“And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” Luke 20: 15-16
I must admit that I am baffled by the response of those hearing Jesus’ parable here. They are shocked that the vineyard owner will “destroy” those who killed his son and that he will allow others to rent out the land and serve this master. For me, it seems a matter of justice that those who do not want to give the owner what he is owed go so far as to act violently, all so they can have an inheritance that is not theirs anyway, get what they have inflicted. It seems fair, even righteous.
At least in the eyes of the flesh. Perhaps those listening could only see themselves as the tenants, people working a difficult land and getting precious little of what that land provided. All of the work seems to be for the benefit of the one who does not labor, and the son, someone who does even less work, is the one expected to get it all when the master dies. Perhaps they could not see the master as anything more than a rich oppressor.
We often teach our children that life is not fair. But when we live in the spiritual realm, we find that life is better than fair. We find that we are not always deserving, by any measure, of the little that we have. And we may assume that the God of the Universe has been unfair to us, has not appreciated all that we have done. And that place of spiritual entitlement is where we find our doom.
We are tenants given a charge. I am not saying we should allow oppression and evil. But the listeners of this story missed that the owner of the vineyard represents God our Father. We err mightily to assume all wealthy people of power are evil, and we err even more when we think of God as a king we can serve until we see an opportunity to put ourselves in power.
Lord of all people, great and small, help us to be mindful of the grace you have given in allowing us to work for you. Let us serve with love and respect and humility. In the name of the Son, Our Savior, Jesus the Christ.
