Introduction
- Have you been scolded before … by God?
- Matthew 21:28-22:14 contains three parables – He’s using them as “scolding stories”.
- Who was being rebuked? The chief priests and the Pharisees.
- Why were they being rebuked? Tragically, the leaders of God’s people were coming in last (Matt 21:31).
- Perhaps in some ways we are not too different from them. We are offended by God’s rebuke. But there is a better way: responding well to God’s redemptive rebuke results in renovation of the heart.
There are two redemptive rebukes that emerge from the parables:
A. WILL WE IGNORE THE KING’S INVITATION? (22:1-14)
- Shocking refusal to accept the King’s invitation (22:3)
- Not just passive rejection, but active rebellion (22:5-6)
- How are we responding to the King’s invitation to us? We respond more readily when we realise how merciful and magnanimous the invitation is (22:9-10). It’s grace!
- It’s grace given freely, but not grace that can be taken lightly (22:11-14)
B. WILL WE LET THE KINGDOM PASS US BY? (21:33-45)
- The landowner would have been looking forward to his return on investment — and rightfully so (21:33-34).
- Not only did the tenants fail to pay up, they beat up the landowner’s servants (21:35-36) — the beloved Son was murdered (21:37-39).
- The chief priests and Pharisees, the tenants in the story — pronounced the punishment on themselves (21:40-41).
- Their hearts were hardened past the point of no return:
a. “… one of the consequences of choosing what one wants without regard to God’s will is enslavement to one’s own self-conflicted will. On the path of self-will people eventually come to the place where they cannot choose what God wants and cannot want God. They can only want — themselves.” (Dallas Willard,Renovation of the Heart) - Jesus’s logical judgement pronounced on them the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to people producing its fruit. (21:43)
- When we reject the King, the Kingdom will pass us by also
Conclusion
Will you allow God to renovate your life so that Christ is your Cornerstone? (21:42)
Sunday Worship Songs at cefc.ch/sws
Next Week’s Topic: Disciple the Nations (1)
Next Week’s Speaker(s): Rev Tony Yeo (BPJ, WDL & East)
