The Fruit of Rejection

Summary

‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 21.42-43

Like a master cultivating a vineyard, from the beginning all God created belongs to him. While sin has corrupted his world, God choose to bless and work through a specific people, Israel.  They are set apart for a purpose, to bear fruit in faithfully worshiping God and pointing other nations to Him. As God engages with His people through a succession of prophets the “workers in the vineyard” are consistent in their violent rejection of the master’s “servants” to the point of killing his son. Rejection of a royal invitation and assaulting the King’s messengers is a declaration of rebellion against the King himself. The King’s wrath is righteously executed towards the unworthy, but there is still a feast to be had. The call to the feast goes out far beyond the original invitation and the hall is full of all kinds of people. While this would appear to lower the standards of those admitted to the feast, a man was cast out for not being properly clothed. The king still demands perfection to enter his good kingdom. Only being clothed in the perfection of Jesus is sufficient to join the feast.

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