when our hearts are rebellious against God?

We will experience absence of peace in our hearts (from my experience)

What should we do when we are angry at God?

Confess and repent

How can we prevent "a root of bitterness" against God to grow in our heart? Is this only hypothetical or is there any danger of the Stone crushing us to powder?

By constantly running back to God any time we sense the feelings of bitterness are arising. This can be done by quickly getting back to God’s word, prayer, confession and worship that includes singing.

[kreilly]

How did tenant farming work in Jesus' day? In our day? What did the owner of the vineyard expect of his tenants?

I have some land that I rent to a farmer and it pretty much works the same way it did back then.  He gets 2/3 since he does all the work and I get 1/3 since I own the land.  I have to pay 1/3 for fertilizer. When he harvests the crops, my 1/3 gets put into storage at the co-op and I can sell it when I think the price is right. 

In what ways did the Pharisees and Chief Priests stumble on the stone and were broken to pieces? In what ways are they crushed by the "falling stone"?

I was always confused by this verse before.  I always thought the part about being broken to pieces meant that when we come to Christ we are broken and He puts us back together when we submit to Him and receive salvation, but at least we are not crushed by the weight of our sins.  But after doing this study, I would agree with Hanks and Irmela that it relates to the fate of unbelievers in the present and coming age, due to the word stumble being used.  Those who believe and accept Him don't stumble over Him.  I'm so grateful for this verse-by-verse study that clarifies confusion I have had and delves into questions that many commentaries do not address. 

How can we detect when our hearts are rebellious against God? What should we do when we are angry at God? How can we prevent "a root of bitterness" against God to grow in our heart? Is this only hypothetical or is there any danger of the Stone crushing us to powder?

When I start feeling that distance and like I don't want to spend time with my Lord, I know my heart is rebellious.  When I am angry at God, the first thing I need to do is admit it.  I often like to pretend it's not true because I know it's wrong, but He knows my heart.  If I don't admit it and talk to Him about it that will allow a root of bitterness to grow against God.  It is important to examine my true feelings and where they are coming from, then repent and ask God to change my heart.  I can't change my feelings, but I can try to figure out where my unrighteous anger at God comes from.  God is sinless, so any anger I feel toward Him is unrighteous.  Examining my own selfish desires that lead me to feel that I have somehow been wronged by God will lead me to a place of repentance, before bitterness can take hold.  This is not hypothetical.  If I allow bitterness to take hold it can destroy my faith and ultimately cause me to walk away from the Lord.  Better to repent early and easily, than let sin and bitterness take root and destroy your faith.  

[George L]

1. How did tenant farming work in Jesus' day? In our day? Both the same. Percentage of the crop and some agreement on bearing the cost of seed etc. What did the owner of the vineyard expect of his tenants? That they were not theives. That they would honor the contract terms.
2. What does the vineyard itself represent? The world we are to care for then harvest from.  The owner? The Father God is the owner.  The tenants? The Church.  The servants who are sent to collect the owner's portion? In practice they should be those who we are to raise up and minister to. That is our investment in growth. Who is the son? The Lord.  Historically, how did God destroy the "tenants"? (20:9-16) He used the roman government which tired of the theiving sanhedron.
3. In 20:17 who is the stone? Jesus. Who are the builders? The religious leadership failing their spiritual duties. In your opinion, why did they ultimately reject Jesus after studying him carefully? The had become blinded to the reality, spiritual and worldly, they were in. Strong delusion territory.
4. In what ways did the Pharisees and Chief Priests stumble on the stone and were broken to pieces? They failed to realize their forgiveness was before their eyes. The consolation of Israel.  In what ways are they crushed by the "falling stone"?There spiritual and worldly lives were snuffed out.
5. How can we detect when our hearts are rebellious against God? We notice the still small voice has gone scilent. What should we do when we are angry at God? Angry is fine, but the scripture is and  sin not. How can we prevent "a root of bitterness" against God to grow in our heart? We need to give up our illusion of any control. For me it was his question did I know an exact future detail. Followed by, then why do you think you can tell me how to adjust today. I went to repentace, heart felt. I went from doing a good important thing to knowing I was meddling in something I was backwards about.  Is this only hypothetical or is there any danger of the Stone crushing us to powder? We best repent for all times we are harming baby lambs, alienating future harvest and doing damage to the kingdom. I know personally ministries ended and ministers who passed on early from cancer who became insistant on continuing in mistakes. God is serious about caring for and about his creation.