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Series C – Lent 5 – Sunday, March 13, 2016 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:29	the holy Gospel According to Saint Luke
0:31	Chapter 20 verses 9 through 20.
0:36	and Jesus began to tell the people this
0:38	Parable a man planted a Vineyard LED it
0:41	out to tenants and went into another
0:44	country for a long while
0:45	when the time came he sent a servant to
0:47	the tenants so that they would give him
0:49	some of the fruit of the vineyard but
0:51	the tenants beat him
0:53	send him away empty-handed
0:55	and he sent another servant but they
0:57	also beat and treated him shamefully and
0:58	sent him away empty-handed
1:01	and he sent yet a third and this one
1:03	they also wounded and cast out then the
1:05	owner of the vineyard said
1:07	what shall I do I’ll send my son my
1:10	beloved Son perhaps they will respect
1:12	him but when the tenant saw him they
1:14	said to themselves this is the air
1:18	let us kill him so that the inheritance
1:20	may be ours
1:22	and they threw him out of the vineyard
1:23	and killed him
1:25	what then will the owner of the vineyard
1:26	do to them
1:28	he will come and destroy those tenants
1:29	and give the vineyard to others and when
1:32	they heard this they said surely not
1:35	but he looked directly at them and said
1:37	what then is this that is written the
1:40	stone that the builders rejected has
1:41	become the Cornerstone
1:43	everyone who falls on that stone will be
1:45	broken to pieces
1:47	and when it falls on anyone it’ll crush
1:49	him
1:52	the scribes and the chief priests sought
1:54	to lay hands on him at that very hour
1:56	for they perceived that he had told this
1:58	Parable against them
2:00	but they feared the people so they
2:01	watched him and sent spies who pretended
2:04	to be sincere that they might catch him
2:07	in something he said so as to deliver
2:09	him up to the authority and jurisdiction
2:12	of the governor
2:14	in the name of Jesus
2:16	in Exodus chapter 34 we read the account
2:19	where Moses had asked to see the face of
2:22	God God declined but came up with an
2:24	alternative plan
2:26	and in that alternative plan he chose to
2:29	hide Moses in a cleft of a rock and put
2:31	his hand over the cleft while his glory
2:34	passed by
2:35	and then at the right time he removed
2:38	his hand so that Moses can see the
2:40	backside of the glory of God
2:42	and in that account we hear these words
2:45	that as the Lord passed by before him it
2:48	was proclaimed
2:50	the Lord the Lord let me translate
2:53	Yahweh Yahweh
2:56	a god merciful and gracious
2:59	slow to anger
3:01	and abounding and steadfast love and
3:03	faithfulness
3:05	keeping steadfast love for thousands
3:07	forgiving iniquity and transgression in
3:09	sin
3:11	but all who but who by no means will
3:15	clear the guilty of visiting the
3:16	iniquity of the fathers on the children
3:18	and the children’s children to the third
3:19	and fourth generation
3:22	Yahweh
3:25	God merciful gracious slow to anger and
3:29	abounding and steadfast love
3:33	it is Yahweh who is the one who planted
3:36	the vineyard in our Parable in Our
3:37	Gospel text today
3:39	and I have never met a man like this
3:43	not in this life
3:45	let’s return now to Our Gospel text
3:48	and walk through this and consider what
3:51	is going on in this text
3:53	Jesus began by telling the people this
3:56	Parable a man planted a Vineyard let it
3:59	out to tenants and went into another
4:01	country for a long while
4:03	every one of the people hearing Jesus
4:05	that day knew exactly what Jesus was
4:07	talking about the typology was
4:11	patently clear
4:13	The Vineyard is Israel
4:15	they know it
4:16	the scriptures in the Old Testament
4:18	speak of Israel as the vineyard whom God
4:21	himself has planted
4:23	and so Jesus telling this very thinly
4:26	veiled parable
4:27	says when the time came he God sent a
4:32	servant read into that he sent a prophet
4:34	to the tenants so that they would give
4:36	him some of the fruit of the vineyard
4:37	but the prophets beat him sent him away
4:40	empty-handed
4:42	now normally a story like this would end
4:44	right here I mean if this is the 21st
4:46	century then right at this point it’s
4:47	real simple We Now call the police we
4:50	get the courts involved
