It is tempting to skip.  Matthew 21.18-22

Here’s the dilemma – to read or skip the tough stuff

The bigger dilemma – to believe and act on our belief or

                                         to do nothing with our knowledge of Jesus

                                          which means rejecting him …. hmmmm.

Okay, true confession here… when I am reading the Bible and I get to a passage I don’t understand, I am likely to just skip through it—that is, unless I am teaching or writing about it.  It is easier to skip to something I do understand, something that resonates with me—‘you know what I mean?  So, I am tempted to skip through the whole fig tree thing.  For that matter, I am tempted to skip the other two parables in Matthew 21 as well!  Their meanings are simply not readily obvious—at least not to a Gentile in the 21^st century.  They require digging, they require context, they require thought.

When Jesus spoke in parables and used things that were part of the familiar landscape of the people to which he spoke, his listeners more easily understood his meaning.  For instance, the fig tree and the vineyard were often used symbolically to represent God’s people or Israel, particularly their spiritual condition.  Now set this teaching in Matthew 21 into the timeframe of Jesus’ ministry—he has just entered Jerusalem to a throng of cheers and then cleared the Temple of shysters.  It is the last week of his life, and days before he would go to the cross.

The Jewish leaders were looking to kill him, and most of the people would turn away from him by weeks’ end.  Jesus uses three stories to illustrate the magnitude of their rejection, the condition of their hearts and the judgment of those who choose to reject him, of those who refuse to believe and repent of their sins.

(1) In the morning, as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry, and he noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” And immediately the fig tree withered up.

The disciples were amazed when they saw this and asked, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?”

Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.”  Matthew 21.18-22

(2) “But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go.

“Which of the two obeyed his father?”

They replied, “The first.”

Then Jesus explained his meaning: “I tell you the truth, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do. For John the Baptist came and showed you the right way to live, but you didn’t believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even when you saw this happening, you refused to believe him and repent of your sins.  Matthew 21.28-32

Hardness of heart, unbelief and inaction will not gain us the kingdom.

(3) “Now listen to another story. A certain landowner planted a vineyard, built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country. At the time of the grape harvest, he sent his servants to collect his share of the crop. But the farmers grabbed his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. So the landowner sent a larger group of his servants to collect for him, but the results were the same.

“Finally, the owner sent his son, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’

“But when the tenant farmers saw his son coming, they said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Come on, let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’ So they grabbed him, dragged him out of the vineyard, and murdered him.

“When the owner of the vineyard returns,” Jesus asked, “what do you think he will do to those farmers?”

The religious leaders replied, “He will put the wicked men to a horrible death and lease the vineyard to others who will give him his share of the crop after each harvest.”

Then Jesus asked them, “Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures?

‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.

This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.’

I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit. Anyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.”

When the leading priests and Pharisees heard this parable, they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers. They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowds, who considered Jesus to be a prophet. Matt. 21.33-46

Once again, Jesus shows that he knew what was just ahead ~ the cross.

How the Father’s heart must have ached as Jesus faced rejection, with all he had given up, with all he would face!

But alas, as Jesus enters Jerusalem and we read about it . . .

as the gospel writer captures the heart and mind of Jesus in his writing and we know of it . . . we have the choice of choosing him

                                                    or rejecting him. 

“Jesus, I do not want to be hard hearted, but teachable to the things of God.  Make me a person of great faith who lives out of my faith each day.  Amen.”

**Mark’s gospel—the earliest gospel written—has a slightly different take.  Mark 11