For every day during Lent, Bishop Edward Malesic writes a Scripture reflection for the faithful. Follow the bishop on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Click HERE for the readings.
Jesus compared Israel, in this parable, to a fine vineyard. God is the landowner who has leased it out to tenants to care of it. But when the landowner (God) returned, the tenants (the people of Israel) refused to give God what was his due.
So, the landowner (God) eventually sent his son to make things right. Of course, the son of the landowner was Jesus. As Jesus told the parable, the son was eventually killed by the tenants who thought that they would inherit everything. Wrong! Even those who heard the parable knew that the owner of the vineyard would “Put those wretched men to a wretched death and lease his vineyard out to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper times.”
We, the people of the Church, are the new tenants of God’s vineyard. But we are just as human as the former tenants were. We are also tempted to hold back from God what is God’s due. We keep for ourselves what belongs to God. We reject his son, at times, thinking that things will be better for us without him.
What do we owe God? What will God expect from us when he returns?