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Continuing
our analysis of the Parables, today we will hear two more: the Parable
of the "Workers in the vineyard" and the Parable of the wicked tenants
which also makes mention of a vineyard. Christ often makes reference to
a vineyard to signify the Church or the vine for himself for example in
John we read that Christ said "I am the vine, ye
are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth
forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." (John 15:5)
Christ uses
the image of a vine because the branches of the vine can grow and cover
vast distances especially if they are not pruned down every year.
Symbolically it represents Christ who like the vine will reach far and
wide and will become known throughout the world as the saviour of
mankind. In the Old Testament the vineyard is often used to represent
Israel although usually in their falling away from grace as in the verse
from the Book of Jeremiah: "Yet I had planted thee
as a fruitful vine, completely true: how then art thou turned into a
strange vine of bitterness?" (Jeremiah 2:21)
But a good
vine produces a good wine and its says that wine "cheereth God and man"
(Judges 9:13) and that wine makes glad the heart of man (Psalm 103:15
KJV 104). In the New Testament wine truly becomes the joy of life by
being transformed into the very Blood of Christ.
Let's then
hear the first of today's Parables known as the Workers in the Vineyard.
"For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that
is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers
into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny
a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third
hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, And said unto
them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give
you. And they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and
ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out,
and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here
all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He
saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right,
that shall ye receive. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard
saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire,
beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were
hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when
the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and
they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it,
they murmured against the goodman of the house, Saying, These last have
wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have
borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them, and
said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a
penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last,
even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine
own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first,
and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen." St
Matthew 20:1-16
The Parable
can be interpreted in two ways. The first, third, six, ninth and
eleventh hours can be the various moments in an individual's life when
the heart first hears and accepts the summons of the Word of God. Thus
the first hour is someone's infant years, the third hour adolescence,
the sixth hour maturity, the ninth hour retirement age and the eleventh
hour extreme old age just before death or they can represent the various
periods of the Church's history, when one or another nation was first
summoned to take part in the work of salvation and the Kingdom of God.
The first nation was Israel who were prepared by the Prophets, John the
Baptist and the God-man himself to accept work in the vineyard of the
Lord. Of this nation we have the Apostles and then other preachers who
carried the Good Tidings throughout the whole world. The Gospel summons
individual men and whole nations to work in Christ's fields. It calls
all men to God's work who stand idle in the market place, spiritually
adrift and unemployed.
The parable
begins with the rising of the sun which is the first hour or in our
times 6 o'clock in the morning, and ends with the evening the twelfth
hour with is 6 o'clock in the evening or in spiritual terms the end of a
man's life, his hour of death or the Second coming of Christ.
A vineyard
needs care to bring forth good fruit, but it doesn't need many workers
until the time for harvesting the fruit. Then many workers are needed
and the owner of the vineyard must go out very early in the morning to
find them. In the Parable the householder is Christ and the vineyard is
the Church. Christ went out to hire labourers. Here we see two things:
one - that Christ himself summons us Himself. In John's Gospel he says
to the Apostles "Ye have not chosen me, but I have
chosen you" (John 15:16). Every good thought, every good impulse
to labour for the Lord, for the salvation of one's soul, comes from the
Lord: The Lord calls all unto salvation, calls all into His vineyard,
into His Church to labour; but it depends on man to obey or not to obey
this divine call. And two, it says that Christ hired labourers. Here we
should not take every word literally to the letter and seek for a
detailed explanation with a deep spiritual meaning. It is the normal
thing to hire men and pay them for the work they do, but God never pays
his servants. God promises a reward but it is never a payment for a job
well done.
Having found
the workers he agrees with them for a penny a day. If you remember last
week's talk on the talents, a penny a day was the usual wage for a day's
work during that time. According to the Law a worker had to be paid at
the end of each day and not to be postponed until the other day to
receive the reward for his hard work: "The wages
of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the
morning." (Lev. 19:13)
Then at
about the third hour, the Lord went out and saw others standing idle in
the marketplace, and told them also to go and work in the vineyard and
he would give them whatever was right. The hours are calculated with the
rising of the sun which during the equinox there are 12 hours of
daylight and 12hours of darkness. If sunrise is at 6am then the third
hour is 9am. No one had hired these men so they were gathered in the
market place hoping that someone would come along with an offer of work.
