Weekly Update - July 21, 2023
This isn’t Pastor Nancy, this is Matt Smith. Nancy asked me to write this after I approached her after the service last Sunday. Nancy and I have had the opportunity to have some fun conversations about things like theology, Biblical themes, how we ought to read the Bible, etc. Something that I’ve said a few times in our conversations is that “Everything in the Bible points back to the first few chapters of Genesis. One way or another, it always leads you back there.” After her sermon last Sunday, I just had to pull her aside after church. The vineyard parable of Matthew 21 is just dripping with symbolism and parallels to early Genesis. Before we move on, I’d encourage you to read through Matthew 21:33-44 with this context in mind. Now let’s connect this parable to Genesis:
Jesus tells us of a landowner who planted a vineyard (Genesis 2:8-9). The landowner brought people to work the land that was his (Genesis 2:15-17, 1:26-30). There was even a watchtower so the workers could watch over the vineyard (Genesis 2:15). But when harvest came, the people chose not to honor the one who rightfully has authority over the vineyard, the fruit, and the workers, instead choosing to do what is good in their own eyes. They saw the fruit that was not theirs to take, and took it for themselves (Genesis 3:6). The vineyard workers even wanted to “take his inheritance” (Genesis 3:4-5). The parallels to Eden are abundant, aren’t they?
People often talk about how the Bible is hard to understand. Well, that’s okay. You’re not supposed to understand the meaning of meditation literature the first time you read it. It’s by design. But when one devotes their life to reading and pondering these texts, you begin to get a really robust picture of what the Bible teaches, and how it teaches it. We could dig much deeper into this topic, but Nancy said I wasn’t allowed to write a 13 page essay for the weekly update (boo!). So if you are to have one take-away, let it be this:
The Bible almost never tells you what it means. Instead, it shows you.
