Isaiah 5:1-7
Philippians 4:6-9
Matthew 21:33-43

Rejction

In the gospel for this Sunday, Jesus tells the parable of the vineyard and the wicked tenants who are to care for it. In this parable, the landowner leases his vineyard to tenants and sends his servants to collect the portion of the harvest that the tenants owe to him. Several times the servants are sent to collect payment, and each time they are beaten and killed by the tenants. Finally, the landowner sends his son to collect his rent. The tenants, believing that they will inherit the vineyard if the landowner dies without an heir, plot together and kill the landowner’s son.

In the parable, the vineyard represented Israel, the landowner as God, Jesus as the son of the landowner, the servants as the prophets, and the bad tenants as the religious leaders. The Jewish leaders, who are listening to Jesus, know that this parable is directed at them. Jesus and the leaders know from the Hebrew Scriptures that the prophets throughout the ages suffered for their message and now the leaders plan to arrest Jesus for his message.   

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.”

It is clear from this gospel that tension was mounting between Jesus and the Jewish religious leaders who thought that Jesus’ message was dangerous. Jesus knows they have rejected him, but he know that he is doing God’s will. The early Christian community experienced this same rejection firsthand in the years after Jesus’ resurrection. In the second reading, Paul gives them encouragement, reminding them that in their time of trial they must seek the peace of Christ.

What does this gospel say to us? It reminds us to listen to the ways God speaks to us. We have the writings from the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, church teaching, and words of our modern day prophets. How well do we listen and respond to God’s word as it comes to us in a variety of ways. How well do we speak God’s word to others?

In what ways may I have rejected the message of Jesus?

How well do I respond to rejection as Jesus did?

How can I attend to anyone I may have rejected?

How do I respond to the message of Jesus and pass it along to others?