What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this scripture: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is amazing in our eyes?"
˜ Mark 12:9-11
If you read this parable of the vineyard through the lens of human psychology, it seems irrational. Why would a vineyard owner keep sending slaves to collect his profits after even one of them was killed? Why would he send his only son after so many slaves had been beaten and killed? Why did the vineyard owner not bring a band of soldiers and kill the wicked tenants?
The parable is not about human logic; rather, it reveals something about the nature of God. Jesus recounts how God's chosen people repeatedly rejected a long line of prophets and ultimately even the Son of Man. A human vineyard owner would have acted swiftly after the first servant was killed, but God did not punish Israel after the first prophet was rejected. Instead, God sent many more prophets — including John the Baptist — and finally his only beloved Son. God's perseverance in sending one prophet after another shows his patience with the Israelites. God knows all too well the stubbornness of humankind and keeps hoping they will finally understand. But Jesus, in the parable, explains that killing the son of the vineyard owner is the final rejection of his word. After he himself is killed, Jesus says, God will destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. In the ancient world, abandonment by God often doomed a people to being conquered by another nation. Taking Jesus' message to the Gentiles would leave Israel vulnerable to its enemies. Less than 40 years later, during the First Jewish-Roman War, the temple would burn to the ground. Many Jewish people would be killed, captured to be enslaved or forced into exile. The war would rage on until the Romans triumphed at the Siege of Masada and eliminated the last of the Jewish rebellion.
This outcome brings up several difficult questions. How could a loving God exact such violent punishment on his chosen people? Why wouldn't an all-knowing God find a method that was certain to enlighten the Israelites? Why would God allow this violent trajectory of history to play out? Believe it or not, we are all welcome to bring difficult questions like these to God in our prayer life. "God, help me understand" is always a welcome prayer. We may not receive definitive answers, but we often find helpful flashes of insight.
Reflect: Can you think of other difficult questions that this parable raises?
This Lenten Meditation can be found at Episcopal Relief and Development