At the Table of the Word

Isaiah’s Song of the Vineyard (chapter 5) serves as a background for the imagery of Israel as “the vineyard of the Lord.” This image, familiar to Jesus and his contemporaries, is one that Matthew’s Gospel refers to several times. For an agrarian society, the vineyard was a familiar reality. The biblical world knew well what it took to go from seed to vine to grape to wine. 

Matthew’s text is the only canonical Gospel to employ the word “church,” and for him the vineyard is an image for the church, a realization of the kingdom here on earth. Some passages in his Gospel deal with the expected behavior of the workers in the vineyard, that is, Christians. Other passages speak of the final judgment, when the owner of the vineyard will come to call each of us to account for our actions and we will be rewarded or punished. 

The parable of the laborers in the vineyard (20:1–16) addresses the age-old issue of God’s mercy and our human worthiness. As Jonah was resentful of God’s offer of forgiveness to the people of Nineveh, so too there were Christians in the early church who were resentful of those they thought undeserving of God’s mercy. But Jesus challenges them, and us, to think otherwise. We are all sinners, and so we are all in need of God’s mercy. Each of us comes to God at our own time. Some of us work in the vineyard for the whole day, others arrive in the middle of our lives, and still others are converted as our lives are ending. Jesus’ parable teaches us that God’s mercy is available to us at any time during our lives. He challenges us not to be resentful of those who come to the Lord late in life. 

As God called Moses and David while they were still tending their flocks and as Jesus called some of his disciples while they were fishing, so too the owner of the vineyard goes out to find workers; he does not wait for them to come to him looking for a job. Their willingness to work in his vineyard comes at different times of the day, and they are all promised a fair wage. Though it may seem unfair to us that a worker who labored for only an hour receives the same wage as one who worked all day, Jesus reminds us that the landowner can pay his workers as much as he wants; the money is his and he can be generous. Those who worked all day are not cheated — they receive the wage originally promised and it should be enough to make them happy, as it is the normal wage. But when they find out that the others receive the same wage, they are upset. Who are we, he asks us, to be envious of God’s mercy (20:15)? 

The mystery of God’s grace is beyond our understanding, but we are called to act on it when it is offered. In the parable of the two sons (21:28–32), Jesus contrasts those who first accept a challenge but fail to act on it with those who originally refuse the challenge but later have a change of heart. Some people take longer to realize God’s call. 

The eschatological imagery in the parable of the wicked tenants (21:33–46) speaks of the judgment that will befall those who mistreat the servants and kill the son of the owner of the vineyard. The symbolism here is quite clear: The laborers represent the prophets while the son who was killed by the wicked tenants is Jesus. To make the connection clearer, Matthew changes the details so that the son is first thrown out of the vineyard and then killed; in convicting Jesus of blasphemy, his opponents expel him from their community before handing him over to the gentiles for execution. 

In a move reminiscent of some Old Testament prophets, Jesus has his audience pronounce judgment on themselves without realizing he is talking about them. They declare that the owner will take the vineyard away and give it to others “who will give him the produce at the harvest time” (21:41). Jesus concurs with them and says, “The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom” (21:43). 

May we work tirelessly in the vineyard for the good of all, sinners and saints alike. ML

What do YOU Think?
Send an e-mail to ML Editor or post an entry on the ML Current Issue Discussion Board. (All submissions become the property of RPI and may be edited for length.)