Friday of the Second Week of Lent -- March 25, 2011
Matthew 21:33 – 46
“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
“The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
“But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
“Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.
Jesus told a parable that was both troublesome and difficult to understand. It was a parable of rejection and opposition, full of violence and retribution. The parable ends up in some places that are difficult to comprehend.
At the end of the parable, Matthew tells us that when the religious leaders heard Jesus’ words, they knew he was talking about them (v. 45).
Jesus and these leaders were constantly at odds. They pushed for a religious expression that was orthodox and characterized by an outward piety. They were earnest about their religion.
The way we sometimes parody them as obtuse buffoons is really a misconception. They were serious about their faith and wanted others to be serious about faith also. They may have harbored a mean spirit from time to time, but no more so than you do or I do.
I want to give them this: When they heard Jesus’ words, they knew he was talking about them. That’s a commendable stance.
I find that I’m not always able to find myself in the words of Jesus. I often find others, thinking of all the other people who need to hear the words of Jesus. But I can easily miss finding my life in Jesus’ words.
Blessed is the person who allows the words of Jesus into their innermost being, who finds themselves in the parables and healings and challenges of Jesus. When we submit ourselves to those words, both in their refreshment and their difficulty, there is the possibility of a steady transformation taking place within us.
Of course, there are other options, too. The religious leaders found themselves in Jesus’ words, and rather than stepping into the path of transformation, thought it best to silence his words.
That option, in various forms, is available to us, as well.
“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
“The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
“But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
“Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.
Jesus told a parable that was both troublesome and difficult to understand. It was a parable of rejection and opposition, full of violence and retribution. The parable ends up in some places that are difficult to comprehend.
At the end of the parable, Matthew tells us that when the religious leaders heard Jesus’ words, they knew he was talking about them (v. 45).
Jesus and these leaders were constantly at odds. They pushed for a religious expression that was orthodox and characterized by an outward piety. They were earnest about their religion.
The way we sometimes parody them as obtuse buffoons is really a misconception. They were serious about their faith and wanted others to be serious about faith also. They may have harbored a mean spirit from time to time, but no more so than you do or I do.
I want to give them this: When they heard Jesus’ words, they knew he was talking about them. That’s a commendable stance.
I find that I’m not always able to find myself in the words of Jesus. I often find others, thinking of all the other people who need to hear the words of Jesus. But I can easily miss finding my life in Jesus’ words.
Blessed is the person who allows the words of Jesus into their innermost being, who finds themselves in the parables and healings and challenges of Jesus. When we submit ourselves to those words, both in their refreshment and their difficulty, there is the possibility of a steady transformation taking place within us.
Of course, there are other options, too. The religious leaders found themselves in Jesus’ words, and rather than stepping into the path of transformation, thought it best to silence his words.
That option, in various forms, is available to us, as well.
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