Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder

 

 "Hear another parable:  There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower.  And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.  Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit.  And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.  Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them.  Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'  But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.'  So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  

 

"Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?"  They said to Him, "He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons."  

 

Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures:

'The stone which the builders rejected

Has become the chief cornerstone.

This was the LORD's doing,

And it is marvelous in our eyes'?

"Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.  And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them.  But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet. 

 

- Matthew 21:33–46 

 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus came into the temple (the day after the cleansing of the temple), the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things?  And who gave You this authority?"  But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things:  The baptism of John -- where was it from?  From heaven or from men?"  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet."  so they answered Jesus and said, "We do not know."  And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.  But what do you think?  A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go, work today in my vineyard.'  He answered and said, 'I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went.  Then he came to the second and said likewise.  And he answered and said, 'I go, sir,' but he did not go.  Which of the two did the will of his father?"  They said to Him, "The first."  Jesus said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.  For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him."

 

 "Hear another parable:  There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower.  And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.  Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit.  And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.  Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them.  Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'  But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.'  So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him."   My study Bible explains that, in this parable, the man represents God the Father, and the vineyard refers to God's people.  The vinedressers are the leaders of the Jews who are entrusted to care for the people.  Each of the landowner's servants sent by the owner stands for an Old Testament prophet who comes to call people back to God.  But the son is a reference to Christ Himself.  When the son is cast out of the vineyard to be killed, this is understood on two levels, my study Bible explains.  First, that Jesus was killed outside of Jerusalem (Golgotha, the place of crucifixion, was outside city walls at that time).  Second, that He was crucified by foreign soldiers, not those of His own "vineyard."  

 

"Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?"  They said to Him, "He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons."   Yet again, as noted in yesterday's reading and commentary, the religious leaders convict themselves.  

 

 Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures:  'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.  This was the LORD's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?  Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.  And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  My study Bible informs us that this stone is Christ.  According to commentary by St. John Chrysostom, this is a saying which illustrates the two ways of destruction.  Those who fall on the stone are people who suffer the consequences of their sins while they are still in this life.  But those upon whom the stone falls are the unrepentant, who suffer utter destruction in the final judgment.  Similar references to the "cornerstone" which is a foundation and also a potential stumbling block is found at Isaiah 28:16; and quoted by Sts. Peter and Paul (see Isaiah 28:16; 1 Peter 2:6; Romans 9:33).

 

Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them.  But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.  Once again, the religious leaders' hypocrisy should be noted.  They sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the multitudes, who took Him for a prophet.

 

 One thing that is striking about Jesus is that, although He clearly demonstrates His foreknowledge of His death in this parable, He nevertheless continues to speak out in condemnation of those who will seek to put Him to death.  In other words, He both warns them and criticizes them at the same time -- telling the truth they don't want to hear and confronting the ones who will bring Him to the Roman authorities with false charges of treason.  These religious leaders are corrupted.  Their places are what are important to them, as Jesus will go on to say in chapter 23.  But today's parable speaks clearly about judgment, and how that judgment happens.  The One whom they will seek to put to death -- who will be crucified through their manipulations -- is also the One who is the stone.  This stone, ultimately, is the stone of judgment.  As testified to by Isaiah the prophet and subsequently Sts. Peter and Paul in their letters, the stone of judgment is ultimately one that is both a "stumbling stone and rock of offense and whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame" (Romans 9:33).  Jesus Himself quotes from Psalm 118:22-23 in today's reading to tell these religious leaders just that -- that the One whom they will seek to put to death ultimately will rule in this position of authority and judge, and that He will become the new foundation, the chief cornerstone.  It is His authority which will prevail, and "the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.  And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  Nonetheless, these men will still seek to put Him to death.  But it is their very failure to repent which will determine their own outcome.  So we have Christ's bold words today for ourselves as well.  How can we understand what He is teaching here?  How do we understand them for ourselves?  We live in a world in which material outcomes are seemingly all that there is.  Surely Jesus' death on the Cross was convincing for many that His claims to be the Christ were untrue.  But where does faith come into it?  And how do we understand this death of the Son?  One of the first ways to understand the parable He teaches in today's reading is to grasp that merely laying claim to something is not necessarily a truly effective power.  We can't grasp the mysteries of the kingdom of God simply by claiming them for ourselves; they don't work that way.  Faith doesn't work that way.  And the spiritual power of the kingdom of God doesn't work that way.  It is not something we can control and manipulate, and our faith is not magic.  The image of Christ as this chief cornerstone functions to give us a concept of a foundation, something which is ignored or abused at one's own peril.  It cannot be moved or persuaded through means other than the truth, for it is God's presence and therefore the ultimate reality.  This foundation stone is like a throne, it conveys authority, and it teaches us about the purpose of Christ's Incarnation:  to establish God's kingdom in this world and invite all those in who wish to follow Him.  In this sense, we can observe evil around us, that which opposes God.  In this sense, the world is a kind of battleground in which we are tempted (as imaged by Christ's time in the wilderness; see Matthew 4:1-11).  Thus we are invited to do as He did, and to engage in the "good fight" of faith (1 Timothy 1:18; 6:12; 2 Timothy 4:7), putting on the "whole armor of God" (Ephesians 6:10-18).  Jesus goes full into that battle, and as sovereign Son He leads that we may follow Him, and share in His courage and His love for us all, bearing the fruits of His true vine.

