God's Vineyard

Jesus, in Mark 12, uses the picture of a vineyard, possibly indirectly referencing Isaiah 5. He tells of a man who prepares and protects a vineyard before putting it into someone else’s care. Those who work the vineyard harm and kill those the master sends to collect his due from the vineyards – even to the point of murdering the master’s own son. Jesus explains that those listening should be careful of rejecting that which the Lord has provided for them, even God’s own Son.

In Isaiah 5:1-7, God shares a song about a vineyard, carefully prepared, protected and tended. Instead of producing good grapes, however, only wild fruit and weeds come forth. Therefore, the Lord says He will remove the protections from the vineyard and tend to it no more. God proceeds to explain that this vineyard is a parallel to His people, the way He cares for and protect them, but He withdraws from them when they fail to respond to His care as they should.

The Work of a Vineyard

Tending to vineyards, raising up olive and fig trees – the people in Jesus’ and Isaiah’s audiences would have been familiar with the things they spoke of in these illustrations. They would know of the diligent preparation and care it would take to keep a vineyard healthy and safe. They would know the difference between cultivated fruit and wild fruit. In this context, God asks, “What more could I have done?” in Isaiah 5. He has provided care and blessing beyond measure, but the people were still not what they should have been.

In verses 8-10 of Isaiah 5, God condemns those who live greedily, those who exploit their resources to the point of destroying their environment. In verses 11-12, God proclaims woe upon those who pursue vices from dawn to dusk, giving no regard to spiritual matters. Verses 18-19, He speaks of those who drag sin through their lives while claiming to care about God’s work. In verse 20, He warns those who replace good for evil and vice versa. Finally, verse 21 condemns those who hold their own wisdom above God’s.

God tended to His vineyard and had expectations for it, but the fruit of His people were worthless. Because they dwelt in sin, because they promoted evil, because they elevated themselves above God, God promised, in verses 24-25, that His anger would be kindled against them, and that He would level His vineyard. They were His vineyard, but they took themselves away from Him.

God’s Spiritual Vineyard

We are God’s vineyard today. What fruits do we produce for Him? Hebrews 6:7-8 speaks of ground tilled and tended to by God that will either produce herbs or thistles. I Corinthians 10:13 illustrates how God tends to us – in that He keeps a hedge around us, protecting us from temptations we will be unable to handle. Like the vineyard of Isaiah 5, God has tended to us, has protected us, and has showered us with blessings. I John 4:4 reminds us that God is greater than anything in this world. His blessings, His care, His protection – these things are more substantial than anything this world can throw at us.

What are we doing with God’s care and protection? He has done for us as He had done for the children of Israel in Isaiah 5. We are His fertile ground. We are His vineyard. Do we, like those of the past, take those blessings for granted? Are we producing bitter fruits because of our greed, our pride, because of our love for evil? What would God do with the fruits we produce in His vineyard?

In Matthew 6:19, Jesus warns us against placing our treasures in this world, being motivated by materialism. II Timothy 2:22 tells us to flee the lusts of this world and their temporary attractions. Returning to Hebrews 6, the author of that book speaks of those who pile sin upon sin, in verse 6, and then crucify the Son of God all over again. We are tempted to call evil good and good evil, and Romans 1:22 reminds us that we can be foolish in God’s eyes while wise in our own.

Conclusion

We may recognize God’s role in our lives. We may honor His Son with our words, but what fruits are we producing? In John 15:1, Jesus calls Himself our vine, and we are branches from Him. We either bear much fruit, or Jesus warns that His Father may prune us. Ten times in that chapter, Jesus reminds us to abide in Him, to base everything in our lives around Him, to hinge every word and decision on the basis of His word. If we truly abide in Him, allowing His word to dwell in us, then we will not put God’s efforts to shame. We can be a vineyard producing fruits unto righteousness.

lesson by Tim Smelser

A Spiritual Revolution

July 4th is a celebration of the American Revolution. An event that transformed our country, philosophically, and politically. More transformative than that revolution is the spiritual revolution Jesus teaches in his sermon on the mount. During His life, the scribes and Pharisees took the power of God’s salvation and turned it onto a bland set of rules accommodating to their own interests. Jesus sees that stagnation and disrupts their assumptions and beliefs. We need the same today. Now, like then, we need a spiritual revolution.

Matthews 5-7 have a distinct path that separates worldly behavior from spiritual behavior, worldly priorities and spiritual priorities, and Matthew 7:24 sums up this challenging sermon with an illustration of two builders – one building upon rock and the other upon sand. These houses represent the purpose of our lives, either built upon a strong foundation or a shifting one.