That they were standing idle refers that they were without spiritual
enlightenment and therefore were not working for their salvation. Their
life was idle and without meaning. But note that the parable is not
about those who refuse the divine calling because everyone mentioned was
at some time waiting to be summoned to work. Also the parable is not
about men who of their own initiative go and work in the vineyard
without expecting to be paid at the end of the day.
The Lord
said to them go into the vineyard and whatever is right I will give you.
With the first workers the Lord agreed on a wage of one penny for a
whole days work. With the second group who began work three hours later
there s no agreement, but rather he reserves the right to give them what
he feels would be deserving. At any rate, they would not have expected
to be paid a full penny.
At the sixth hour which is midday, again the Lord went out and found
others standing idle and again at the ninth hour. The sixth hour is
midday and the ninth 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Again with these he
agreed to give them what is right according to the hour they began work.
Then at the
eleventh hour, just one hour before sunset and work would come to a
stop, the Lord again goes out and finds others standing idle. The Lord
asks them why they had stood there all day doing nothing and they
replied that no one had hired them. They were therefore willing and able
to work. But if we consider the interpretation of the hours as the
various stages of our lives, it shows that we each obey God's calling
when we are mature enough to accept it. God finds everyone when each is
ready to hear his word. This doesn't mean that God waits until that
moment when we will accept him to summon us, the Lord tells us in the
Parable that he went out very early to hire labourers, he summons us
from our infant age and at various stages in our life, but we don't hear
this calling because we are not yet ready to receive him. The men of the
eleventh hour probably began thinking of God because they were extremely
old and approaching death, a time in a person's life when the mind is no
longer preoccupied with the carnal passions, but with death and the fear
of the unknown. But here the Lord reassures us that it is never too
late, that even at this very late hour he is merciful and compassionate
and will accept us into his kingdom if we also desire it. The thief on
the Cross lived his life distant from God and his commandments but at
the hour of his death the Lord accepted him into his kingdom because at
that moment his heart accepted and allowed the Lord to enter in and
enlighten him.
So the last
men go into the vineyard to work for only an hour and when evening was
come being the twelfth hour or 6 o'clock in the evening, the Lord tells
the steward to gather the labourers and give them their wages. The
twelfth hour signifies the hour of the Last judgement when all will be
called to give an account of the work they have done or it can signify
the end of someone's life and the personal judgement that follows. The
steward can be an angel appointed to supervise the vineyard or if the
Householder refers to God the Father then it can refer to Christ the
Messiah, but here we should not look for a an allegorical
interpretation; it is possible that Christ just introduced the steward
to help give a more complete picture to the parable.
Significant
is the way the steward was to give out the wages, he was to begin with
the last to be hired and work down to the first to be hired. This is
extremely unusual; one would expect those who had be working from the
very beginning to first get their reward but they are purposely left
till last so that they can see what is given to the others. The men of
the eleventh hour are paid a penny for only an hour's work, also the men
of the ninth, sixth and third hours. Some of these men especially those
of the third hour might have thought that it was unfair for the men of
the eleventh hour to receive the same as them, but no one complained
because even they should not have received a full days wage. Seeing
everyone get a penny the men of the first hour thought that if everyone
else had received a full day's wage then they should be entitled to
more, but they also were given a penny. They considered this very unfair
and murmured and complained to the owner. How could he give them the
same as the men of the eleventh hour who only worked an hour? They had
laboured and sweated in the scorching sun all day, but the men of the
eleventh hour worked only an hour in the coolness of the evening: it was
unjust that they should not be given more. Their souls felt envy,
unfriendliness, and condemnation of the owner's unfairness, which hurt
their pride. How could those called "first" be equal to those who came
"last?" The parable is not trying to say that there is envy in the
kingdom of God. The righteous give their souls for another person and
rejoice when someone is saved. The parable wants to teach us that envy
can be a stumbling block and might be a cause for us to lose our
participation in the Kingdom of Heaven.
The elder
brother in the parable of the prodigal son also spoke in a similar
manner: "Lo, these many years do I serve thee,
neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never
gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: but as soon as
this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou
hast killed for him the fatted calf" (Luke 15:29-30).
