Greeting at exactly 12 noon.
I was not able to get in a full jog with the dog this morning. I faced an appointment with someone scheduled to stop by. But I did trot around our own property some…and tossed balls for Tazzy.
Speaking of Tazzy, I’ll throw in another photo that features him with Thano this last Tuesday…where we parked at Govt. Camp and hitch hiked from there up to Timberline, then skied back down to where my truck was parked. It was Thano’s first time to join in my little adventure. Tazzy made a hit again. He obviously has no disappointment whatsoever over not having skis of his own.
Blessings on your day—Ray.
Following His “Triumphal Entry” into Jerusalem, the first time Jesus allows Himself to be publicly applauded as The Messiah, He goes to the Temple to teach and heal all who were physically impaired. The “Chief priests and religious scholars” (v. 15, TPT) were not happy campers. What a sad scene this is in this sense: They were all claiming to anticipate the appearance of the promised Messiah. Here He was!—right there in front of them! But their arrogance and bondage to religious bias rendered them infertile insofar as producing the desired fruit of membership in God’s Kingdom. In view of that sad fact, it seems that Jesus attempts to rattle their false sense of security by telling this story of a landowner who prepares and plants a vineyard, assigns a group of tenants to care for the vineyard, takes off on a journey, then, from a distance, seeks to claim his fair share of the profits after harvest. All the servants he sends to claim his share are abused or killed. He finally sends his own son in the confidence that they would honor him. But alas!—they kill him! It’s a story that should make anyone mad. Jesus tactfully states: “You tell me, when the lord of the vineyard comes, what do you think he will do to those servants?” (v. 40, TPT). Their reply, “He will bring a horrible death to those who did this evil and he will completely destroy them. Then he’ll lease his vineyard to different tenants who will be faithful to give him the portion he deserves” (v. 41, TPT). Bingo! Exactly! Yet, oh the irony!—that these opponents of Jesus would so spontaneously state Biblical Truth so clearly and unhesitatingly—yet fail to embrace it!
This is to say that I’m recognizing anew that the fundamental Biblical Gospel is contained in this story. To begin with, let’s understand that we have all come short of properly managing our assigned vineyards so as to produce the fruit intended by the Maker/Owner. And to offer definition of this intended FRUIT, we are given a checklist of what that FRUIT looks like in Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions: joy that overflows, peace that subdues, patience that endures, kindness in action, a life full of virtue, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart, and strength of spirit. Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless” (The Passion Translation).
Jesus goes on from there to tell another meaningful story of a King throwing a big wedding party for his son and his bride. It seems that all the invited guests bow out and give all manner of excuses as to why they will not be in attendance. Finally, the King orders the invitation to extend way beyond those originally invited—to everyone everywhere—until the party hall is full. But then the account presents an unexpected spin: “But then he noticed a guest who was not wearing the wedding robe provided for him” (22:11, TPT). The guy is grabbed and thrown out of the party hall.
To be sure, the Kingdom of God is an INVITATION—and it’s an amazing OPPORTUNITY. But it is definitely not one with “open borders.” It has boundaries, terms, and conditions that must all be recognized and respected. While everyone is invited, only those who accept the terms and follow the rules get in. “For everyone is invited to enter in, but few respond in excellence” (v. 22, TPT).
All things considered, I cannot imagine anything more excellent than to choose to love God passionately—and sincerely love those whom He loves.
PS: I’m choosing to include here a footnote connected to verse 11 in the Passion Translation: “Those invited to come from the streets had no opportunity to buy wedding clothes. This wedding robe is a picture of the garment of righteousness that grace provides for us. The man without the wedding garment had one provided, but he didn’t want to change into new clothes. A change is necessary, for our King provides garments of white linen for us to wear, our wedding garments. See Isa. 52:1; Rev. 19:8.”