In the first reading this week, Isaiah invites his hearers to listen to the “Song of the Vineyard,” a ballad about the fruit of righteousness that was found to be missing from Israel, the vineyard of God. It calls us to consider the “fruit” produced by our faith. Are we productive vines in the vineyard of the Lord or do we produce only “wild” fruit? In the second reading, Paul urges his readers to put aside anxiety and express their trust in God through prayer and thanksgiving. The Gospel reworks the “Song of the Vineyard” into an allegory about tenant farmers who tend the vineyard for the owner. All of us are entrusted by God with some portion (spouse, children, students, wealth, time, talent) of His creation to tend for Him. How faithful are we in giving the “fruit” of our labor to God? How faithful are we in remembering that our care for the people and things in our lives does not change the fact that they really belong to God? We are only stewards for a time like the tenant farmers.

First Reading: Isaiah 5:1-7

1 Let me now sing of my friend,
my friend’s song concerning his vineyard.
My friend had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside;

2 He spaded it, cleared it of stones,
and planted the choicest vines;
Within it he built a watchtower,
and hewed out a wine press.
Then he looked for the crop of grapes,
but what it yielded was wild grapes.

3 Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard:

4 What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I had not done?
Why, when I looked for the crop of grapes,
did it bring forth wild grapes?

5 Now, I will let you know
what I mean to do to my vineyard:
Take away its hedge, give it to grazing,
break through its wall, let it be trampled!

6 Yes, I will make it a ruin:
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
but overgrown with thorns and briers;
I will command the clouds
not to send rain upon it.

7 The vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah are his cherished plant;
He looked for judgment, but see, bloodshed!
for justice, but hark, the outcry!

NOTES on First Reading:

* 5:1-7 It is generally thought by scholars that this parable which appears to have been a ballad was composed by Isaiah relatively early in his ministry. The identity of the vineyard owner is kept unmentioned until the very end. Once the owner and the vineyard are identified the song changes from a simple and rather pleasant story on a country theme to a scathing condemnation of Israel. It contrasts the care lavished by Yahweh on His people with their response expressed in social sin.
Use of the terms, “beloved or friend” conceal the identity of the vineyard owner that the prophet is speaking about.

* 5:2 The word translated as “wild” is “be’ usim” which more properly means “rotten” rather than simply wild. It is from a Hebrew root that means “to stink.”

* 5:3 The parable now invites the hearers to pronounce a judgment (see 2 Sam 12:5-6) which makes the point that the speaker intended.

* 5:5-6 This is an announcement of future devastation that will fall on the nation.

* 5:7 The words used for ” Judgment,” and ” bloodshed,” in Hebrew are “mispat” and “mispah.” The words for ” justice,” and “outcry” in Hebrew, are “sedaqa” and “se’ aqa”. This combination forms a striking play on words. God looks for justice (sedaqa) and finds outcry (se’ aqa). He looks for judgment (mispat) and finds bloodshed (mispah).

Second Reading: Philippians 4:6-9

6 Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. 7 Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you.

NOTES on Second Reading:

* 4:6 Paul links freedom from anxiety with placing needs in the hands of God by petitions in an attitude of thankfulness. See Matt 6:25-34; Eph 5:20.

* 4:7 This peace surpasses all understanding in two ways: It is beyond our power of understanding it; It is greater than, and accomplishes more than the peace that is provided by understanding and human wisdom. This peace is at a much deeper level than simple freedom from anxiety although freedom from anxiety may well be included within it. See John 14:27; Col 3:15.

* 4:8 Paul is recommending a set of virtues that are drawn from the language of Roman Stoic writers and teachers.
Paul urges us to follow the pattern of behavior lived by Jesus by remembering both His suffering and resurrection in opposition to his opponents who reject Christ’s cross (see 1 Cor 1:23).
Paul urges us to imitate him, not out of arrogance, but in humble simplicity, because he was wholly dedicated to imitating Christ (1 Cor 11:1; see also Phil 4:9; 1 Thes 1:6; 2 Thes 3:7,9; 1 Cor 4:6).

Gospel Reading: Matthew 21:33-43

33 “Hear another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey. 34 When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce. 35 But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned. 36 Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way. 37 Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’ 39 They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?” 41 They answered him, “He will put those wretched men to a wretched death and lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper times.” 42 Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the scriptures:

‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes’?

