Was Jesus reflecting back to Naboth?

https://idcraleigh.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/1-Kings-21.1-29.pdf Payday Someday 1 Kings 21:1-29 The heading in your Bible for this chapter might say something like “Naboth’s Vineyard.” At first glance, the title may not interest you unless you like gardening, enjoy grapes, or your name is Naboth. You might assume this story has little relevance for modern readers. However, that assumption would be incorrect. This chapter makes my blood boil because of the tragedy contained here, and because of how relevant it is. This is not a story about grapes; it is a story about the (in)justice of man and the justice of God. We read about what it is like to suffer injustice, what it costs to do justice for the sake of the oppressed, how much we long for God’s justice, and how we can be made right with God the judge. Chris Wright tells the story about a young man from India who read the Bible for the first time. For whatever reason, the first passage he read was the story of Naboth’s vineyard. Wright met this young man at a conference, where Wright was teaching on the Old Testament. The young man told Wright that he became a Christian by reading the Old Testament, and he was particularly thrilled that they would be studying the Old Testament in the sessions. Wright tells how this young reader was drawn to the God in the story of Naboth’s vineyard: He grew up in one of the many backward and oppressed groups in India, part of a community that is systematically exploited and treated with contempt, injustice and sometimes violence. The effect on his youth was to fill him with a burning desire to rise above that station in order to be able to turn the tables on those who oppressed him and his community…. He was contacted in his early days at college by some Christian students and given a Bible, which he decided to read out of casual interest, though he had no respect at first for Christians at all. It happened that the first thing he read in the Bible was the story of Naboth, Ahab and Jezebel in 1 Kings 21. He was astonished to find that it was all about greed for land, abuse of power, corruption of the courts, and violence against the poor—things that he himself was all too familiar with. But even more amazing was the fact that God took Naboth’s side and not only accused Ahab and Jezebel of their wrongdoing but also took vengeance upon them. Here was a God of real justice. A God who identified the real villains and who took real action against them. ‘I never knew such a God existed!’ he exclaimed. He read on through the rest of OT history and found his first impression confirmed…. He then went on, he told me, to read the books of the law, and his amazement grew. ‘God!’ he cried out, even though he didn’t know who he was talking to, ‘You’re so perfect! You think of everything!’ …. He found himself praising this God he didn’t know. ‘God, you’re so just, you’re so perfect, you’re so holy!’ he would exclaim, believing this was the kind of God that answered the need of his own angry struggle. Then he came upon Isaiah 43:1, and came to an abrupt halt. ‘But now, says the Lord.…’ It’s a beautiful word in Telugu, apparently. It means, ‘yet, in spite of all that’. The end of Isaiah 42 describes Israel’s sin and God’s just punishment. But suddenly, unexpectedly, God is talking about forgiveness and pardon and love. ‘I couldn’t take that,’ he said. ‘I was attracted to the God of justice and holiness. I ran away from a God of love.’ But he couldn’t. For as he read on he found such a God more and more—still in the OT! It was about then that the Christian friends came and explained more about the fullness of God’s justice and love on the cross, and he came at last to understand and surrender to the God he had found in the OT and his life was transformed through faith in Christ. ….‘I never knew such a God existed.’ But he does—not just in the past of ancient Israel, but in today’s world. Are we afraid to discover him? (Chris Wright, Themelios, Jan. 1992) I love that response: “I never knew such a God existed.” Let us (re)discover this awesome God in this Old Testament story. There are four characters in this story: Naboth, Ahab, Jezebel, and Elijah. We read of Ahab’s coveting and sulking, and of Jezebel’s manipulation and destruction. I take my sermon title from a famous sermon by R.G. Lee, who preached a sermon from this passage entitled “Payday Someday.” He introduced to Ahab as “the vile human toad who squatted upon the throne of his nation—the worst of Israel's kings” and he called Jezebel a snake “coiled upon the throne of the nation.” We meet Naboth, the faithful Israelite who models obedience to us. Remember when God told Elijah that he had “seven thousand in Israel” who did not bowed Baal? (1 Kings 19:18). Here is one of them - living just outside the palace of this evil king! He has a little vineyard that he cherishes, which had been in his family for years. We finally have a rejuvenated Elijah appearing before Ahab, reminding him that you can hide nothing from God’s sight, and your sin will surely find you out (Num 32:23). Let us consider three exhortations drawn from this story. #1: Be prepared to suffer for the sake of righteousness (21:1-16) This story makes me think of the Sermon on the Mount. As Jesus finished the eight beatitudes, which describes the life of a servant of the kingdom, he said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of God” (Matt 5:10). Then he adds a further line to this beatitude (unlike the other seven beatitudes) saying, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (5:11-12). Jesus tells us being persecuted for righteousness sake, that is, for displaying Christ-likeness, is an inevitable part of kingdom life. The persecuted are also “blessed” and should “rejoice.” And finally, their future reward will more than compensate for present sufferings. As we read these sixteen verses, we have an example of being persecuted for righteousness sake in Naboth. And we see the nature and destiny of those who inflict such injustice on them in Ahab and Jezebel. This story also reminds us of a parable of Jesus about a vineyard. It served as an allegory of the whole history of Israel (Matt 21:33-46), a nation who persecuted their prophets (the servants tending the vineyard), and rejected and killed Jesus. However, such persecution did not go unnoticed by the Owner of the vineyard, who would inflict miserable punishment on the unrighteous ones. Such is the story of Naboth. The unrighteous kill the righteous, but the true Owner of the vineyard is not unaware and he will judge. .... For a possible further identification of Naboth, see my article: "Naboth the Master of Ahab's Palace?" https://www.academia.edu/34801030/Naboth_the_Master_of_Ahabs_Palace