NOTES for Mat 21:43-46

The Lord is likened to a stone. We often find this very difficult to understand. For us, the Lord and the Kingdom of God are light. But light seems to be the opposite: something light, incorporeal, and weightless. Yet Peter, the first apostle, is called a stone or rock; the Church is our rock, and the gates of hell will not prevail against her. Let us also think about Jewish and, more broadly, Mediterranean building culture. It is a culture of stone. The Lord always appeals to the most basic things, to what a person sees around him every day, to what makes up his very life. Moreover, it has been suggested that Jesus speaks of a stone because of a play on words: “ben” means son, while “eben” means stone. The apparent contradiction between these images, visible to a superficial glance, is in reality only an expression of their combined fullness. The Lord is our light and warmth. The Lord is our pillar and foundation, our support.

The parable of the wicked tenants, besides sadness over the injustice and cruelty of the vineyard workers, also brings a ray of light and hope in the Lord. One would think: how can these tenants even imagine that after beating the servants and killing the son and heir, the inheritance will pass to them?

Here it becomes clear that from the outside it is much easier to see how foolishly and blasphemously a person sometimes builds his plans. How little suited he is for what he is trying to claim. And what fate awaits him? The modern listener's reaction to such a story differs little from the content of verse 41.

But behind all this we see light: already here and now the Lord is speaking to the people about His Resurrection. Yes, it is the language of parables, but this is the very form of narration He chooses. Despite the blindness of the builders, the rejected stone becomes the most important one, the cornerstone; and it is from the corner that the construction of the whole building begins, and on it depends whether the building will be solid or flimsy. And the will of the Lord is fulfilled, bringing joy and exultation to His people. The Messiah, the Son, the Heir rises and begins to build His Church.

Today's reading again offers us the parable of the vineyard told by Jesus. This parable, like all parables of this kind, is messianic, and the vineyard here, as in the Bible in general, becomes a symbol of the messianic Kingdom.

To understand the parable it is important to keep in mind that the Pharisaic movement was a messianic movement. Its participants considered themselves to be the very remnant of which the prophets spoke. Of course, the prophets spoke of the remnant with a small part of the people in mind, one that, after passing through trials, and the Babylonian exile became such a trial for the Jewish people, would preserve the faith and meet the Messiah promised by God. But already after the exile and after the people's return to the land of their fathers, a brotherhood movement formed in the Synagogue, and its members began to consider themselves precisely the remnant. They were called "Pharisees," that is, "the separated ones," "sectarians." Perhaps at first this was a somewhat contemptuous nickname, but in Gospel times members of the brotherhood already called themselves "Pharisees" willingly, and even with a certain defiance. They considered themselves the spiritual heirs of the prophets and the guardians of the traditions of prophetic messianism.

Jesus places them in the same line with those who in ancient times persecuted and killed the prophets (vv. 34-36). From His point of view, they had in fact turned out to be heirs not of the prophets, but of their persecutors. And they completed what their predecessors had begun (vv. 37-39).

And here what actually makes the cross of Christ inevitable took place. The listeners understood Jesus perfectly. And they decided to kill Him (vv. 45-46). Quite recently the matter could have been a theological discussion (vv. 23-27); now the discussion threatened to turn into bloodshed. And no wonder: the unwillingness to answer Jesus' question (vv. 25-27) was not accidental. There was a choice here: to acknowledge the obvious and abandon their own views and concepts, or to abandon nothing, closing their eyes to God's will. Jesus' interlocutors in fact choose the second. And if in this situation Jesus, even after denouncing His listeners, had not insisted on anything, perhaps everything would have passed without conflict, and there would have appeared the possibility of coexistence among different points of view, of which there were already many in the Synagogue of Gospel times.

But Jesus says directly that the issue is not opinions, but the Kingdom, and here there can be no compromise (vv. 43-44). And His listeners understand that the matter is no longer a theological dispute, but survival: if this strange Teacher is right, they will have to leave, giving place to others. And He will not yield just like that. He puts the question bluntly and will stand His ground to the end. Then those who do not want to leave and do not want to accept have only one possibility left. For if this Man really dies, then the problem will resolve itself: it will become clear that He is no Messiah and no prophet; therefore those who did not accept Him were right and can sleep peacefully. In this way, rejection of Christ makes His cross inevitable.

Jesus gives old words new meanings. He tells His opponents the ancient parable from the prophet Isaiah (ch. 5) about how his (Isaiah's) friend planted a good vineyard, but thorns and wild grapes grew in it - yet the main meaning of this parable is radically changed by Him.

There the Lord did not receive fruit from His vineyard because His people did not fulfill the elementary moral demands of the law: they oppressed, killed, and deceived one another; this is precisely how their unbelief and "not knowing God" were revealed. Jesus' parable, on the contrary, is addressed to righteous, devout people who are certain that they are the very ones who know God and bring Him the best fruits. Here the "fruitlessness" of the vineyard is caused by the fact that its "vinedressers" do not know how to believe: they reject the prophets and Christ Himself. It is Jesus Himself who here takes the place of Isaiah's moral demands: He is the One in whom the people of God's Kingdom must bear fruit, and the One for whom all the vineyards of the earth were planted.

Jesus describes a terrible chain of violence and murder. And the chief priests and the righteous Pharisees immediately recognize themselves in the murderers. Sadly, this says that they were, perhaps, more honest than we are. After all, the situation Jesus described has not gone anywhere. This is what has happened and still happens; it is the constant temptation of every believer: to decide that everything the Lord has given is MINE. We forget that we were appointed to preserve and increase God's gifts for His glory, and we begin to use them according to our own judgment. And we also consider God's vineyard, the Church, our own property.

How much we dislike those who do not know how to behave, who ask foolish questions and keep us from enjoying our time in church. How much we dislike those who express a point of view different from ours. After all, we know the truth; after all, the Lord has revealed everything to us. Now we have complete information and are self-sufficient... And right here it turns out that God is no longer needed. We ourselves know everything. We have read the Bible; we know how to organize the Church. He gave us everything needed; He entrusted His vineyard to us. Now we will deal with this vineyard ourselves. And in our confidence that we are right, without noticing it ourselves, we can begin to drive out those whom He sent into His vineyard. And it will turn out that in this vineyard there is no place for the master, the Lord...

But today's reading tells us what can be done. The Lord gives us His vineyard so that we may bear fruit for Him. And our only way to break this terrible chain of rejecting God is to be open to Him and to every person whom He sends to meet us.