What Then Will the Owner of the Vineyard Do?

What Then Will the Owner of the Vineyard Do?

Monday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love.  2 Peter 1:6-7

What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come, put the tenants to death, and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this Scripture passage: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes?" Mark 12:9-11

Piety

All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
Barefoot servants, too
Outside in the cold distance
A wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching
And the wind began to howl

Songwriter: Bob Dylan

All Along the Watchtower lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Audiam, Inc

Study

There is a perfectly transparent meaning to the Parable of the Tenants.  And it does not sit well with the Pharisees.  Perhaps this is where we began to realize that religion (“the opiate of the people”) was meant to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.  The comfortable Pharisees can see themselves throughout this story as the wildcat did growl.

The vineyard denotes Israel (Is 5:1–7). “Vineyard” or “vine” is used frequently as a metaphor for God’s people in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament.

Now let me sing of my friend,

my beloved’s song about his vineyard.

My friend had a vineyard

on a fertile hillside;

He spaded it, cleared it of stones,

and planted the choicest vines;

Within it, he built a watchtower,

and hewed out a wine press.

Then he waited for the crop of grapes,

but it yielded rotten grapes.

The tenant farmers are the religious leaders of Israel. God is the owner of the vineyard. His servants are his messengers, the prophets. All of the Synoptic Gospels agree that the beloved son who is killed is Jesus.

The punishment of the tenants points a finger of accusation bluntly in the direction of the religious leaders because of their infidelity to the Word of God. Without them to care for the vineyard that God entrusted to them, the ownership must transfer to others.  This refers to the people of the “new” Israel – the Gentiles, the Greeks or others who are evangelized into Christianity by the disciples as they roamed around the Mediterranean Sea region after Jesus ascended into heaven.

Although the Pharisees have been trying to trap and arrest Jesus, after hearing this story, they retreat for a while.

Action

Whether in the Isaiah version of the vineyard story or in Mark’s version, there is a prominent place for a watchtower in the vineyard.

The watchtower was a small sheltered tower in the midst of a vineyard.  These structures were very important during harvest time, where the whole family would often reside. The watchtower was a symbol of protection from enemies and thieves and rising above them. 

Perhaps Jesus is saying: “It’s not up to us to be judge and jury for other people.  It’s not up to us to decide who gets forgiven and who doesn’t- and make up your own interpretation of the laws and limits of God’s love.  God planted the field, God set up the fence, God knows the boundaries… not us (thank God!)  We need to be on guard for the enemies who will approach us and drive us off the course of love.

From the watchtower, the farmer could see the oncoming approach of the enemies. Having a tower in the vineyard was practically mandatory in ancient Palestine.  By mounting the watchtower, the vinegrower could get answers for life’s important questions.

• Where are my children? Climb up into the tower and look.
• How is the harvest? Climb the tower and see.
• Where are the workers? Look for them from the tower.

Where is your watchtower? 

• Where can you find peace amidst the strife in your family or at your work?  Praying from your tower.
• How can you solve difficult problems? Run down to the tower and receive guidance through quiet and private prayerful conversations with the Lord.
• Where can you find peace? Within you tower of refuge and strength.

From fences to sheep gates to watchtowers, God’s got it covered.  Embrace the truth that God put us in this vineyard for a purpose – for His purpose -- on purpose.  We did not sneak in under the fence on our own power and volition. We really are valued, and loved, and accepted by the One.  "I’m loveable.  God don’t make junk."  But, we have to show the Lord that we understand. If we go about our business like the Pharisees, we risk getting tossed out of the Vineyard.