27th Sunday of Ordinary Time
–
October 4, 2020
The gospel for next Sunday, October 4, is again a
parable, linked to last Sunday’s about the two
sons sent to work in their father’s vineyard.
Surprisingly, the gospel for October 11 is also another parable about
disappointment and rejection. In all three Jesus is speaking directly to the
chief priests and elders. The message of Jesus is clear in all the stories. God’s people had disappointed their God. Matthew was not
trying to heighten any anti-Jewish attitude; he is confirming that God’s mission has passed over to the Christian community
in the new covenant established by his Son Jesus.
The vineyard parables all have certain things in
common. God is the one who plants the vineyard. He chooses the best and most
fertile land, works the land to prepare it, and then looks for a harvest, only
to be disappointed for one reason or another.
In the first reading, Isaiah tells us the vineyard
owner is disappointed because, instead of the vineyard producing good grapes,
it produced sour grapes. So, what do you do? There is nothing left to do but
tear it all down. Isaiah’s message to the
nation is that this is what God plans to do with Israel because the nation has
produced rotten grapes. In the same way that the owner of the vineyard looked
for good grapes and found rotten grapes instead, God looked for justice and
mercy within Israel and instead found the sour grapes of corruption and unfaithfulness.
The psalmist in the psalm response (Psalm 80) pleads
with God to look favorably on his vineyard and give it new life. The people
have withdrawn from God and haven’t called upon his
name but, if God will restore his vineyard, the nation can turn around and be
saved.
In the Gospel parable, the story of Israel as God’s vineyard is echoed again. The owner of an estate
leases it out to tenant farmers and then goes on a long journey. This was
particularly common in Galilee where landowners often lived far away from their
vineyards. Generally, the rent was for a certain amount of produce from the
vineyard with the tenants able to keep what remained. At harvest time the owner
of the vineyard sent servants to take the part of the harvest that was agreed upon.
However, the tenants choose not to pay and abused the servants. The servants in
the parable are God’s prophets whom
God regularly sent to Israel, only to see them abused and killed. Finally, the
owner sends his son but he, too, is abused and killed. The tenants could now
take over the vineyard for themselves. It reminds us of the arrogance of our
first parents who thought the knowledge of good and evil would give them power
over God; of those who tried to build a tower that would reach right to the heavens.
And the killing of the son “outside the city” in this Gospel story is a clear reference to Jesus
dying on the cross outside the walls of Jerusalem.
Today, we are God’s people. We are the tenants in God’s vineyard. God expects us to produce fruit, fruit
that will endure. The obvious question for us to ask ourselves today is: How
are we doing? Are we doing better than the chief priests, the elders, the
Scribes and the Pharisees? Are we good stewards of our earth, our part of the
vineyard, our beliefs in a loving God and our call to serve others?
So that we don’t turn into “sour grapes,” Paul recommends that we keep our eyes on what is
true, honorable, just, worthy of praise. “Keep on doing what you have learned and received and
heard” from Jesus Christ.
Fr. Don Webber,
C.P.