Matthew 21:33-43
Patience, Praise and Pain
by Rev. Jack Peterson, YA
Reprinted with permission of "The Arlington Catholic
Herald"
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Matthew wrote to show that Christ
was the
Messiah and fulfilled the Jewish prophecies.
Jesus
said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: "Hear another parable.
There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine
press in it, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went on a
journey. When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants
to obtain his produce. But the tenants seized the servants and one they
beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned. Again he sent other
servants, more numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the same
way. Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, 'They will respect my
son.' But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, 'This is
the heir, Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.'
They
seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What will the
owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?" They answered
him, "He will put those wretched men to a wretched death and lease his vineyard
to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper times." Jesus
said to them, "Did you never read the scriptures: 'The stone that the builders
rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is
wonderful in our eyes'? 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."
Patience
I went to
confession last Saturday. God’s patience with me is extraordinary. Over and
over, down through the years, our Heavenly Father has extended His compassionate
mercy to me. While I am able to rejoice greatly in a measure of growth in prayer
and virtue over time, I still bring many of the same struggles and sins to
confession … and God is faithful to His promise of mercy.
Jesus recounts a
parable for us in the Gospel today that highlights God’s tremendous patience.
The parable is about a landowner who goes to great measures to carefully prepare
a vineyard and then sends out his servants at harvest time to gather his
produce. The tenants treat the landowner’s servants very poorly, beating one,
stoning another and even killing a third. The landowner then sends out other
servants, more numerous than the first ones, who are treated in the same
fashion. The landowner, who represents God, exercises remarkable patience with
his tenants. One could argue that his patience was unreasonable and certainly
inappropriate from a business perspective. The landowner is unexpectedly willing
to keep giving a second chance to his ungrateful, recalcitrant tenants.
Do I spend enough
time rejoicing in the patience God has exercised with me over the years?
Pain
I think that this
was one of the most painful parables for Jesus to tell. It is a little too close
to home … it is His story. The Landowner is a clear reference to God, the
Father. The servants generally are understood to be an allusion to the prophets
and judges in the Old Testament, like Jeremiah and Samson, whom the people
stoned, beat and killed. God spent a long time, more than 1,000 years, teaching
and shepherding His flock, gradually revealing Himself, His love and His truth
to the Hebrew people. However, many of the chosen people remained hard-hearted
and selfish.
I get sick to my
stomach imagining Jesus saying these next few lines. “Finally, he sent his son
to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son,
they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire
his inheritance.’ They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed
him.”
Do you strive in
your prayer life to better understand the suffering Jesus endured for your sake?
Praise
In your everyday
life, what do you find yourself praising? The weather, a nice meal, certain
sports victories (the Redskins are 2 and 1)? St. Paul in the first reading today
gives us a practical application of a challenge he issued in Rom 12:2: “Do not
be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind so that
you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.”
In this verse from Romans, Paul is teaching us that the grace of Christ, the
grace of conversion, demands the renewal of our minds.
In today’s
reading from his letter to the Philippians, Paul challenges us to reflect
critically about the things we think about, even the things we praise. The
Apostle to the Gentiles states, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is
true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is
lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is
anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
God is inviting
us through Paul the Apostle to spend more time pondering and praising those
things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely and gracious. This does not
mean that we should not praise the Lord for nice weather, a meal cooked with
skill and love, or even a new and improved University of Virginia football team.
Rather, it is an invitation to ponder deep, lasting and moral beauty and
goodness.
A young person
recounted to me recently a very intense commitment to live in a completely
chaste relationship with his girlfriend. I spent some time praising God for His
grace in this young person’s life.
What will you
praise God for tonight as you prepare for bed?
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