The Son is Speech

If you have your Bible, please turn to Hebrews 1. While you are turning there, I’d like to tell you about a parable that the Lord Jesus told in Matthew 21. It went something like this:

A man planted a vineyard and, needing to travel to another country for an extended period of time, leased the vineyard to some tenants, with the agreement that they would keep the vineyard and he would share in the profits, the fruit.

When the time came for him to receive his first share in the earnings, he sent a servant to speak to the tenants and bring back the fruit. But the tenants were evil and greedy, and so they beat the servant and drove him out without giving him anything.

So the man sent another servant, but they did the same thing again. Finally, the master of the vineyard decided to send his beloved son, with the hopes that they would respect him and honor the agreement.

Instead, the tenants saw this as an opportunity to completely seize the vineyard for themselves—to become their own masters. They said to themselves, “The son is coming. He’s the heir of this vineyard. If we kill him, we could seize the inheritance for ourselves.”

Jesus asks, the listeners, “When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

And the listeners respond, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

Jesus responds by quoting from Psalm 118, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and concludes, “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

This parable is the story of Israel in miniature, brought to the very brink of where the author of Hebrews picks up the story in chapter 1 of his book. Look there with me, if you would:

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…”

-Hebrews 1:1–3

Let’s ask for the Lord’s help, and then we will get to work together in our text.