 

 

 

Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you

 

 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things?  And who gave You this authority?"  But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things:  The baptism of John -- where was it from?  From heaven or from men?"  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet."  so they answered Jesus and said, "We do not know."  And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.  

 

"But what do you think?  A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go, work today in my vineyard.'  He answered and said, 'I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went.  Then he came to the second and said likewise.  And he answered and said, 'I go, sir,' but he did not go.  Which of the two did the will of his father?"  They said to Him, "The first."  Jesus said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.  For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him."

 

- Matthew 21:23-32 

 

Yesterday we read that, following Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  And He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"  Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.  But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant and said to Him, "Do You hear what these are saying?"  And Jesus said to them, "Yes.  Have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise'?"  Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.  Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry.  And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again."  Immediately the fig tree withered away.   And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither away so soon?"  So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be done.  And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

 

Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things?  And who gave You this authority?"  But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things:  The baptism of John -- where was it from?  From heaven or from men?"  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Why ten did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet."  so they answered Jesus and said, "We do not know."  And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."  My study Bible explains that, since Christ is not a Levitical priest, the chief priests and the elders challenge His authority to cleanse the temple (see yesterday's reading, above, in which Jesus "drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves."  This is referred to as the cleansing of the temple.  But my study Bible comments that, as Christ is careful not to reveal Himself to scoffers, He confounds them with a different question about John (that is, John the Baptist).  It notes that both the elders' question and Christ's question require the same answer, and so therefore would lead a person to confess that Jesus has come from heaven.  But in not answering them directly, Jesus teaches us not to answer people who come asking about holy things with a malicious intent. 

 

 "But what do you think?  A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go, work today in my vineyard.'  He answered and said, 'I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went.  Then he came to the second and said likewise.  And he answered and said, 'I go, sir,' but he did not go.  Which of the two did the will of his father?"  They said to Him, "The first."  Jesus said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.  For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him."  My study Bible comments that, using their own principles, the elders convict themselves in their answer to Christ's parable. 

 

Jesus' parable to the chief priests and elders calls into question a presumption of authority, and what authority says and does.  This parable involves a first son, and a second, and it teaches about what we say and what we do, and which one carries the greater weight.  What we do tends to be an expression of what is in the heart, while often, what we say can mask that true reality within us.  The chief priests and elders clearly know what is right from wrong, as their answer is correct to the parable.  But in the case of St. John the Baptist, their hypocrisy and envy get the better of them.  For John came preaching a baptism of repentance, and these refused it, although those whom the chief priests and elders would call sinners accepted St. John's baptism with their own repentance.   In chapter 23, Jesus will speak to His disciples in an extensive criticism of the scribes and Pharisees, most notably about their hypocrisy.  He begins this final public sermon by telling His disciples, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do" (Matthew 23:1-3).  The rest of the chapter is an extensive commentary elaborating on precisely how that hypocrisy works, and what they actually do despite their piety.  So it is also with this parable; Jesus gives an illustration of what it is to say one thing, and to do another.  He asks which of the two sons did the will of his father in the parable.  The clear answer is the one who actually did what his father asked, despite what the son had replied.  This points to something important and essential about our faith, that the living of our faith is the true test of its authenticity.  It is one thing to pay lip service to something, but quite another to live it, to become an embodiment of the faith in which we want to truly participate.  While authority in the Church is meaningful and powerful, we take the attitude Christ teaches:  there is always going to be respect for the seat of authority, but hypocrisy does not serve God.  In fact, throughout the Gospels it is hypocrisy that seems to receive the greatest criticism from Jesus; see all of chapter 23 for His grand critique of the ways of the scribes of Pharisees.  Let us note that at all times it is Jesus who sets the example by seeking and doing the will of God the Father.  In the parable He teaches, it is the son who did the father's will who is proper -- and not by virtue of a mere appearance of outward virtue to others.  So, therefore, in the cleansing of the temple, Jesus acts with the authority proper to the Son, despite the questions and accusations by the religious leaders.  Let us also act with love as God's adopted children by grace.  Christ's parable reminds us that regardless of where we are, repentance always allows us to return to the One who loves us at any time.  For, as St. John Chrysostom teaches, the only unforgivable sin is one not repented. 

