5th Sunday in Lent

Lent 5

Luke 20:9-20

Like most of them that Jesus tells, the parable of the leased vineyard is intentionally over-the-

top. We’re supposed to gasp when we see the caretaker farmers refuse the master and abuse the

servants and kill the son. It’s supposed to shock us. And all the violence and presumption by the

farmers stems from one basic fact: they didn’t understand who the vineyard really belongs to. It

doesn’t belong to them; it belongs to the lord.

The vineyard stands for the people of God, and so this parable was initially an indictment against

the religious leadership of Jesus’ day. But it also applies to the church today. For us, this parable

is both comfort and warning. On the one hand, we dare not act like the church ever belongs to

us. The church is always and ever His church, not ours. But this is also our comfort. We are always

His church. No matter how the caretakers of the Lord’s church may stray, they cannot ultimately

scuttle His church.

Take comfort in Jesus’ assurance, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one

will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:28)