The PassionSample

Have you ever watched someone receive something you thought you deserved even more than them?

Perhaps it was a promotion at work that went to someone you saw as less qualified. Maybe your sibling received praise for something you thought you did better. Or, perhaps a friend got invited to an event that you thought you should have been included in, too. The sting of being overlooked reveals something uncomfortable about our hearts. Too often, we believe our behaviour or achievements earn us a particular seat at the table.

The religious leaders in today's passage wrestled with this same bitter pill. Jesus had just told them that the tax collectors and prostitutes were entering God's kingdom ahead of them. How could this be! They had kept the law, maintained religious traditions, and preserved moral standards. Surely their spiritual resume qualified them for the kingdom of God?

Jesus explains this reversal through a parable about a vineyard. The vineyard owner represents God, and the tenants are the religious leaders themselves. But when God sent His servants, the prophets, to collect what was rightfully His, they responded with violence and rejection.

Then comes Jesus' question: "When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" (Matthew 21:40, ESV) The religious leaders, unknowingly, pronounce their own judgement: ”He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.” (Matthew 21:41, ESV)

The religious leaders' sense of entitlement had blinded them to their own rebellion and need for grace. God’s kingdom does not operate based on human schematics. The vineyard isn’t given to better tenants—it’s given to those that understand that they are tenants, not owners. God's grace doesn't flow to the deserving because none of us are deserving; it flows to the desperate who know they need it.

The religious leaders' rejection of God and His messengers revealed their hard hearts. They had fallen into the trap of believing they had the correct credentials to claim God’s blessing. But God's kingdom belongs to those who receive it as a pure gift, whether they're tax collectors, prostitutes, or Pharisees who finally see their need.

Today, ponder this: Are there areas where your "good behaviour" has bred entitlement rather than gratitude, blinding you to your own need for God's undeserved grace?