04/07 – Luke 20:1-26 – Killer Given Life

Isaiah 43:16-21

The Lord makes a path through the sea and a road through the strong currents. He leads chariots and horses, an army and reinforcements. (They lie down together and do not get up again. They are extinguished and snuffed out like a wick.)

This is what the Lord says: Forget what happened in the past, and do not dwell on events from long ago. I am going to do something new. It is already happening. Don’t you recognize it? I will clear a way in the desert. I will make rivers on dry land. Wild animals, jackals, and ostriches will honor me. I will provide water in the desert. I will make rivers on the dry land for my chosen people to drink. I have formed these people for myself, that they might praise me.

Philippians 3:4b-14

If anyone else thinks that he can trust in something physical, I can claim even more. I was circumcised on the eighth day. I am a descendant of Israel. I am from the tribe of Benjamin. I am a pure-blooded Hebrew. When it comes to following the Law I was a Pharisee. When it comes to being enthusiastic, I was a persecutor of the Church. When it comes to winning God’s approval by obeying the Law I was perfect.

These things, that I once considered valuable, I now consider worthless for Christ. More than that, I consider everything else worthless because I am much better off knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. It is because of him that I think of everything as worthless. I threw it all away in order to gain Christ and to have a relationship with him. This means that I did not receive God’s approval by obeying his Law. The opposite is true! I have God’s approval through faith in Christ.

This is the approval that comes from God and is based on faith that knows Christ. Faith knows the power that his coming back to life gives and what it means to share his suffering. In this way I’m becoming like him in his death, with the confidence that I’ll come back to life from the dead.

It is not that I have already reached the goal or have already completed the course, but I run to win that which Jesus Christ has already won for me. Brothers and sisters, I cannot consider myself a winner yet. This is what I do: I do not look back, I lengthen my stride, and I run straight toward the goal to win the prize that God’s heavenly call offers in Christ Jesus.

Luke 20:1-26

One day Jesus was teaching the people in the Temple courtyard and telling them the Good News. The chief priests, the experts in Moses’ Teachings, and the leaders came up to him. They asked him, “Tell us, what gives you the right to do these things? Who told you that you could do this?”

Jesus answered them, “I too have a question for you. Tell me did John’s right to baptize come from heaven or from humans?”

They talked about this among themselves. They said, “If we say, ‘from heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ If we say, ‘from humans,’ everyone will stone us to death. They are convinced that John was a prophet.” So they answered that they didn’t know who gave John the right to baptize.

Jesus told them, “Then I won’t tell you why I have the right to do these things.” Then, using this illustration, Jesus spoke to the people:

“A man planted a vineyard, leased it to vineyard workers, and went on a long trip. “At the right time he sent a servant to the workers to obtain from them a share of the grapes from the vineyard, but the workers beat the servant and sent him back with nothing. So he sent a different servant. The workers beat him, treated him shamefully, and sent him back with nothing. Then he sent a third servant, but they injured this one and threw him out of the vineyard.

“Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my son whom I love. Perhaps they will respect him.’

“When the workers saw him they talked it over among themselves. They said, ‘This is the heir. Let’s kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’ So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

“What will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will destroy these workers and give the vineyard to others.”

Those who heard him said, “That’s unthinkable!”

Then Jesus looked straight at them and asked, “What then does this Scripture verse mean: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’?

Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken. If that stone falls on anyone it will crush them.”

The experts in Moses’ Teachings and the chief priests wanted to arrest him right there, but they were afraid of the people. They knew that he had directed this illustration at them.

So they watched for an opportunity to send out some spies. The spies were to act like sincere religious people. They wanted to catch him saying the wrong thing so that they could hand him over to the governor.