Daily Devotional Saturday 11th January 2020
by William Moody
Luke 20:15–19
15 And 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 destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” 17 But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written:
“‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone’?1
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”
Paying Taxes to Caesar
19 The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people.
Footnotes
[1] 20:17
Greek the head of the corner (ESV)
The response of the owner of the vineyard to those who killed His Son has to be strong (v15-16).
When the people said, “May this never be!” are they talking about never killing Jesus, or never being punished for it?
The reality is that despite them saying it would never happen, both the killing of the Son and the judgement of Jerusalem in AD 70 would take place. People can live with their heads in the sand when evil and its judgment can both be very real in their own lives.
Jesus now quotes from Psalm 118 v22 and shows that while He has come to be the Saviour of many, He will also be the means of judgment on many others (v17-18).
How ironic and how sad that people will be cast into hell by the most loving and gracious Saviour who they rejected!
Sadly for the teachers of the law, they are restrained by a fear of the people and not by a fear of God (v19). John Bunyan said, “Fear God ye saints, and ye will have nothing else to fear.” Do you fear God?
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