Stewards

Stewards by Jeff Griggs Listen on Posterous

Luke 20:9-19

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!”

 ¹⁷ 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’^[a]?

   ¹⁸ Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

 ¹⁹ 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.