The Parable of the Wicked Tenants: A Luke 20 Devotional

The Parable of the Tenants

9 He went on to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. 10 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. 12 He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.

13 “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’

14 “But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

“What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”

When the people heard this, they said, “God forbid!”

Luke 20: 9-16 (NIV)

Hello friends! Should we spend a bit of time today looking over the parable of the tenants?

Let's.

My study Bible says the response of the hearers is because they have some sense the message applies to Israel. But what if the response comes from a heart so blind to our own evils it's astounding?

The tenants treat the servants terribly, they murder the son, and somehow believe they will be next in line to receive good things. The hearers go with that. "What do you mean, the father destroys them?! What did they do wrong?!"

Have we fallen so far from realistic self-reflection that we see ourselves as the tenants do? The hearers? Do we exist in a victim mindset that tells us that, no matter our wrongs, or the legitimate hardships we may face, we're deserving of all good things? That our hardships excuse our evils?

A bit of tough love for all of us, ladies - yes, we do. We nail the Son to the cross with our sins each and every day - or in terms of the parable, we murder the son. And then we have the audacity to wonder about our own comfort. We shift blame and responsibility and look for comfortable things. Or rewards. Or both.

Take a good, long look in the mirror, friend. I'm the tenants, and so are you. It's time for us to stop being so busy, so distracted, or so oblivious to our own flaws and instead take responsibility for the way we're living.

All the love,

Emily

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