ESOCS Devotional 7 December 2024 – The Grace of Redemption
MEMORY VERSE: “Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.”Luke 20:18 KJV
TEXT: LUKE 20:9-18
Then He began to tell the people this parable: “A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time. 10 Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. 12 And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out.
13 “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Probably they will respect him when they see him.’ 14 But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.’ 15 So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others.”
And when they heard it they said, “Certainly not!”
17 Then He looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written:
‘The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone’?
18 Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”
Read Other ESOCS Devotional Here
In our text, God provides us with a parable so that we can understand the grand story of redemption. The passage is an allegory based on Israel’s history. Jesus shares this parable about the vineyard, which seems to have been drawn from Isaiah 5:1-7. As we trace God’s story of redemption, I want to frame it in light of God’s grace. God gave the promise of blessing to the nation of Israel to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3. The entire story of redemption begins with a word of grace. God speaks a word of grace to rebellious and sinful people.
The tenants in the parable continued to display their lack of fruitfulness by abusing the servants and messengers and sending them away with nothing. The servants are a picture of the prophets that God sent, again and again, to warn His people of their disobedience. The prophets came with hard words, but they were designed to stir the people up to repentance. It is hard to receive rebukes and criticism. People do not typically respond well to correction. Although we may not like correction, it is an absolute blessing to our souls. The prophets were beaten and sent away empty-handed, but they were doing the will of their master who sent them. Beloved, many of us are going to be shamefully treated when we speak words of correction to our family and friends but know that when we speak the truth in love, we are doing the will of our master who has sent us.
The owner of the vineyard could have given up on the tenants. He could have just washed his hands off them and moved on, but he still chose to graciously pursue them so we see the parable takes a glorious, yet tragic turn in verse 13. The owner of the vineyard is still motivated by love for the people. He sent his beloved son, the heir to the vineyard. The tenants responded by plotting to kill the son so that they would have the inheritance.
The gift of salvation is now offered to all because Jesus Christ was rejected and died for the sins of the people. It was absurd for the tenants to think that in killing the son they would have received his inheritance. But we all have lived with the same insane logic. We all are accountable to our Creator but have lived as if we are accountable to only ourselves. We all have rejected God’s loving rule and exchanged it for our own rule. We all deserve punishment, but God in His grace sent Jesus Christ to be rejected and killed on our behalf. He died in our place to bring us to God, the righteous for the unrighteous. It is only in the death and resurrection of Christ that God could bring salvation to the whole world, for God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.
Beloved, I want to encourage you to trust in Christ. Israel received grace upon grace, but still rejected the Lord. I pray that today is the day of salvation for you
- What will hinder you from choosing to fall before the Cornerstone in worship? Ask God to take it away.
- Lord Jesus, I accept Your gift of salvation for my life. Therefore, I choose to fall before You in worship.
Further Reading: Isaiah 23:1–end; Leviticus 8:1–13, ; Ephesians 4:1–32
ESOCS Devotional 7 December 2024
