Gospel Reflection Oct 4 – Kim VanHuffel
Sunday, October 4th
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Matthew 21:33-43
Gospel:
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.”
Gospel Reflection:
I’ve written a reflection on this Gospel passage before. Quick recap —
The owner is God, the tenants are religious leaders of the time, the servants are the prophets who have come to serve God and were killed, the owner’s son is Jesus who is dragged out of the vineyard (think of the passion) and is killed.
Last time I wrote of how the tenants had a misunderstanding of ownership and how they needed to understand that God was the owner of the vineyard (everything in our lives) and we need to tend this vineyard and not try to own or control something that is not ours to own. Important.
This time I’ll talk about God’s patience. If you were the owner of the vineyard, would you allow the tenants to beat, kill, and stone your servants whom you love so much to have them speak for you (the prophets), then send in a whole second group larger than the first to the same end, and then send in your son? Of course not! This owner could have hired strangers to go in and have the tenants removed after the first incident. But God doesn’t. He gives the tenants a second chance, and even a third. However, they still don’t understand who is really in control, and they don’t even try to understand. They just twist their minds into thinking they will own the vineyard if they kill the son (that’s not how inheritance works).
So what did this mean for Matthew’s Jewish readers of the time and what does it mean for us? It means two things. First, there is hope. God offers us second chances. He doesn’t expect us to be perfect. He wants us to love and care and try to follow him and to give our lives to him. Second, there is justice. God will be patient with us. However, if we turn away from him and deny that he is our creator; if we deny that he is our ultimate goal; and we do nothing to follow Jesus and further the Kingdom of God, there will be consequences. Salvation can be lost.
So the choice is always ours. God loves us and wants us to belong to him through our love. He will be patient with us. Our job is to do our very best to follow him.
Kim VanHuffel
Pastoral Associate