Introduction: James 3:10-11 tells us that a spring cannot
produce both fresh and salt water. From that James argues
that the same mouth cannot produce both blessings and
curses. Is James right? Not in my experience. How about your
experience? How many good people do you know who have some
bad traits? How many bad people do you know who do only
evil? Most people are mixed. James understands the mixture
problem and argues that what is true of water should also be
true of Christians. James calls for a high standard. A Godly
standard. The practical difficulty is that most people view
others in a “mixed” way and they also apply this “mixed”
view to their understanding of God. This week we look at
that issue and answer God’s question, “What more could I
have done?” Done to convince humans that God’s character is
only pure. Let’s dive into our study of the Bible!
I. The Vinter
A. Read Isaiah 5:1. What kind of song is this? (A
love song.)
1. What is being loved here? The owner of the
vineyard or the vineyard? (It appears to be
both. The vinter is loved, but the love song
is about the vineyard.)
B. Read Isaiah 5:2. Has the work on the vineyard been
done with care? (We are told about a lot of hard
work. We are told “choice vines” were planted. It
seems the work was done with care.)
1. What might create a debate over the quality of
the creation of the vineyard? (It yielded wild
grapes.)
C. Read Isaiah 5:3. Why are the citizens of Jerusalem
and Judah called to judge? (The question, as
alluded to above, is “Who is responsible for the
wild grapes? Why did this farming enterprise
fail?)
D. Read Isaiah 5:4. What is the vinter’s argument
that he is not at fault? (He wants to know what
more could he have done? Why were there wild
grapes?)
1. How would you answer this? (I would answer
that I’m not a subject matter expert, and I
don’t have enough information to decide who is
at fault.)
2. What is the vinter’s view of who is at fault?
(He says that he knows of nothing more that he
could have done. It is not his fault. The odd
thing is that he invites others to decide who
is at fault.)
a. Or is he asking them to agree that he is
not at fault?
E. Read Isaiah 5:5-6. Is the vinter’s reaction
reasonable? (Two things. It is his vineyard, he
can do with it whatever he wants. Second, if you
had no hedge, no wall, no pruning, and no weeding,
what kind of grapes would you expect? (Wild
grapes. The vinter says the grapes are now
receiving the kind of care that produces wild
grapes.)
F. Let’s go back to Isaiah 5:1. How is this a love
song? Who is being loved? (The vinter is the
“beloved” who is the subject of the song. The
singer tells the vinter, “I love you even though
this farming adventure did not turn out as
expected.)
G. Read Isaiah 5:7. What is this song really about?
(God and His people. God’s nation is the vineyard
and the people are the choice vines planted in
very fertile ground.)
1. What makes these grapes wild? (Instead of
justice, they commit bloodshed. Instead of
righteousness, they are screaming at God.)
2. Who is at fault? (The people, not God.)
3. Is God punishing the people? (No. He is only
taking away the special advantages (other than
rain) that He gave them.)
II. The Leased Vineyard
A. Read Matthew 21:33. Jesus is telling this parable.
Does it sound like He is elaborating on Isaiah 5?
(The actions of the vinter owner seem to be almost
exactly the same. What is different is the owner
leaves the vineyard in the hands of those who
rented it.)
B. Read Matthew 21:34-35. What major deviation do we
find from the story of Isaiah 5? (The grapes seems
to be just fine. They are worth collecting.)
1. What is the problem? (The tenants want to keep
the grapes for themselves, and they are
willing to kill to do it.)
C. Read Matthew 21:36. Was the killing of the first
group of servants an error? The tenants saw their
mistake and reformed? (No. This reflects the
tenants’ consistent character.)
D. Read Matthew 21:37-39. Who is the “son” in this
parable? (It is Jesus.)
1. What motivates the tenants to kill the son?
(They want “his inheritance.”)
a. What do you think this means?
E. Let’s skip down and read Matthew 21:45. Are the
Jewish leaders right? (Yes. And this answers the
question about the inheritance. They wanted the
adoration, the praise, and worship of the people.
That which belonged only to God was what they
wanted. That was also Satan’s goal.)
III. Putting the Vineyards Together
A. What was defective in the Isaiah 5 story? (The
grapes.)
B. What was defective in the Matthew 21 story? (Those
who were to tend the grapes in the place of the
absent owner.)
C. Putting the two vineyard stories together teaches
what lesson? (Both the people of God and their
spiritual leaders are defective.)
D. Go back to the introduction. What do these two
vineyard stories say about the nature of God? (He
set up all the conditions for perfect grapes. The
nature of the grapes and the failings of the
spiritual leaders were not God’s fault.)
1. What more could the vineyard owner have done?
2. What should we conclude about our fellow
church members and our church leaders? (We all
fail, but none of this is God’s fault.)
IV. The Love Song
A. Read Romans 3:21-24. The conclusion of the two
vineyard stories is very discouraging. We are a
bunch of rotten grapes, and our leaders are no
better. What hope do we have? (The Son killed by
the tenants has redeemed all of us who believe in
Him.)
B. Read Romans 3:25-26. What does this do for the
reputation of Jesus? (It shows the righteousness
of God. It shows that He is just and the justifier
of all of us who put our faith in Him.)
C. Read Romans 3:27-31. What did the evil tenants
want that belonged to the son? (His inheritance.
We must never claim to be the righteous ones. We
must never claim that our views are above God’s
views. We must not boast of
our works of righteousness. There is only One who
is righteous.)
D. What more could God have done?
E. Friend, have you been confused about the nature of
God? Have you been confused about the nature of
humans? We are “wild grapes.” Our spiritual
leaders are imperfect. Only God is perfect and He
showed His love to us by coming to earth, living a
perfect life, dying a tortured death, and
returning to heaven as the One who defeated sin
and death. Will you, in faith, rely on Him and not
yourself? Why not repent of your misunderstanding
of our nature and God’s nature, and turn to Him
right now?
V. Next week: Love and Justice: The Two Greatest
Commandments.
Copr. 2025, Bruce N. Cameron, J.D. Scripture quotations are
from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard
Version ), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing
ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All
rights reserved. Suggested answers are found within
parentheses. If you normally receive this lesson by e-mail,
but it is lost one week, you can find it by clicking on this
link: http://www.GoBible.org. Pray for the guidance of the
Holy Spirit as you study.