 

 

 

 

 

Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise

 

 Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  And He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"  

 

Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.  But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant and said to Him, "Do You hear what these are saying?"  And Jesus said to them, "Yes.  Have you never read, 

'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants

You have perfected praise'?" 

 Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there. 

 

Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry.  And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again."  Immediately the fig tree withered away.   And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither away so soon?"  So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be done.  And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

 

- Matthew 21:12-22 

 

 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.  Loose them and bring them to Me.  And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them."  All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:  "Tell the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.'" So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.  They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.  And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: "Hosanna to the Son of David!  'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' Hosanna in the highest!"  And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this?"  so the multitudes said, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."

 

  Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  And He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"   My study Bible explains that those who bought and sold were trading in live animals to be used for sacrifices.  The money changers would trade Roman coins for Jewish coins, because Roman coins bore the image of Caesar (who was worshiped as a god), and were considered to be defiling in the temple.  The cleansing of the temple, my study Bible also notes, points to the necessity that the Church be kept free from earthly pursuits.  As each person is considered to be a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19), so it's also a sign that our hearts and minds must be cleansed of earthly matters.  Jesus quotes from Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11.

 

 Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.  But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant and said to Him, "Do You hear what these are saying?"  And Jesus said to them, "Yes.  Have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise'?" Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.  My study Bible quotes from a Vespers hymn of Palm Sunday:  "Keep the feast with the children, and holding branches in your hands, sing 'Hosanna.'"  It notes that many liturgical hymns of this day emphasize the perfect praise of the children, which unlike that of the adults, was innocent, fitting, unashamed, and from hearts of pure love.  It says, moreover, that we are called to glorify Christ in the same spirit (see Matthew 18:1-4).  In contrast, the adults' praise carried earthly expectations and agendas which -- when left unfulfilled -- led them to rebel against Jesus only five days later (Matthew 27:20-23).  Jesus quotes from the Septuagint version of Psalm 8:2.  

 

 Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry.  And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again."  Immediately the fig tree withered away.   And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither away so soon?"  The fig tree is a symbol of prosperity and peace, my study Bible says.  But it withers because it is fruitless.  This is a prophetic act done by Christ since after three years of His preaching, teaching, and healing, both the leaders and the crowds were destitute of spiritual fruit.  My study Bible adds that the cursing of this fig tree is a warning to those in every generation of what will befall anyone who fails to listen to Christ's message.

 

 So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be done.  And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."  My study Bible comments that, while it is not recorded that an apostle literally moved a mountain, patristic understanding is clear that they had this authority if the need had arisen (there are certain saints that made crevices appear in Mountains).  Moreover, not all things done by the apostles was written down.  But beyond this literal meaning, it's a promise which includes an illustration of the power of faith and prayer in all areas of life.  My study Bible quotes Theophylact:  "Whatever we ask, without hesitation and believing in God's power, we shall receive" when we ask for spiritually profitable things.  

 

