The song of the vineyard describes God's wayward
people. He planted the vineyard, set a
watchtower in the midst of it, did everything necessary to establish and
protect the vineyard so that it would produce a certain variety of fruit. Instead, at the time of harvest it produced
wild grapes, something unintended and unwelcome. When we go our own way, ignore His Word and
His Way, we produce something other than the fruit the Lord intends. We have a tendency to cross-pollinate and the
intention is that we are to be pure and unadulterated fruit. When we bring a little of this philosophy and
understanding, a little of the Bible, a little worldly wisdom, we change at a
core level and become something other than He intends. That fruit then produces increasingly different
fruit as it reproduces and sooner or later it is good for nothing at all. His complaint is against those who have
allowed this adulteration to occur so that the whole is no longer useful to Him
at all and must be re-planted.
Jesus exalts John the Baptist as greater than any who has
come before but says also that one in the kingdom of God is greater than
John. In what way is that true? We, who live on the other side of Easter,
know a truth John didn't know, we have a fuller understanding of the Gospel, a
more complete message to share. Jesus
says, however, that this current generation is missing both John's message as
well as His message about the kingdom.
On the one hand they thought John a madman because of his esoteric and
eccentric ways and that Jesus is no more than a glutton because of His lack of
attention to fasting and his choice of company.
The little proverb He uses points to the flaw in their thinking, they
are calling the tune and expecting God's men to do their bidding. Wisdom recognizes the problem in that logic.
Do you often ask what sort of person you should be? Peter says we are to be different sort of
people than we were before we met Jesus.
We are to be growing in holiness and godliness that we may be found
without spot or blemish when He comes.
Instead of complaining that He has yet to come, Peter says we are to
count the patience of the Lord as salvation, we are being given a fresh chance
each time we fall to get back up and follow Him, pursuing righteousness in our
lives. As with that first lesson from
Isaiah, He has invested much in the church, He sent His Son to die to establish
it, making new people by the power of the gift of the Holy Spirit to us and too
often we tell Him by our actions that we have little value for these things
other than our ticket to eternal life.
The church needs to be on its knees asking for forgiveness for
ingratitude just as the nation did in Isaiah's time.
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