Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46

Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people:

“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.

When vintage time drew near,

he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce.

But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat,

another they killed, and a third they stoned.

Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones,

but they treated them in the same way.

Finally, he sent his son to them,

thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’

But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another,

‘This is the heir.

Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’

They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?”

They 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.”

Jesus 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?

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.”

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables,

they knew that he was speaking about them.

And although they were attempting to arrest him,

they feared the crowds, for they regarded him as a prophet.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, you carefully direct the course of history. You knew how the story of Joseph would end and permitted him to suffer and be tested. You knew everything that would happen to your Son and his Apostles. You know my story and how it will unfold. Guide me each day so that I may be with you.

Encountering the Word of God

1. God Sent the Prophets: Today’s Gospel parable summarizes the history of Israel in just a few lines. The landowner planting a vineyard is a symbol of God establishing Israel as his people. The hedge refers to the walls of Jerusalem. The leasing to tenants refers to God entrusting the people of Israel to their leaders, rulers, kings, priests, and elders. The sending of servants refers to the sending of prophets to Israel and Judah. Instead of listening to the prophets and turning from idolatry, the people of Israel and Judah maltreated the prophets of God. Elijah, Elisha, Amos, Isaiah, and Jeremiah were all persecuted by the people they ministered to. The last prophet before Jesus, John the Baptist, was beheaded by King Herod Agrippa. How do I heed the words of the prophets of the Old Testament in my life?

2. God Sent his Son, the Rejected Stone: The Gospel parable, pronounced by Jesus on the way to Jerusalem, prepares us for and makes us look ahead during Lent to the celebration of Holy Week, when the Son of God will enter into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday (the vineyard), be led out on Good Friday (thrown out of the vineyard), and be killed on the cross. The Lord’s vineyard (the New Jerusalem and Kingdom of God) will be taken away from the old tenants (the religious authorities – the chief priests and the Pharisees) and entrusted to the new tenants (the Apostles and disciples of Jesus). Jesus is the stone, rejected by the builders, who has become the cornerstone of the New Temple. 

3. The Love of God for Us: The parables of Jesus usually have a twist to them. It is borderline crazy that the landowner would send his son. After sending servants who were maltreated and even killed, why would the landowner send his son? Why would God the Father send his Son? John’s Gospel provides an answer: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:16-17). The Son was crucified, but that is how he established the New Kingdom that has been entrusted to new people to produce new fruit. And so, yes, the landowner, from a merely human point of view, seems crazy. But from a divine perspective, the parable reveals the patient, merciful, relentless love of God for his people.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I unite my life and my sufferings to yours. All that I am, I offer to your Father and my Father. I humbly ask that you present my offering to the Father today and purify it with your love.

Living the Word of God: Where is there suffering in my life right now? How am I dealing with it? How can I unite it to the offering of Jesus today?