Christ’s parable of the vineyard tenants, preached in the temple, speaks to hostile Jewish leaders, but it contains a life-saving message for us, showing the elements of our rebellion against God that must be recognised and regretted in order to approach and find Him.

Then began he to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time.

And we’re considering this evening ‘Difficulties or Obstructions in Finding the Lord’. This parable is recorded in three gospels. It was given during the last week of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ on earth. He had just thrown out the money changers and the cattle, animals, merchants from the temple who were doing their great trade and he was teaching and among the things that he taught was the Gospel according to the record of Luke. Now the chief priests and the scribes and the Pharisees were furious and wanted him dead, but they could not take him openly because of course he was so favoured by the masses by the people, not surprisingly, after three years of compassionate miracles where thousands of people were healed, people from all kinds of illnesses, all kinds of maladies, terrible deformities, even raisings from the dead, and small wonder that the people at that moment, they were fickle in their outlook, but they were all behind him.

So the plans would have to be made that Christ would be taken by night. Of course, he would be willing to be arrested and subjected to those unjust trials and then crucified and slain, it was his purpose it was the plan and purpose of God, as I’m sure you know, that he would come in order to make a substitutionary sacrifice of himself for the sins of all who would ever be forgiven.

You know that God in his holiness cannot overlook sin and yet God desires to show his love upon millions and millions of people and forgive them and save them and how can he do it with sin and guilt in the way? It would be contrary to his holy character and being to overlook sin, his indignation is against it, and the only solution to that, is for Christ the second person of the Triune Godhead, equally God, equally divine, to come into this world, the world that he made, and to take upon himself human personality and flesh..