Thoughts for the Day

‘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 watch-tower. 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.’

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

This parable is the second of two parables in Matthew's Gospel that Jesus told the chief priests and the elders in the Temple in Jerusalem during the last week of his life. The owner of some land creates a new vineyard, taking time and attending to every detail - he sought to protect his new vines with a wall around them, a tower to defend it from thieves, and a wine press for when the grapes were ready for pressing in three years time. Then he needs to go away, so he rents out the vineyard to vine-growers whose job is to tend, prune and protect his vinea, and bring in a good harvest. Finally, the owner sends his 'slaves' ('doo'los' means 'slave' or 'servant') to collect his profit either a share of the money or of the wine. However, instead of being treated as respected representatives of the owner, they are regarded as enemies. The tenant is treating the vineyard as his own and no longer recognises the owner as lord of the vineyard. He subsequently kills the landowner's son thinking he can then take full possession of the vineyard.

The Hebrew scriptures often use the image of the vineyard for the nation of Israel (Isaiah 5.7) with God as the landowner. The vine-growers are the religious leaders in Israel, the slaves are the prophets, and the landowner's son is Jesus, the Son of God. The children of Israel have not been faithful to God, they have assaulted and killed his prophets, and now they are about to kill His Son. Despite this, we should remember that these leaders are to be given a second chance, for Jesus on the cross was to ask God to forgive them (Luke 23.34).

Even when we reject the Son of God, He offers us the possibility of forgiveness when we repent of our sin.

Lord Jesus Christ,
as You offered Your enemies
forgiveness when on the cross,
You also offer us absolution
of our sins when we are truly sorry.
Help us understand that if we reject You
we are little better than
those who rejected You in the Temple.
Forgive us, and help us to admit our sin.
Amen.