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The
Lightstand Magazine
1986
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August • Editorial
by Bro.
Alistair Henderson
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The
parables of Jesus have an uncomfortable way of stopping us
in our unthinking careers. The parable of the vineyard, for
instance, seems to apply to the Jews at the time of the Master's
ministry and to the nation's past dealings with his Father.
We see the references to their rejection of the Messiah and
their part in the crucifixion, and use the passage when we
are speaking to others about the purpose of God. But the parable
applies potentially as much to us, if we claim to be the new
labourers in the vineyard who have replaced those whom the
Lord has rejected.
We too have entered into a property where everything has been
most fully and carefully prepared for us: the protective hedge
is in place, the winepress dug and the watch-tower built.
It may be, what is more, that we do not even have to bear
the heat of the day, having come quite late into the work.
The love of our Heavenly Father can be seen wherever we turn:
in the beauty of the natural creation, in the completeness
of His word of Truth, in the provision of the way of salvation
when our weakness would otherwise leave us without hope in
the world, in the gift of all that is needful for our daily
life... and so one could go on.
We are left in possession, not as slaves with a hard and mistrustful
overseer watching, but as trusted sons in an inheritance having
free rein to take profitable action. Guidance is always available,
and the pattern of the perfect son and workman has been provided,
but we are allowed to make something of the task ourselves,
and are respected as co-workers with God. What an extraordinary
privilege.
It is when we think of the servants sent by the absent owner
that we perhaps begin to grow a little disquieted. We know
that these servants were the prophets and holy men of God
sent by Him to His people to call them back from their apostacy
to true service.
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But
what fruits have we paid? What fruits coming from us can be worth
paying? We may not have had actual men whom we have beaten and Killed,
and from whom we have withheld the Lord's due, but our actions can
be repeated violations of the trust placed upon us by him.
Perhaps the greatest mistake the wicked husbandmen made was to think
that they could get away with their actions. They thought that because
the Lord of the vineyard was far away he was incapable of asserting
his authority - each servant he sent seemed further proof of his
ineffectually. His patience and long-suffering were interpreted
as weakness. So blind did they become that they even thought they
could gain possession by simply killing the heir. When one thinks
about their actions, they seem blind to the point of being absolutely
silly: greed has closed off the exercise of reason. This surely
is one of the points of the parable: that men come to believe that
God is not there, despite the overwhelming evidence of His actions
in their lives. So they, we that is, live as if He did not really
exist nor have any claims on obedience.
This self-centred attitude, seeing the universe as existing merely
for our benefit, contrasts sharply with that of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We as mere servants, bond-slaves bought for a price far beyond our
value, find obedience hard; he as the Son perfected that obedience
he owed his Father through suffering. Even as he taught the people
in that last loving attempt by his Father to bring them to reconciliation
with Him, he knew the way that lay ahead, that the final agony of
the cross awaited him. Yet in love he went on - to the reward of
receiving the vineyard itself as his inheritance. Let us pray and
strive that we are not found to be unlawful occupiers to be thrown
out and destroyed when he returns to take up his inheritance, but
rather fellow-workmen trained to be profitable to him eternally.
A.H.
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