In today's passage is the second place in which Christ will speak about faith that can move mountains.  See also Matthew 17:14-21, in which the disciples (with the exceptions of Sts. Peter, James, and John) fail to heal a young boy (they fail to exorcise a demon from him).  They ask Jesus why they could not cast it out.  Jesus tells them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."  St. Paul also refers to this passage when he writes on love:  "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).  Both of these passages are interesting, because they tell us that Christ's teaching here is not done in a vacuum.  In other words, He's not simply saying that all we have to do is believe something strongly enough, and our prayers will be answered.  There are conditions in each of these passages that make it clear that all faith and discipleship comes in the context of a much bigger picture of life than a simple intellectual choice or the will to believe something.  Our faith must be lived, one way or another, or even our prayers will be ineffective, or fall short of our desires and expectations.  Jesus speaks to the disciples of necessary prayer and fasting; St. Paul speaks of necessary love in addition to our faith.   Let us note that when facing His death on the Cross, even Jesus prayed for the cup to be taken from Him, but He did so in a certain manner of which we must make note.  In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus fervently prayed, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will" (Matthew 26:39).  If we are to believe that Christ indicates in today's passage that all we are to do is pray with a certain will to belief, and even the impossible or fantastical will come to be, then we are not paying attention to the fullness of the faith as Christ has taught in His ministry.  For even Jesus must pray in a particular way, and with a particular mindset, saying, "Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."  There is a fullness of faith that is not simply about convincing our selves of the truth of something; it is not simply about a nominal or intellectual decision to believe something.  The fullness of faith is a life lived with dependence upon God in the fullness of our interior lives, even so that we can say with Christ, "Not as I will, but as You will."  God's possibilities are endless.  If the Cross and the resulting defeat of death and sin do not tell us that, then I can't imagine what would. Certainly those who put Him to death thought it was the end of His ministry and those faithful to Him. There are many people who clearly believe that still.   Even Satan himself no doubt thought it would prove Christ's defeat, but it instead defeated Satan and we speak of the victory of the Cross.  If God's power is so utterly outside of all of our conceivable expectations, then it is far greater and grander than anything we can "use" for ourselves.  We can but seek to know God and seek God's will for us through all the practices of faith and discipleship, and this is where power in prayer is found.  In today's reading, Jesus once again speaks of children as those who are truly of the kingdom of heaven.  Like angels, the quotation from Psalm 8:2 indicates that it is children who truly know and speak perfect praise (or hymns) to God.  See Matthew 18:3, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."  Humility and true faith and prayer go hand in hand, if we are to accept what Jesus is teaching here.  Of Jesus' teaching regarding "little children" as the model for those who enter the kingdom of heaven, my study Bible describes these virtues as follows:  humility, dependence, lowliness, simplicity, obedience, and a willingness to love and be loved.  Let us understand the children who have perfected hymns to God.  For they are the ones who understand Christ and see Him as He truly is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tell the daughter of Zion, "Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey"

 

 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.  Loose them and bring them to Me.  And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them."  All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:

"Tell the daughter of Zion, 

'Behold, your King is coming to you,

 Lowly, and sitting on a donkey,

A colt, the foal of a donkey.'"

So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.  They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.  And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:

"Hosanna to the Son of David!

'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'

Hosanna in the highest!"

And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this?"  so the multitudes said, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."

 

- Matthew 21:1-11 

 

Yesterday we read that as Jesus and the disciples went out of Jericho, on their way toward Jerusalem, a great multitude followed Him.  And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, son of David!"  Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, son of David!"  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.  

 

 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.  Loose them and bring them to Me.  And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them."  All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: "Tell the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.'"  The event described in today's reading is known as Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  It is celebrated in the Church on Palm Sunday, so-called because of the description of the people taking palm branches to welcome Him to the Holy City, as people would welcome a king returning to his kingdom (John 12:13).  In this case, it is a welcoming of the Messiah, as a son of David the king.  My study Bible explains that by this time, Jewish nationalism had led to the expectation of a political Messiah to deliver them from Roman control and to reestablish David's kingdom.  But in humility, Jesus shows in His appearance at this occasion that He has not come to establish an earthly kingdom.  He does not ride on a horse nor in a chariot as a conquering king of the world.  Rather, He enters on a donkey, which is a sign of humility and peace, as indicated in the quotation from Zechariah 9:9.  My study Bible says that this entrance into the Holy City is a declaration of the establishment of the Kingdom of God.  It says it's also a promise of Christ's final entrance into the heavenly Jerusalem with all believers and of His accepting the New Jerusalem as His pure Bride (Revelation 21:2).  Additionally of note is that St. Matthew reports a colt in addition to a donkey.  In patristic commentary, my study Bible says, these two animals are seen as representing the faithful Jews and Gentiles who are brought together in the Kingdom.  At Vespers of Palm Sunday, the Orthodox sing, "Your riding on a foal prefigured how the untamed and uninstructed Gentiles would pass from belief to faith."

 

 So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.  They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.  And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  The people who spread their clothes before Jesus did so as paying reverence to a King.  My study Bible explains that this is spiritually interpreted as our need to lay down our flesh -- even our very lives -- for Christ.  

 

Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:  "Hosanna to the Son of David!  'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'  Hosanna in the highest!"  And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this?"  so the multitudes said, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."  The cry of the multitudes comes from Psalm 118:25-26, verses associated with messianic expectation.  This was recited daily for six days during the Feast of Tabernacles (also known as the Feast of the Coming Kingdom), and seven times on the seventh day as branches were waved.  Hosanna means, "Save, we pray!"

