Tuesday, April 12 (HOLY WEEK DEVOTIONALS: Pictures from the Battlefield)
Tuesday, April 12
Photo by Tengyart on Unsplash
“Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.” Matthew 21:43-44
Jesus was in dialog with some very religious types. They were more interested in protecting themselves and their positions of prestige and authority than in the Kingdom of God. He tells a parable about some servants who mishandle their care of a vineyard. They were interested in having the proceeds come to them rather than the owner. And Jesus makes it clear that they will ultimately be justly punished by the owner for failure to work according to His plan. He tells them that the Kingdom of God, which is right in front of them and available to them, will be taken away from them and given to a people who will produce its fruit. And because they are rejecting Jesus, that rejection will crush them before God. In other words, you either fall on the stone and are broken to fulfill His purposes or the stone falls on you and crushes you. That is the choice.
Notice that earlier in the chapter, they failed to answer a question by Jesus because they knew the people held John the Baptist in high esteem. And now they wanted to go after Jesus, but the people again held Jesus in high esteem. In other words, their faith was governed by popular opinion, not conviction.
What about your faith? Is it based on popular opinion or conviction? Are you producing fruit for Jesus or simply seeking benefit for yourself from God’s goodness? We will either be broken for Him or crushed by the truth about Him, and there is no other outcome. Being broken for Him gives us participation in an eternal Kingdom. What is your choice?
Prayer Prompts:
Lord, I rejoice that you allow me to produce fruit for Your kingdom by __________.Lord, I ask that You break me of anything that is not honoring to You in my life, especially _________.