The Parable of the Tenants

This week on Cultivate, Charlie and Abigail work through the Parable of the Tenants in Matthew 21 — and Jesus is not being subtle anymore.Coming right off the Parable of the Two Sons, Jesus is still in the temple courts, still talking to the chief priests, and he's about to unload. A landowner builds a vineyard, sets it up completely, rents it to tenants, and leaves. When harvest time comes and he sends servants to collect, the tenants beat them, kill them, and stone them. He sends more. Same result. Finally he sends his son — surely they'll respect my son. They kill him too.Jesus then asks the chief priests what the owner should do. They answer their own indictment. And then Jesus quotes Psalm 118: the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. Therefore the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to people who will produce its fruit.They knew exactly who he was talking about. And they started plotting how to arrest him.Charlie and Abigail dig into what it means that God sent his son expecting respect — and what that says about God's character. They get into the massive theological question of Israel vs. the church, what premillennialism has to do with American foreign policy, and C.S. Lewis's Lord, Liar, Lunatic argument — and the fourth option modern scholars try to add. Plus: Hugh Jackman's voice, The Greatest Showman Reimagined, and what happens in between every episode of Cultivate.