Envy can
undermine the quality of our labour in the Lord's vineyard. We can work
all day in a bad mood and do nothing good, but in one hour we can do
much if it is done with love and trust in the Lord. Envy is a human
weakness which we see all too often in life and especially in the
Church. We see people who from a young age have devoted themselves to
God and the Church diligently praying and keeping the fasts and
fulfilling everything the Church requires of them, but then envy
overcomes them and destroys all their good work when they see someone
who has never led a Christian life suddenly change and is accepted into
the bosom of the Church on an equal level with themselves. They see the
grace of the Holy Spirit shine brighter in them than in themselves and
are overcome with envy. They cannot understand why after all those years
of devoting themselves to the Church with prayer and fasting, they
shouldn’t shine brighter.
The Lord,
hearing their complaints doesn't want to punish them, but correct them
and make them understand that he is compassionate. He doesn't call them
wicked and slothful servants as we heard in last week's parable of the
talents but friends. And if they are to remain friends they need to be
reprimanded and made to understand the error of their envy. The Lord
said to one of them: "why do you think I have wronged you, didn't we
agree that your reward for working in my vineyard would be a penny? I
haven't done you any injustice, but on the contrary I have fulfilled my
promise to you. Therefore stop complaining and take your reward and go
home. If I have fulfilled my promise to you why should you be concerned
what I do to others? If I want to give the last the same reward as the
first that is my concern and not yours. Surely it's my right to do with
my money as I want. You complain because my goodness and compassion for
others has become an excuse for you to express your envy.
Notice that
in the parable of the talents the money given to the wicked servant was
taken from him and he was punished and cast into outer darkness, but
here we have no punishment other than the reprimand: a gentle slap on
the back of the hand. Those who complained still received their reward
just as the others and the reward is the kingdom of heaven. The parable
ends with the Lord saying "So the last shall be first, and the first
last: for many be called, but few chosen." In other words, as you have
heard in this parable everyone who worked in the vineyard will receive
their reward, whether they became disciples of the kingdom from the
beginning of the Christian era or whether they became disciples in the
last times. In the distribution of the reward, there will be no
distinction between the first and the last. It is possible for the pious
and devoted servant who receives his calling at the eleventh hour to
receive the same reward as the pious and devoted servant of the first
hour. But there is a warning at the very end "for many be called, but
few chosen." The many be called does not refer to everyone, but to those
who accepted the calling, and of those only a few will actually make it
to the kingdom of heaven because they have not learnt to overcome their
human weaknesses. Maybe then the first did lose their participation in
the kingdom after all.
This parable
of the Lord teaches us that God sends grace and eternal life to man, not
by measuring his works or his time inside the Church, but through God's
mercy. The Jews thought that they deserved greater reward as the
original members of the Messiah's Kingdom, greater than for Christians
of non-Jewish descent who had joined this Kingdom later. But God has
different measures of righteousness. He values sincerity, diligence,
pure love, and humility more than the external human works done only as
a formality.
St. John
Chrysostom used this parable as the basis of his Easter Sermon which we
read every year on Easter night before Holy Communion. I will read only
an extract from the sermon.
"Whosoever is weary of fasting, let him now receive his earnings.
Whosoever has laboured from the first hour, let him today accept his
just reward. Whosoever has come after the third hour, let him with
thanksgiving take part in the celebration. Whosoever has arrived after
the sixth hour, let him have no misgivings, for he too shall suffer no
loss. Whosoever has delayed until the ninth hour, let him approach
without hesitation. Whosoever has arrived only at the eleventh hour, let
him not fear the delay, for the Master is gracious: He receives the last
even as the first; He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour,
as well as to him that has laboured from the first; and to him that
delayed He gives mercy, and the first He restores to health; to the one
He gives, to the other He bestows. And He accepts the works, and
embraces the contemplation; the deed He honours, and the intention He
commends.
Therefore let everyone enter into the joy of the Lord. The first and the
last, receive your wages. Rich and poor, dance with each other. The
temperate and the slothful, honour this day. Ye who have fasted and ye
who have not, rejoice this day. The table is fully laden; all of you
delight in it. The calf is plenteous, let no one depart hungry. Let
everyone enjoy this banquet of faith."
Let's now
see our second parable for today – the Parable of the Wicked tenants.
All three of the synoptic Gospels give this parable and basically the
details are the same. The version we will hear is from St. Matthew.
"There was a certain householder, which planted a
vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and
built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far
country: And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants
to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the
husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and
stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and
they did unto them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his son,
saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son,
they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and
let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out
of the vineyard, and slew him. When the lord therefore of the vineyard
cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, He
will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard
unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their
seasons. Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The
stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the
corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you,
and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever
shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall
fall, it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and
Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.
