Daily Devotionals

Trouble Maker Week 8: Thursday

Jesus looked at them and said, “Then what does this Scripture mean? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’ Everyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.” Luke 20:17-18

As Jesus came to the end of His life, the people who watched and observed His three-year ministry had a decision to make. How would they respond to His teaching? Would they ignore it, take it as good advice and nothing less, or would they believe in His teaching and follow Him for the rest of their lives? The answer to this question had the potential to change everything for them. It has the potential to change everything for us, too.   

Jesus told a rather bleak story in Luke 20 in the last week of His life. In this story, He said, “a man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and moved to another country to live for several years” (verse 9). Then, He explained that the farmer sent a servant to gather the crops in His vineyard when the harvest was ready, but the farmers attacked the servant and “sent him back empty-handed” (verse 10). Then, the vineyard owner sent another servant to collect the crops, but the farmers did the same thing to that servant and “sent him away empty-handed” (verse 11). He then sent a third man, but the farmers “wounded him and chased him away” (verse 12). Finally, the vineyard owner sent his son, believing that they would treat his son well and let him collect the crops (verse 13). Instead, the farmers killed the son, hoping to take the owner’s estate for themselves (verse 15). He then asked the question, “what do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do to them” (verse 15)? He then explained that the vineyard would destroy the farmers and lease His land to other people (verse 16). Jesus explained that this parable represented what would happen to those who rejected Jesus. They would face His judgment. Those who accepted Him would reap the reward (verses 17-18). The story is bleak, but the point is so important. What we do in life echoes for all of eternity.

 Jesus was teaching through this story in Luke 20 that He had been sent by God the Father, but it is up to each individual person how they will respond. They must choose whether they will reject His teaching or accept it. So may you and I commit to always following Him wherever He leads us.

Moving toward action

The question today is, how will you respond to Jesus’ teaching? Will you take it as good advice and nothing else, or will you take it as words to live by? My friend, Jesus is more than a good teacher. He is the Son of God. Choose today to live by His word, letting it transform you. Read through the verses in the Going Deeper Section listed below, and after reading, think of one specific and measurable way that you can act on what the Scripture teaches today.

Going Deeper

Luke 20:1-19 (NLT)

"One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. 2 “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this authority?”

3 He replied, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me: 4 John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin?”

5 They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet.”

7 So they answered, “We don’t know where it was from.”

8 Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

9 He went on to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. 10 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. 12 He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.

13 “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’

14 “But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

“What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”

When the people heard this, they said, “God forbid!”

17 Jesus looked directly at them and asked, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written:

“‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone’?

18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

19 The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people."