Building On the True Foundation
By all appearances, both of these builders initially succeed in Matthew 7:24-27. They both want the same thing. They both accomplish the same thing. Both homes are completed. The focus is not the houses so much as the foundations they are built upon.

In Isaiah 28, as God is warning Judah about their wickedness, He looks forward in verse 16 to a foundation stone set in Zion. When Paul in Romans 9 and Peter in I Peter 2 quote these verses, they conclude that the foundation of Isaiah of Christ Jesus. Whoever believes on Him will not be shaken. Ephesians 2:20 calls Jesus the chief cornerstone of our spiritual foundation. Without a strong foundation, nothing can stand.

In Matthew 7, the word Jesus uses for “rock” is the same “rock” upon which his church will be built in Matthew 16:18. It is not a small rock you might toss around. It is a strong stone, but this foundation is not enough alone. Throughout the sermon on the mount, Jesus challenges his audience to faithfully commit themselves to God’s service. Our faith is what seals us to that foundation upon which we build our lives.

The Spiritual Revolution of the Mount
Jesus’ primary audience in this sermon are people who know the law and the prophets. He is warning these against pretend discipleship among those who believe in God but are religiously shallow. Starting in Matthew 5 and going through chapters 6 and 7, Jesus returns time and again to those professing faith without obedience to the God of that faith.

He presents a choice to those around Him. They and we are continually building the houses of our lives, and He challenges us to choose between a foundation of religious pretense or one of truly faithful obedience. One choice leads to ruin and the other to safety. Going through the motions does not automatically place us on the true foundation. We must serve our Savior in faith, obedience, and humility to seal ourselves to Him.

If we are truly committed to Christ, nothing can shake us from His rock. In John 10:27-29, Jesus says none who follow Him can be snatched from Him. Paul, in Romans 8:28-39, asserts that no power of man or nature can separate those who love God from His love for us. His rock is unshakable. The floods can rise. The rains can beat down. The winds can tear, but nothing can shake a foundation built upon the Lord.

lesson by Tim Smelser

A Cultivated Heart

Any farmer, landscape artist, or gardener will prepare the soil before giving their work. A builder will prepare a foundation. A carpenter prepares their tools and wood. We know to prepare when working in our given specialties. The canvas must be prepared for the craftsmanship, and we must prepare our hearts if we are going to be properly receptive the gospel. We see such preparation in the character of Ezra.

Ezra is a leader of the Old Testament who grows up in captivity. Jerusalem is destroyed. Judah is a captive people to Babylon, and this is all Ezra knows until Cyrus decrees the captive people may independently return to their lands. Ezra leads a moral, social, and spiritual restoration of his people. In this, Ezra 7:10 reveals that Ezra sets his heart to seek after God’s law, to do it, and to teach it.

Preparing Our Hearts

Matthew 13:1-9 records Jesus telling the parable of the soils. Chances are we are familiar with the differences between the soil exposed to birds, the rocky soil, the thorny soil, and the fertile soil. He explains the parable in verses 18-23, describing the similarities between the soils and the hearts of those who hear his word. Some misunderstand; some respond but lose interest; some are crushed by worldly concerns; others live it.

We often apply this parable to others, but we seldom reflect enough to remove the rocks and thistles from our own lives. To prepare a real garden, it takes time and effort to prepare the soil. It takes time and effort to remove the weeds and the rocks. Then it takes time and effort to keep those things from returning to the garden – especially those weeds. We have to cultivate our devotion to God, and this takes preparation.

Our greater and deeper devotion to God begins in our hearts before we wake up on Sunday morning. Jesus spends much of His ministry talking about hearts – pure hearts, honest hearts, soft hearts, hard hearts, dull hearts. Acts 17:11 speaks of the people in Berea who have prepared their hearts and minds to receive God’s word. I Corinthians 8:5 describes the Christians in Macedonia as having given themselves to the Lord first, enabling them to support and encourage Paul.

Conclusion

Proverbs speaks of the heart at least seventy-five times. Proverbs 2:2 calls on us to apply our hearts to understanding. Proverbs 2:10 says wisdom enters through the heart. Proverbs 4:23 encourages us to keep our hearts pure, and Proverbs 23:12 tells us to incline our hearts to instruction. Seeking and doing the law of God does not come by accident any more than we can grow a bumper crop by mistake. It takes preparation and cultivation, just as Ezra prepared himself to live the law of his God.

lesson by Tim Smelser