Salvation cannot be bought, at the same time, it is not free. Accepting Jesus brings responsibilities. Correction by Jesus (his authority) was rejected by the leadership, even as it is to this day. The leaders understood Jesus expectation and realized the identity of the Son of God. The mistake of their rejection did not lead to the path of humility and repentance - falling on the rock. Rather, they sought to destroy the son of the Lord of the vineyard. Jesus did not back down. They understood the message. They rejected their LORD.
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Matthew 21:28-22:14; Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-19
The Two Sons
Refusing to tell the chief priests, scribes, and elders the source of his authority, Jesus told a parable to his questioners, saying:
“But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, ‘Son, go work today in my vineyard.’ He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ and went not. Which of the two did the will of his father?”
The chief priests, scribes, and elders answered Jesus, saying:
“The first.”
Jesus replied:
“Verily I say unto you that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not. But the publicans and the harlots believed him. And ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.”
The Vineyard And The Husbandmen
Then Jesus told another parable to the chief priests, scribes, and elders, saying:
“Hear another parable: ‘There was a certain householder which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that he might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants, more than the first; and they did unto them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, “They will reverence my son.” But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.” And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.’ When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?”
The scribes, chief priests, and elders replied:
“He will miserably destroy the wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.”
Jesus said to them:
“Did ye never read in the scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore I say unto you, ‘The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.’ And whosoever...
