Sermons 2025

Text: Luke 20:9-20

Sermon Theme: The Father and the Son desire us to see their authority not as withholding but as giving.
Sermon Goal: That hearers see the sobering picture of Jesus’ authority repelled and instead live in the joyful relationship by which under his authority they receive his gifts.

Outline: 
1.    God’s authority means we don’t get what we want.
2.    Those who remain opposed will not have good news.
3.    How does God desire us to see His authority over us?

Sermon

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

My dear beloved flock, the text for our mediation today is the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke the twentieth chapter, verses nine through twenty.

Introduction: Boys and Girls, I pray that you are doing well today. How many of you would like to eat ice cream in bed? It sounds great right? What would mom and dad say? They would says no. That would make you mad, maybe even angry, or sad. That’s because we all like the idea of having everything our own way, of being our own boss, and we don’t at all care for somebody else telling us what we can and can’t do.

Even moms and dads have problems with authority—even, whether we like to admit it or not, with God’s authority. In our text, that problem has been in the background, simmering just like a pot of pasta, and in the next few days—or, in our church year, in the next two weeks—it’s going to boil over into the crucifixion of God’s own Son. How does God want us to view His authority over us? How can we repent of our problems of authority? Ponder those questions as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you.

1.    Sinners’ natural perception is that God’s authority prevents them from getting what they want.

We desire authority, but we prioritize our own authority, being our own bosses, rather than submitting to the authority of others. As we prayed in the collect. We yearn to “be governed and preserved evermore in body and soul.” And don’t breeze through the termination formula! We yearn to “be governed . . . through Jesus Christ.” In other words, we are asking the Lord to keep us from becoming like those who would despise and dishonor his servants, and then finally, him. Thus, one of the reasons our Lord tells this parable in the midst of Holy Week, that we as His people might have a right and true understanding of what authority is and means.

Our natural perception in our sinful flesh and world of those in authority over us is that they are harsh task masters. They are obstacles from getting what we really want our desire.  That is certainly how the tenants in Jesus’ parable of the vineyard feel. They  decided that the master’s authority over his vineyard stands in the way of them having it themselves.  

Jesus’ authority has been persistently opposed all throughout Luke’s Gospel. All the way from chapter 5:17 and throughout this chapter. 20:1–8, 20–26, 45–47.

Likewise in the parable, the authority that the vineyard owner delegates is also challenged. The tenants rebel against the authority of the vineyard owner. So what does he do? He sends servants to them. They are sent so that the tenants would “give [the vineyard owner] some of the fruit.” Would give, that verb tells us something about the vineyard owner. He wants his relationship to be on the basis of gift, not obligation. He is not demanding payment. The servants represent the many prophets God sent to his people (Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, and others) whom Israel itself rejected. How did the tenants treat the servants? They treated them shamefully. Perhaps used\ foul language, they certainly disrespected them. The third was not so fortunate. He was “cast out” and, our ESV, “wounded.” Such bland language! The Greek, traumatisantes (“having been wounded”), gives the English word “trauma,” and it wouldn’t miss the mark to say that the poor guy had to be taken to a trauma center.

    Having sent all these servants and seeing the reaction of the tenants. We can easily picture what the vineyard owner is thinking “Let’s see. My first servant was sent away empty-handed. They beat my second servant, questioned his manhood, and sent him away empty-handed. They jumped my third servant so that I had to fetch him out of the ER. Gosh! What should I do now?” 

    He decides to send his own Son. He sends his son that the tenants might be shamed into doing what they should have done in the first place. The son carries much more weight and authority that mere servants. To send the son means that this is a serious matter. The owner’s son, quite unmistakably, represents God’s Son, the Christ, whom God’s tenants, Israel, would kill just days later. They do this because they believe this will cast off God’s authority and make them their own masters.

    You, followers of Jesus, you, his holy priesthood, have problems with God’s authority too. If we are being honest with ourseves we often act similar to the tenants in the parable. Living in a sinful world, still having your sinful flesh, You will be challenged by those who despise God’s authority—and therefore your faith—and by the whole world system that makes evil seem normal or even good. The world says to reject God’s authority in a myriad of ways. Reject His good creation of male and female, decide for yourself what sex you are. Reject His good gift of life, kill the babe in the womb, simply because that child is going to get in your way.

    You yourself challenge God’s authority, spurred by your sinful nature operating in cahoots with the world. There are things we want that we think he’s holding back. I have often heard people say, Pastor that’s just your opinion. Thereby rejecting the Biblical opinion and authority of the servants, the Pastors who God has sent to minister to you in order to give you the forgiveness of your sins and the salvation of your souls. Even though you know better, how often have you returned, like a dog to it’s vomit, of the horrible sins that you commit time and time again.

2.    Those who remain stubbornly opposed to God’s authority will indeed then receive no good news (vv 15–18).

        This parable, besides foreshadowing the death of the Son,  is a call to repentance of our sins before it is too late. Constant rejection and opposition to God’s authority means that all that they have will be taken away. The parable foretells the death of the Son but gives no indication of his resurrection. The same Jewish leaders, when confronted with Jesus’ resurrection, will only see it as bad news (Mt 28:11–15). Our Lord even highlights Psalm 118 in His response to them. “What then does this Scripture mean?” Those who reject will be crushed by the ston. For those who reject Jesus, it’s bad news!

    Those in our world who continue to oppose God’s authority—including the mission he’s delegated to his Son—will also lose everything. Easter, two weeks from today, will be no celebration for those who really wish Jesus dead. Remember God is loving, but God is also just, constant rejection of His great love and mercy, means that God will, as happens to the tenants, destroy them, take away everything that they have, and give it to others. Do we repent of challenging God’s authority by our sin, or will we be crushed?

3.    But how does God in fact desire us to see his authority over us?

    Jesus’ enemies were indeed about to be crushed. They had entirely forgotten the point of millennia of God’s authority over them. The master had planted this vineyard and entrusted it to them. God had graciously been using and blessing Israel all along. He sent his son, even after his servants had been mistreated, begging the tenants to repent (v 13). If they refused, he would “give the vineyard to others.” It’s still always God’s desire to use his authority to give. 

    God has now given the vineyard to us. He indeed sent His only begotten Son, Christ Jesus, to die, to bear His full wrath, that He might give to you everlasting life. Jesus died that we are forgiven for all the times we challenge God’s authority. He has fully paid the price for them—but he has risen! Forgiveness is yours of the rejection of His servants. Forgiveness is yours of all those times that you have returned to sin time and time again. Christ declared upon the cross. It is finished! Everything is paid for. How do we know this? It is assured by the resurrection. Everything is forgiven, the wrath of God has been fully satisfied. Therefore, the Father raised the Son to life through the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore God holds no good thing back from us! He gives us everything truly good as a gift.

    Thus, God wants us to understand that this is how he always wishes to exercise his authority.

The Father and the Son Desire Us to See Their Authority Not as Withholding but as Giving.

Conclusion: As our Lord Himself says, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you” not just the vineyard but also “the kingdom” (Lk 12:32). Giving is his style. 

The Peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard, and keep, your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.