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Gospel: Matthew 21: 33-46
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.”
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables,
they knew that he was speaking about them.
And although they were attempting to arrest him,
they feared the crowds, for they regarded him as a prophet.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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In his book, The Disappearance of God, Richard Freidman notes that the greatest temptation human beings face is pride.
Deep down, he argues, every human being desires to be equal with God. We want to set our own destiny; be in control; make our own decisions.
Although God tries intervening in our world – coming to our aid! – we fight back.
Strangely enough, this is the logic we find unfolding in the Old Testament leading up to the Gospels and the death of Jesus, as the Lord predicts in today.
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In the beginning, when Adam and Eve live in the Garden of Eden, they converse freely with God. After their disobedience, they are expelled from the garden, costing them the intimacy that once was.
As a result of their rebellion, God becomes increasingly veiled in his communication with humanity.
Instead of speaking face-to-face, God hides under the guise of creation – speaking with Moses through a burning bush, or guiding Israel through the desert for 40 years under the veil of a cloud.
But like Adam and Eve, Israel disobeys, causing God to become increasingly distant.
No longer speaking directly himself, God uses the prophets to proclaim a message of repentance. But Israel kills these anointed messengers.
Finally, God goes “all in”, sending his Son in the flesh… and we nail him to a tree.
“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,” Jesus says.
A people that will listen and heed his commands.
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Christians interpret Christ’s words today to mean that God now speaks through his Church – Tradition, the Gospels, the Catechism, Saintly writings, ministers, prayer, etc.
In what ways do I hear the voice of God speaking through my parish? Or through the Church?
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“If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts” (Hebrews 4:11).
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Image credits: (1) Subsplash (2) Guideposts (3) The Wesleyan Church