‘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 watchtower. 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.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes”? Therefore, I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.’ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet. Matthew 21:33-46
I am the farthest thing from a great gardener, and I can't imagine caring for a whole vineyard. It would probably be a disaster! In this parable, we find the tenants taking over the vineyard and killing the ones in charge, including the son. This situation seems absurd at first, but throughout history we find folks who thought they could control what was not theirs, folks with so much hubris they thought themselves untouchable. We also know that it never ends well. Jesus was speaking to the religious leaders of his day. And he's speaking to all of us today. May we care for the people and places we have been given and set our hearts on humility and kindness, always.
Holy Creator, source of all life in this universe
we are cared and provided for by your hand
and are called to love and serve others here.
We sometimes forget that all life is a divine gift
we believe we have made the god things of life
and forget to be grateful and to live gently.
Turn our hearts, Lord, and make us humble
give us a sense of gratitude for all we are given
and love enough to share with our neighbors here. Amen.
