Owners or Tenants? – Matthew 21:33-46

Whenever we read the Scriptures, we need to be aware that they were written from the perspective and the historical record of people with whom we have no direct connection.  The Scriptures which we now know as the Holy Bible were the ancient texts of a people called by God from a foreign land and shaped into a nation that was to place God at the centre of their life.  It was this God that was to guide and direct their living and who instructed them on how to live with each other, their neighbours and the wider world in which they found themselves. Growing from one patriarch to a family of 12 to a nation of thousands, God continued generation by generation to visit the people calling out leaders who would have the willingness to listen to God and guide the people.  Eventually, there were leaders who were known as judges and then prophets and then kings. Each of these leaders knew that they owed their very life and existence and authority to God but – as we well know from reading the accounts preserved for us in what we know as the Old Testament – there were successes and there were failures.

This brings us to our passage for today.  The parable of the tenants in the vineyard is meant to illustrate how those who were entrusted with the care of the vineyard came to believe that they did not need to give any consideration to the owner of the vineyard. Why should they not take command of the fruit that their labour was producing and so gain more than the wages being paid to them – even though those wages were maintaining them and their families.

Of course, in this story it is clear that the owner himself never visits the vineyard but sends representatives who are there to check on the state of the vineyard and collect the produce for sale.  But the representatives are beaten, killed and stoned.  The chief priests and the elders who were listening to this parable of Jesus would have recognized that he was describing what had happened to the prophets whom God had sent to the people in the past.

Then Jesus introduces the son of the owner into the parable. The owner believes that the tenants will respect his son, but the tenants decide that if they kill the son, they will inherit the vineyard as the owner will have no one to pass it on to. And so, the son is killed.  But will they really inherit the vineyard?

The chief priests and the elders are horrified at such a blatant display of behaviour and declare that when the owner of the vineyard comes, those tenants should be put to death and the lease given to new tenants.

At first, they do not recognize themselves in the parable and they give Jesus the answer he needs to be able to declare in verse 43 that the kingdom of God will be taken away from them and given to a people that will produce the fruits of the kingdom. His answer makes them want to arrest him right there and then, but their fear of the crowds stops them for Jesus is regarded as a prophet and the people listen to his voice.

Jesus knew that the leaders of the nation and through them the nation itself had come to believe that they were the ones who should be in charge of the world. They would be the owners of their lives.  Even though they knew that they had shown by their actions to be unworthy of the kingdom of God, they believed that it was their right – their birthright.  But Jesus declares that while they had been chosen to be the people of God, their actions betrayed that decision and God had the perfect right to take that birthright away from them and give it to people who would listen to God, respect God, love God and produce the fruits of the kingdom of God.

At many times in the history of the Christian church, church leaders have shown themselves no better than those chief priests and elders whom they had so often loved to see taken down a peg or two or even cast out from the presence of God.  This passage of Scripture fits well with the message of Paul in Philippians that we heard last week. The chief priests and the elders had become arrogant, conceited and overly ambitious. They had forgotten that they were the tenants in the kingdom of God but not the owners.  They wanted to be the owners, and, in many ways, they had come to act as if they owned the kingdom.  But Jesus reminded them it would ever be God’s kingdom, and he had every right to decide who would be in that kingdom.

As the new tenants in the vineyard, the Christian church and those who claim to be part of it have made their share of mistakes – often speaking for God as if God was not in the room. And yes, we have much to atone for as a people who are to be followers of the Way in Christ.  But one of the first steps to atonement is recognizing how and when we presumed to be the ones who should determine the path to the kingdom of God and indeed even presuming to know the mind of God better than God himself.

We have learned a lot over the centuries, but we still have more to learn.  We will still struggle to do what is right in the eyes of God. We will still struggle to produce the fruits of the kingdom of God. But we are not to give up or give in. And one of the surest ways to keep ourselves on the right path is to remember the words of the prophet Micah who said: What does God require of us? To do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with our God.

As we approach the table of our Lord, let us do so with a humility of thought and spirit, seeking to embrace the vision for life that God has shared with us.

AMEN