 

 Jesus is greeted as a returning king, come home to His city, His kingdom after a long absence.  In this manner, the multitudes greet Him and welcome Him as Messiah, Son of David (see yesterday's reading, above), who comes to them in the name of the Lord.  But, as my study Bible explains, this celebration will be short-lived, on its very worldly terms.  This is because the expectation is wrong, even if His messianic status as King and Son of David is correct.  Jesus is returning to establish a Kingdom that is not one in the sense of a worldly conqueror, but in the sense of the spiritual reality He is bringing to re-establish and take control of a world given over to the evil one, the "ruler of this world" (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11), the "prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:1-3).  This is the way Christ's Incarnation is framed for us, and symbolized in the return and welcome of the King into the Holy City.  This is the prophesied King who is "lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey."  He is the One who comes as a weak human being, the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53, the "man of sorrows" who will be "numbered with the transgressors."  All of this reality is about to be brought to bear upon Christ, and in the Holy City of Jerusalem in the week that follows.  It will be an agglomeration of many factors, including the religious leaders' fear that Christ will eclipse them and be embraced as a king by all and set to rule over the temple, by the fears of Herod of Galilee and his soon-to-be friendship with Pontius Pilate, the Roman need for peace and control at all cost, and the threat of the religious leaders and the ruling Council who will stir the people against Christ.  But, as always with Scripture, there is so much more to this story than meets the eye, and we cannot understand what is happening here without accepting the spiritual truth and reality that is behind it.  Christ has come to draw us all toward God, to defeat the devil and death, to enable all of us to follow Him, and to establish His heavenly Kingdom even here in this world.  But all of this eclipses time, as it invites in all of us to participate in this journey and the establishment of this Kingdom.  We are all welcomed into the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 1:18; 6:12), to participate in Christ's life, death, and Resurrection so that we may in turn ascend with Him, even as He bears glorified human flesh in His Ascension.  All of this meets in this central place of this event in Jerusalem.  While it is true that Jesus is a King, and this is His Holy City, there is so much at the same time that is not true but will seemingly prevail.  And this is a key, in the sight of some of the great theologians of the Church, that the enemy of Christ who seeks to defeat Him will also be fooled by the malice he stirs, the desire to kill Christ, and in this sense tricked by his own devices into his defeat through the Cross.  This is the great mystery of our faith, and of what is called spiritual warfare:  that when we meet the evil among us, around us, even within us -- with faith -- so we wage the good fight and enter into the labors of others before us (John 4:38), following our Lord.  Let us bear His Cross and our own, as He has taught (Matthew 10:38).  For with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).

 

 

Have mercy on us, O Lord, son of David!

 

 Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him.  And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, son of David!"  Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, son of David!"  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.  

 

- Matthew 20:29-34

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify.  And the third day He will rise again."  Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him.   And He said to her, "What do you wish?"  She said to Him, Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom."  But Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"  They said to Him, "We are able."  So He said to them, "You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with, but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father."  And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers.  But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.  And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave -- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

 

 Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him.  And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, son of David!"  Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, son of David!"  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.   My study Bible comments that the two blind men greet Jesus as Lord, which is the common title for God, and also Son of David, a title deeply associated with the Messiah.  Although Jesus knows what we want before we ask, it notes, Jesus calls us to ask freely so that we might learn of His mercy.  There is also a patristic spiritual interpretation to this miracle; in that understanding, the blind men symbolize future generations who would come to faith only by hearing, without the benefit of seeing Christ in person (see John 20:29).  Those who tried to silence the blind men are persecutors and tyrants who, in each generation, try to silence the Church, and still attempt today to do so.  Nonetheless, under persecution, the Church all the more confesses Jesus Christ.

 

