the house-holder and the husbandmen.
a parable jesus related to the chief priests and elders of the jews while he was yet with them in the flesh: "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 they 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? they say unto him. he will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons."
god the great householder, jesus the son.
just so is it with the kingdom of god; for just as the wicked husbandmen did with the servants and with the son of householder, so did the stiff-necked children of israel with the prophets, and with the son of god. {302} therefore was the kingdom taken from them, as we have already learned, and given to the gentiles. and therefore will the great householder miserably destroy the wicked who persecute his servants, kill his prophets, and reject his only begotten son. but the righteous will he bless, and all those who serve him; and even though we should fall into error, yet need we not despair. for if we repent, god will forgive our sins, so only we do not as did the wicked husbandmen of the vineyard. "my little children," wrote the beloved john in a letter to the saints, "these things write i unto you, that ye sin not. and if any man sin, we have an advocate with the father, jesus christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."
the exaltation of jesus.
it is, indeed, a joyful thought that, even though jesus was slain by the husbandmen. he was not and mark assures us that when he ascended into heaven, jesus assumed the place of honor at the right hand of the father. "so then after the lord had spoken unto them. he was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of god." there stephen was privileged to see him in vision some time later. stephen is described as a man full of faith and power, who did great wonders and miracles among the people. stephen preached fearlessly to the jews the fact that christ had risen. the jews became enraged, and stoned him; but before his death, stephen, "being full of the holy ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of god, {303} and jesus standing on the right hand of god, and said, behold, i see the heavens opened, and the son of man standing on the right hand of god." to jesus had come the deserved glory for which he had wrought. in his exaltation was fulfilled literally the sayings he had taught to his disciples, "whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." "whosoever would be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: even as the son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."
our advocate with the father.
now, it is perfectly plain that the great mission of jesus was not entirely finished during his sojourn upon the earth. that for which he came was accomplished, it is true. but just as we needed a savior—one who would unselfishly lay down his own sinless life for the sins of others—so we need even now, when that sacrifice has been made, a mediator, an advocate, to intercede for us with the father. for we are all sinful at the best; weaknesses of various kinds beset us, and if we were to be rewarded strictly according to our merits, many of us would get but little in the way of blessing. jesus continues then to be our redeemer, pleading our cause before the father. "wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto god by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." so did paul, the apostle to the gentiles, express to the hebrews his faith in the mediating power of jesus; and to the romans he wrote, "who is he that condemneth? it is christ that died, yea rather, that is {304} risen again, who is even at the right hand of god, who also maketh intercession for us." jesus continues, then, his great redeeming labor, bringing salvation and exaltation to those who accept him and diligently seek him.
many mansions in the father's house.
and he prepares a place also for his own, that they may be appropriately received when they shall go to their eternal reward. one day when jesus was talking to the apostles about his coming sacrifice, and the apostles were sorrowful because they thought that he intended to go away, he said to them, "let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in god, believe also in me. in my father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, i would have told you; i go to prepare a place for you. and if i go and prepare a place for you, i will come again, and receive you unto myself: that where i am, there ye may be also." even as he promised his disciples that he would prepare a place for them, so is there a place prepared for each one of us. for in many respects the future life will be ordered like the present. in this life we are generally able to achieve such advancement as we work for. if we honestly and conscientiously make the most of the opportunities that lie about us; if we strive to make the most of what we have, never hiding the god-given talent in the earth—we are bound to progress and to succeed. but there are in the world many degrees of diligence, and therefore many degrees of success. so will it be in the kingdom of god. there, there are many mansions; and such a one will be prepared for us as will satisfy fully the degree of diligence with {305} which we have served. the risen christ is not only our advocate with the father, but also our judge.
lord of lords and kings of kings.
to this judge all power is given. so declared jesus himself when he appeared after his resurrection to the apostles and the five hundred brethren who had assembled on a mountain in galilee. "jesus came and spake unto them, saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." moreover, jesus, to whom all power is given, is the sole mediator between man and god. said paul to timothy, his own son in faith, "there is one god, and one mediator between god and man, the man jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all." and in this exalted position as lord of lords, and king of kings, jesus shall reign forever. "the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our lord, and of his christ; and he shall reign forever and ever."
jesus to come again.
you see, then, what a wonderful hope is prepared for those who serve jesus. this earth is to come to an end. it is to be purified and sanctified; then there will appear a new earth as an abode for the blessed. but before that time shall come jesus, himself, is to come again to minister to his people upon the earth. when the apostles stood gazing up into heaven, whither jesus had ascended, there appeared before them suddenly two men in white apparel. these men said, "ye men of galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." this truth jesus himself declared in {306} the trial before the high priest. when the perjured witnesses testified against him, jesus made no reply. then, "the high priest asked him, and said unto him, art thou the christ, the son of the blessed? and jesus said, i am: and ye shall see the son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." when this wonderful occurrence shall take place, no one knows; it has never been revealed, but is known to the father alone. but it appears that it is to take place at a time when the earth is troubled, and the end is not far off. "immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." if we are to be worthy of the ministry of jesus when he shall come again, we must learn to know him, and to live according to his teachings; for he has declared that he will be ashamed at his coming of those who are ashamed of him. "whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his father with the holy angels."
the nearness of jesus.
even in his coming he will be our advocate and our judge. how close then jesus stands to us. he came into the world to enlighten the world, that they might learn to know god and jesus christ {307} whom god sent; he laid down his life as a voluntary sacrifice to redeem the world from the original sin; now he sits at the right hand of god the father and intercedes for those who believe in him; and ere long he shall come again in clouds of glory, again to minister to men, that they may have the better chance to gain eternal life. the love and anxious sympathy of jesus know no bounds.
"listen to him who is the advocate with the father, who is pleading your cause before him, saying, father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of the son which was shed—the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified; wherefore, father, spare these my brethren that believe in my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life."
the references
matt. 21:33-41. 1 tim. 2:5, 6.
1 john 2:1.2. rev. 11:15.
mark 16:19. john 14:1-3.
acts 7:56. acts 1:11.
heb. 7:25. mark 14:62.
rev. 8:34. matt. 24:29,30.
mark 28:18. mark 8:38.
doc. and cov. 45:3-5.
{308} the questions
1. interpret the parable of the householder and the wicked husbandmen.
2. what is the position of jesus in heaven?
3. in what sense is jesus our advocate with the father?
4. what did jesus mean by many mansions in his father's house?
5. what power is given to jesus?
6. how do we know that jesus is to come again?
7. what is to happen when jesus comes again?
8. in what way may we sense the nearness of jesus?