Living like a tenant

Matthew 21:23-32

Jesus said, ‘Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watch-tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. ³⁴When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. ³⁵But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. ³⁶Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. ³⁷Finally he sent his son to them, saying, “They will respect my son.” ³⁸But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” ³⁹So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. ⁴⁰Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’ ⁴¹They said to him, ‘He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.’

42 Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures:
“The stone that the builders rejected
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this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes”?
⁴³Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. the fruits of it');" onmouseout="return nd();">^{* 44}The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.’ 44');" onmouseout="return nd();">^*

45When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

Remember, the first thing to do when reading any text--whether it's the Bible, a novel, or the newspaper--is to look at who the intended audience is. This helps us understand the purpose of the message, and what is truly being communicated. In this way, we should recognize that Jesus is talkign to the religious authorities. The groups of authorities (chief priests and Pharisees) are less important than it is that Jesus is directing his attention at them.

Secondly, theis comes right after the question of authority, which means that the themes are related, or that we should be mindful of that teaching when working with this one.

This gospel seems to show Jesus using an allegory--a story symbolic of something else. Jesus uses a prior frame for this story as well: the landowner and the workers. This time, however, instead of revealing his understanding of God's economic philosophy, he is revealing humanity's. Let's look at it.

Jesus introduces the landowner who did a great deal of work, planting, fencing, building. He prepares everything--he did all of the heavy-lifting if you will--and "then leased it to tenants and went to another country." When the landowner sends his slaves to collect the produce of his hard work, the tenants kill them. So the landowner decides that a greater number of slaves will be more effective. They too are murdered by the tenants. So then the landowner decides to send his son--not just a representative of the landowner, but someone that is of the same person--he has the same DNA as the landowner. It is here that the tenants reveal their true motive: they want to steal control of the land for themselves, so they murder the son, too.

It doesn't take much for us to see that the landowner is God, the son is Jesus, and the tenants are the Jewish leaders. But what is Jesus trying to say in theis (besides foretelling his own demise)? He is criticizing the way the Jewish leaders have directed the faith. He is claiming that they are no longer doing the wishes of God, but fulfilling their own selfish desires: they have tried to steal the Kingdom.

It also seems to be a constant issue for us, as well. Can you think of an example of when your church does what it wants to do, as opposed to what God asks us to do? Do you even think about our actions as an expression of God's wishes?

The authorities unwittingly condemn themselves by suggesting what the landowner (God) will do with the tenants (authorities): kick them out and punish them. But Jesus reveals what matters: that God will recruit new tenants to work the land that God has provided. It matters less what happens to the wicked than the fact that they will be replaced.

Jesus tells us that God's promise is golden. If our leaders don't honor that promise, God will recruit new ones. This is truly awesome!

The implications in this, however, is that the earlier notion of authority is part of the problem. For the Jewish people 2,000 years ago, incredible power was being wielded by a select few over the people. So much of this was hereditary and the average Jew had no potential to be the one wielding that power. It was an impervious caste system. But Jesus came along and challenged that concept. He reversed the order of preference (remember?) and made the first last and the last first. The powerful are to be powerless and the powerless shall be powerful in God's kingdom.

So what do we do with this? It's simple: we're the new tenants. God is always kicking out the bad apples and trying to give each of us the opportunity. This isn't easy work, but it isn't slaver, either. Think about the job: someone else has tilled the land, planted the seeds, put up the fence, built the buildings; the landowner won't micromanage and watch over your shoulder; the work is pretty straightforward but there's enough flexibility to allow for creativity. All you have to do is work the land. This is what it means to do "Kingdom" work.

What are God's instructions for you?