 Blindness has an important significance in spiritual terms.  We first might turn to Christ's teaching in the Sermon on the Mount regarding the lamp of the body, or the eye:  "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"  My study Bible interprets this symbolically and spiritually, indicating that Christ is referencing the mind.  It says that the mind (νους/nous in Greek) is the spiritual "eye" of the soul.  It illuminates the inner person and governs the will.  To keep one's mind wholesome and pure is fundamental to the Christian life.  This word for mind in Greek is used widely in Orthodox theology to indicate our capacity for the grasping of spiritual things, and is what is understood to be referenced by Christ in the many times He echoes the words of the prophets regarding spiritual blindness (see Isaiah 6:10, Jeremiah 5:21, Ezekiel 12:2, Matthew 13:15, Acts 28:27, Romans 11:8).  In Matthew 15, Jesus referenced the Pharisees as those who are blind, meaning spiritually blind.  When the disciples asked Him if He knows that the Pharisees were offended by His teaching, He replied, "Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch" (see Matthew 15:1-20).  But here, by contrast, we are ask to see the poetic symbolism of the Holy Bible in a different way.  For these men, although physically blind, are apparently the only ones in this crowd in Jericho who have true spiritual sight.  They see the truth about Jesus, as is evident in their calling to Him, using correct titles for His authority and Person, such as Lord, and Son of David.  They also perceive enough to know to ask for His mercy, for it is God's mercy in action, even Incarnate, that Jesus embodies for us in the world and in His ministry.  Note also how they are set apart from the crowd, which does not understand Jesus' nature, as evidenced by their attempting to shut down the pleas (read that as "prayers") of the two blind men.  There is also an interesting connection, as occurs in the Gospels from time to time, between the senses of sight and of hearing and of speaking.  For while these blind men may not have the physical use of their sight (their eyes), Jesus stops and encourages them to use what they do have -- their hearing and their ears.  They have already made themselves a chance through the use of their voices, addressing Jesus by true titles, and pleading for mercy.  Here He stops and asks them to explicitly plead or pray for what they want, "What do you want me to do for you?"  They must use their voices to articulate what diminished sense they wish to be restored -- importantly, to be "opened" to them, saying:  "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  We are told of Jesus' response with compassion, and He touched their eyes, and they immediately they received their sight.  These three components of the story:  Christ's compassion, His healing by touch (that His body is life-giving), and the immediacy of the healing are again all hallmarks of Christ's work in the Gospels.  But let us consider once again that before receiving their physical sight, these formerly blind men first had spiritual sight enough to know who Jesus is, to address Him unceasingly despite the attempts of the crowd to silence them, and to respond to Christ's question in the way they were asked to.  It is their spiritual sight, their inner mind's understanding, that comes first, and makes possible this outcome through faith.  It helps also to understand the context of this miracle, the city of Jericho.  Jericho was a low-lying city strongly associated with sin.  The parable of the Good Samaritan is set on the road to Jericho as travelers there were a frequent target for ambush by bandits.  Sin and blindness, such as the blindness of the crowd that seeks to silence the blind men, are strongly correlated; so Jericho functions as a backdrop of a sinful world into which we're all born.  Blindness of many kinds infiltrates our lives in the ways of the world and its limited understanding and sight of the ways of God, and God's salvation plans for us.  Let us consider also that it is often through affliction that we are visited with opportunities for healing in spiritual terms.  Just as these blind men are encouraged by Jesus to use their other senses to communicate with Him and request what they want so they are drawn out in their expressions of what they want, so our own obstacles and perceived "handicaps" and challenges may also be the instruments of our coming to God, our learning to overcome what hinders us and moving toward Christ in our own lives.  Prayer is so often a response to difficult circumstances, and so such opportunities may be in fact in disguise, so to speak, as the ways in which our true enlightenment may be made possible for us.  Let us consider the poetic reality of the Gospels as well as this dimension of how our spiritual lives and God's presence is at work in the world.  For "we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).  And to this, the blind men testify.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?

 

 Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify.  And the third day He will rise again."

 

Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him.   And He said to her, "What do you wish?"  She said to Him, Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom."  But Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"  They said to Him, "We are able."  So He said to them, "You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with, but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father."  

 

And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers.  But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.  And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave -- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

 

- Matthew 20:17-28 

 

In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught the apostles the parable of the Vineyard:  "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.  Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.  And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.'  So they went.  Again he went out about the sixth an the ninth hour, and did likewise.  And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day?'  They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.'  He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.'  So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.'  And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius.  But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius.  And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and heat of the day.'  But he answered one of them and said, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong.  Did you not agree with me for a denarius?  Take what is yours and go your way.  I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.  Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?  Or is my eye evil because I am good?'   So the last will be first, and the first last.  For many are called, but few chosen."

 

 Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify.  And the third day He will rise again."  This is the third time Jesus predicts to the disciples what will happen to Him at Jerusalem, in Holy Week.  But now there is a difference; He is truly going up to Jerusalem and has started that journey with them.   My study Bible comments that Christ's repeated prediction of His Passion was meant to encourage and strengthen the disciples for the terrifying events that they would face.  According to Theophylact, my study Bible notes, it is as if Christ were saying, "think on all these [words and miracles], so that when you see me hanging on the Cross, you will not imagine that I am suffering because I am powerless to do otherwise."

 

Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him.   And He said to her, "What do you wish?"  She said to Him, Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom."  But Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask.   That the journey to Jerusalem has truly begun at this time no doubt has provided incentive for John and James Zebedee, and their mother, to make this request for positions of authority in the kingdom they assume will be established by Christ at Jerusalem.  My study Bible comments that this quest for temporal power and glory is unfitting for a disciple, and it also shows an earthly misunderstanding of the Kingdom  of God.  Here St. Matthew reports that it is the mother of Zebedee's sons who requested this honor, however, Jesus replies in the plural you -- revealing John's and James' own involvement.  This is also the case in Mark 10:36. 

