From: Matthew 21:33-43
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.”
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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.
First reading |
Isaiah 5:1-7 © |
Let me sing to my friend
the song of his love for his vineyard.
My friend had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside.
He dug the soil, cleared it of stones
and planted choice vines in it.
In the middle he built a tower,
he dug a press there too.
He expected it to yield grapes,
but sour grapes were all that it gave.
And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem
and men of Judah,
I ask you to judge
between my vineyard and me.
What could I have done for my vineyard
that I have not done?
I expected it to yield grapes.
Why did it yield sour grapes instead?
Very well, I will tell you
what I am going to do to my vineyard:
I will take away its hedge for it to be grazed on,
and knock down its wall for it to be trampled on.
I will lay it waste, unpruned, undug;
overgrown by the briar and the thorn.
I will command the clouds
to rain no rain on it.
Yes, the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts
is the House of Israel,
and the men of Judah
that chosen plant.
He expected justice, but found bloodshed,
integrity, but only a cry of distress.
Psalm |
Psalm 79:9,12-16,19-20 © |
The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
You brought a vine out of Egypt;
to plant it you drove out the nations.
It stretched out its branches to the sea,
to the Great River it stretched out its shoots.
The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
Then why have you broken down its walls?
It is plucked by all who pass by.
It is ravaged by the boar of the forest,
devoured by the beasts of the field.
The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
God of hosts, turn again, we implore,
look down from heaven and see.
Visit this vine and protect it,
the vine your right hand has planted.
The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
And we shall never forsake you again;
give us life that we may call upon your name.
God of hosts, bring us back;
let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.
The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel.
Second reading |
Philippians 4:6-9 © |
There is no need to worry; but if there is anything you need, pray for it, asking God for it with prayer and thanksgiving, and that peace of God, which is so much greater than we can understand, will guard your hearts and your thoughts, in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, fill your minds with everything that is true, everything that is noble, everything that is good and pure, everything that we love and honour, and everything that can be thought virtuous or worthy of praise. Keep doing all the things that you learnt from me and have been taught by me and have heard or seen that I do. Then the God of peace will be with you.
Gospel Acclamation |
Jn15:15 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I call you friends, says the Lord,
because I have made known to you
everything I have learnt from my Father.
Alleluia!
Or |
cf.Jn15:16 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I chose you from the world
to go out and bear fruit,
fruit that will last,
says the Lord.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 21:33-43 © |
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.’