The Fruit of Righteousness that God Desires

Beginning in our Lectionary for today:

Psalm 80:7–19

12 Why have you broken down its hedge, *

so that all those who go by pluck off its grapes?

13 The wild boar out of the wood roots it up, *

and the wild beasts of the field devour it.

 

Isaiah 5:1–7 (ESV)

1 Let me sing for my beloved

my love song concerning his vineyard:

        My beloved had a vineyard

on a very fertile hill.

  2     He dug it and cleared it of stones,

and planted it with choice vines;

        he built a watchtower in the midst of it,

and hewed out a wine vat in it;

        and he looked for it to yield grapes,

but it yielded wild grapes.

  3     And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem

and men of Judah,

        judge between me and my vineyard.

  4     What more was there to do for my vineyard,

that I have not done in it?

        When I looked for it to yield grapes,

why did it yield wild grapes?

  5     And now I will tell you

what I will do to my vineyard.

        I will remove its hedge,

and it shall be devoured;

        I will break down its wall,

and it shall be trampled down.

  6     I will make it a waste;

it shall not be pruned or hoed,

and briers and thorns shall grow up;

        I will also command the clouds

that they rain no rain upon it.

  7     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!

• God was looking for particular fruit, but didn’t see it. What was he looking for? &

 

Matthew 21:33–46 (ESV)

33 “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit.

If you asked the Pharisees “Who is in charge of Israel since God seems to have departed”, what would they likely have said?

 

41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” 

 

42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

        “ ‘The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;

        this was the Lord’s doing,

and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

 Who does this really refer to?

• The rejected stone is paired with the rejected son in the parable.

 

• This is quoting from Ps 118, probably referring to the great gates of the Temple

Psalm 118:19–22 (NLT)

19 Open for me the gates where the righteous enter,

and I will go in and thank the Lord.

20 These gates lead to the presence of the Lord,

and the godly enter there.

21 I thank you for answering my prayer

and giving me victory!

22 The stone that the builders rejected

has now become the cornerstone.

 

43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

 

Jesus is referencing another part of Isaiah

• Basically, he’s warning the Pharisees that they can’t fight God because they’ll be broken and crushed.

 

Isaiah 8:13-15 (ESV)
13  But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14  And [the LORD of hosts] will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15  And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”

 

 

43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone (the LORD of hosts) will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

 

45  When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46  And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.

 

• In Philippians, the context is about righteousness

 

Philippians 3:14–21 (ESV)

14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

• What is the goal? Look 2 verses prior…

 

Philippians 3:12 (ESV)
12  Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

• What is “this”? What is the “it” that Paul has not already obtained? Look a few verses prior…

 

Philippians 3:8-11 (ESV)
8  Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9  and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10  that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11  that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

• Paul’s Goal?

Philippians 3:12-15 (ESV)
12  Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13  Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.

But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14  I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15  Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.

• and perfection are the same thing to Paul
  • He uses the same word in Greek to describe both
  • God doesn’t ask you to never make mistakes, he asks you to grow up

John 15:5–6 (NLT)

5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.

 

6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.”

 

James 2:19 (NLT2) 19  You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.

 

If you don’t behave the way you believe,

you’ll end up believing the way you behave.

 

Has your love grown cold? Come back to your first love