This week Jesus gives us "another parable", in Matthew 21: 33-46. Matthew introduces this parable on the heels of the parable of the two sons. In that parable, we had two sons asked to work, one said yes with his words, but by his actions said no, and the other initially said no but then by his actions said yes. Do we have a bit of a theme developing in these parables? In the first parable, a father asks his sons to work, and there are two opposite responses - a contrast between faithfulness and faithlessness in response to the father's request. In the second parable, we have the landowner asking his tenants to work in his vineyards, and the tenants, by both their words and actions, say "no".
Matthew 21: 33-46
[33] "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. [34] When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce.
A familiar enough image (Isa. 5:1-7); Israel is God's vineyard. The scene is being further set for the conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders which will eventually lead to his death. It is worth noting that Matthew literally uses the word for "fruit" (4 times in this parable), which may evoke different associations than what the NRSV renders as "produce". When I think "produce", I can't help but think of the mounds of lettuce at the local grocer's. But that's me. And since I'm writing this, I'm going to say that the word "fruit" is better, since it resonates more clearly to ears that are at least a bit familiar with the whole of the Scriptural story.
Harvest time might in fact be several years after the planting. So these tenants had been working for a while. This might be the first stage of a sharecropper arrangement, or he may have simply hired them on a wage basis to tend his vineyard. In any event, we see what happens when the landlord is absent. The tenants are quick to forget what they were initially hired to do, and they are quick to forget whose the vineyard is. In some ways it reminds me of the whole "death of God" stuff from an era slightly before my own...
[35] But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. [36] Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. [37] Finally he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'
This is perhaps one of the more directly allegorical of Jesus' parables: it has much clearer references than many. Still, we start with the attitude of the figures in the parable, before assigning them an identity. The landowner here is remarkably restrained. Once he has seen the treatment meted out to his slaves, he ventures to send his son. Now it may just be me, but I would think that the landowner and his son would have had a fair idea of the treatment the son would receive. But the son is sent nonetheless, as a sort of final appeal to the tenants.
[38] But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance." [39] So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
There are a few things going on in these lines. First, we have Jesus' allusion to his own death. The broader context of the Gospel makes it clear that this is a clear self reference: Jesus knows that he will be betrayed and killed. Somehow the tenants think that by getting rid of the son they will be free to do as they please. And likewise we might sometimes think that by getting rid of the Son we too will be free to do as we please. But we will not be free.
It is interesting that they recognize him as the son, but refuse to honour him as such. Is the landowner so absent that they think they can simply inherit the vineyard on their own? Or are they under some illusion that the landowner, having gone into a far country, will never return?
Do you know anyone who is a functional atheist but a professing Christian? That is, they say that they believe in Christ, but don't act like they believe in Christ. Remember the parable which came just before this one? We can say that we believe in Christ with our words, but then by our actions deny that we are his followers. Do they believe that by 'killing the son', they have made an end to any other claims on them and their work, and they can simply live our autonomous lives without fear of anything interfering with them? Jesus of course knows that his audience would expect some sort of "justice" by the end of this story. They can see what is coming.
There is a great irony in the tenants' claim that they will have no fear of the son once he has been killed. That is perhaps the greatest irony in the whole parable; for of course the Son is killed but rises again.
[40] Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" [41] 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' hearers have enough sense of justice to realize what the 'correct' answer to his question is. What they lack, however, is the willingness to submit to the Son, to act in the best interests of the Landowner, and to remember that the vineyard is not theirs, but God's.
[42] 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'? [43] 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. [44] The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls." [45] When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. [46] They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.
That's all for now; we'll pick it up again tomorrow.
Picked up again. On another very different note, this passage also speaks to the experience of rejection. It is something Jesus experienced, something God experienced (and, I might add, continues to on a regular basis), and something which we experience. Just a thought...
HELLO DEAR,
GREETINGS IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. I AM MRS MARIA CLIFFORDSAM, A WIDOW TO LATE MATHIAS CLIFFORDSAM, I AM 63 YEARS OLD, I AM NOW A NEW CHRISTAIN
CONVERT, SUFFERING FROM LONG TIME CANCER OF THE BREAST, FROM ALL INDICATION MY CONDITIONS IS REALLY DETERIORATING AND IT IS QUITE OBVIOUS THAT I WON'T LIVE MORE THAN 2 MONTHS, ACCORDING TO MY DOCTORS, THIS IS BECAUSE THE CANCER STAGE HAS GOTTEN TO A VERY BAD STAGE. MY LATE HUSBAND KILLED DURING THE U.S. RAID AGAINST TERRORISM IN AFGHANISTAN, AND DURING THE PERIOD OF OUR MARRIAGE WE COULD'NT PRODUCE ANY CHILD.
MY LATE HUSBAND WAS VERY WEALTHY AND AFTER HIS DEATH, I INHERITED ALL
HIS BUSINESS AND WEALTH. THE DOCTORS HAS ADVISED ME THAT I MAY NOT LIVE
FOR MORE THAN 2 MONTHS, SO I NOW DECIDED TO DEVIDE THE PART OF THIS
WEALTH, TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHURCH IN AFRICA, AMERICA ASIA, AND EUROPE. I SELECTED YOU AFTER VISITING THE WEBSITE AND I PRAYED OVER IT.
I AM WILLING TO DONATE T HE SUM OF $9.200.000 USD (nine MILLION TWO UNITED
HUNDRED THOUSAND U.S DOLLARS) TO THE LESS PRIVILEGED. PLEASE I WANT YOU TO NOTE THAT FUND IS LYING IN A BANK HERE IN COTE D'IVOIRE, AND UPON MY
INSTRUCTION, MY ATTORNEY, WHO PRESENTLY IS IN COTE D'IVOIRE WILL FILE IN AN APPLICATION FOR YOU FOR THE TRANSFER OF THE MONEY IN YOUR NAME.
LASTLY, I HONESTLY PRAY THAT THIS MONEY WHEN TRANSFERRED WILL BE SURE FOR THE SAID PURPOSE, BECAUSE I HAVE COME TO FIND OUT THAT WEALTH
ACQUISITION WITHOUT CHRIST IS VANITY.
AS SOON AS YOU INDICATE YOUR WILLINGNESS TO HELP ME IN THIS OFFER IN THE MANNER OF HONEST, I WILL SENT TO YOU THE PROVE PAPERS THAT COVERS THE FUND THAT WAS ISSUE TO MY LATE HUSBAND FROM THE BANK, I WILL ALSO DETAILS TO YOU THE FULL CONTACT OF THE BANK WERE THIS FUND ARE PRESENTLY DEPOSITED TO ENBLE YOU VERIFY WITH THE BANKS OFFICIALS.
MAY THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS THE LOVE OF GOD AND THE SWEET
FELLOWSHIP OF GOD BE WITH YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.
HOPING TO HEAR FROM YOU URGENT.
YOURS IN CHRIST.
MRS MARIA CLIFFORDSAM.
Posted by: maria cliffordsam | October 21, 2008 at 07:07 AM
I'll get right on that.
By the way, did I tell you that my friend Tim is also a pastor and has a church? He might be a better chap for this sort of thing...
Posted by: joseph | October 22, 2008 at 04:44 PM
This type of offers are a scam. After you answer, they send you documents saying you are now the owner, and therefore have to send them money. After that, you don't hear from them again.
Posted by: Salvador | October 30, 2009 at 12:38 PM