The Chosen and Friends: God With UsNäide

It's A Whole New World
From Come and See

“Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.”

That’s an awfully bitter cherry to put atop the Parable of the Tenants. But what other word could have been more fitting?

Here you have a story of a landowner who plants a vineyard, rents it to some farmers to tease out the fruit, and when the owner sends his servants to collect, the farmers strike them down. And when the owner sends his own son to collect, they kill him, too, leaving just one viable option: it’s time to pass along the land to some other farmers.

The Parable of the Tenants comes your way in Matthew 21, a chapter that covers the first few days of the last week of Jesus’ life and ministry on earth (Holy Week). The first day, of course, is Palm Sunday, that boisterous moment Jesus rides into town in a manner that speaks not only to his being King, but to his being the Son. And on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to follow? That Son runs into just about every person (the religious leaders), place (the Temple), or thing (a literal fig tree) that refuses to be fruitful. By Friday, that Son will have been struck down.

And so: “I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.”

My dad, a New Testament professor, taught me at an early age to look for two words in every Scriptural text: the word of challenge and the word of comfort. In this case, the word is the same for both: the rejection of the Son—and his resurrection, too—are bringing about a great reordering in the world and the world to come. Those who think they have, will suddenly “have not,” and those who think they “have not,” will suddenly have. Those who are supposedly “first,” will suddenly be last, and those who are certain they’re last, will suddenly be first. It’s what Jesus reveals to us about what the Father is up to, and it’s why the scene you watched from The Chosen ends with someone crying out, “It’s a whole new world!”

Because it is.

And how challenging is that?

And how comforting, too.

About The Author
Come and See is a faith-based nonprofit that exists to share the authentic Jesus with at least one billion people worldwide. Because of the generosity of supporters around the world, Come and See is able to ensure that all seven seasons of “The Chosen” are produced, translated into 600 languages, made globally accessible, and free to all. Learn more at comeandsee.net.