Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen

We'll talk about his hair and Delilah and how the Spirit of the Lord would rush upon him some other time.

What I want you to see this morning is that the people listening to Jesus' parable of the wicked tenants might have had something like this on their minds.

When usurpers come into God's land, he sends someone to judge them, a judgment which usually involves lots of bloody death.

"What will he do to those tenants?" Jesus asks.

Come, let us kill Him and get His inheritance." These words should sound familiar to you.

We echo them every Good Friday when we shout as a congregation, "Crucify Him.

Crucify Him." We make you say those words to identify with these wicked tenants.

We acknowledge and confess every single week that this is our rightful place in the story.

To whom is Jesus speaking in terms of the immediate context? So case in point, think about today's gospel.

Gospel of Matthew chapter 21, the parable of the wicked tenants.

To whom is Jesus speaking in terms of the immediate context? He's not speaking to his disciples.

He's not speaking to the people at large.

What you're meant to hear is responsibility, trust, stewardship.

It's meant to be provocative.

Who is this guy who gives me the whole of creation, who grants unto me the keys of the kingdom? Who is this person who believes that I will act responsibly in his stead? Who is this man who sees something in me that perhaps I do not see in myself? Now eventually what you hear is that the landowner sends various slaves, various servants, to check in on the tenants in the context of the parable of the wicked tenants.

And these people, these servants, these slaves, they're emblematic of the various prophets that you hear in the context of the Old Testament.

The only thing that stops them from arresting Jesus on the spot is was because the people saw him as a prophet.

In the parable of the wicked tenants, Jesus leans on the prophetic oracles described in the books of Isaiah, Micah, and even Jeremiah.

He describes a loving vineyard keeper, who is God, who does all he can to protect and preserve the vineyard and the flourishing of the people who depend on it.

You read about him digging in the wine press, the watchtower, the large wall.

Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.

The parable of the wicked tenants is rich in Old Testament imagery.

The image of the vineyard comes from the prophet Isaiah and represents the people of Israel.

The landowner is God who, from the time of Abraham, has lovingly and intentionally cultivated his people.

Then we're going to come back to the text and fix our gaze on four marvelous facts.

Okay? Now, the context of the verse before we read it is the Parable of the, uh, Wicked Tenants.

You know the story? There was an owner who had a vineyard.

He rented it out to tenants.

This is the everycatholicman.com Gospel Devotional, where a man can draw closer to Jesus Christ, learn the Catholic faith, and grow in happiness by becoming a better Catholic son and Catholic father.

Today, we hear Jesus warn men of the terrible destruction that comes to those who oppose God in the parable of the wicked tenants.

We'll reflect upon the need for every Catholic man to build a virtue of gratitude so we can thank God for allowing him to be a Catholic man.

will also reflect upon the importance for every Catholic man to grow in the virtue of charity so he can receive grace from Jesus Christ and be fruitful in love.

Well, let's see what Jesus is accomplishing in today's gospel reading.

Entering Jerusalem for Passion Week, Jesus clashes with the Jewish leadership about his authority after he clears the temple.

Jesus rebukes and calls the Jewish leaders to repentance with several parables, including the parable of the wicked tenants.

In veiled terms, the parable of Jesus reveals God has given men a fruitful earth and sent prophets and ultimately his beloved son to call men to live holy lives.

And the gospel is Matthew 21, 33-46.

Parable of the wicked tenants.

Is that what your Bible calls it?

Wicked tenants.