The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. (21:33-42)
Today we hear the parable of the landowner who has planted a vineyard and later on he hired men to work to tend his vineyard while he was away. We are told that the problems in this parable begin when “The season of fruit drew near.” This is a big indicator to us of what is really going on with this parable. The man who was the landowner expected that his investment would pay off richly. That he would receive the fruit that was owed to him by the land and more specifically by those who had been hired to work and tend the land. But his expectations were met with great disappointment, even with shock. He sent his servants to go and to get the fruit but we are told that the hired tenants took each of the servants and either beat them or killed them or stoned them. This is serious. The man has come to his own property, a property that he had allowed tenants to work and to live on. He sends his own personal servants to collect the fruit of the harvest and instead they receive shameful treatment, even up to death.
The landowner is not happy at all. So he sends more servants than before with the hopes that they can go and clarify things and get the fruit of the harvest. But once again, the same thing happens. They beat and killed the servants that were sent to them. Well now the master of the land has no choice. He is indignant. How could they treat my servants this way? Do they not understand that my servants represent me? That’s it. I am sending my beloved son. They have to respect him and treat him correctly. When they see him, they will not see him, rather they will see me and will fall in line and act appropriately. But the master was wrong. When the son arrived at the vineyard, “the tenants said to one another “This is the heir, come let us kill him and have his inheritance.” And they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.””
The Lord Jesus Christ said this story publicly to point to the realities of Israel and the Jewish people. It is clear from the story that the landowner with the vineyard is God. The tenants are those who are tasked with upholding the teachings and religious practices of the Jews, the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the Jewish priests and scribes. The servants of the master are the prophets. They are sent on behalf of God in order to inspect and to receive the harvest of fruit, which will later become wine. Yet they are all mistreated and killed. Finally the son is the clear symbol of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. So this parable is given by the Lord and it indicates to us that He knows exactly what is happening and exactly what will happen to Him. He has seen it all and understands this moment better than they do. The Jewish authorities will turn on Him just as they had turned on all of the prophets including John the Baptist. They will reject Christ, His life, His teachings and then they will murder Him because they see Him as a threat to their power over the people. They don’t see the Jewish people as belonging to God. Rather they see them as belonging to them, they see the people as property and as a means to enrich and empower them. And worst of all, they don’t see God through His Son. Although our Lord came to minister to them and to help and save them, they completely refused and often continue to refuse him. In rejecting Jesus Christ, they rejected God, the Father.
God was patient, He sent prophets over and over and then He sent His only Son to the tenants because He wanted to gather the fruit that was owed to Him. What is the nature of this fruit? It is spiritual in nature. The fruit that God desires is the rich harvest of souls who are washed and sanctified and purified and brought closer to Him. There is no other fruit. The fruit is not big cathedrals or busy churches or one hundred catechumens. These are not the heart of the matter. You can have a beautiful cathedral and tomorrow it burns down in a fire or one hundred catechumens and in a year or two you find that many have left. You can have a full church with hundreds of people and yet most of them aren’t growing in their relationship with God, they are just taking up space. No. The real fruit is a human being that is alive, with a soul that is on fire for God. St. Irenaeus once said “The glory of God is man fully alive.” To become a real human being means to be fully alive with God as the center of your being and life. Anything less than that is not life. What does it matter that we build large churches or bring many people into the Church if they are not sanctified and their lives aren’t changed, if they haven’t become holy? Then we are no better than the Jewish authorities, in fact, we will be reckoned as worse because we know better. Nothing has been hidden from us. So we see the parable as a summary of the Jewish authorities and their treachery against God and against His Son, and we can also see this parable as a reminder that each of us is expected to do something with what God has given us.
In the gospel according to St. John we hear these beautiful words from our Lord Jesus Christ:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” Jn 15:1-08
Each of us has been placed as a steward over something. Perhaps over a church or over a family household, but certainly over our own lives. And each of us will have to answer and bring fruit to the Master at the appointed time. We are called to bear fruit. What is this fruit? It is the fruit of righteousness, the fruit of the Holy Spirit. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;” (Gal 5: 22-23) These are the fruits of a soul that has toiled and worked and hungered for God and God blesses such souls with His abundant grace. When the Lord comes looking for His harvest, may He not find one of us empty handed. AMEN.
Source: Sermons