Today's Gospel in Art - Parable of the Tenants

Christ reaching out, Photograph by © Kristina Linton artist

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 5th March 2021 - Matthew 21:33-43,45-46

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people, 'Listen to another parable. There was a man, a landowner, who planted a vineyard; he fenced it round, dug a winepress in it and built a tower; then he leased it to tenants and went abroad. When vintage time drew near he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his servants, thrashed one, killed another and stoned a third. Next he sent some more servants, this time a larger number, and they dealt with them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them. "They will respect my son" he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, "This is the heir. Come on, let us kill him and take over his inheritance." So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?' They answered, 'He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will deliver the produce to him when the season arrives.' Jesus said to them, 'Have you never read in the scriptures:

It was the stone rejected by the builders that became the keystone. This was the Lord's doing and it is wonderful to see? 'I tell you, then, that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.'

When they heard his parables, the chief priests and the scribes realised he was speaking about them, but though they would have liked to arrest him they were afraid of the crowds, who looked on him as a prophet.

Reflection on the Photograph

In today's Parable of the Tenants, let's look more closely at the sentence 'When the Pharisees heard His parables, the chief priests and the scribes realised He was speaking about them'. Regardless of what we think about the Pharisees, we have got to admit that they did understand what Jesus was teaching in His parables and what Jesus' message was each time He spoke. They listened, they understood... but they then didn't follow Jesus' teachings. On the contrary, they did realise that Jesus was holding a mirror before them. They didn't like the criticism and thus they started plotting Jesus' arrest.

For the Pharisees, Jesus is saying the wrong thing, eating with the wrong people, healing on the wrong day (the Sabbath), touching the wrong people (lepers),… But… Jesus never gave up on the Pharisees. He didn't confront them for the sake of having a fresh argument with them. No, He engaged with them, hoping that one day they might see their own faults and follow him. Jesus kept coming to them, He kept reaching out. Jesus keeps coming to us as well. The thought that Jesus is unwilling to give up on us brings us comfort and hope… His hand always reaches out to us, as beautifully illustrated in our artwork by Kristina Linton.

LINKS

Today's story - https://christian.art/en/daily-gospel-reading/729
Christian Art - www.christian.art/index.php