4:52	you know sorry you’re going to be
4:54	evicted from the property you are in
4:56	default of your agreement your tenant
4:58	lease if you would and then it goes to
5:01	court they lose they’re evicted end of
5:03	story Justice is served
5:07	but Yahweh is
5:09	slow to anger
5:11	merciful
5:14	forgiving iniquity
5:17	and so he does the unthinkable
5:30	he sent a servant to the tenant so that
5:32	they would give him some of the fruit of
5:33	the vineyard tenants beat him send him
5:35	away empty-handed verse 11 and he sent
5:37	another servant another one
5:40	but they also beat and treated him
5:43	shamefully and sent him away
5:45	empty-handed
5:48	imagine how the story would have been
5:49	different
5:51	what is this
5:54	man who planted this Vineyard seeking
5:56	from these tenants
5:59	what is he seeking
6:03	reconciliation
6:04	he’s seeking their repentance
6:07	he’s seeking to show them Mercy
6:11	because of the wrong that they had done
6:15	but these are wicked tenants
6:17	and we learn at the end of the parable
6:19	the people we’re dealing with here that
6:21	Jesus is telling the parable against
6:24	are the chief priests
6:27	the religious leaders of Israel
6:31	why on Earth would anybody who was a
6:33	religious leader in Israel claiming to
6:35	worship the one true God
6:39	why on Earth would such a person
6:42	be so wicked as this
6:46	and the answer is simple and it’s one
6:48	that we must come to grips with
6:52	the Harvest is plentiful the workers are
6:54	few
6:55	and the devil has sown tears and sent in
6:57	his workers into the Harvest field as
6:59	well
7:00	they are not harvesting
7:02	they are destroying the crop
7:06	for them it’s all about them and they’re
7:08	doing it all in the name of God and
7:10	their religion their religion is the
7:12	religion of self-righteousness
7:15	and the religion of self-righteousness
7:17	will never tolerate
7:20	the religion of Grace
7:22	it will never ever
7:26	permit people to be forgiven
7:31	we read stanza 4 of our sermon hymn why
7:35	what hath my Lord done what makes this
7:37	rage and spite he made the lane to run
7:40	he gave the blind their sight
7:43	sweet injuries yet they at these
7:46	themselves displeased and against him
7:48	rise
7:51	so there’s Jesus
7:53	in Israel God and human flesh the god
7:56	Israel claims to worship and you know
7:58	what he’s doing
8:01	he’s cleansing the lepers
8:04	he’s forgiving the prostitutes
8:07	he’s absolving the tax collectors
8:10	he’s giving sight to the blind
8:14	and for this he must die
8:19	this cannot be permitted to go on
8:27	the religion of Works will not tolerate
8:29	Grace
8:33	so this merciful kind
8:36	ER abounding and steadfast love God sent
8:41	yet another set a third servant this one
8:44	they wounded and they cast him out
8:48	then the owner of the vineyard said what
8:50	shall I do
8:51	notice
8:53	destroying them is not even on his mind
8:56	at this point yet each and every one of
8:58	us knows that what they all deserve is
9:01	for them to be slaughtered mercilessly
9:04	this is what they’ve earned for
9:06	themselves and this Vineyard owner
9:09	who is this guy
9:11	who thinks like this
9:14	most of us myself included you dare
9:16	cross me don’t worry I’m going to let
9:18	you have it right
9:20	this guy
9:22	is snubbed over and over and over again
9:27	rebuffed
9:31	and the only thing he can think about
9:35	is continuing to show them Mercy
9:38	so he sent yet the third the owner of
9:40	the vineyard then said what shall I do
9:41	I’ll send my beloved Son are you out of
9:44	your mind
9:47	perhaps they will respect him
9:50	but
9:51	when the tenants saw him
9:53	they said to themselves haha this is the
9:55	air let us kill him so that the
9:57	inheritance may be
9:59	hours
10:01	as if the kingdom of God can be
10:03	possessed by human beings in such a way
10:06	so they threw him out of the vineyard
10:07	and killed him
10:09	and then Jesus asks the question and
10:12	watch their response it’s quite
10:14	interesting
10:15	what then will the owner of the vineyard
10:17	do to them he will come and destroy
10:19	those tenants and give the vineyard to
10:20	others
10:21	the listeners should have said that’s
10:23	darn tootin right that’s what should
10:26	happen but watch the response when they
10:28	heard this they said surely not no way
