Precisely
because of humanity’s failure, God chose from amongst the many people, a race
to call His own. He chose Israel and made them His own, that is, the People of
God.
The
parable is therefore an illustration of expectation and its failure. It is a
simple narrative setting out God’s expectation of His people. The tenants are
understood to be the Chief Priests and the Elders but what they did was to
arrogate themselves the place of God. The prophets are God’s servants whom
these tenants abused and killed. When warned by Jesus about the possibility
that they might lose their special position, the tenants paid no heed. In fact,
when God sent His Son, they did the expected. They killed Him thus confirming
the Psalmist’s prediction that the stone rejected by the builders has become
the cornerstone.
Jesus
is now the cornerstone of the new Vineyard that God has chosen to hedge and
replant. A German word that might describe the change in tenancy is schadenfreude.
It means to derive pleasure at the misfortune of others. An example of this
kind of guilty pleasure can be found in our context of heightened racial
tension. Do we not take quiet pleasure when something bad happens to the people
whom we believe do not deserve their special position? And since Christians
consider themselves to the heirs of the Chosen People, we might also have a
sense of superiority hearing this parable as referring to the Jews.
Before
we break out in rejoicing, the parable applies to us as well because it is a
parable of expectation. Even though God’s gift is gratuitous, it implies a
giving born out of a mutual relationship. The mutuality suggested by the first
reading is characterised by justice. God provides and the people obey the terms
of the covenant concluded between Him and them. Their faithfulness to Him is no
more than the demands of justice. Frequently, they failed and their ultimate
failure came in the shape of the rejection of the Son of God. It was not wilful
but perhaps it was fearful. A way of looking at this failure is that they loved
monotheism to the point where they were fearful of the promptings by the Holy
Spirit that God had send His only Son to lead them ultimately to fullness of
revelation, that God is truly one but three in person.
God
desires that His creation shares the fullness of life. Due to the failure of
His Chosen people, the new and final covenant is now signed through the Blood
of His Son. It is now the Church, the channel of salvation through whom God in
Jesus Christ wishes to save the world and reunite it to Himself.
The
mutuality of the relationship between God and His people is now expressed via
the Sacramental life that Christ gave to the Church. How is that so? The
vineyard, that is the Church, is now tasked with bearing fruits that Israel did
not and not just any fruits but good fruits. The fruitfulness God that desire
of His vineyard is watered by the Sacraments which He gives to us.
In
a certain respect, we are quite happy to think of ourselves as “actors”. I do
not mean this in the sense that we are movie actors but rather that we believe
that we are self-made. Thus, we can make ourselves fruitful. This cannot be
further from the truth. Fruitfulness is dependent on God’s grace and in the
Church, His grace preeminently comes to us through the sacramental economy
because every sacrament is the action of Christ Himself done through the
Church. For example, when a baptism takes place, it is Christ Himself, through
the rite of Baptism, who incorporates the baptised into His Body. In
confession, it is Christ Himself, through the agency of the priest, who
forgives the sins of the penitent. And so forth.
To
be a fruitful vineyard then, our effort must be more than just fulfilling the
minimum. For example, the Church stipulates Confession as an Easter duty
meaning that we should go for Confession at least once a year during Easter so
as to fulfil our Easter obligation of receiving Holy Communion at least once a
year. This kind of minimalist behaviour might just mirror the conduct of
the Chief Priests and Elders. They proclaimed loudly that they love God and His
commandments but their practice spoke volumes otherwise.
Have
you ever seen the billboard of another religion which says, “Sembahyang lah
sebelum kamu disembahyangkan” which translates into “Pray before you are
prayed”? This is certainly an invitation and a challenge to move beyond our
comfort zone. The Church, the new vineyard, through the gifts of the
Sacraments, is both our salvation and sanctification so that we might bear the
fruits which God expects of us. Our fruitfulness is a return of God’s
graciousness. And lest we grow lax, it is good to remember that what befell
Israel—the original tenant can also befall us.
