Like so many others, the parable is primarily about our response. Will we respond to the claims God has on our lives? Or do we reject His messengers in favor of our will, our agenda? Do we live productively, working to "produce fruits" for God in response to Him blessing us with the privilege to serve Him? The parable reminds us of the privilege of living in covenant relation with God, but that privilege always brings with it responsibility.
It's also crucial to ask how we respond to the messengers of God in our lives. While God may speak to us through angels, dreams, or visions, throughout history His primary method of communication has been through people. God's people constantly rejected the prophets in favor of their own understanding and desires, and we can tend to reject the people around us who are speaking God's truth into our lives for the same reasons. Friends, family, church members, and church leaders are not called to endorse and encourage whatever behavior we take on to be appropriate. No, if they truly love Jesus and love us, they will confront and correct us so we can be more like Christ.
So how do you respond when God attempts to encourage or correct you through others, through the Holy Spirit, or through His word? Are you humble and receptive, carefully considering their words? Or are you stubborn and inflexible, set like stone in your ways?
“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. 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. He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out. “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’ “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.’ So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. “What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When the people heard this, they said, “God forbid!” Jesus looked directly at them and asked, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: “ ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.” The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.”
Luke 20:9-19