10:33	and why is it
10:34	because they knew exactly what Jesus was
10:36	saying
10:39	the typology was thin
10:42	they got it Jesus wasn’t talking about a
10:45	Vineyard he was talking about Israel
10:47	and the talk of giving Israel to others
10:52	was unthinkable
10:56	surely not but he looked directly at
10:58	them and he said what then is this that
11:01	is written and then quoting Psalm 118
11:04	Jesus says the zone that the builders
11:06	rejected
11:08	has become the Cornerstone
11:14	what an interesting statement
11:16	now I’m going to go outside of the Bible
11:18	here
11:19	for a minute you can take this or leave
11:22	this there is an old rabbinic Parable
11:24	and that’s all it is it’s rabbinic
11:26	Parable we’re not sure if there’s any
11:28	history behind it and actually tracking
11:30	down the origin of this thing is really
11:32	tough
11:34	all right here’s how the rabbinic
11:36	parable goes it’s a story told by the
11:38	rabbis and it actually has different
11:40	variations of it which is kind of
11:41	fascinating but the way the story
11:43	generally goes is that when Solomon’s
11:45	Temple was being built the idea was this
11:48	because it is a holy spot
11:51	no Hammer blows can be heard
11:54	on the Temple mount
11:56	so
11:58	the stones had to be quarried 20 miles
12:00	away and then drug to Jerusalem imagine
12:03	what a difficult task this would be
12:04	before the days of pickup trucks and
12:05	things like that right
12:07	so
12:09	the first stone to show up was this
12:11	large cumbersome Stone
12:13	and the builders didn’t know what to do
12:15	with it
12:16	I had no clue what to do with this Stone
12:18	and then the other Stones began arriving
12:20	and they knew exactly what to do with
12:22	them and so the the stone that came
12:24	first they thought it was some kind of a
12:26	reject
12:27	and this is where it gets a little fuzzy
12:29	and dark because again this is a
12:30	rabbinic parable not sure if this is
12:32	even history or not
12:34	but it’s very old
12:37	some say that they put it off to the
12:40	side and the grass grew over it and
12:41	other accounts say they actually threw
12:43	it into the dump the city dump in
12:45	Jerusalem Gahanna
12:47	and there it’s disappeared right and so
12:49	as they got to the end of completing the
12:52	Temple of Solomon
12:54	the builders send word to the stone
12:57	masons 20 miles away we’re now ready for
12:59	the Cornerstone
13:04	that was the first stone we sent
13:09	the stone the builders rejected
13:12	has become the Cornerstone
13:15	maybe there’s some truth behind behind
13:17	it it’s an interesting story not sure
13:20	but just think about it
13:22	for sure though the Lord is quoting from
13:25	Psalm 118 here
13:27	and then we all know this Jesus is that
13:30	stone he is the stone that has become
13:33	the Cornerstone this is all about Jesus
13:35	and he says this everyone who falls on
13:37	that stone will be broken to Pieces
13:39	which by the way is a good thing to
13:42	happen
13:43	the worst thing that can happen to you
13:45	is is that stone fall on you
13:47	and Crush you
13:50	the one who falls on that stone and is
13:52	broken to Pieces is the one who has
13:54	penitent faith in Christ for the
13:56	Forgiveness of their sins
13:58	the one on whom that Stone Falls and
14:00	crushes is the one who persists in sin
14:04	and unbelief and self-righteousness
14:08	and insists on saving themselves by
14:11	their own works and will have nothing to
14:13	do with this Mercy stuff that Jesus is
14:16	about
14:18	in that case
14:21	the stone the builders rejected that has
14:23	become the Cornerstone will fall on you
14:26	and utterly destroy you
14:31	and then we learn this here’s kind of
14:33	the subtext to all of this in our text
14:35	the scribes and the chief priests after
14:38	hearing this I wish it said this
14:40	I wish it said this the scribes and the
14:43	chief priests after hearing this said
14:45	you are so right
14:48	how can we have been so wicked
14:51	how can we in the name of God have been
14:54	so evil
14:56	we repent forgive us Lord
14:59	I wish it said that
15:02	but see the religion of Works blind in
15:04	its rage and its hatred of Grace
15:07	says this
15:09	sought the chief priest sought to lay
15:12	hands on him
15:13	at that very hour for they perceived