But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude,
because they took him for a prophet " St Matthew 21:33-46
As mentioned
in the beginning of the talk, in the Old Testament the vineyard is often
used to represent Israel and in this parable Christ is telling his
audience how Israel was his very special and chosen people and what he
did to protect them from other nations, how the spiritual leaders
mistreated his help and in the end turned from him. As a result the
promised he had made with them was taken from them and given to other
nations who would accept him and live according to his commandments.
As Christ
began the Parable, the Highpriests, the Scribes and Elders who heard him
and knowing the Scriptures, would have immediately known that he was
speaking about Israel because Christ described Israel as had the Prophet
Isaiah: "Now will I sing for the wellbeloved a
song of My beloved touching My vineyard. My wellbeloved had a vineyard
upon an high hill, in a fruitful place. And I made a hedge round about
it, and digged a trench, and planted a choice vine of Sorek, and built a
tower in the midst of it, and digged out a wine vat therein: and I
waited for it to bring forth grapes; but it brought forth thorns."
(Isaiah 5:1-2)
In the
parable God the Father is the Householder and Israel is the vineyard
which once was in Egypt a dark land of sin and idolatry. To protect them
from the dangers of idolatry God miraculously lifted them from this land
of sin and transported them and planted them in Palestine, the Promised
Land. Here the Jews increased in numbers and spread throughout Palestine
like the vine in a field. But they also had to increase spiritually: to
preserve the faith in One God and to learn to love him with all the
heart with all their soul, with all their strength, and with all their
mind. God didn't plant his choice vineyard and let it grow without also
providing measures that would help protect if from those who could do
harm to it. He hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and
built a tower. These are all things that God gave to Israel. The hedging
round about to protect it refers to the Law which he gave Israel which
if they preserved and fulfilled it would protect them from idolatry,
from the devil and from the influences of other nations. The tower he
built from which the vineyard could be guarded against enemies refers to
the temple. With their worship and prayers in the temple they could
raise themselves spiritually to a higher level and not remain glued to
earthly things. The Temple would help prepare them for the way of the
Lord until the coming of the Lord who would be their true temple. The
winepress, which the Lord dugout, is symbolic of the sacrificial altar
where the Jews could make their animal sacrifices. Although God allowed
animal sacrifices it doesn't mean that he was pleased with animal blood
and meat. He condescended and allowed it because of the people's
weakness and need to make these kind of offerings. He tolerated these
sacrifices as a way of preparation for the people to accept the only
true sacrifice that would take place at Golgotha which would save
mankind. The winepress is also symbolic of the mystical presence of
Christ who as the Lamb of God would take upon himself the sins of the
world.
The Prophet
Isaiah describing Christ's Ascension into heaven, presents the angels
asking Christ: "Wherefore are thy garments red,
and thine apparel as from a trodden winepress?" (Isaiah 63:2) In
other words his garments and flesh which had been baptized in his own
Blood were red and resembled someone who had just come out of a
winepress after treading on the grapes. Thus the winepress is symbolic
of the coming of the Messiah and his sacrifice on the Cross.
After
preparing and taking all precautious for the vineyard, the householder
let it out to husbandmen and went into a far country. The husbandmen or
the farmers are the Highpriests, the Scribes and elders who God
entrusted with the spiritual care to teach and guide his chosen people.
After letting out the vineyard, the householder departed and went into a
far country which denotes a period of divine silence, a period where God
respected their freewill and independence and allowed them to live
without any further interference or guidance from him. He had given them
everything they needed to live righteously and live a life pleasing to
God. All that was needed was for Israel to respond and bring to
realization the role which God had assigned it.
But the
Spiritual leaders of the people proved to be evil and did nothing of
what they should have done. They closed their eyes and ears so that they
would not see or hear all the things God had done for them and what he
commanded them to do in the Law. Through arrogance and self-centeredness
they disregarded the Commandments and forgot about God and became as
strangers to him. But the time drew near when God would check to see
what they had done. The time of the fruit drew near and God sent his
servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.
The servants are the Prophets and the fruits refer to the good works of
the people, the observance of the Law and the spiritual virtues they
should have cultivated in their hearts. God sent Israel many prophets to
remind the kings and priests of their obligations but they showed
disregard and contempt for God and his prophets: as it says in the
Parable they beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. On the
one hand they had committed the gravest sin by murdering God's
ambassadors and on the other hand they acted as though they had done
nothing by going to worship and pray in the temple, which they did only
as a formality to appear to the people as good and virtuous men. They
showed no remorse for their wicked actions and even believed that they
were righteous because they knew how to interpret the Law. They had
outwardly observed the Law and appeared to be obedient to the word of
God: so where was the need for them to repent? They were therefore raged
with the prophets telling them that they had fallen away from God and
the Law and were in need of repentance.
