Today’s parable is about the return of the king and the disobedience of his servants. It’s easy to see this as an historical incident, but what if it speaks to us today?
Judeans, the original hearers of scripture, easily understood that the vineyard stood for Israel, the Holy Land. The vineyard owner is God, the servants are the Judeans (or Israelites), and the son is the King’s chosen Messiah (which, as Christians, we understand to be Christ).
Woe to those Judeans who didn’t reap the harvest and welcome the Messiah.
But, what if this story is directed to us today?
What if, the vineyard becomes the Church?
God’s still the owner and Christ is still the son, but now he’s coming to see what fruits we’ve harvested.
How will we respond?
How have we been doing?
Will we have fruits to give to Christ or will we prefer our own scheming?
The good news is that God has given this parable as an instruction.
We’ve seen what happened in the past, now it’s up to us to have a change of heart and start bearing fruits worthy of the Kingdom.
The Reading
And he began to tell this parable to the people: “A man planted a vineyard, and leased it out to husbandmen and went abroad for a considerable time. And at the proper time he sent a slave to the husbandmen, so that they would yield him some of the vineyard’s fruit; but, beating him, they sent him away empty. And thereupon he sent another slave, but they, beating and humiliating that one as well, sent him away empty. And thereupon he sent a third; and this one they also wounded and threw out. And the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What may I do? I will send my son, my beloved; perhaps they will treat him with shamed deference.’ But on seeing him the husbandmen reasoned with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance might become ours.’ And, throwing him outside the vineyard, they killed him. What then will the lord of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy these husbandmen, and give the vineyard to others.” And those listening said, “Let this not happen!” But looking directly at them he said, “What then does this scripture mean: ‘The stone that those building rejected, this has become the capstone of the corner’? Everyone who falls on that stone will be shattered; but on whomever it falls, him it will utterly crush.” (Luke 20:9-18)