The Parable of the Tenants

Today's Reflections

                                                                             

The Parable of the Tenants

Mt 21:33-43

[Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people:] ³³“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. ³⁴When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce. ³⁵But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned. ³⁶Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way. ³⁷Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’ ³⁹They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. ⁴⁰What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?” ⁴¹They 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.” ⁴²Jesus 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’? ⁴³Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.”

THE FRUIT THAT GOD EXPECTS. The parable of the vineyard points to the violence of the tenants who murder the messengers sent to them by the owner. Even the son and heir is not spared. When Jesus finishes the parable, the chief priests and the Pharisees immediately realize that it is about them (cf Mt 21:45). These religious leaders rule over the people with authority from God. They have taken their seat on the “chair of Moses” (Mt 23:2). Yet, how much violence and oppression are committed in the name of that authority? They appear to be faithful to the Law, yet they persecute the prophets and wise men sent by God (cf Mt 23:23-36).

Because of their violence and their mistreatment of God’s messengers, the kingdom will be taken away from the “tenants.” Originally, the parable concerns the leadership of Israel. Israel’s leaders will be replaced. Still, Matthew’s community—now composed of Jews and Gentiles—will hold that they are the ethnos, the people given the kingdom and challenged to produce the fruit that God expects. Like Israel of old, they are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of God’s own” (1 Pt 2:9). They are to show they are equal to this calling by bearing fruits of justice and peace, so that the name of God may not be vilified on their account. Instead, when people see their good deeds, they will glorify the Father who is in heaven (cf Mt 5:16).