The Parable of the Vineyard of God’s Kingdom
Fifth Sunday in Lent – Luke 20:9-19
9 He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, and leased it to tenants, and went to another country for a long time. 10 When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants in order that they might give him his share of the produce of the vineyard; but the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 Next he sent another slave; that one also they beat and insulted and sent away empty-handed. 12 And he sent still a third; this one also they wounded and threw out. 13 Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ 14 But when the tenants saw him, they discussed it among themselves and said, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance may be ours.’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Heaven forbid!” 17 But he looked at them and said, “What then does this text mean:
‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’?
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.” 19 When the scribes and chief priests realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to lay hands on him at that very hour, but they feared the people.
The parable Jesus tells is very pointed and turns up the heat in the running conflict between Jesus and the leaders of the people of Israel.
The prophet Isaiah in a well-known passage in the Old Testament (Isaiah 5) had used the image of Israel as a vineyard that God had planted, and so when Jesus started talking about a vineyard his hearers knew immediately that he was taking about Israel. Therefore they understood the landowner to be a picture of God. The rest of the parable (analogy) falls into place quite easily. The slaves sent to collect the rent (the portion of the harvest that belonged to the landowner) are the prophets, messengers of God. And finally the beloved Son is sent, and all of Luke’s readers know that Jesus is speaking of himself (God called Jesus his “beloved Son” at Jesus’ baptism). That the Son is killed is horrific enough, but that the tenants leave the body without proper burial is a sign of disrespect that we have little way of grasping – although a line from the narrative of the battle for Mariupol may carry some of that shock “bodies lying in the streets.”
Jesus is making the very clear claim that he is the Son of God, and that God is about to start sharing the message of the good news about Jesus with not just the Jews but with all people (vs. 16 – “give the vineyard to others.”) There is a warning here for all who follow Jesus, when we start thinking that God has to fit into our understanding and our plans, when we start rejecting things as not being from God because the things we are being asked to do shake us up, we may discover that other voices and other people become the ones that Jesus uses to carry the good news. We do not own the news of the kingdom of God, we are merely tenants.
PRAYER:
God you have planted a vineyard in the world, the vineyard of your kingdom. We confess at times we think the kingdom is ours, that we control the vineyard. Keep us humble, always recognizing your kingship over your kingdom. In Jesus’ name. Amen.