43 Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.”

NOTES on Gospel:

* 21:33-46 There is a parallel of this parable in Mark 12:1-12 and Luke 20:9-19. This parable verges on the edge of being an allegory in that there is such a close correspondence between the details of the story and the situation that it illustrates which is the dealings of God with his people. Because of this heavy allegorizing, some scholars think that it represents the theology of the later church rather than a story actually told by Jesus. The Marcan parallel also contains a heavy dose of allegory although the allegorizing has gone farther in Matthew. Others, however, believe that the many allegorical elements have been added to a basic parable spoken by Jesus. This view is also supported by a less allegorized and probably more primitive form of the parable that is found in the non-biblical book known as the Gospel of Thomas ( 65).
The vineyard description comes from Isaiah 5:1-2. In Isaiah 5:7, the vineyard is defined as “the house of Israel.”

* 21:34-35 Matthew has two sendings of servants compared to Mark’s three sendings of a single servant (Mark 11:2-5a) and the statement about the sending of “many others” (Mark 11:2,5b).
The story clearly implies that these servants stand for the prophets sent by God to Israel but it is not made explicit here. Jesus refers to the killing and stoning of prophets directly only later in Matthew 23:37. The produce is the good works demanded by God, and to which He has a complete and absolute claim.

* 21:35 St. Jerome saw a reference to specific prophets as follows: “Beat them, as Jeremiah, killed them , as Isaiah, stoned them, as Naboth and Zacharias, whom they slew between the temple and the altar. ” (1Kings 18:4; 2 Chron 24:21; 2 Chron 36:16; Ne 9:26)

* 21:38 While it is true that if a Jewish proselyte died without heir, the tenants of his land would have final claim on it, in this case the owner is still alive and can punish them for their action. Thus this is an unreal hope that they have.

* 21:39 Matthew inverts the order of events from that in Mark 12:8 so as to fit the events of Jesus’ death better. Luke (20:15) follows Matthew’s order.

* 21:40-41 In Mark 12:9 the question is answered by Jesus himself but here in Matthew, Jesus asks the hearers to make a judgment as in the background story from Isaiah on which this story is modeled. Ironically the leaders answer and so condemn themselves as in Matthew 21:31. Matthew deviates from the parallels in Mark and Luke by adding that the new tenants to whom the vineyard will be transferred will give the owner the produce at the proper times.

* 21:42-43 The Psalm quotation is from Psalm 118:22-23. The early church saw this psalm as a prophecy of Jesus’ resurrection. (See Acts 4:11 and 1 Peter 2:7) Some think that the original parable ended at verse 39 and that later editors thought it necessary to complete it by a reference to Jesus’ vindication by God.

* 21:43 This verse is found only in Matthew. It probably was intended to interpret the parable at the time of Matthew as an allegory of salvation history. The leaders of Israel had been entrusted by God with the care of God’s vineyard, the people of Israel. They failed to present God, the owner of the vineyard, with the fruit of justice and judgment (Isaiah 5:1-7) that He was looking for. As a result the care of the new Israel or the new people of God, (God’s new vineyard) was to be taken away from them and given to new caretakers, the apostles. This parable may have been intended, in part, as a warning to those in leadership positions in the church. The earlier leaders (chief priests and elders) were condemned for failure to present the fruit of the vineyard to the owner (God). How concerned are we as leaders of the church with the fruit of the vineyard? The real fruits of the kingdom of God are to be a priority for all of us who are exhibiting any kind of leadership. This ought to include all of us because everyone is leading somebody even if only by example.
The kingdom of God is not only the favor and blessing of God but the full end-time promises of God. The people to whom the kingdom was to be given was the new Israel, or the church which for Matthew consisted of mostly Jewish Christians with some Gentile Christians who together made up the people of God. Use of the term, “Kingdom of God” here instead of Matthew’s usual “kingdom of heaven” may indicate that the saying came from Matthew’s own traditional material.</p

Scripture text: New American Bible with revised New Testament copyright © 1986,1970, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.
Commentary Sources:
Vince Del Greco
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (1990) (Eds. Brown, Fitzmyer & Murphy)