“Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard . . . . Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. When the harvest time approached he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. The tenants seized his servants! They beat one, killed another and stoned a third . . : . Therefore I tell you the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit . . . .”Matthew 21:33–43
God wants fruits!
And He is not mocked
He demands fruits. He expects fruits of all those to whom He has given the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
If we ask what such fruits are Paul would answer in one place that they are the fruit s of the Spirit, such as love, joy, peace, long suffering, meekness and temperance. James would say they are the works of faith, because faith without works is dead . The works are not the basis of our righteousness. That is only the payment of Jesus Christ. But when the sinner is justified, there must be fruit s of this faith in good works. The works show and prove the presence and genuineness of faith. The Lord Jesus when on earth strongly emphasized this. Not those who only say, “Lord, Lord,” are pleasing to God, but those who do the will of His heavenly Father. Paul again and again speaks of all of us being judged according to our works. The works will be the proof of faith. All this means, “no works-no faith.” Good works are the “fruits” of which Jesus speaks in this parable.
God wants such fruits in your and my life.
He wants fruits! Fruits are not mechanical. You can attach a wheel to a car or a door to a house, but you don’t hang apples on a tree. Fruits grow on a tree. They are the result and evidence of the growth and health of the tree. Spiritual fruits too, are not mechanical, or formal or only external; they are the results of a process of spiritual growth worked by the Word and the Spirit.
Such fruits God wants! And such fruits God will receive, if not from us and our children, then from others.
This is a parable. In parables the Lord sets before us one main thought. Here that is the necessity of fruit. In connection with this one central thought we should notice several elements of the parable.
First there is described the work of a particular landowner. We are told the details of the care given the vineyard which he entrusted to tenants. Beside the vineyard itself, we hear of the fence around it to protect it, a tower to be used for guarding and perhaps also for storage, and a place to tread the grapes. Everything was in order. Nothing was lacking. The tenants could never accuse him of providing insufficient materials. The owner had therefore every reason to expect the production of much fruit.
This reminds us of Isaiah 5, “My beloved had a vineyard in a fertile hillside. He dug up the land, cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. He looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit. Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it?”
When the question is asked, “What more could the Lord have done?” one could answer, “The Lord could have given them new hearts.” But that isn’t the answer given here. Here the Lord is speaking of the normal means that are given whereby we may know and serve the Lord to bring forth fruits. Both these passages emphasize that God has given all we need, in fact, all that could be given us in that respect.
The people of Israel had the Word of God. Already at the time of Isaiah they had received it in many different forms, from many prophets. But how much more they had when Jesus came. First of all, they had the complete Old Testament Scripture, and, above all, they had the unique privileges of having the very Son of God explain the Scriptures and show before their eyes and bring to their ears the Word of Life.
Today we have still more. We have the complete Bible. We have the Spirit of Pentecost. We have the benefit of the labors of hundreds of men of God in the form of commentaries and different kinds of Christian literature. We have preaching twice per Sunday, Catechism classes, Church School, Sunday School, Christian schools and much Christian reading material. Many of us have a least a half dozen Bibles in our homes, the best one perhaps an expensive leather-bound edition in a box which is seldom opened. Added to all this, we have our Confessions which explain to us the Word of God. If ever there were a people who had much it was we. Surely to us God says, “What more could have been done to my vineyard, than I have not done in it?”
In the parable the farmers or tenants, no doubt, are the leaders and people of the nation of Israel. In a broader sense they represent all of the covenant children of Israel. The servants who are sent to receive the fruits are the prophets and all those called by the Lord to preach and teach the Word of God, His salvation by grace to believing sinners and the need of responsive fruits. The son of the landowner who finally was sent to receive the fruits, but was killed, is of course, the Son of God. It is important to notice that the tenants go to the extremes of severely maltreating all the servants sent to them and killing the very son of the landowner.
All this refers first to all the ill treatment Israel gave to many prophets of the Lord. Remember, this was the “church” that so dealt with God’s prophets. Also that it was the “church” that killed the Son of God. One naturally asks, “Is this still true today? If so, how do people reject God’s servants and the Word itself?”
The Word itself is rejected by out right denial of the Bible being the Word of God. Also by distortion of the truth of the Word and by denials that the Bible is inerrant and inspired. Today it is the “church” that rejects the Word and those who bring this Word. Of course there is a difference between “church” and “church,” between denominations that are liberal and in “left-field” and more conservative denominations and congregations. But true preaching of the Word that demands fruits of godliness is bound to be rejected in some form wherever it is preached. I’ve often wondered if men such as Isaiah, Hosea, and Joel lived today, how often they would be placed on trio or duo, or receive calls to be pastors of churches. Beyond any doubt , they would be criticized, opposed and rejected by many people also today. In all churches? Yes, in some measure in all churches. True preachers of the Word are not men-pleasers first of all, but servants of the Lord who like the prophets, preach the true Word, pronounce judgement upon sin and stress the need of fruits of faith. This will certainly arouse some objection and opposition, even where this is done in a very inoffensive way.
Last, but not least, the Word is rejected by lethargic and complacent churches. In true preaching the Lord constantly calls for fruits of repentance, godliness and a living Christianity. In this kind of church the response is weak. People are comfortable. Their one main question is whether they know that they are going to heaven when they die. Long ago one of the Old Testament prophets (Amos) already spoke of this attitude when he warned the Israelites, “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion.” Personally, I think this is the greatest danger in the church today. There are many church people, who may be Christians, but who simply do not understand that true Christianity demands both confessing and living the Truth. True Christian faith must be shown in Bible study, Christian fellowship and general Christian living. Christians who have this kind of faith with fruits realize that in the church we never reach the age of spiritual retirement.
God wants fruits.
Today, too, God works according to the same pattern, He rejects churches and parents who fail to use the means given them and who fail to produce fruits of godliness in their lives. It is not at all impossible that Western Europe and America are already living in the post-Christian age. And it is also possible that the Lord is receiving more fruits from the black Christians in Africa, native Christians in South America, and persecuted Christians behind the iron and bamboo curtains than from members that have enjoyed the blessings of the Word for centuries.
God wants fruits. And woe unto the fig trees that are barren.