15:16	that he had told this Parable against
15:18	them
15:20	how dare you cross us Jesus We’re the
15:23	Chief priests
15:25	yeah that makes about as much sense as
15:28	I don’t know Taco Thursday on Monday
15:32	right because the god they claim to
15:35	worship is standing right in front of
15:36	them
15:38	sought to lay hands on him
15:41	they perceived they had told the parable
15:42	against them and it’s true but here’s
15:45	again here’s the kind of the interesting
15:46	thing the religion of Works always works
15:48	through Power and coercion and they have
15:51	to have
15:52	the adulation and popularity of the
15:55	people in order to survive so they
15:58	couldn’t lay hands on Jesus because whoa
16:01	poles would go down their popularity
16:03	ratings would fall their approval
16:05	numbers would plummet
16:07	so they said we better not kill them now
16:10	because they feared the people
16:12	right
16:14	so they watched
16:16	they watched Jesus and they sent spies
16:21	they sent spies who pretended to be
16:24	sincere so that they might catch Jesus
16:27	in something that he said
16:31	when on Earth did Jesus ever do anything
16:35	conspiratorial
16:37	when was he never out in the open
16:40	preaching and teaching in the synagogues
16:43	and out in the fields
16:45	everything he said is wide open he
16:48	nothing he says is subversive nothing he
16:50	says contradicts scripture but there
16:52	we’re going to
16:53	and you know what the spies are going to
16:55	do they’re going to behave like they’re
16:56	listening to Jesus amen Jesus way to go
16:59	Jesus yes oh Jesus you’re the best oh we
17:03	gotta go we got him on that one he
17:06	actually touched a leper
17:10	and keep in mind all of this behavior is
17:12	going on in what in the name of God in
17:15	the name of religion at the behest of
17:17	the chief priests
17:20	what kind of religion is this
17:28	what kind of religion is this
17:31	answer
17:33	this is the religion that we all
17:35	understand quite well
17:38	it’s our default religion
17:45	we understand the law that the gospel is
17:47	something that has to be preached to us
17:51	so think of it this way the stone the
17:54	builders has have rejected has become
17:57	the Cornerstone
18:01	so they pretended to be sincere that
18:03	they might catch him in something he
18:04	said so as to deliver them why in order
18:06	to deliver him up to the authority and
18:08	the jurisdiction of the governor and you
18:10	can read in the subsects there in order
18:12	to kill him
18:15	and so the stone the builders rejected
18:17	has become the Cornerstone this is
18:19	Christ and then if you were to think of
18:21	it this way
18:22	the cross then becomes the Pinnacle
18:25	center point of all of human history
18:30	and you were either on one side of the
18:32	cross
18:33	or you are on the other
18:35	when Jesus was crucified it was
18:37	crucified crucified between two thieves
18:39	one hurled insults at him if you’re the
18:43	Christ save yourself
18:46	the other said what has he done
18:49	what has he done we’re getting what we
18:52	deserve
18:53	he cries out to the Lord Lord have mercy
18:55	remember me when you come into your
18:57	kingdom
19:00	and so
19:03	this Stone will either fall on you and
19:05	break you or I’m sorry you will either
19:07	fall on it and be broken to pieces or
19:09	it’s going to fall on you and Crush you
19:12	and so the cross then the murderous ones
19:15	they want Jesus dead
19:18	and so he dies
19:22	and we’re all culpable in that by the
19:24	way every one of us
19:27	but to those who believe in Christ for
19:31	the Forgiveness of their sins the
19:33	merciful god who slow to anger and
19:36	abounding and steadfast love and
19:37	forgiving and parting and iniquity
19:40	mine and yours
19:41	that death
19:43	becomes our salvation
19:47	but for those who persist in Saving
19:50	themselves and despising the mercy and
19:52	grace of God
19:55	Christ’s cross
19:56	and his blood is on their hands and they
19:59	will be found guilty
20:01	of murder
20:06	that’s
20:07	what this all comes down to
20:11	are you penitent
20:13	and forgiven
20:14	are you self-righteous and seeking to
20:17	murder Christ and silence his grace
20:23	something to think about
20:25	in the name of Jesus
20:27	amen

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