Slices
Prepare
Have you been to a vineyard? Even if not, you can still picture the neat rows of vine after vine and imagine the careful cultivation, time and effort needed to tend and care for grapes.
Bible passage
The song of the vineyard
5 I will sing for the one I love
a song about his vineyard:
my loved one had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside.
2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones
and planted it with the choicest vines.
He built a watchtower in it
and cut out a winepress as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
but it yielded only bad fruit.
3 ‘Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
4 What more could have been done for my vineyard
than I have done for it?
When I looked for good grapes,
why did it yield only bad?
5 Now I will tell you
what I am going to do to my vineyard:
I will take away its hedge,
and it will be destroyed;
I will break down its wall,
and it will be trampled.
6 I will make it a wasteland,
neither pruned nor cultivated,
and briers and thorns will grow there.
I will command the clouds
not to rain on it.’
7 The vineyard of the Lord Almighty
is the nation of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are the vines he delighted in.
And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed;
for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.
Explore
You may recognise this parable – if not from Isaiah 5 then from Jesus’ take on it (see Matthew 21). Those listening to Jesus would have known Isaiah’s version, and also, first-hand, how hard it is to grow things – especially vines.
Look again at verses 1 and 2 and see the things the ‘loved one’ did to plant and guard his vineyard so he could make wine. No expense was spared, including buying the best grapes and finding the ideal location. He had good reason to expect an excellent crop followed by some delicious wine. But the result of his efforts is repeated at the end of verse 2 and in verse 4: was the crop what he had hoped for?
Reading about God’s anger (vs 5,6) should make us uncomfortable. But this parable helps us understand why he was angry. Calling and forming his people wasn’t only hard work; it was a labour of love. And he was rewarded with bloodshed and injustice (v 7).
Respond
You are a vine in God’s vineyard: the church. How has he lovingly and carefully planted and cultivated you in your journey of faith? Think back to some key people and moments, and give thanks to God for all he’s done.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Micah 1–3; Psalm 144
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for the SU staff team in the north as they support many Faith Guides who are taking the Christmas message into schools. Pray for the trial of new ideas that will allow the pupils to explore at lunchtime a Bible story that they have heard in an assembly earlier in the day.