Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey.
On one level this parable was addressed directly at those in authority, like the chief priests and the Pharisees. The point for them was that they had forgotten that they were meant to be stewards in a position of service, meant to give the landowner "the produce at the proper times". Instead they subverted the purpose of the vineyard by keeping the fruit to themselves. God himself sent his prophets as messengers to again and again call them to make his truly fruitful so as to become the blessing to the world it was meant to be. But again and again those in authority resisted, interested only in what they could get and not with bearing fruit. They were so hostile to anyone who tried to turn them from their selfishness that they even resorted to violence in order to silence them, in order to block out the voices who told them that the vineyard was not their own to do with as they pleased.
When vintage time drew near,
he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce.
Are we safe from the penetrating vision of this parable because most of us aren't in positions of leadership? Hardly, for all of us have been called to bear fruit for the Kingdom. All that we have and all that we are are in fact gifts over which we are meant to be stewards. But how quickly we forget this and begin to live our life as though it is our own vineyard and not that of the landowner. How quickly we forget the coins we have been given were meant to be invested rather than hidden (see Matthew 25:14-30). We occasionally use our time, talent, and treasure for the sake of the Kingdom. But is the Kingdom the paradigm that informs how we use them, or is it just an optional and occasional extra, and that for the sake of making of feel good? We desire the fruits of the Spirit, especially love, joy, and peace. But do we imagine we can have a hoard these for ourselves alone? No. Such fruits are given in order to be shared. We need and hopefully desire mercy, but mercy too must flow through us to others in order to be real.
But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat,
another they killed, and a third they stoned.
We don't appreciate the reminders of the prophets because they will not allow us to be comfortable or complacent. And we know deep down that we have not been the best of stewards, not highly efficient to provide the landowner the best return on his investment. We might imagine that if we allowed the prophets to see what was happening in our lives we too would be dispossessed of the vineyard in favor of others who would do a better job. But God has not called us to bear fruit because we are essentially highly qualified in some way.
So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.' (see Luke 17:10).
We don't make the fruit grow. That is the prerogative of God himself (see First Corinthians 3:7). Ours is rather to let him direct us as we put the fruit to use, to not withhold from him what he asks of us, even if doing so exposes our failings. We may indeed make all sorts of mistakes as we attempt to run the vineyard of our lives. But as long as we welcome him when he comes to visit us, when he comes to draw from us the fruit he desires, we need not fear. We can count on him to do what is needful for the vineyard, to bring forth fruit through us even in spite of our weaknesses.
They said to one another: "Here comes that master dreamer!
Come on, let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns here;
Sometimes we choose to reject the stone that is meant to be the cornerstone of our lives when we desire to build our lives into some other shape, a shape into which it will not easily be made to fit. But this is a sign for us that our building project has gone off the rails and needs to be reassessed. Jesus is meant to fit naturally, to bring to completion everything that we ourselves are meant to be. But even this rejection is something which God can put to use for his greater glory, as he brought good from the evil done to Joseph, as he brought life itself from the death of Jesus. Even if we ourselves are the ones who reject him in order to jealously keep the fruit of our lives to ourselves, our rejection can yet somehow mysteriously serve to reveal him as the cornerstone, even to us, if we will have ears to hear, and eyes to recognize the "wonderful" thing that the Lord has done.
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