3. The rejected Stone
Jesus then replied, “Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner; this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits of it. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke of them. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they regarded him as a prophet” (vv. 42-46). The Jewish leaders might have fulfilled the parable right there and then by killing Jesus, but they feared the crowd.
God planted a vineyard–His Kingdom–and entrusted it to the teachers and leaders of Israel. But when they were held accountable by the prophets He sent, they persecuted the prophets. And when God sent His own Son, whom they should have respected, they ultimately rejected Him and had Him killed. Therefore God took His Kingdom away from them and gave it to those who would bring forth fruit, namely the church. Just as Isaiah indicted the nation for its failure to live up to God’s standards, so Jesus indicted the leaders for their sins.
C. The Promise of Restoration
However, that parable does not indicate that God is finished with Israel. In Romans 11 He informs us that the church is like a branch from a wild olive tree grafted into the natural olive tree of the Abrahamic covenant of blessing. Referring to the Gentile church, Paul says, “If thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more shall these, who are the natural branches [Israel], be grafted into their own olive tree?… And so all Israel shall be saved (Rom. 11:24, 26). The time is coming when God will put that natural branch back in the tree.
D. The Product of Repentance
God isn’t through with His vineyard Israel. Although Isaiah and Jesus made clear God’s attitude toward rebellious people, our God is also a forgiving God. He will cleanse Israel and restore her to her place of blessing.
1. Micah 7:18–Micah wrote, “Who is a God like unto thee, who pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again; he will have compassion on us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” All that Israel did in the past to the prophets and to God’s Son will be forgiven.
2. Psalm 103:12-14–The psalmist said, “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. As a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.”
3. Jeremiah 31:34–”They shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
4. Acts 3:19–Peter said, “Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.” Forgiveness is available to anyone who repents of his sins and turns to God.
God is a God of forgiveness. He throws our sins into the depths of the sea, removes them as far as the east is from the west, blots them out, and forgets them. God’s unchangeable nature will override the seriousness of the sin of rejecting the Messiah. That is the message of Zechariah 13, where God promises to cleanse and forgive Israel.
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
