The Wicked Tenants #151

Jesus tells a parable: a man owned and then planted a vineyard; he rented it out and left town. When it was time to reap the harvest the owner sent servants to collect the wine he was due. However, the tenant farmers injured and killed them. The owner sent more servants. Same thing. Then the owner sent his own son thinking his son would be respected. But no; he was killed. 

Jesus asked the religious leaders what the owner should do when he returns; they said destroy those evildoers and rent the vineyard out to someone more deserving. Jesus says that the kingdom of God will be given to those more deserving because the religious leaders are not. 

The symbols are pretty obvious: the owner equals God, the tenant farmers are the religious leaders, the servants are the prophets, the son is Jesus and the vineyard is God’s people. The religious leaders kept the “vineyard” for themselves and were not tending to the vineyard as they should. 

Besides the violence, it is troubling that the religious leaders, who aren’t blameless, were probably originally doing what they thought was right. I’m open on this point because I think the religious leaders probably started with pure motives and intentions.

But something corrupted them. Power, riches, status? Maybe some personal compromise of values started a slippery slope that chipped away at their integrity until nothing was left. Maybe staying in power became the only thing. 

It is easy to take some satisfaction when the powerful are brought low as Jesus tells them they are not worthy to enter the kingdom of heaven, but that misses the point. What I think we need to do is put ourselves in the religious leader’s place and examine if there are things that have corrupted us. 

Matthew 21:33–43