10072020 – Matthew 21.
Oh, he could be “a button pusher” alright…but then, can’t we all?
I am sure, you have probably done your share of “pushing those buttons…” in your lifetime.
Sometimes we know just “WHAT to say.”
And, “HOW to say it.” And, with “WHAT” kind of a voice.”
And, even “WHEN” to say it.
So, sometimes we have to hold it in, hold it back, keep it in reserve. Until just the right moment and time.
It has to be “something good” that will “get them.”
Something they “do not see coming.”
Something they “do not expect.”
Something that will “stop them in their tracks.”
Something that will “make them think.”
And if nothing else, something to “tick them off.”
So, yes, Jesus is still in Jerusalem.
He is in the holy city…
Which is turning out to be, “anything but holy.”
SO, these tense-terse-exchanges with the religious authorities persist and continue… on…and on.
YOU WOULD THINK “wise man that he was” that Jesus would just stop talking and refrain from engaging with a hostile group who holds a whole lot of power, a whole lot of sway, over him.
It was not a very prudent course of action…on his part…but cower he DOES NOT!
Instead, he does just “the exact opposite,” and jumps in again with “And, another thing…” to those bent on silencing him.
It is like he cannot stop.
He cannot keep quiet.
His mouth keeps going, long after it should have taken a breather…and relaxed.
So, he does the unthinkable and tells them yet another parable that further indicts and insults those who are already furious with him.
Oh Jesus, “you are something else!”
And his story hits paydirt. It strikes home. DING…DING…DING. Buttons are pushed!
We hear in verse 45 that the chief priests and Pharisees (the religious authorities) perceived, that is to say, they, finally understood, that Jesus was ACTUALLY talking about them.
Woo-hoo, they were not so dense after all!
Ah, the fine art of “button pushing…”
Sometimes, I think it is just about “getting our licks in.”
Sometimes it works…
Sometimes it doesn’t.
And sometimes, it backfires…completely!
So, get this: rather than stepping away from the danger and the conflict, Jesus dares to fan the flames – to make sure he gets his point across. Don’t say “quitter” to him!
Now it is time for one of those “DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME-disclaimers.” Just because it worked for Jesus, doesn’t mean it will work for you!
The important thing was … Jesus got his point across…but what, exactly, was his point?
In a very cool “confrontational BIBLICAL moment,” almost like the moment between the prophet, NATHAN, and “old king David,” the prophet turns and looks squarely at the old king and he says, YOU ARE THE MAN!” GOTCHA! It is a dramatic BIBLICAL MOMENT.
Well, here, the Pharisees and elders of the people finally realize, they are “the MAN.”
Sometimes “button pushing” can be so much fun! Especially if you are getting your point across and silencing your opponent.
Yippie…Skippie, Jesus had them, right where he wanted them.
But don’t forget it would not be “too terribly long” until such a time…as they had Jesus “EXACTLY WHERE THEY WANTED HIM.”
The tenants of whom Jesus spoke in his parable were neither Jew nor Greek — neither male nor female, slave or free, they were all human beings, none of them righteous, all of them sinners, each in need of “this cautionary tale.”
Therefore: We are also the tenants in the story. We are not the landowner. We are all entrusted with stewarding the harvest and respecting the vineyard, its produce, and its owner, the other tenants, and those whom the owner sends to execute the owner’s will.
YEP, we are in there, too!
Front and center. It is about us!
So, anything Jesus says to them, he says to us, as well.
We are the ones, who do not listen. We are the ones who do our own thing. We are the ones who plot and scheme in this life. We are the ones who are not sharing and caring. We are the ones who seek the easy pathway. We are the ones who hold back. And we are the ones who are not taking care of the vineyard.
We do not have to point fingers elsewhere.
WE ARE THE MAN! It is another gotcha moment brought to you, courtesy of Jesus. Amen.