IS JESUS YOUR CORNERSTONE?
FEBRUARY 7/8, 2026
DANIEL IM, LEAD PASTOR

1. Jesus’ Voice to the Crowds
· “The Parable of the Defiant Tenants reflects the social background of Jewish Galilee in the first century, with its great landed estates and the inevitable tension between the absentee-owners and the dispossessed, land-hungry peasantry who cultivated the land as tenant-farmers.” - William L. Lane
· Cultural Context and Historical Background
· What word/phrase/image stood out for you?

2. Jesus’ Voice to the Religious Leaders
· A vine or vineyard was a well-known Old Testament symbolic image for Israel and its relation to God
o Israel is a lush vine; it yields fruit for itself… (Hosea 10:1a CSB)
· Jesus was referring back to Isaiah 5
o I will sing about the one I love, a song about my loved one’s vineyard: The one I love had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He broke up the soil, cleared it of stones, and planted it with the finest vines. He built a tower in the middle of it and even dug out a winepress there. He expected it to yield good grapes, but it yielded worthless grapes. (Isaiah 5:1-2 CSB)
o For the vineyard of the Lord of Armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah, the plant he delighted in. He expected justice but saw injustice; he expected righteousness but heard cries of despair. (Isaiah 5:7 CSB)
o Therefore my people will go into exile because they lack knowledge; her dignitaries are starving, and her masses are parched with thirst. Therefore Sheol enlarges its throat and opens wide its enormous jaws, and down go Zion’s dignitaries, her masses, her crowds, and those who celebrate in her! (Isaiah 5:13-14 CSB)
· What connections did the religious leaders make to themselves?
· What word/phrase/image stood out for you?

3. Jesus’ Voice to You
· What is Jesus saying to you in and through this passage?
· What word/phrase/image stood out for you?