The Gospel of Matthew 21:33-46 Jesus said, “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.” Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes’? Therefore, I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.
Let us Pray: Holy One, listen to our prayers and make us faithful stewards. of the fragile bounty of this earth so that we may be entrusted with the riches of heaven. Amen.
On the surface, the parable of the tenants is clearly presented by Matthew, as a metaphor. The landowner represents God. The vineyard represents the Kingdom of God. The tenants are religious leaders. The slaves are the prophets. The son is Jesus. The new tenants are the new church. Of course, it’s not much a stretch to see that the son is really Jesus, sent by our heavenly Father to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom, and to call everyone to repentance. This parable teaches us who God is in part by teaching us who the Son of God is. This landowner reminds us that God is the ultimate landowner, and we are merely his tenants. That’s why we as Christians need to understand we are to be stewards of God’s creation, rather than owners. Applying this parable to today is to point out our responsibility, our responsibility not only to God but to our environment. We are the tenants of the Kingdom of God. We have been provided with everything we need. So, as tenants, God entrusts us with what he values. We must note that the landowner placed a phenomenal amount of trust in the tenants, just as God does in us. Even though God is patient with our failures. God is equally repulsed by our inactivity as with our injustice.
The landowner set up the vineyard before he handed it over to the tenants. When he entrusted it to them, he was looking for someone to manage his vineyard. The vineyard and everything in it was His. But the tenants did not give Him what was rightfully His. This situation is reminiscent of the reason Jesus cleansed the temple. The leaders allowed buying and selling on the temple grounds, likely for personal profit. People were coming to worship God and pray, to give Him thanks. This was the type of return He was looking for. But the priests instead were selling stuff and making money, stealing from the Lord. They were personally seeking benefit from people coming who wanted to serve God.
God had Christ establish the Church as his vineyard and put it into our hands. Christ pays us the compliment of entrusting us with his work, and with what he values. He not only gives us a job to do, but mysteriously puts the eternal salvation of other souls in our hands.
So, what happens when the son appears at the vineyard? They kill the landowner’s son. Now, don’t you just wonder, what in the world were they thinking? Or, as Jesus puts it, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants? Of course, he’s going to put those wretches to a miserable death and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time. What else would he do?
As Jesus was telling his listeners this parable, he knew that this scenario would be played out in his own life. He realized that the Pharisees were plotting against him and most likely, they were planning on killing him. This parable was a foreshadowing of what was to come. Were the Pharisees taken aback by Jesus’ questions? Were they surprised that Jesus confronted them as he did? His parables were not just mental exercises. Instead, He wanted His audience to think about and apply them. Without obedience and life change they would not change to follow in His footsteps. The Pharisees understood that Jesus was talking about them. Unfortunately, instead of repenting, they doubled down on their position and sought to kill Him. Their hearts were set on wickedness. The warning from Jesus about their mortal danger of incurring God’s wrath in the end did not shock them awake, but actually served to make them angrier and take further steps to bring it about. It confirms that their hearts were hard.
God valued the Kingdom greatly enough to risk the life of his son. A sad irony of this parable is that it is told by Jesus just five days before he is killed. This parable pulls us forward toward that unknown future in which we will be both blessed and judged, and about which we know only that it is anchored in Jesus Christ.
Let us Pray: Holy God, give us a willing spirit, that we may serve You with all that we have and all that we are. Help us to be faithful and fruitful in the godly use of Your resources and gifts, that we may use them in accord with Your will and for Your glory. In Jesus Name. Amen
Reflections by Bob 