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From: Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a

Joseph and His Brothers

[3] Now Israel loved Joseph more than anyy other of his children, because he
was the son of his old age; and he made him a long robe with sleeves. [4]
But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his
brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.

Joseph is Sold to Egyptians as a Slave

[12] Now his brothers went to pasture their father's flock near Shechem.
[13a] And Israel said to Joseph, "Are not your brothers pasturing the flock
at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them."

[17b] So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan. [18]
They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them they conspired
against him to kill him. [19] They said to one another, "Here comes this
dreamer. [20] Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits;
then we shall say that a wild beast has devoured him, and we shall see what
will become of his dreams." [21] But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him
out of their hands, saying, "Let us not take his life." [22] And Reuben said
to them, "Shed no blood; cast him into this pit here in the wilderness, but
lay no hand upon him"--that he might rescue him out of their hand, to
restore him to his father. [23] So when Joseph came to his brothers, they
stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; [24] and
they took him and cast him into a pit. The pit was empty, there was no water
in it.

[25] Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan: of
Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and
myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. [26] Then Judah said to his
brothers, "What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood?
[27] Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon
him, for he is our brother, our own flesh." And his brothers heeded him.
[28a] Then Midianite traders passed by; and they drew Joseph up and lifted
him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of
silver.

Commentary:

37:2-50:26 From here to the end of the book of Genesis, with the exception
of chapters 38 and 49, we have the story of Joseph. This concludes the
"history of the patriarchs", leaving them not exactly in the promised land,
Canaan, but in Egypt. This sets the scene for the narrative of the great
Exodus. The story of Joseph is, thus, the link between patriarchal history
and the departure from Egypt, and it therefore constitutes an important
stage in the development of salvation history as recorded in the Old Testament.

In the story of Joseph we can see, on the one hand, the testimony borne by
ancient accounts about the Israelites going down into Egypt and, on the
other, the skill of the narrator who describes the acts of a drama full of
emotion, which comes to a happy ending and from which the reader can draw
one fundamental lesson: God is guiding everything that happens (even events
which seem negative) towards good, towards salvation. "Omnia in bonum" might
well be the title of the story of Joseph (cf. 50:20).

The original source of this section may have been quite different from the
patriarchal traditions we have seen so far: there is no reference to places
of worship, no explanations as to the meaning of names of places and people,
no direct divine interventions (except in the case of Jacob in 46:2-4); it
assumes that Joseph's mother is still living (cf. 37:10) and shows Jacob to
have a number of daughters (cf. 37:35).

From the information provided in the story of Joseph and from other biblical
traditions (cf. for example,Gen 15:16; Ex 12:40-41), it is not possible to
say exactly when the Israelites went down into Egypt. The most likely period
is when Egypt was under the control of the Hyksos (l'720-l580 BC), invaders
who were partly Semitic. The Hyksos had their capital in Avaris, in the Nile
delta, and this is where the capital is in the biblical account. The account
reminds us of past events and their significance. The whole story of Joseph.
as told in the Bible, is very instructive about how God guided the steps of
Israel's ancestors, to work wonders among them, redeeming them from slavery
and making them into a people, the chosen people of God. The literary skill
with which this last part of the story is told, not only does not take from
the historical value of the account: it helps us to grasp the true meaning
of all that happened to the "fathers" of Israel, and shows us how the Word
of God is able to express itself in language which it knows will hold the
reader's attention.

37:2. "This is the history of ...": ten times over the course of Genesis the
final redactor of the book uses this formal phrase to impose order on its
content, dividing it into a number of genealogical sections (cf.
"Introduction", p. 29 above). Here he uses it for the last time, to notify
the reader that he has reached the last section, the story of how
Jacob-Israel went down into Egypt: one of his sons, Joseph, was sold by his
brothers and taken to Egypt (chap. 37); Joseph prospered in that country and
became very important (cf. chaps. 39-41); Jacob and his other sons went to
Egypt where they met Joseph and, through his good offices, received special
treatment from the pharaoh; finally, the patriarch Jacob died in Egypt but
was brought back to the land of Canaan to be buried (cf. chaps. 49-50).

37:3-4. The tunic with long sleeves made Joseph took like a prince, in some
way foretelling his glorious future. Although Jacob's preferential love for
Joseph is due to human causes, behind it we can see something which occurs
throughout the Bible--how some people, gratuitously, enjoy special favor,
including special divine favor and love, without this meaning that the love
shown to others is diminished. Joseph, the object of Jacob's special love,
thereby becomes a figure of Jesus Christ, the Beloved of the Father (cf. Mt
1:11). The sin of Jacob's sons, like Cain's in some way (cf
Gen 4:5), begins with their reacting against God's preferential love; it
then turns into hatred and envy (cf. vv. 8-Il) and ends up with their
getting rid of their brother (cf. v. 20).

37:12-36. This episode deals with the horrible crime of disposing of their
brother and the providential events which take Joseph to Egypt. We can see
that the narrative is drawing on two sources: one emphasizes the
intervention of Judah (v. 26), the other that of Reuben. The true key to
what is happening will emerge at the end of the story: "You meant evil
against me," Joseph tells his brothers, "but God meant it for good" (50:20).
In the light of the whole narrative we can see the way God's plan is being
put into operation: "Joseph," comments St Gregoxy the Great, "was sold by
his brothers because they did not want to do him honor; but that is exactly
what they do, by the very fact of selling him. [...] So too, when one wants
to avoid the divine will, then is when it is fulfilled" ("Moralia", 6, 18, 20).

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

From: Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

(Jesus told the chief priests and the elders,) [33] "Hear another
parable. There was a householder who planted a vineyard, and set a
hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and let it
out to tenants, and went into another country. [34] When the season of
fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, to get his fruit;
[35] and the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another,
and stoned another. [36] Again he sent other servants, more than the
first; and they did the same to them. [37] Afterward he sent his son
to them, saying, `They will respect my son.' [38] But when the tenants
saw the son, they said to themselves, `This is the heir; come, let us
kill him and have his inheritance.' [39] And they took him and cast
him out of the vineyard, and killed him. [40] When therefore the owner
of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" [41] They
said to Him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and let
out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their
seasons."

[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.

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
watchtower, 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 entrust 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 despatch 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 singular, 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 use it in the building. Because of their
unfaithfulness the Kingdom of God will be turned over to another
people, the Gentiles, 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 building--the Church--at some
times seem to be breaking up, its sound construction, with Christ as
its cornerstone, is assured.