TOBIT 1:2; 2:1a-8/ MARK 12:1-12
Dearly beloved, the parable of the vineyard presented to us in the gospel reading today comments on the hostility of the Jewish leaders toward Jesus as St. Jerome Biblical Commentary puts it. There are some allegorical identification feasible in that parable. The vineyard is Israel, the owner is God, the tenants are Israel’s leaders, the servants are the prophets, the beloved son is Jesus, and others are the gentiles. The tower, hedge etc have no allegorical significance as the commentary tells us.
The first lesson that we can draw from the story lies in the fact that God bestows privileges on his people just like he did to Israel. Are we not recipients of God’s privileges? In a world plagued and bedeviled by a mélange of catastrophes, we remain alive. We have access to freedom, we have the freedom to worship and profess our faith without being persecuted for it. We hear from pastors and preachers often. In fact before you walk every ten meter, you are likely to come across a church in our country, Nigeria. Something others long for and don’t have. But just like we see in the gospel reading, people often abuse the privileges given to them. We too my dear friends, in one way or the other have rebelled against God with our disobedience and sin, thereby abusing the love and kindness of God.
The gospel reading today should therefore sting us to consciousness that judgment comes upon those who takes God’s privileges for granted or those who abuse it and that should inform our change of heart, lest we will be evicted from the vineyard of God. May Christ bless his words in our hearts through Christ our Lord. Amen!
The first lesson that we can draw from the story lies in the fact that God bestows privileges on his people just like he did to Israel. Are we not recipients of God’s privileges? In a world plagued and bedeviled by a mélange of catastrophes, we remain alive. We have access to freedom, we have the freedom to worship and profess our faith without being persecuted for it. We hear from pastors and preachers often. In fact before you walk every ten meter, you are likely to come across a church in our country, Nigeria. Something others long for and don’t have. But just like we see in the gospel reading, people often abuse the privileges given to them. We too my dear friends, in one way or the other have rebelled against God with our disobedience and sin, thereby abusing the love and kindness of God.
The gospel reading today should therefore sting us to consciousness that judgment comes upon those who takes God’s privileges for granted or those who abuse it and that should inform our change of heart, lest we will be evicted from the vineyard of God. May Christ bless his words in our hearts through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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