Month: February 2026

Matthew 21:33 – “Now listen to another story. A certain landowner planted a vineyard, built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country. ³⁴ At the time of the grape harvest, he sent his servants to collect his share of the crop. ³⁵ But the farmers grabbed his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. ³⁶ So the landowner sent a larger group of his servants to collect for him, but the results were the same.   ³⁷ “Finally, the owner sent his son, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’   ³⁸ “But when the tenant farmers saw his son coming, they said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Come on, let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’ ³⁹ So they grabbed him, dragged him out of the vineyard, and murdered him.  ⁴⁰ “When the owner of the vineyard returns,” Jesus asked, “what do you think he will do to those farmers?”

⁴¹ The religious leaders replied, “He will put the wicked men to a horrible death and lease the vineyard to others who will give him his share of the crop after each harvest.”  ⁴² Then Jesus asked them, “Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.  This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.’ 

⁴³ I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit. ⁴⁴ Anyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.”   ⁴⁵ When the leading priests and Pharisees heard this parable, they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers. ⁴⁶ They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowds, who considered Jesus to be a prophet. (NLT)

As a preacher, I often hear a tongue in cheek remark that I suppose most preachers have heard: “Preacher, I’m sure glad you preached to all those sinners out there!”  While I believe this comment is in jest, sometimes this is the attitude that many good religious folk take. In today’s reading, Jesus tells another parable that clearly speaks against the religious folk of his day. What we must realize is that all of Jesus’ parables directed at the religious folk of his day should be cautionary reading for each of us.

Most Christians would say that they have never rejected Jesus. I would say the same thing, but we must be careful in how we live. Do our daily lives reflect our faith? Do our actions and words while stuck in traffic reflect Christ? When a clerk or waiter seems rude to us, do we reflect the love of Christ in return? Do we forgive? Are we quick to judge? Do we easily get angry? No one is perfect, to be sure, but we should not wear our imperfections as a badge and just ignore our behavior.  In 2 Peter 3, we are told: “make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight” (2 Peter 3:14).

We are saved through our faith in Jesus, but let us not use that as an excuse not to make every effort to live and act as much as we can as Christ. Today, let us make every effort to produce proper fruit (verse 43), and reflect the stone that the builders rejected (verse 42). 

Posted by Ramón Torres

Matthew 21:23 – When Jesus returned to the Temple and began teaching, the leading priests and elders came up to him. They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?”   ²⁴ “I’ll tell you by what authority I do these things if you answer one question,” Jesus replied. ²⁵ “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?”

They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask us why we didn’t believe John. ²⁶ But if we say it was merely human, we’ll be mobbed because the people believe John was a prophet.” ²⁷ So they finally replied, “We don’t know.”  And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.

²⁸ “But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ ²⁹ The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. ³⁰ Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go.   ³¹ “Which of the two obeyed his father?”  They replied, “The first.”  Then Jesus explained his meaning: “I tell you the truth, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do. ³² For John the Baptist came and showed you the right way to live, but you didn’t believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even when you saw this happening, you refused to believe him and repent of your sins. (NLT)

In this passage the religious leaders have once again confronted Jesus, challenging him and his ministry.  Jesus cleverly answers with a question, which the religious leaders fail (or refuse) to answer.  By now, Jesus was growing tired of the religious leaders and their legalistic ways, so he tells the parable of the two sons.

The parable is clearly pointed at the legalistic religious leaders.  By asking, ‘Which of the two obeyed his father?’, Jesus makes it clear that what truly matters is not saying the right words (as did the religious leaders), but living out the will of God.

This parable is certainly a challenge to all religious people. Do we go to worship on Sunday and sing songs and pray prayers, then live for ourselves the rest of the week?  If so, we are like the brother who told his father that he would work in the vineyard, but did not.  It’s not that singing the songs and praying the prayers are wrong, but our words must be followed up with action. This is what James wrote about in James 2:14 – “What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?”; 20 “Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?”

Today, let us be people who work in the vineyard – living out the will of God! 

Posted by Ramón Torres

Matthew 20:29 – As Jesus and the disciples left the town of Jericho, a large crowd followed behind. ³⁰ Two blind men were sitting beside the road. When they heard that Jesus was coming that way, they began shouting, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”   ³¹ “Be quiet!” the crowd yelled at them.  But they only shouted louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

³² When Jesus heard them, he stopped and called, “What do you want me to do for you?”  ³³ “Lord,” they said, “we want to see!” ³⁴ Jesus felt sorry for them and touched their eyes. Instantly they could see! Then they followed him. (NLT)

When I was a younger Christian this passage always puzzled me. Here were two blind men, begging for mercy from Jesus.  Jesus asks what I once thought was a strange question:  “What do you want me to do for you?”  Wasn’t it obvious?  Could Jesus not see what they were in need of? 

The answer to both of these questions was – of course!  It was obvious, and Jesus knew what they needed.  Likewise, Jesus knows what we need. To understand why Jesus would ask a question with what appears to be an obvious answer, let us consider the following passage from the Book of James: “What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? ² You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. ³ And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.” (James 4:1-3). 

Perhaps, we don’t scheme and kill to get what we want, or do we?  I’ve witnessed plenty of relationships destroyed over earthly desires.  I’ve seen families broken and torn apart all in the ‘pursuit of happiness’.  When we read about blind men asking for mercy, we know what they need.  When we ask for mercy, is it as clear?  What do we really need, and what is it we really want Jesus to do for us?

From these verses let us learn two things.  First, we need to evaluate the difference between our desires and our needs. Second, let us be quick to go to God for our needs. The Lord’s Prayer still stands out as a great model for prayer even after two thousand years. Those who know me well know that I am not a prosperity Gospel preacher. I do not believe that God wants us to have bigger houses or bigger cars.  If we get those, praise God, but God is in the daily bread business.

Today is a great time for us to lay aside our myriad of earthly desires so that we can tell God what it is that we need. 

Posted by Ramón Torres

Matthew 20:20 – Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus with her sons. She knelt respectfully to ask a favor. ²¹ “What is your request?” he asked. She replied, “In your Kingdom, please let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.”  ²² But Jesus answered by saying to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?”  “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!”   ²³ Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. My Father has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”

²⁴ When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. ²⁵ But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. ²⁶ But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. ²⁸ For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (NLT)

On the face of this reading, it sounds as if the mother of James and John is a little out of place.  Perhaps, but consider what Jesus had told his followers in Matthew 19:28-29 – “I assure you that when the world is made new and the Son of Man sits upon his glorious throne, you who have been my followers will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”  As in the end of this passage, Jesus followed his statement in chapter nineteen with this verse:  “But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.” 

Throughout his earthly ministry, Jesus often spoke of kingdom life. Many Christians keep looking to the future for this kingdom. While the fullness of God’s kingdom has not yet come for us here, we can experience something of this kingdom right here and now, and in this passage Jesus shares with us how. We can experience kingdom life now by living a life of servanthood. Jesus shares with us here, and throughout the Gospels, that kingdom life is radically different from the life that this world offers. Joy in kingdom life is found by serving others.

We experience joy when we serve.  Each of us probably knows this joy through mission work, whether abroad or locally. Serving others benefits both those being served and the one serving. The world has a strong pull on us, however. For various reasons, we often find it difficult to give of our time. When we endeavor to live life in the kingdom, we begin to recognize that time is not ours to begin with, it is God’s.

Today, give back some of the time that God has given you. Serve someone. No service is too small in the kingdom! 

Posted by Ramón Torres