Blinded by Pride

“But when the husbandmen saw the Son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on His inheritance.  And they caught Him, and cast Him out of the vineyard, and slew Him.”  Matthew 21:38-39

Continuing from the prior blog, the husbandmen/religious leaders who had been so long in the vineyard, considered themselves the rulers over the vineyard/Israel.  It gave them a feeling of power and dominion.  When the Son appeared, they saw their opportunity to hang on to their power by destroying the Son.  They believed with Him out of the way, they would have control from now on over the people and could force the people to do whatever they commanded, proving the old saying that “absolute power corrupts absolutely” among men.

Jesus continued His parable by telling the chief priests and elders that the husbandmen captured the son, removed him outside the vineyard, and killed him, which prophesied Jesus’ arrest, His removal to outside the gate of Jerusalem, and His crucifixion.  After relating the climax to His story, He asked the religious leaders how they would anticipate the vineyard owner’s reaction to the death of his son.  It was a given that the vineyard owner would return.  After all, it was his vineyard.  Even if God delays His coming, He will come in a day unexpectedly when those under His dominion are not watching (Matthew 24:48-51).

The chief priests and elders were quick to answer because they recognized a horrible injustice in this parable, but they could not recognize their own evil hearts.  They answered Jesus that the vineyard owner would “miserably destroy those wicked men, and (would) let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which (would) render him the fruits in their seasons”.  They had just unknowingly prophesied their own doom and the future glory of their most hated fellowmen, the Gentiles.  It is funny how it is so easy to see the sins of others, but not our own sins.  We must remove the beam from our own eye before we try and remove the speck from another’s eye (Matthew 7:1-5).  These religious leaders were so blind to the truth of their very own Old Testament scriptures of which they claimed to be so knowledgeable that they could not see that Jesus was talking about them.  They were the husbandmen in the story.

The leaders were so blinded by their pride that they could never see themselves as anything but God’s chosen, favored leaders who could do no wrong.  They never for a minute considered anyone, especially Gentiles, being given any type of status that would even come close to their honored positions.  However, God had not only considered it but had planned for it.  Even though God’s intention in calling out Israel as His chosen people to represent Him to the world was not received by them, He was not taken by surprise and had planned for their rejection of His Messiah from the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4).  His plan of salvation was given to the Gentiles, “that the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel” (Ephesians 3:6).  God had given Israel an abundance of privileges, given them the covenants, the law, the ability to serve Him, and the promises of protection and provision, not to mention the oracles of God, which were special divine utterances, dreams, visions, and signs.  The Jewish leaders took these special privileges and blessings for granted.

Loving parents prepare their children for adulthood.  They properly feed and nourish their children, provide for their education, and give them spiritual training so that when they grow up, they can leave the parents’ home and take care of themselves.  Righteous parents do not abandon their grown children, but they expect their children to become adults and take on adult responsibilities.  In the event that the grown children face trials and fears, the parents can be called upon to help.  They do not leave the children to “face the giants” alone.  Deists believe that God made everything, wound the world up like a clock, then abandoned man to his own devices.  When Jesus said that the owner of the vineyard went into a far country, He didn’t mean that God abandoned His people.  He basically stepped back to give them an opportunity to prove themselves.  What will the Lord find when He returns?