From: Matthew 21:33-43; 45-46
The Parable of the Wicked Tenants
[42] Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The very stone
which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; this was the Lord’s
doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes’! [43] Therefore I tell you, the Kingdom of
God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it.”
[45] When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived
that He was speaking about them. [46] But when they tried to arrest Him, they
feared the multitudes, because they held Him to be a prophet.
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Commentary:
33-46. This very important parable completes the previous one. The parable of
the two sons simply identifies the indocility of Israel; that of the wicked tenants
focuses on the punishment to come.
Our Lord compares Israel to a choice vineyard, specially fenced, with a watch-
tower, where a keeper is on the look-out to protect it from thieves and foxes.
God has spared no effort to cultivate and embellish His vineyard. The vineyard is
in the charge of tenant farmers; the householder is God, and the vineyard, Israel
(Isaiah 5:3-5: Jeremiah 2:21; Joel 1:7).
The tenants to whom God has given the care of His people are the priests,
scribes and elders. The owner’s absence makes it clear that God really did en-
trust Israel to its leaders; hence their responsibility and the account He demands
of them.
The owner used to send his servants from time to time to collect the fruit; this
was the mission of the prophets. The second dispatch of servants to claim what
is owing to the owner — who meet the same fate as the first — refers to the way
God’s prophets were ill-treated by the kings and priests of Israel (Matthew 23:37;
Acts 7:42; Hebrews 11:36-38). Finally he sent his son to them, thinking that they
would have more respect for him; here we can see the difference between Jesus
and the prophets, who were servants, not “the Son”: the parable indicates singu-
lar, transcendental sonship, expressing the divinity of Jesus Christ.
The malicious purpose of the tenants in murdering the son and heir to keep the
inheritance for themselves is the madness of the leaders in expecting to become
undisputed masters of Israel by putting Christ to death (Matthew 12:14; 26:4).
Their ambition blinds them to the punishment that awaits them. Then “they cast
him out of the vineyard, and killed him”: a reference to Christ’s crucifixion, which
took place outside the walls of Jerusalem.
Jesus prophesies the punishment God will inflict on the evildoers: He will put
them to death and rent the vineyard to others. This is a very significant prophecy.
St. Peter later repeats to the Sanhedrin: “This is the stone which was rejected
by you builders, but which has become the head of the corner” (Acts 4:11; 1
Peter 2:4). The stone is Jesus of Nazareth, but the architects of Israel, who build
up and rule the people, have chosen not to use it in the building. Because of their
unfaithfulness the Kingdom of God will be turned over to another people, the Gen-
tiles, who WILL give God the fruit He expects His vineyard to yield (cf. Matthew
3:8-10; Galatians 6:16).
For the building to be well-built, it needs to rest on this stone. Woe to him who
trips over it! (cf. Matthew 12:30; Luke 2:34), as first Jews and later the enemies
of Christ and His Church will discover through bitter experience (cf. Isaiah 8:14-
15).
Christians in all ages should see this parable as exhorting them to build faithfully
upon Christ and make sure they do not fall into the sin of this Jewish generation.
We should also be filled with hope and a sense of security; for, although the buil-
ding — the Church — at some times seem to be breaking up, its sound construc-
tion, with Christ as its cornerstone, is assured.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
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First reading |
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Genesis 37:3-4,12-13,17-28 © |
Israel loved Joseph more than all his other sons, for he was the son of his old age, and he had a coat with long sleeves made for him. But his brothers, seeing how his father loved him more than all his other sons, came to hate him so much that they could not say a civil word to him.
His brothers went to pasture their father’s flock at Shechem. Then Israel said to Joseph, ‘Are not your brothers with the flock at Shechem? Come, I am going to send you to them.’ So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
They saw him in the distance, and before he reached them they made a plot among themselves to put him to death. ‘Here comes the man of dreams’ they said to one another. ‘Come on, let us kill him and throw him into some well; we can say that a wild beast devoured him. Then we shall see what becomes of his dreams.’
But Reuben heard, and he saved him from their violence. ‘We must not take his life’ he said. ‘Shed no blood,’ said Reuben to them ‘throw him into this well in the wilderness, but do not lay violent hands on him’ – intending to save him from them and to restore him to his father. So, when Joseph reached his brothers, they pulled off his coat, the coat with long sleeves that he was wearing, and catching hold of him they threw him into the well, an empty well with no water in it. They then sat down to eat.
Looking up they saw a group of Ishmaelites who were coming from Gilead, their camels laden with gum, tragacanth, balsam and resin, which they were taking down into Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, ‘What do we gain by killing our brother and covering up his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let us not do any harm to him. After all, he is our brother, and our own flesh.’ His brothers agreed.
Now some Midianite merchants were passing, and they drew Joseph up out of the well. They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty silver pieces, and these men took Joseph to Egypt.
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Psalm |
Psalm 104:16-21 © |
Remember the wonders the Lord has done.
The Lord called down a famine on the land;
he broke the staff that supported them.
He had sent a man before them,
Joseph, sold as a slave.
Remember the wonders the Lord has done.
His feet were put in chains,
his neck was bound with iron,
until what he said came to pass
and the word of the Lord proved him true.
Remember the wonders the Lord has done.
Then the king sent and released him
the ruler of the people set him free,
making him master of his house
and ruler of all he possessed.
Remember the wonders the Lord has done.
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Gospel Acclamation |
Jn3:16 |
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son:
everyone who believes in him has eternal life.
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
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Gospel |
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Matthew 21:33-43,45-46 © |
Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people, ‘Listen to another parable. There was a man, a landowner, who planted a vineyard; he fenced it round, dug a winepress in it and built a tower; then he leased it to tenants and went abroad. When vintage time drew near he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his servants, thrashed one, killed another and stoned a third. Next he sent some more servants, this time a larger number, and they dealt with them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them. “They will respect my son” he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, “This is the heir. Come on, let us kill him and take over his inheritance.” So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’ They answered, ‘He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will deliver the produce to him when the season arrives.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures:
It was the stone rejected by the builders
that became the keystone.
This was the Lord’s doing
and it is wonderful to see?
‘I tell you, then, that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.’
When they heard his parables, the chief priests and the scribes realised he was speaking about them, but though they would have liked to arrest him they were afraid of the crowds, who looked on him as a prophet.