Matthew 21:33-46
(Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-19)
Suggested further reading: Amos 2:6 - 3:2
The fruit that the Lord receives from his vineyard in this land
is disgracefully small compared with what it ought to be. We
should note what an awful reckoning God sometimes makes with
nations and churches which make a bad use of their privileges.
A time came when the long-suffering of God towards the
Jews had an end. Forty years after our Lord's death the cup of their
iniquity was at length full and they received a heavy chastisement
for their sins in the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple. They
themselves were scattered over the face of the earth and the
kingdom removed from them (v. 43).
And will the same thing ever happen to us? Will the
judgements of God come down upon this nation because of her
unfaithfulness under so many mercies? Who can tell? Only God knows. But
history tells us that judgements have come on many churches
and nations. Where are the early African and Eastern churches?
They are run over by Islam and destroyed. At all events it becomes
all believers to intercede much on behalf of our country. Nothing
offends God so much as the neglect of privileges. Much has
been given to us and much will be required.
What power conscience has even in wicked men! The chief
priests and elders at last discovered that our Lord's parable was
especially meant for them. The point of its closing words was too sharp
to escape.
There are many hearers in every congregation who are exactly
in the position of these unhappy men. They know that what they
hear Sunday after Sunday is all true. They know that they are
wrong themselves and that every sermon condemns them. But they
have neither will nor courage to acknowledge this. They are too
proud and too fond of the world to confess their past mistakes and to
take up the cross and follow Christ. Let us all beware of this awful
state of mind. The last day will prove that there was more going on in
the consciences of hearers than was at all known to preachers. Tens
of thousands will be found to have been convicted by their own
conscience and yet to have died unconverted.
For meditation: Do not neglect your freedom to hear the
Word preached, nor suppress the strivings of your conscience. Listen
to both.
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