“The Just Shall Live By Faith”

New King James Version                          Written by: David Hicks

 

Romans 1:17 “ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."

Galatians 3:11 “But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith."

Hebrews 10:38 “Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."

“Articles of Faith"

An Orderly Account Of The Greatest Story Ever Told

(A Study in Luke)

Chapter 20:1-12:

The Lord has entered Jerusalem for the last time in His earthly work. He has once again cleansed the temple from those who made money off of the people who came to worship.

At the conclusion of the last lesson, we witnessed the leaders attitude towards the Lord, as they sought to destroy Him. The only thing that gave them pause were the multitudes that were attentive to His words.

This lesson begins with Jesus at the temple speaking of the coming kingdom of God (Gospel - Mark 1:14-15), and a confrontation between Him and the leaders of the people.

Text #1:

Luke 20:1-2 "Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him 2 and spoke to Him, saying, “Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things? Or who is he who gave You this authority?”

See also: Matthew 21:23-27; Mark 11:27-33.

At the time just prior to the Passover, the Sanhedrin is gathered in tribunal. With a great show of strength and authority the combined council (chief priests, scribes, and elders) confronted the Lord. Their hope was to establish among the multitudes that Jesus was an unauthorized meddler in their affairs.

Since He is not a priest or Levite, they are challenging His right to have cleansed the temple and then to preach from the temple steps.

They really wanted Him to openly declare that He was the Messiah, as this was something they had attempted before in an effort to discredit Him, note:

John 10:24 "Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

Note the Lord's response:

John 10:25 "Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me."

At the end of His response to their inquiries, note:

John 10:31 "Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him."

Men of such brazen dishonesty could not be dealt with openly or plainly; so the Lord would expose their dishonest nature.

Text #2:

Luke 20:3-8 "But He answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me: 4 The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men?”
5 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,' He will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?' 6 But if we say, ‘From men,' all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.” 7 So they answered that they did not know where it was from.
8 And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

There can be little doubt that the question of the Lord was to defuse the attack of the leaders by showing their true lack of interest in the will of God.

First, John's baptism was a command of heaven in preparation for the coming of the kingdom. This is why Jesus had to be baptized by John in order to fulfill righteousness (not because Jesus had sins to be forgiven, but since it was commanded by God, in order to be righteous one had to obey - Matthew 3:13-15).

Second, John the Baptist also said that Jesus was the Messiah. Thus Jesus, by putting the leaders in a position of choice; to either acknowledge John's work being from God or not, would also put them in a position of having to acknowledge Him as the Messiah.

Third, since either choice left them in a position that would discredit them, they did the one thing that would allow them to save face; they lied!

Jesus, knowing this last point had no reason to answer them and acknowledge them as having any authority over Him. Instead, He would turn to the people and use this occasion to teach a lesson. In this lesson, He would truly respond to the question of the leaders.

Text #3:

Luke 20:9 "Then He began to tell the people this parable: “A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time."

See also: Matthew 21:33-46; Mark 12:1-12.

In Mathew's account, in addition to the vineyard, the owner has placed a hedge about it. That is a protective barrier in the form of a shrub fence. He also dug a wine press, which was a couple of tub shaped cavities dug into rock at different levels. As grapes were trod in the upper they drained into the lower leaving the pure filtered juice ready to be bottled in leather skins. Finally, he also placed a tower at the vineyard, a place for watchmen to guard the vines particularly during the ripening.

This is not the first time that the analogy of Israel as a vineyard has been used; see: Psalms 80:8-19; Isaiah 5:1-7. In each case, Israel was a vineyard planted by God and expected to produce fruit. However, instead it produced wild grapes (bitter, and useless fruit), so God up-rooted and destroyed it (using nations allowed to persecute Israel in destruction and captivity).

In this parable, Israel is once again the vineyard; however, there is a new addition to the mix; vinedressers.

Vinedressers are tenant farmers who have leased the land and are now responsible for its productivity. These tenant farmers are illustrations of the leaders of the people mentioned in Vs. 1.

Text #4:

Luke 20:10-12 "Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. 12 And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out."

As the owner of the vineyard has gone off into a far country for a long time (represented in the time of silence between Malachi and the coming of John the Baptist), He is still expecting that His vineyard be productive.

Now, as the fullness of time has come (harvest time), the owner is going to send servants to the vinedressers to enjoy some of the harvest.

There are three servants sent to the vinedressers which are illustrations of the Law, the prophets, and John the Baptist.

In each case the owner of the vineyard has given the vinedressers reminders of His ownership and expectations. In each case, they have rejected and abused the messengers.

In Mathew's account of these events, Jesus adds another parable that adds to the first portion of this parable, note:

Matthew 21:28-32 “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.' 29 He answered and said, ‘I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went. 30 Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,' but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?”
They said to Him, “The first.”
Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him."

Not only have they cast out and abused the first two servants (the Law and Prophets), they have likewise done this to the forerunner to the coming of the Messiah. Most importantly, they have not regretted their actions; showing absolutely no respect for the owner of the vineyard.

We are going to stop here, and pick up in our next lesson, with the owner of the vineyard sending his own son to them next. This will be a depiction of the events that will shortly take place!

Next: "The Rejected Stone"