The Vineyard

[Our lessons were Isaiah 5:1-7, Psalm 80:7-14, Philippians 3:4b-14, and Matthew 21:33-46.]

We hear first today this beautiful story of God’s vineyard from Isaiah. The vision of a terraced vineyard built into a hillside would have been familiar to the people of Israel. The best location, a fertile hill, was chosen. It has been dug out and the stones cleared. A watchtower is raised and all is in readiness for the grapes. There’s even a vat in the center for winemaking.

Imagine the landowner’s disappointment when instead, all that comes are wild grapes, sour to the taste and perhaps with large seeds. In the words of Isaiah, “he expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!” What will God do? Remove the walls and let it be trampled. The judgment of the Lord that Isaiah foretold did come when the Babylonians and Assyrians conquered Israel.

In our reading from Matthew, we are continuing the events of Holy Week. On Tuesday of Holy Week, immediately after challenging the Temple authorities with the parable of the two sons, Jesus tells a new parable of a vineyard, re-presenting the vineyard of Isaiah.

It’s pretty obvious that God is the landowner and Jesus is the heir that the tenants kill. It’s very tempting to assume that the tenants are the Jews and for centuries this has been the accepted view by many. This has been used to claim that Christianity is the completion of Judaism or the replacement of the people of Israel as God’s chosen people.

But, I want to suggest a different meaning. Remember the context—the week in Jerusalem before Jesus is crucified. Jesus has already had a stormy encounter with the Pharisees and the chief priests. Remember about the words at the end of our reading: “When the chief priests and Pharisees heard his parables”—this one and the parable of the two sons we heard last week—“they realized that he was speaking against them.” The chief priests and the Pharisees were the greedy tenants who killed the prophets sent by God and who would, in three days’ time, kill the son. The vineyard belongs to God, not the powerful and wealthy at the top of the domination system that Jesus spoke out against.

But this isn’t how the story ends, of course. The death of the Son is not the end. But Jesus expresses this death through a new image: “The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone...” From the Son’s death springs life, a new vineyard. Christ himself became the vine, and this vine always bears good fruit: the presence of his love for us which is indestructible.

In fact, the stories—God’s story and our own—never end. There is always time to change. While it isn’t a fairy tale with an ending of “they lived happily ever after”, there are always future chapters to be written, and that can be comforting.

Comforting, because our current chapter isn’t a happy one. The financial news of the last week and the predictions of the future are dire. People’s jobs and retirement savings are at risk, prices are rising, and homes are being lost. There are clearly tough times ahead.

That is why we are grateful that this isn’t the final chapter. There is still time for the Kingdom of God to come. As the Body of Christ here, we are called to do what we can to lift up the lowly, feed the sick, and show justice, mercy and love to all.

In our version of the parable, when the landowner returns, let Him find us working for the welfare of all people and not, like the chief priests and the Pharisees of our Gospel reading, working for our own welfare at the expense of others.