Gospel: Mt 21:33-43, 45-46*
Listen to another example: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a hole for the
winepress, built a watchtower, leased the vineyard to tenants, and then went to a distant country. When harvest time came,
the landowner sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the harvest. But the tenants seized his servants, beat
one, killed another, and stoned a third. (...) Finally, he sent his son, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants
saw the son, they thought, ‘This is the one who is to inherit the vineyard. Let us kill him, and his inheritance will be ours.’ So they
seized him, threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Now, what will the owner of the vineyard do with the tenants when
he comes?” They said to him, “He will bring those evil men to an evil end, and lease the vineyard to others, who will pay him in due
time.” And Jesus replied, “Have you never read what the Scriptures say? The stone which the builders rejected has become
the cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, and we marvel at it. (...)

Reflection:

The hostilities between Jesus and the religious authorities have now
reached a point when confrontation is inevitable. They tried to court Jesus
so that He could be one of them thereby strengthening their own authorities by
recruiting the latest wonder boy that appeared from nowhere. But Jesus does
not buy the teachings of the established religious authorities. He finds their
legalistic interpretation of the Law as stifling the spirit of the Law. Thus they
see each other in opposite divide. Jesus in this gospel further split Himself apart
from them. He told in plain words that they will not inherit the kingdom for they
did not respect the prophets sent by God, nor His only Son. The die is cast. From
that time on, the religious authorities will seek His downfall.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2021