Honor Bound

And the lord of the vineyard said, “What shall I do?  I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.” Luke 20:13 (Darby)

Respect – A proper translation requires understanding a word within the cultural setting.  It isn’t sufficient to simply choose a word that represents the same meaning unless the meaning includes the cultural implications.  This parable is an example of a subtle shift where the translation changes the cultural implication.  Ken Bailey notes that Middle Eastern cultures place enormous emphasis on shame.  Public disgrace carries terrible consequences.  Avoiding shame is a powerful motivator.  But respect isn’t quite the same.  The translation of the Greek entrepomai as “respect” does not convey the power of the lord’s decision.  He is not counting on acknowledgment of the son’s status.  He is counting on the shame associated with the behavior of the renters.  If we don’t understand that the real motivation here is to avoid bringing shame upon themselves, we cannot understand why the lord would send his son into an obviously hostile environment.  These men clearly do not respect the lord or anyone else.  But they might wish to avoid the public disgrace further violence will bring upon them.

As it turns out, they care nothing about their public disgrace either.  They kill the son.  Bailey’s commentary on this parable[1] is well worth reading.  The vulnerability of the lord is demonstrated as a strategic decision based on transformed anger.  Bailey shows how crucial Middle Eastern context is in this parable.

Of course, parables are not simply illustrative stories.  Parables make a point.  That point usually has far-reaching application.  In this case, the parable applies to us today just as it applied to the audience that first heard it.  The question it raises is about our shame, not our respect for God’s only Son.  Here is the application:

God owns His creation.  We are the current renters, under an agreement He offers.  We will never be the owners.  What we produce belongs to Him as the owner.  Over centuries, He sent His representatives to collect what was due Him.  We rejected them, often violently, because we desire to own rather than simply occupy.  God had every justification for destroying us as unworthy renters.  Punishment was called for and deserved.  But God turned His justifiable anger into vulnerability and decided to send His Son in the hope that the deepest core of personal ethics would be touched by this act of mercy.  God wanted His renters to feel the shame of their past behavior and turn from their wickedness.  In other words, sending His Son was an act of anticipated forgiveness.  When the renters kill the son (thinking that this will insure their place as owners), they demonstrate that they no longer have even the basic emotions needed to be human.  They don’t even care about their own integrity. This is not only rejection of forgiveness.  It is confirmation of a loss of humanity.  Destruction quickly follows.

The parable raises a crucial question for every listener:  Do you feel shame?  Do you and I feel ashamed at our past response to God’s gracious acts toward us?  Do we weep over our callous rejection of His extended grace when we deserved punishment?  Are we pressed down by the weight of our disgraceful behavior when we violently reacted to His calling?  Do we know shame?

These days the message of the good news seems to give exclusive priority to the joy following forgiveness, but a parable like this one teaches us that the path to forgiveness begins with a recognition of personal shame.  No man who has not been disgraced in his own eyes can understand the vulnerable love of the Lord.

Topical Index:  shame, respect, Luke 20:13, entrepomai