But God is
slow to anger, patient, and long-suffering and sends even more servants
in the hope they will hear them and repent of their evil ways, but again
the Spiritual leaders of Israel took the prophets and slew them also.
Lastly, God
sent his Son to them hoping that they would at least hear him, but they
said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let
us seize on his inheritance. Here Christ is telling them what they will
soon do to him, how they will take council against him and condemn him
to suffer death on the Cross. Notice that they said this is the heir.
They recognized that Christ was the Son of God and the rightful King of
Israel. They thought that if they did away with him then they would be
able to seize his inheritance, in other words they would have complete
control and rule over the people of Israel. So they caught him and cast
him out of the vineyard and slew him. Christ even foretells them where
they would crucify him, out of the vineyard, outside of the city walls.
When the
lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those
husbandmen? Here the Lord is not referring to his glorious second
coming, because the nations have not yet been received into the Lord's
vineyard. He is referring to a time when God will return from the far
country he had gone, a time when he will no longer keep silent, but
demand of Israel to give account for what they have done. He asks them
what the Lord should do to these husbandmen so that their punishment
would be of their own judgment. They knew that the vineyard was Israel,
but their self righteousness and arrogance blinded them to see that
Christ was talking about them personally. They therefore said that God
should destroy those wicked men, and rent out his vineyard to other
husbandmen, who would love and obey his laws and who would bring forth
good works and virtues.
Then Jesus
said to them: "Did ye never read in the
scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become
the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous
in our eyes?" Christ quoted them a verse from Psalm 117. He calls
himself a stone, a stone which the builders considered wasn't good
enough to be used in a building and so rejected it. The builders again
are the Highpriests, Scribes and Elders who accused Christ that he was
not of God but that he had a devil. They rejected him and cast him out
as a useless stone, but this stone which they thought was useless became
the cornerstone of a new building. A cornerstone is a stone that joins
and gives support to two walls and Christ joined together the Jews with
the other nations and became the cornerstone and head of the Church: he
is the cornerstone that joins together the Old and New Testaments. It is
marvellous because of the great glory this cornerstone will receive
which will also give support and glory to all the stones of the whole
building, to all the faithful members of the Church.
Christ
continues: Because you are the builders which rejected this cornerstone,
the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation which
will be able to bring forth worthy fruits of good works. He doesn't say
nations because all the nations will because as one nation of
Christians.
From the
image of the cornerstone Christ now uses another image of stone. Christ
is the stone and whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but
on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. Again these
images are taken from Isaiah and Daniel. In Daniel it says:
"Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out of a
mountain without hands, and it smote the image upon his feet of iron and
earthenware, and utterly reduced them to powder." (Daniel 2:34)
The stone cut out of the mountain without hands is Christ who will crush
to powder the great idol created by king Nebuchadnezzar. In the parable
Christ uses this image to warn the Highpriests and Pharisees, who were
scandalized and offended by him, that they cannot do him any harm and if
they come against him they will trip over this stone and hurt
themselves. But if he was to fall on them then they would be crushed to
powder. Possibly a reference to when he will come again in glory and
then they will be destroyed and cast into hellfire.
And when the
chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that
he spake of them. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared
the multitude, because they took him for a prophet. They feared the
people, but they didn't fear God. Israel had not seen a prophet for 500
years the last being the prophet Malachi. The people therefore who heard
the teachings of John the Baptist and Christ, and saw that they were not
influenced by the Highpriests and Pharisees, showed them the greatest
respect and honour.
We have
heard two parables concerning vineyards. With the first Christ compared
us to workers who are summoned to work in the vineyard called the Church
and with the second we are compared to the actual vines in the vineyard
which must bring forth good fruit. Elsewhere Christ describes himself as
the vine and we as the branches. Like the branches of the vine that
receive their strength from the stem and roots to bring forth fruit so
also we must live with Christ to receive our strength and bring forth
spiritual fruits of grace. Let the example of the lazy and wicked
farmers prompt us to not to be like them but to become good workers of
the Lord. Let us remain forever joined with Christ who is the
householder and true vine.
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