From the holy Gospel according to
Matthew, Chapter 21, verses 33 to 43 and 45 to 46
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| THE TENANTS KILLED THE SON OF THE VINEYARD OWNER. Image from saltandlighttv.org via google.com |
Jesus told them,
"Therefore, I say to you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit." [43]
The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
Personal reflection on the reading
Sharing for the Day
The chief priests and elders of the Jews perfectly understood the meaning of this parable and a clear explanation about this can be read here.
In summary, the parable tells about an owner who planted a vineyard and leased it to some tenants to take care of. But they did not take good care of the vineyard so the owner sent various messengers to remind them of their responsibility but they refused to listen. Instead they harmed and even killed those messengers. The owner finally sent his son thinking that he will be respected being his son. But even the son they also killed. So what did the owner do? He came and killed the tenants and leased the vineyard to others who hopefully would already fulfill the responsibility of taking care of the vineyard.
In the parable, the vineyard owner is God, the owner's son: Jesus, the messengers: the prophets, the vineyard represents Israel and the tenants represents the leaders of Israel tasked to nourish and take care of the vineyard; and the other tenants the new people who would heed the call to belong to the Church, the New Israel. However, the parable is not an outright call to reject or get angry at the Jews for indeed out of these people the Church had her first members [remember that the Apostles were Jews and the Church started in Jerusalem and their first recruits were fellow Jews and wherever they went they first contacted Jews]. Moreover, the changing of tenants, that is, the leaders and elders who will guide God's people, only mean that the responsibility of taking care of the vineyard has been transferred - but it is still the same vineyard [the early Church actually did not consider themselves a separate group from the Jews and they considered Christianity as a mere extension of Judaism]. We notice that the vineyard was not destroyed but merely leased out to other tenants.
In relation to our status as friends of the Lord, we cannot boast of such an honor without doing our part in sustaining the relationship, that is, to follow His command to love one another. We could consider the vineyard as the holy friendship with the Lord and we His friends as the tenants. If we fail to obey the command to love one another, we shall lose the honor of being the chosen tenants, that is, of being His friends.
Application of the Message
[1] Prayer
Thank God in prayer for being chosen to be one of His friends and ask Him to give you perseverance and faithfulness to sustain the friendship.
[2] Abstinence
What can you abstain from today in order to manifest your intention to be a worthy tenant of the Lord's vineyard?
[3] Almsgiving
What can you share today as your way of showing that you are a faithful tenant and that you do not desire to take the vineyard away from the owner?
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