The Gospel for MONDAY, June 13, 2005
Luke 20:9-19
And he went on to tell the people this parable, ‘A man planted a vineyard and leased it to tenants, and went abroad for a long while. When the right time came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get his share of the produce of the vineyard. But the tenants thrashed him, and sent him away empty–handed. But he went on to send a second servant; they thrashed him too and treated him shamefully and sent him away empty–handed. He still went on to send a third; they wounded this one too, and threw him out. Then the owner of the vineyard thought, “What am I to do? I will send them my own beloved son. Perhaps they will respect him.” But when the tenants saw him they put their heads together saying, “This is the heir, let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.” So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. ‘Now what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and make an end of these tenants and give the vineyard to others.’ Hearing this they said, ‘God forbid!’ But he looked hard at them and said, ‘Then what does this text in the scriptures mean: The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone? Anyone who falls on that stone will be dashed to pieces; anyone it falls on will be crushed.’ And the scribes and the chief priests would have liked to lay hands on him that very moment, because they realised that this parable was aimed at them, but they were afraid of the people. -- The New Jerusalem Bible. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1995, c1985
Rejecting the Heir to the Vineyard
This is as skilful a parable as one could ever ask for. Whether Jesus actually said it or the writers of Luke merely "retrojected" it into the story, it is a pearl of literature.
A Reflection
Of course, this is exactly what happened with Israel and her religious leaders.
YHWH sent Moses, then prophets by the handful, but Israel rejected them all, murdering most, including John Baptist and finally Jesus and many of His followers.
How good are we at rejecting God and His message through His Son? Pretty darn good, it seems.
Even the politicians and religous elites in our country who promise "family values" and "bringing God back into the classroom" and a host of other fine-sounding things: do they actually do more than appeal to a hair-trigger crowd ready to leap on the next right-sounding bandwagon?
Adolph Hitler had a solution that tickled some of the same "values."
But, wait. Jesus had a very simple set of things-we-must-do: the two great commandments -- love God, love your neighbor -- and one modification to the second: love one another as Jesus loves us.
I think I'll stick to Jesus' "family values" and let the others go where they need to.
A Collect
Father, give us grace so to carry your Word into the world fearlessly, rejoicing in your power. Amen.
10:29:18 PM 
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