We can easily read the Gospel today and see how the chosen people of Israel went astray. They rejected prophets and eventually Jesus, the Son of God. The parable for us is transparent and we have the Gospels and Old Testament to lead us.
But we also must understand that Jesus hung on the cross for our sins. And while the parable reflected the Jewish people’s journey, it also reflects the journey most people experience. We too can reject those who were sent to us to guide us to a relationship with God. We too have chosen to sin at times. Sin instead of following his teachings and so it is also our sin that drives the whips at the scourging at the pillar. Our sins that drove the spike into his body. Anytime we fail to hit the mark of holiness we contribute to the death of Jesus and his agony.
The parable is truly for us too. And the warning is that if we do not turn from sin, we will find eternal life is no longer an option for us but a place where others live with God while we spend forever in darkness away from the one who loves us without ceasing. And that is hell.
Gospel
Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people:
“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.
When vintage time drew near,
he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce.
But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat,
another they killed, and a third they stoned.
Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones,
but they treated them in the same way.
Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking,
‘They will respect my son.’
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.’
They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?”
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.”
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?
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.”
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