The Vineyard

Our first reading from the book of Isaiah is often referred to as the Song of the Vineyard or the Parable of the Vineyard. It begins with a lyric (“I will sing for the one I love”), becomes a courtroom drama (“judge between me and my vineyard”), and finally makes it clear that the object of the Lord’s judgement is the house of Israel and the people of Judah. The language is poetical, depicting a bride and groom figuratively as a vineyard and its owner. We know from the rest of the Bible that the bride is none other than the people of God – the Church, the bride of Christ, and of course the groom is Christ himself. Isaiah’s prompting to share this song or parable will have served as a powerful and prophetic illustration of how far God’s people had fallen, and using allegory will have brought them unknowingly to a place of self-condemnation. It helps to set both the scene and the context for our Gospel reading.

Let’s be clear. The owner of the vineyard:

• Planted it on a fertile hillside.
• Dug it up and cleared it of stones.
• Planted it with the choicest vines.
• Built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress.

That sounds amazing, doesn’t it? Especially if you like wine, as I do! Everything was there that was necessary for the vineyard to bear good fruit, but it yielded only bad fruit, which can be literally translated as stinking or rotten fruit.  No wonder the owner of the vineyard declares, “What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it?” The people of God had squandered the opportunity that God had presented to them, and when he looked for justice, instead he saw bloodshed. When he looked for righteousness, instead he heard cries of distress. As a result, the vineyard was destroyed, and it became a barren wasteland. And the ones responsible for this outcome were the people of God. Have you ever noticed how easy it sometimes is for people to blame God for a calamity that they brought on themselves?

We are so blessed by God and given everything we need to bear good fruit. It’s such a priceless gift and opportunity that we should never squander. That’s why pruning is sometimes necessary. That’s why we must seek justice and righteousness. That’s why we can’t afford to make space for bad fruit.

The illustration and allegory continue in our Gospel reading in which the landowner is God, the vineyard is Israel, the tenants or farmers are the Jewish religious leaders, the landowner’s servants are the prophets and priests who remained faithful to God and preached to Israel, the landowner’s son is Jesus, and the other tenants are the Gentiles.

At the time of harvest, the landowner sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit, fruit that was rightfully his. But the tenants seized his servants, beating, killing, and stoning them. More servants were sent, and they received the same treatment. These “servants” refer to the prophets who had been sent to Israel over the centuries. Some had been beaten (Jeremiah 26:7–11; 38:1–28), some had been killed (tradition says Isaiah was killed; John the Baptist had been killed, Matthew 14:1–12), and some had been stoned (2 Chronicles 24:21). Jesus was reminding the religious leaders that God’s prophets often had been ridiculed and persecuted by God’s people.

After all his servants (the prophets) had been killed, the landowner sent his son (Jesus), thinking that surely the tenants would respect his son. We have to bear in mind the historical context in which the law stated that property would go to anyone in possession of it when the master died – unless of course there was a legitimate heir. So, the tenants assumed that by killing the son and heir to the property, they would obtain the inheritance. In both cases (the story or parable and history), people who should have recognized rightful authority rejected it. At the end of the day, we as the people of God are responsible for what we know and in seeking to follow Christ we have no excuse. Jesus said, “I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

We know and profess in the Church of England in the 39 articles that “Scripture contains all things necessary to Salvation.” We must endeavour to make Christ the cornerstone of our life, to write Scripture on the tablets of our hearts, to be good stewards of what God has blessed us with, and faithfully seek to follow him. Amen