This week we get another parable set in a vineyard. This is the third vineyard parable in a row from the Gospel of Matthew. Is there a reason? Yes. We’ll get to that. First the Gospel reading.
Jesus
said to the chief priests and the elders of the people:
"Hear
another parable.
There
was a landowner who planted a vineyard,
put a
hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower.
Then
he leased it to tenants and went on a journey.
When
vintage time drew near,
he
sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce.
But
the tenants seized the servants and one they beat,
another
they killed, and a third they stoned.
Again
he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones,
but
they treated them in the same way.
Finally,
he sent his son to them, thinking,
'They
will respect my son.'
But
when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another,
'This
is the heir.
Come,
let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.'
They
seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
What will the owner of the vineyard
do to those tenants when he comes?"
They
answered him,
"He
will put those wretched men to a wretched death
and
lease his vineyard to other tenants
who
will give him the produce at the proper times."
Jesus
said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures:
The
stone that the builders rejected
has
become the cornerstone;
by
the Lord has this been done,
and
it is wonderful in our eyes?
Therefore,
I say to you,
the
kingdom of God will be taken away from you
and
given to a people that will produce its fruit."
~Mt 21:33-43
Why is the vineyard such an important image
for Jesus? The vineyard is an allusion
to the vineyard in chapter five of the Book of Isiah, which happens to be the
first reading from today’s lectionary.
Dr. Brant Pitre explains.
Reminds me of “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored.”
No comments:
Post a Comment