In
the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In today's Gospel lesson, Jesus
tells a parable to the people, neither the subject nor the
interpretation of which are particularly difficult to grasp. The
theme of the careful vineyard owner and his unfruitful vineyard echo
throughout the Scriptures, and especially from the Song of the
Vineyard in Isaiah chapter five.
In the parable, as St. Luke records
it, the Lord of the vineyard planted the vineyard and then leased it
to some tenant-farmers. Then he went away for a long time. At the
right time, he sent a servant to collect the rent. But the tenants
would not give it, and instead they beat the servant and threw him
out. The landlord sent a second, and then a third servant. And each
time the tenants treated the servant worse than the one before. But
still no rent paid.
