27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Fr Dominic’s Homily
The hills of Galilee had many vineyards and it was common for the owners of these vineyards to rent them out. Normally up to 50% return of produce in terms of grapes was expected from any tenants as payment. So the parable that Jesus is telling about a landowner and his tenants would have been familiar to his audience.
So what does this parable mean? Well the vineyard represents Israel, the chosen people of God that had been freed from captivity. And the landowner represents God who these chosen people belong to.
And we see the providence of God. The vineyard, with a fence around it, a wine press in it, and even a watchtower. God makes provision for all that his people needs. He nurtures and protects them.
• A fence – secures the vineyard
• A watch tower – allows protection
• A winepress – anticipates a yield.
"Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country" This shows God's trust in us. God does not stand looking over our shoulders, policing us to make sure we do the right thing. God allows us free will and trusts that we will do the right thing.
The story also shows God's patience with us. When the time comes for vintage the landowner sends his servants to collect what is due. These servants are treated very badly. We hear that many times the landowner forgives the tenants their debts and violence towards his servants.
Jesus was telling this parable during Passover week. It was just 4 days until his crucifixion and death. And there were chief priests and the Pharisees present. They would have understood this parable as referring to Isaiah 800 years before (that we had in the first reading) which describes God’s relationship with a stubborn and rebellious people who only produced wild grapes – meaning a sinful way of life.
However this story offended scribes and Pharisees in particular because it contained both a prophetic message and a warning to them.
Jesus was indicating that the servants represented the prophets. And that the tenants represented the Chief priests and the Pharisees who were supposed to be tending the people and not themselves.
He says that they seized the servants, beat one, killed another and stoned a third. This is exactly what happened to the prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and of course more recently John the Baptist.
Now as you know every parable that Jesus tells has a twist. An unexpected bit that we can easily overlook and ignore. But the audience at the time certainly wouldn’t. And it is usually the twist that contains the deeper meaning.
We hear that the landowner sends His only Son to them, saying, "They will respect my Son." Now bear in mind that the landowner has already sent many servants. They have all been treated really badly and even killed. Considering this who in their right mind would then say – “Ah - I know perhaps I will send my only son. This is the solution”?
Well the answer is of course that no one! But this isn’t any old Father and any old Son. Notice that the son was thrown outside of the vineyard and then killed. This of course refers to Jesus who would be crucified outside of the city walls.
Jesus then quotes a part of psalm 118 that they would all have known very well: “Have you not heard it said that the stone that was rejected has become the corner stone?”
In other words He does not fit their preconceived ideas of what a messiah should be. Jesus is indicating that he is this stone – the Messiah - who will be rejected by the Chief Priests and the elders but become the corner stone of the New Jerusalem and the new Temple.
The chief priests and the elders were not prepared to listen or change. Nobody really likes change. (It is said that the only person who likes the idea of a change in this world is a baby with a dirty nappy!)
So today’s parable teaches us a lot about God and how God relates to us. God trusts us enough to give us freedom to run life as we choose. We mustn’t abuse that freedom.
Do we recognize the opportunities and resources that God has given us? Have we responded in a similar way to the tenants at times? Are we prepared to change?
Let us pray for the wisdom never to abuse the gifts and opportunities that God has given us so that we can be fruitful in return.