Slices
Prepare
Before reading God’s Word, ask the Holy Spirit to bring it to life for you in life-giving, life-transforming ways.
Bible passage
The parable of the tenants
12 Jesus then began to speak to them in parables: ‘A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall round it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 2 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.
6 ‘He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, “They will respect my son.”
7 ‘But the tenants said to one another, “This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.” 8 So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
9 ‘What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture:
‘“The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
11 the Lord has done this,
and it is marvellous in our eyes”?’
12 Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away.
Explore
In many cultures, stories are a popular and effective means of conveying truth. In confronting King David’s sin, the prophet Nathan did not resort to a hard‑hitting sermon but used a simple story (2 Samuel 12:1–14), illustrating that ‘story’ does not necessarily equate ‘fiction’. Jesus tells a parable adapted from an Old Testament prophetic-poem (Isaiah 5) and placed in the landowner–tenant setting of first-century Galilee in order to speak truth into the real-life situation of the religious leaders who have denied his identity and rejected his authority.
‘There are two kinds of stories, the ones you live and the ones you make up.’* Jesus’ parable, although in one sense a made-up story, is also the true and lived story of a God who so loved the world that he kept reaching out despite repeated rejection (vs 3–5) and, ultimately, sent his beloved Son to a certain death (vs 6–8; John 3:16).
At Nathan’s pronouncement, ‘You are the man!’, David humbly confessed his sin (2 Samuel 12:7,13). Here, Jesus does not have to utter a word. The religious leaders immediately recognise themselves in the story (v 12), rightly interpreting its dire warning (v 9). But, although guilty as charged, they refuse to repent.
*Attributed to Ernest Hemingway
Respond
The Bible is the ultimate true story. God invites us to see ourselves in its situations and characters and to fulfil our role in his ongoing story that goes beyond the written word.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Ezekiel 40,41; 1 John 1
Pray for Scripture Union
Mission Partner Hope for the Valleys is grateful to God for the continuing work in South Wales. H4V’s Ilan Tricker has built many links with schools and continues with many youth clubs. Pray that many would come to know Jesus as their Saviour and Lord.
