Let's look at a parable that Jesus is supposed to have said:
The Parable of the TenantsThe allegory is obvious:
Mark 12:1 He then began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. 2 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed. 6 "He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, 'They will respect my son.' 7 "But the tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' 8 So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 "What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.
The owner of the vineyard = God
The vineyard = Israel (as God's Kingdom)
The tenants = the Jews
The servants that get beaten up or killed = the prophets
The son of the owner = Jesus
The others = the Christians (or rather Jewish Christians at the time)
So the story is about the Jews killing Jesus and Jesus promising that God will avenge this by coming soon and killing them ( = the Jews, the unfaithful who have rejected Jesus):
Verse 9 "What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others."
How does this fit into his teaching of love and forgiveness?
(On a side-note: The parable also doesn't reflect well on BibleGod since the owner doesn't seem to be very bright. He keeps sending his servants to the tenants, knowing (and one doesn't even have to be omniscient in this case) that they will get beaten up or killed. I mean ok, one couldn't know this when the first servant was sent and beaten up, but when the third one was killed, one could start to detect a pattern and rethink the strategy of sending lone servants there on a potential suicide mission ... why not send ten of them together? And why send the only son alone too? That's called courting disaster!)
How does this fit into his teaching of love and forgiveness?
(On a side-note: The parable also doesn't reflect well on BibleGod since the owner doesn't seem to be very bright. He keeps sending his servants to the tenants, knowing (and one doesn't even have to be omniscient in this case) that they will get beaten up or killed. I mean ok, one couldn't know this when the first servant was sent and beaten up, but when the third one was killed, one could start to detect a pattern and rethink the strategy of sending lone servants there on a potential suicide mission ... why not send ten of them together? And why send the only son alone too? That's called courting disaster!)
6 comments:
First, you must have a lot of time on your hands...
Second, someone must have hurt you really badly for you to take it out on Jesus and God.
I'm a Christian and I know a lot of people might get mad at what you write but it's okay. I think God and Jesus can handle it.
Hey - at least you are reading the bible, might not be sinking in yet, but you are reading it...
So you deny that the parable tells this?
WoW!!! What amazing exegesis! Amazingly narrow-minded and prejudiced.
This parable speaks to eternal damnation of ALL who reject Christ as their savior, not just the Jews.
Why narrow-minded and prejudiced? It's obvious from the context, and the time, that Jesus referred to those Jews that were rejecting him. Those Jews that, according to Jesus, have betrayed the God who made a covenant with them.
You might not like it but that's the way it is. It's right there in your text. Nothing more, nothing less.
I think he was talking about the priests who were talking to him. The message reaches wider of course.
You may think it foolish that God would be so gentle when of course he could obliterate the owners with minimal effort. But that's not how God works, and that's not how the owner acts in the story.
God destroyed the corruption and power of the church by his death, yes it's true. He made it possible again for people to have back the direct relationship with him, that corrupt people had perverted.
Jesus isn't condoning murder, and we know from the rest of the Bible that no-one is beyond forgiveness.
So you misinterpret the story badly.
I think your reading of the parable is right on track. Paul, however, said that a tiny elect would be spared the curse, and that after all of the gentiles come in [to God's fold] then some Jews would get saved - like 144,000 I guess, which he refers to as "all Israel."
Ro 9:6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
Ro 11:
25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.
29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
I have been blogging extensively on this subject recently at http://bibleshockers.blogspot.com
Post a Comment