 

Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"  They said to Him, "We are able."  So He said to them, "You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with, but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father." My study Bible notes here that Christ calls His Crucifixion a cup and His death a baptism.  The Cross is a cup, it says, because Christ drank it willingly (Hebrews 12:2).  His death is a baptism, for He was completely immersed in it, and yet it cleansed the world (Romans 6:3-6).  Jesus' prophecy of Sts. John and James participating in the same cup and baptism reveals the life of persecution and martyrdom they would lead after Pentecost.  St. James would become the first apostle to be martyred (Acts 12:2).  St. John would go on to a long life through the persecutions of the early Church, and exile.  In so doing, he would produce the Gospel of John, three Epistles of John, and the Revelation, in addition to his care for the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and his guidance and teaching for the early Church.  My study Bible adds that Christ declaring that the places of honor in the Kingdom are not His to give does not mean that He lacks authority.  This means, in particular, that they are not His to give arbitrarily.  Instead He will give them to those for whom God has prepared them.  Moreover, we're asked to note that with regard to sitting as equals on the right and left hand of Christ in His Kingdom, St. John Chrysostom teaches that no one could possibly occupy such a position.  Regarding the highest places of honor that can be given to human beings, the icons of the Orthodox Church universally show the Virgin Mary (most blessed among women - Luke 1:28) and St. John the Baptist (greatest born of women -- Matthew 11:11) holding these places.

 

 And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers.  But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.  And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave -- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."  Let us keep in mind that what has precipitated this question by Sts. John and James and their mother is Christ's revelation of the mysteries of the Cross, the reality which will take place during Holy Week.  My study Bible remarks that this small-minded dispute about authority and power is out of place in such a contexts.  So His correction comes through first comparing His disciples to the power-hungry Gentiles, whom they themselves considered an abomination, and contrasting them to Himself, who serves us although He is Lord of all.  For many is a Semitic expression which means "for all."

 

 So Jesus has set His sights for Jerusalem, and the disciples follow in uncertainty of what is to happen there.  That is, they may likely be assuming that all will go according to their expectations of the Messiah.  This would be for the Messiah, Jesus the Christ, will establish an earthly kingdom, ridding the Jews of the occupiers and colonial oppressors, bringing the kingdom of David back again.  But despite Jesus' warning them three times of what is to happen at Jerusalem and during Holy Week, they still apparently don't quite know what to expect.  Thus, we can read the request on behalf of Sts. John and James Zebedee by their mother.  However, as my study Bible indicates, we can rest assured that all will change after Pentecost, and at the coming of the Holy Spirit, for it is then that we see these disciples in their roles for the true Kingdom of God and in full service to Christ, just as He indicates when He speaks of their cup and their baptism.  We might marvel at such a change which will be wrought in Christ's disciples, but this is part and parcel of the gospel message and the message of the Church.  For on full display in the Gospels are these character "flaws" (if you will) and vulnerabilities in even the pillars of the Church, the three closest disciples to Christ and those strongest in the faith.  That is, Sts. Peter, John, and James.  These are the three which Jesus takes with Him on a number of occasions for critical faith and support, such as the healing of the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue at Capernaum (see Matthew 9:18-26), of the event of the Transfiguration (see Matthew 17:1-13).  The Gospels clearly show the flaws of these men also, in the request in today's reading for temporal power and authority on behalf of Sts. James and John, and the repeated times Jesus may take St. Peter to task for his overconfidence and exuberance (such as his swearing that he would die with Him when St. Peter will in fact deny Him three times; see Matthew 26:31-35; 69-75).  The Gospels stand our earthly expectations on their heads, for they reveal to us thoroughly both arrogance and cowardice on the part of these great pillars of the Church.  But these human failures and characteristics only reveal to us something more powerful, and the true gospel message, that these same men whose vulnerabilities are revealed here will be those who will go on to lives of extraordinary sacrifice and courage on behalf of Christ and His Church, and who will in effect serve us all by doing so.  There is no greater love than this, as Christ has testified (John 15:13).  This is the gospel message and testimony to the extraordinary power of faith and grace at work, in particular in the coming of the Helper, the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit (John 14:26).  Let us bear in mind that these men were not chosen in a contest of strength and courage (such as a gladiatorial contest), they weren't picked from key men in an army or military capacity.  They were of faith, humble enough to be taught by Christ, to follow their Lord, and to believe in the redemption of life according to the faith given to them, and in the Spirit and the Covenant of Christ which followed, a true embrace of the Messiah and His teachings.  We will never know the internal transformations and struggles wrought in these men, but we can know for certain the testimonies we read in the Gospels about them, and the Acts and Letters that follow.  For they have come before us so that they show us the way, and that the Holy Spirit may also come to us and reside in us and help us with our own failures, flaws, and vulnerable points in life.  Extraordinary courage may not be so very extraordinary after all when faced with life and its choices in the grasp of faith and the life of the Spirit, for such has been found also by very many others, and perhaps you and I as well.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen

 

 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.  Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.  And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.'  So they went.  Again he went out about the sixth an the ninth hour, and did likewise.  And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day?'  They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.'  He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.'  So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.'  And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius.  But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius.  And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and heat of the day.'  But he answered one of them and said, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong.  Did you not agree with me for a denarius?  Take what is yours and go your way.  I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.  Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?  Or is my eye evil because I am good?'   So the last will be first, and the first last.  For many are called, but few chosen."

 

- Matthew 20:1-16 

 

Yesterday we read that, following the encounter with the rich young ruler, Jesus said to His disciples, "Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?"  But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."  Then Peter answered and said to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You.  Therefore what shall we have?"  So Jesus said to them, "Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.  But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

 

 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.  Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.  And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.'  So they went.  Again he went out about the sixth an the ninth hour, and did likewise.  And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day?'  They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.'  He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.'  So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.'  And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius.  But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius.  And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and heat of the day.'  But he answered one of them and said, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong.  Did you not agree with me for a denarius?  Take what is yours and go your way.  I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.  Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?  Or is my eye evil because I am good?'   So the last will be first, and the first last.  For many are called, but few chosen."  My study Bible explains that in this parable, the vineyard is life in this world.  The day, it explains, is a reference both to the span of a single person's life, and also to the whole of human history.  The laborers are all the people in every nation.  It says that very hour can refer to ties in a person's life, whether infancy, youth adulthood, maturity, or old age.  There is also a second meaning in the span of history, a reference to those called during the covenants with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and finally Christ.   Moreover, it notes that God's generosity provides equal reward for both early and late comers.  Clearly Jesus is teaching that the former should not be overly proud of their long service, nor resent those called at the eleventh hour.  For the latecomers, Jesus teaches, it's possible even in a short time, or at the end of one's life, to recover and inherit everything.  My study Bible adds that in the early Church, this message applied specifically to the Jews (those first-called) and the Gentiles (those called later).  In our time, this can be applied to those raised in the Church and to those who find the Church later in life, both of whom will receive an equal reward.  There is a renowned paschal sermon by St. John Chrysostom, repeated every Easter in the Orthodox Church, which applies this parable to the preparations of each person in approaching the paschal Eucharist.  

 

This parable may be confusing to some, and my study Bible's helpful explanations cover a wide range within we might view it.  That  the last will be first, and the first last.  For many are called, but few chosen may seem strangely paradoxical in some sense.  But if we imagine that Christ is addressing those who are called to be His workers, the apostles, we may understand how this ongoing work of the harvest in the vineyard expands through times, across peoples and groups, and in different ways requiring different work or application or attention.  When Jesus visits a Samaritan town, and the townspeople come to Him as they are brought by a the believing Samaritan woman who encountered Him at the well, He says, "Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors."  (See John 4:1-42.)  In this understanding, that one reaps and one sows, and both rejoice together.  So it is with the parable; each successive group of workers enters into the others' labors.  The equal payment, or reward, is an important, perhaps controversial or perplexing element of the parable.  My spouse is an economist, and in his perspective the equal payment for each unique type of labor indicates one thing:  that each one is equally essential to the completed project.  The value of each work is equal, regardless of the time spent at the work, specifically which work was performed, the day or year of the work, or the time within the harvest.  Each one is paid equally the same.  This is a profound insight, for what it indicates to us is the consistent pattern in Christ's teaching that each one is essential, that God is not merely "inclusive" (to use a modern word), but rather draws each of us into God's great plan of salvation, and in particular for this particular parable, Christ's mission of salvation for the world.  We all have a part to play, we are all invited to serve, and this is Christ's message for us.  All are called; those who respond and enter into the work of the harvest are the few chosen.  As Jesus says, this is the reality of the kingdom of heaven, and we are still within this time of the end brought on by Christ and His Incarnation as the human Jesus.  Even at the eleventh hour, more harvesters are needed and wanted, and each who participates in the work of the harvest will receive the proper wage given equally to the others.  Let us participate in His work, be a part of His covenant, and serve as one of the workers in the vineyard for our righteous wages.  Let us be not simply one of the ones called, but also one of the chosen.