Beloved Son

The Fifth Sunday in Lent

April 6, 2025

Luke 20:9-20

 “Beloved Son”

This is now the third Sunday of a string of parables from Jesus in our appointed Gospel lessons. Sort of a trifecta of parables, if you will. Two weeks ago, it was the parable of the unproductive fig tree (Luke 13:1-9). Last week, it was the parable of the prodigal son, or more aptly called, the parable of the forgiving father (Luke 15:1-3, 11-32). And now today, we hear the parable of the wicked tenants (Luke 20:9-20). As we consider Jesus’ parable, we will focus on the words of the vineyard owner in that parable who said: “I will send my beloved son” (Luke 20:13). That becomes the theme for preaching today as we look at Jesus’ parable through three lenses: 1) the patience of God; 2) the pain of God; and 3) the promise of God. May the Lord’s rich and abundant blessing rest upon the preaching, the hearing, and the living of his Word for Jesus’ sake.

Remember several months ago we celebrated Jesus’ baptism by John in the River Jordan. This was early January, so that might seem like light years ago already. But it was at Jesus’ baptism that the Father’s voice proclaimed: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22b). And then just before the Lenten season began about a month ago, we celebrated Jesus’ transfiguration atop the mountain, once again the Father’s voice is heard: “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” (Luke 9:35). Jesus is the Father’s chosen and beloved Son. But before the Father sent his chosen and beloved Son, he first sent many others, and this leads us into the first of the three parts of Jesus’ parables: the patience of God.

It all started out so good. A man planted a vineyard, got it all ready to go, leased it out to tenants, and then went off to live his life. But it started to unravel when the tenants refused to honor their lease and give the owner his rightful share of the harvest. But every time the owner sent his servants, who represented him and his business interests, the response of the tenants was nothing short of outrageous. They assaulted and beat up each and every one of the servants sent to them. Maybe it was because the owner was an absentee landlord that they thought they could get away with this. Whatever the reason, what we see here is unbelievable patience on the part of the owner. The owner of the vineyard in the parable is God himself, as the prophet Isaiah makes abundantly clear (see Isaiah 5). Again and again, God comes seeking fruit from the vineyard that he has planted. Listen to what Isaiah writes: “For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!” (Isaiah 5:7). Patiently, God sent his servants, the prophets, to his vineyard, his own people in order to call them back to himself in repentance. The prophets and the message they brought were largely rejected. Most of them – including Isaiah – were abused and killed. And yet God the vineyard owner shows incredible patience, even when his people stubbornly refuse him. Then and now, the patience of the Lord has a purpose, and that is to lead us to repentance. As Paul describes this turn-around in today’s Epistle lesson: “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13b-14).

Second, we see in Jesus’ parable the pain of God. Not having received or listened to his servants, the vineyard owner decides to send his own beloved son. Would you have done this? If you have a bunch of renters who have gone rogue and barricaded themselves on your property, would you send in your own beloved child to work things out with them? I don’t think any of us would do this, but this is what God chose to do. And how painful this must have been! God, the vineyard owner, opens up himself to give the life of his own beloved Son for people who are rebels and outlaws; who have literally set themselves up against him. When we think of the sacrifice of Jesus, we often think of that view looking up at him suspended on the cross. But the Spanish artist Salvador Dali captured the opposite perspective, which may give us insight into the pain of God in looking down upon the sacrifice of his own beloved Son, all for us and for our salvation.

Third, we see the promise of God as Jesus speaks not just of planting a vineyard, but of building a new structure; a new city; new Jerusalem. “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (Luke 20:17; see Psalm 118:22-23). God’s chosen and beloved Son, who gave his life on the cross in order to buy us back for God, has indeed become the cornerstone of a whole new building as the Word of God tells us: “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:4-5). By the grace of God in Jesus, we are now living stones being built into the temple of Christ, the Father’s beloved Son. The promise made by the Father is sealed with the blood of his own Son. In Jesus, all of God’s promises find their “yes,” their “Amen,” their fulfillment (2 Corinthians 1:20).

The people who first heard this parable – the scribes and chief priests – recognized that Jesus spoke it against them. But even that was done with patience, pain and promise. The hoped-for outcome was then, and it remains still, that all people will be led to salvation and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). This same beloved Son comes to us now with the fruit of the vineyard and bread to eat, giving us his very Body and Blood under these earthly forms. As he comes to us, may this beloved Son, our Savior, find us, his tenants, ready to welcome him and receive him with joy. Amen.