In this gospel reading Jesus tells a parable of the vineyard, an image of Israel, the prophets mission and Christ's death. For Christians, given to us for the forgiveness of sins. Grafted onto Christ the vine at baptism, we are nourished with bread and wine, that we may share Christ's suffering and know the power of His resurrection. Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce fruit.
In Isaiah 5:1-7; the people of Israel are pictured as a vineyard that fails to produce fruit despite the strenuous efforts of the vineyard keeper. Using Isaiah parable as a point of departure. Jesus describes a vineyard that does not produce grapes, but the tenants refuse to give the owner a share of the crop.
Whereas Isaiah aimed his preaching at the Jews in general. Jesus speaks to the leaders of the people. He wants them to know that he knows they are plotting to put him to death. He warns them that they will be punished for their crime. The land owner is God the Father. When it says he "put a wall around his vineyard," we are reminded of how the children of Israel lived in the land of Goshen,
separate from the Egyptians. When they took possession of the promised land., the Lord ordered them to exterminate all of the Canaanites so there would be no temptation to mingle with them. Although those orders were never completely carried out, the ceremonial law kept Israel separate from their neighbors by restricting their diet and regulating their worship. God wanted to set them apart from all other people so it would be obvious to all he had kept his promises to Abraham: " that in blessing, I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gates of his enemies. And in thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed; because thou has obeyed my voice (Gen 22: 7-18).
In addition to putting a wall around His vineyard, the landowner also built a watchtower in it. The rabbis specified that it should be raised, a raised platform, 15 ft. high and 6 feet square. It would be necessary to post guards, especially when the grapes ripened. The image of the watchmen is reminiscent of the call of Ezekiel, " son of man I watchmen for the house of Israel ( Ezekiel 3:17).
The tenants are the leaders of the Jews, and the servants who were to collect the land owner's share of the crop are the O.T. prophets. Jesus says, "they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third." similarly Stephen later accused the leader of the Jews, " you stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears. You are just like your Fathers: you always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the righteous one. And now you betrayed and murdered him ( Acts 7: 51-52).
The landowners Son is obviously Jesus. In Luke's version of this parable, the owner of the vineyard calls him, " My son" whom I Love ( Luke 20:13), an echo of the Father's voice at Jesus baptism
in Matthew ( 3:17), and on the mount of the transfiguration ( Matt. 17:5).
Jesus says they threw the son out of the vineyard before they killed him.
We remember how the crucifixion took place outside the walls of Jerusalem ( Hebrews 13: 11, 12). For the bodies of those " beasts," whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priests for sin are burned without the camp, (Lev. 6:30). since Jesus was telling parable on Tuesday of " Holy Week," He was describing what was going to happen only three days later.
There is something unreal about the story Jesus tells in this parable. How likely is it that a man whose servants have been mistreated and killed by his tenants will then send his beloved son to try to collect his share of the harvest? But the unreal stories illustrates the incredible patience of God. It is truly mind boggling that God would send his son into the world after he had seen how his people treated the prophets.
To our ears it also sounds unreal that the tenants who murdered his son should expect to take possession of his inheritance -especially since his Father, the vineyard owner, is still alive. But, selfish ambition and greed all too often and all too easily cause us to forget God's presence.
When the vineyard is rented out to other tenants, Jesus is anticipating the entrance of the Gentiles into the Church. When the Jewish synagogues rejected the preaching of the apostle Paul, he turned to the Gentiles, and within one generation, the gentiles outnumbered the Jews in the Christian Church.
This turn of events had been prophesied already a thousand years before, " the stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this. and it is marvelous in our eyes" (118: 22, 23). In the process of constructing a building, the stonemason would select one stone reject another.
Not only did the Lord determine to make use of the stone the builders had rejected, he made it a capstone, the keystone of the arch, the most important stone in the whole building. Jesus warns the chief priests and the Pharisees, " He who falls on the stone will be broken to pieces, but on whom it falls will be crushed." As they plot and scheme to put Jesus to death., he warns them that they will only destroy themselves. They knew he was talking about them. The principal of man's love, according to Jesus, is based on God's prior love for man. But He takes both of these principals from Hebrew religion. at the beginning of their history, Hebrew writers hold ,God himself who took the initiative in forming a covenant with man as an individual, as a person, not as a nation, not even as people. In regard to this latter point, however, Jesus goes beyond the teachings of the Hebrew religion.. According to Jesus God's love is for man as an individual, as a person, Not as a nation, not even as a people. This view also has its roots in the Old Testament: the prophets, in their maturity. God loves man, but he is also man's judge; His love is not sentimental love. God's forgiveness is only possible, when man has given up his rebellion and defiance, and man's submission has been submitted his will to the will of God. Jesus looks at the principal of justice in terms of eschatology (end times). He often refers to a last Judgment at the end of time. The Hebrew prophets expressed the belief that every man gets his just recompense in this life is untenable. End time, is the terms of Jesus in his teachings. We are introduced early in the gospel to the coming judgment by" John the Baptist." In his prophetic language, he call the multitude flocking him a brood of vipers and warns them of the wrath to come. Even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown in the fire. he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with Fire. { Matt 3: 10-12}.
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