The Redeemer’s Reaping (Luke 20:1-19)

Reformed & Expository Preaching

Authority Challenged

As Jesus teaches in the temple courts, the religious leaders approach Him with a pointed question: “By what authority are you doing these things?” Their inquiry appears sincere. They should learn why Christ is teaching here. He has just cleared out the temple. Rather than seeking truth, they aim to destroy Him while maintaining control over the people. Jesus responds by asking about John the Baptist’s authority. John and Jesus are tied together. If you affirm John’s credibility, then Christ is the messiah. They will not concede that Christ is the messiah, showing that their authority is from man rather than God.

A Vineyard Without Fruit

Jesus then tells a parable about a vineyard owner whose tenants abuse his servants and ultimately kill his son to seize the inheritance. This parable seems like a strange story until we get the backdrop of Isaiah 5. Isaiah portrays Canaan as God’s carefully cultivated vineyard, blessed with every provision for fruitfulness. Yet instead of yielding a harvest of justice and righteousness, the vineyard has produced rebellion and self-rule. Like the tenants in the parable, Israel’s leaders are attempting to secure the vineyard for themselves thinking that their squatter’s rights will secure their place. They should celebrate God’s goodness and celebrate the honor of caring for God’s garden.

The Cornerstone Rejected

The parable concludes with a sobering warning: the owner will remove the tenants but preserve the vineyard, entrusting it to others who will bear fruit. Jesus applies Psalm 118, declaring Himself the rejected stone that becomes the cornerstone. Those who stumble over Him will be broken; those on whom He falls will be crushed. The leaders’ defiant cry is“Surely not!” conveys that they trust in heritage, position, and the temple rather than in the Messiah who stands before them. They are looking to the good things of God’s provision for their sustenance rather than to God.

The Call to Hear and Live

The gospel’s message is clear: life and identity are not secured by ancestry, covenant status, or outward religion, but by hearing and receiving Christ as Lord. God will prune His vineyard and gather a people from every nation, and build his new temple in the cornerstone of His Son. The warning is real that rejecting Christ leads to ruin. However, the other side is also true that there is hope; those who bow to His authority are planted forever in God’s vineyard, bearing fruit that endures for eternity.