Friday 10 Mar 2023

March 10: Matthew 21:40-43

Key Verse: Matthew 21:43
Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.

Devotion:
One of the ideas which troubles me greatly is the idea put forward here by Jesus – the idea the kingdom of God will be taken away from the people who do nothing about being children of God! What exactly does a child of God mean in this context. We could glibly say a child of God is someone who believes and trusts in God, someone God has call His child...

But there are two sides to most coins and this is not going to be any different. In this context Jesus was telling the people a parable about a man who who rented his vineyard to other people. When the time of the harvest came, he sent his servants to collect his fruit, to collect his harvest. Now, we are not told the intricacies of the deal they struck up with the vineyard owner, so we can’t comment on that other than the owner obviously was expecting to get some of the harvest!

When the people who rented the vineyard turned their backs on the deal and did terrible things to the servants he sent, what do you think he thought of the tenants? Now Jesus turns this parable back into context by comparing this vineyard and owner to God and the kingdom of heaven. He sent His Son, Jesus, and we, the people, killed Him! Now you get the picture!

Jesus knew this was going to happen, because He was telling the parable, and He knew who would do the deed and who would continue to follow Him… He still came and stepped up to give His life for us – that is how much he loves the people who DO what He asks. If we don’t do what God asks, we are no better than the people who killed His Son. That’s the scary part – we should be doing God’s will in our lives!

Points to Ponder:
Have you asked God what it is He wants you to do?

Are you ready to listen to Him?