Life with the Rejected One Luke 20:9-20; Isaiah 43:16-21; Philippians 3:8-13

 

Grace, mercy, and peace be with you, from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, whose rejection led to our salvation.

 

Today we’re going to talk about Life with the Rejected One, taken from our Gospel, the Parable of the Wicked Tenants; or it could be called, the Parable of the Rejected Son.

 

No one likes to be rejected. It makes us feel like we’re not loved.

 

It especially hurts when we’re rejected for doing the right thing. It feels so unjust.

 

But it’s reality in our fallen world. We’ve all been rejected, and we’ve all rejected others.

 

We’ve been rejected through no fault of our own, and we’ve rejected others through no fault of their own.

 

We’ve rejected things we should have embraced, and we’ve embraced things we should have said no to.

 

But there is One, One whose rejection never led Him to hate or sin against others, but in being rejected, He showed His great love for the world, and won our salvation.

 

In our Gospel, Jesus, speaking about Himself, quotes the Messianic Psalm 118:22: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

 

The stone that the builders cast aside, considering it not good enough, has become the stone on which the whole thing stands. 

 

Christ has become the cornerstone, so to speak, the foundation on which the Church is built, and our salvation was won.

 

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

 

Ancient builders were remarkable engineers. 

 

It’s amazing that they could build such massive and beautiful structures, some lasting for millennia, all without the benefit of engines and hydraulics. 

 

How could they do that? As we said, by being highly skilled engineers and builders.

 

As they cut and quarried stones for these large structures, they were very careful which ones they used, especially the stones used as cornerstones and capstones. If they were defective the whole building could come down. 

 

If they cut one that was a little off, they discarded it, tossing it aside to be used for something less critical.

 

Jesus applied this analogy to Himself and those who were rejecting Him. And He did it in a parable, to make it more memorable and impacting.

 

Like so many of his parables of the Kingdom, this one was agricultural. 

 

A man planted a vineyard, a substantial and long-term investment. Then he rented it out and left, for whatever reason, to live in a different land for awhile. 

 

He sent a servant to collect the rent, which was a share of the crop or produce. But the renters refused to give what they owed. 

 

To make matters worse, they beat the servant, showing that they had no fear nor respect for their landlord.

And probably trying to deliver a message that he should not send anyone else to collect the rent or the same thing would happen that person.

 

Not deterred, the landlord sent another servant, and they did the same thing. 

 

Then he sent a third servant, and they beat him up, too.

 

The three servants sent by the landowner represent the prophets God sent to His people, who were often opposed and abused.

 

The next part of the parable represents Jesus.

 

So the landlord decided to send his son, thinking they wouldn’t dare hurt or refuse his son. But it got worse.

 

The tenants decided to kill his son, thinking that with the landowner losing his son, and therefore with no one to inherit the property, the owner would just give up and they could claim the vineyard as their own.

 

Then Jesus said to the Pharisees that owner would rightly punish the evil tenants, and find good and honest renters to manage the vineyard. 

 

The Pharisees had an interesting response: they said, “Surely not.” Never!

 

To understand their response, we need to go to Matthew’s account of this parable. He adds this statement by Jesus.

 

43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.

 

To which they responded, “Surely not.” Never! No way. Not gonna happen.

 

To prove His point, Jesus quoted the prophesy from Psalm 118:22. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

 

Matthew adds the second part of the verse: This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes! 

 

Jesus was telling them that His coming into the world as the Messiah was God’s doing. In rejecting Him, they were rejecting God.

 

Luke adds: 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

 

And Matthew adds:  45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 

 

Jesus was telling them: I’m the Messiah, God’s own Son sent to save you. But you hate me; you’re rejecting me, and I know you’re scheming to have me killed. 

 

And while you may think that in killing me, you’ve stopped me, you haven’t.

 

I’m going to redeem the world as I was sent to do; and your opposition to me will be your undoing. I’m the stone on which you’ll be dashed to pieces. 

 

I can’t be stopped, and you’ll destroy yourself trying to stop me. And God will replace you as His chosen people, with people from all nations who will believe in me, and will bear fruit in my name.

 

In enduring rejection for us, Jesus won eternal life and blessings for us. In rejecting Him, we reject His blessings for today and for eternity. 

 

He became the cornerstone, on which Church stands, and is forgiven and blessed.

And He is the capstone, completing God’s plan of salvation for the world.

 

When we receive Jesus into our hearts and lives, when we believe in the One who was rejected and died for us, He makes us a part of His vineyard, so to speak, His Kingdom and His family. 

 

But it comes with a price. 

 

Life with the One who was rejected by the world, means that sometimes, we’re going to be rejected too.                                                                    

 

In John 17, Jesus told his disciples that they could expect to be persecuted and rejected, but not to take it personally, because it’s really Jesus whom the world hates so much.

 

There’s so much hate in our world; so much hate of people who are different than us, or who behave and believe differently than we do, or have different views, politically and socially.

 

Jesus calls us to love our neighbor, and to love even our enemy, just as He did.

 

We reject ungodly beliefs and behaviors, starting with our own sin that we repent of, and are forgiven of; we reject the ungodly behavior, but not the ungodly person.

 

The person, we love and befriend and point to Jesus, as we are able.

 

If we hate and reject the person, then we’re rejecting what Jesus teaches us, to love our neighbors as ourselves, including our enemies, those different than us, even those who hate and oppose us. 

 

Life with the rejected One, life with Christ means enduring rejection by others for His sake… but not rejecting others for His sake, but loving them as He does.

And calling them to the repentance that comes by faith, and that saves and blesses us.

 

Even when the world rejects us, we love and serve the world by bearing witness to God’s Son, who died to save the world, and to make us a part of His Kingdoms of Grace and Glory.

 

His Kingdom of Grace, the Church; and His kingdom of Glory, Heaven.

 

May God keep us forever in His vineyard, His Kingdom.

 

May no amount of ridicule or rejection ever separate us from the One who endured death and rejection for us on the cross. 

 

May we never reject Him, nor His Word, nor His ways, nor His Church, nor His salvation. 

 

May we keep faith and bear fruit in His Kingdom always. 

 

And as we do, His peace, which passes understanding, will guard our hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus, who will never reject those who seek the life he gives. Amen.