Change is possible
Isaiah 5:1-7; Philippians 4:6-9; Matthew 21:33-43
Let us situate our parable today in its proper context. The beginning of Matthew 21 helps us to do this. It starts out with the journey of Jesus to Jerusalem; which means that our gospel today is part of Jesus’ teachings to his disciples, indeed, all of humanity, about the importance of journeys of faith and the role of Jerusalem in such journeys. Other elements to help our analysis are the companions of Jesus’ journey and what he says to them and them to him.
Jerusalem, the city towards which Jesus journeys, means and can mean a lot of things to many people. It may mean “a house of prayer or temple,” it may mean “a house of bread or peace,” and it may mean “a city of contradictions,” where the Jews and the Romans slog it out on the question of civil power or a place where God struggles to establish his reign or kingdom. Which one among all these meanings is the correct one depends on the text of the gospel or parable one comments on. For us, the parable of today shows that Jerusalem is the symbol of contradiction between the will of God and human opposition to that will. The battle is a moral one – the enthronement of God’s kingdom through a moral overturn of extant morales.
The addresses of the parable of Jesus are the chief priests and Pharisees (Matt 21:45), even though his disciples were there (Matt 21:20). The voices and opinions of the disciples were not reported by the evangelists, except that they expected a severe treatment of the tenants of the land (Matt 21:41), but those of the Pharisees and chief priests were sufficient reported being the addressees of Jesus. However, no one can doubt the importance of silence the silence of the disciples in such a situation, especially since the disciples came with Jesus in order to learn how to be like their Master.
Let’s begin with the idea of “journey.” Where was Jesus coming from? Matthew makes us to understand that Jesus was so poor that he could not even rent a place within the city of Jerusalem, that he went to lodge with the poor in Bethany – house of the poor (Matt 21:17). The colonization of Jerusalem by the ruling Jewish oligarchs and the Roman imperialists marked Jerusalem out as the center of the rich, and the poor were condemned to the peripheries. From this perspective, Jerusalem was the center of political power and the house and seat of the economically powerful. Given this scenario, it was a battle ground for the legitimization of the power of Rome, and the Jewish underdogs struggling to wrench some political capital and leverage from the Romans. The God of Israel was alienated, sidelined and expelled from the city.
The Journey of Jesus into Jerusalem, into the temple, and his teaching therein, is a journey of God back to reclaim his temple, no wonder he had to chase people out of the temple prior to teaching within the temple (Matt 21:12-13). The temple of God or the house of God, was abandoned and taken over by the chief priests and Pharisees. Even the Romans cared less about the existence of God. This is the context of our parable and the journey of Jesus into Jerusalem. But why should the poor live outside of Jerusalem, and why couldn’t Jesus dwell within the city of Jerusalem? Well, the parable makes more sense when we see in God, the owner of the temple in Jerusalem and the one who sent Jesus – his Son – to reclaim his temple from the Romans, the chief priests and the Pharisees – foreign occupation of Jerusalem alienated Jesus and those like him who sought the will of God.
Today’s parable takes us back memory lane: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes?” (Matt 21:42). God had a plan for his house, the Temple and the city of Jerusalem. The Romans, chief priests and Pharisees are all tenants whose singular job was to take care of the habitation of God, in justice and peace, but they failed woefully. In fact, they will eventually kill the Son of God, because they thought they were masters and not tenants. The resurrection of Christ will be the ultimate proof to them that no one ever hijacked God’s plans without God having the last laugh!
Unlike the verdict of the disciples of Jesus that God “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,” God shows himself to be a hopeful God, he decides to await the conversion of the Pharisees, chief priests and the Romans, he doesn’t condemne them. This is the conclusion of the parable, “the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit” (Matt 21:43). Instead of condemnation, Jesus invites all humanity to work in his vineyard to make sure that the fruits expected by God is provided. In other words, we move from Israel and Rome to the whole world. The kingdom of God is not synonymous with the Roman Empire or the Jewish people, it embraces the whole of humanity. The reign of God comes through moral reforms and conversions, not through military and economic conquests.
Jerusalem today are all the nations of the world where the rich and the powerful have condemned the poor and sick to the peripheries. The chief priests, Romans, and the Pharisees are examples of all the agents of evil and corruption within governments, church structures, and all promoters of iniquities. The “Jesuses” of our day are all those who fight for justice, peace, and unity among peoples, races, and cultures. To such people as these, hope is the message of today, that we should be conscious, even while we fight for positive and Christlike changes, that the Good will triumph some day over evil, that no matter how often truth is condemned and sacrificed, it will rise again because truth is immortal.
Yes, just as truth is immortal so are the souls of freedom fighters, who are the prophets and holy people replicating the servants of God sent to Israel of yore, and they were martyred for the truth. Indeed, every single day, many poor and innocent people die just because they want justice; see what is happening in Anglophone Cameroon, the demonstrations in Iran, the victims of christianophobia in Nigeria, dictatorship in Turkey, totalitarianism in North Korea, racism in America, and Russian bully of Ukrainians. It is in such contexts as these that we must bring about the reign of God, that we must travel with Jesus to Jerusalem, that we must confront evil with the price of martyrdom, if need be, because we do it for a better tomorrow, a better generation to come, and for the kingdom of God to come upon earth, here and now!
Every journey of faith is perilous, just as Jesus’ ended in tragedy, so might ours too. As a matter of fact, not to be persecuted is synonymous to conformity with iniquity and the regime of injustice; every generation needs prophets, who are God’s mouth-piece for justice. Every society has got it’s architects of iniquities to be combated by Christians. Every system needs not so much the architects of its undoing, but agents for its purification and christianization. And for you and me, on what side of the divide do we stand? Honestly, it is only the grace of God that strengthens us to stand for justice and peace, and to quit the camp of injustice and iniquity. Therefore, let us make ours the prayer of Saint Paul in our second reading today:
“Brothers and sisters:
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters,
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.
Keep on doing what you have learned and received
and heard and seen in me.
Then the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:6-9).
Paul personalizes our individual roles in ensuring the manifestation of the kingdom of God. Each one of us has a responsibility not only to the Church and State, but also to ourselves – we have the responsibility to save our souls from damnation. The need to pray is one way of bringing about the kingdom of God, which the “Lord’s Prayer” already teaches – “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” – and which Paul reiterates. But when we see our bodies as temples of God in the Holy Spirit, then the enemy is within, not the Pharisees, chief priests and religious leaders; it is you and me. The fight to expel bad thoughts and behaviors from my life, the need to sanctify and consecrate and rededicate my body to God every single day, go a long way to showing to God and the world, that the kingdom of God is among humanity. Remember, no effort is too small, no step taken en route to holiness is insignificant and no prayer goes unheeded. Make a difference, starting out with your life!
Assignment for the Week:
Pray “Our Father” everyday, all week long, and ask yourself how your activities or inactivities militate against the appearance of God’s Kingdom on earth.