Wednesday, April 16, 2014

The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes


 Then He began to speak to them in parables:  "A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower.  And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.  Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers.  And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.  Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated.  And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some.  Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, 'They will respect my son.'  But those vinedressers said among themselves, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'  So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.  Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do?  He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others.  Have you not even read this Scripture:
'The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone,
This was the LORD's doing,
And it is marvelous in our eyes'?"
And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them.  So they left Him and went away.

- Mark 12:1-11

Yesterday, we read that Jesus and the disciples came again to Jerusalem.  And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him.  And they said to Him, "By what authority are You doing these things?  And who gave You this authority to do these things?"  [They were referring to the cleansing of the Temple.]  But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things:  The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men?  Answer Me."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men'" -- they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed.  So they answered and said to Jesus, "We do not know."  And Jesus answered and said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things." 

Then He began to speak to them in parables:  "A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower.  And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country."  My study bible explains that in this parable, the vineyard is Israel, and the vinedressers are the Jewish leaders.  It says the parable is plainly told against the chief priests, scribes and elders who question Jesus (see yesterday's reading) -- and it is in the presence of the multitude.

"Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers."    In the services of the Orthodox Church during Holy Week there is emphasis on this theme of fruit-bearing.  My study bible says that "Jesus has recently focused on fruit-bearing in the fig tree incident [see Monday's reading].  John reports more conversation of Jesus at this time on fruit-bearing (John 15:1-8) -- the vine and branches.  The bearing of fruit is the mark of vital spiritual life."

"And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.  Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated.  And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some.  Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, 'They will respect my son.'  But those vinedressers said among themselves, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'  So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.  Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do?  He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others.  Have you not even read this Scripture:  'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone, this was the LORD's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?"  And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them.  So they left Him and went away.   My study bible says, "With this parable, Jesus totally discredits the religious leaders of Israel and establishes Himself as Messiah.  The religious leaders plainly understand Jesus' criticism and would have Him arrested, but they feared the multitude and a possible insurrection.   The leaders in Jerusalem were often viewed by the people as collaborators with the Romans, seeking to maintain their positions.  Therefore the people tended to favor popular charismatic figures such as Jesus."

Let us consider fruit-bearing and what it means here.  The issue is so essential that Jesus likens our dependency upon God for life to those who are to bear fruits in a vineyard that belongs to someone else.  In Galatians 5, St. Paul writes that "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."    So, one way we can think of spiritual fruitfulness is in an understanding of how God's work in us bears fruit in our character, in the ways in which we conduct ourselves in the world.  Jesus' parable about the vinedressers suggests repeated visits to the vineyard by those who represent the owner, who is God.  For the Jewish leadership, this long line of mistreated servants and emissaries are the prophets of Jewish spiritual history:  those who have been stoned, mistreated, shamefully abused for bearing God's word to the people -- and especially to the religious establishment.  Finally, it is the Son who is sent.  It's interesting to note the trust implied here by the vineyard owner:  "They will respect my son."  In some sense, since the parable is about an act of judgment, this phrase teaches us about our free will:  there is something in us that allows us to reject or receive the hand of God teaching us in our lives.  But we do deal with the consequences:   "The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone, this was the LORD's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes"  (Psalm 118:22-23).  The parable is about the whole history of Jewish spirituality, the story of Israel which we can read in Old Testament Scripture; that is, the spiritual history of Israel as it had evolved until Jesus' time.  But I think there are lessons to be learned by each of us from the parable.  How does God reach to us in our own lives to help us to bear spiritual fruits, or to remind us that we need to do so?  Are there ways in which spurning this help results in our world, in some sense, being turned upside down?  Whatever the answers are to these somewhat mysterious questions, I think we need to take Jesus' parable seriously in terms of how spiritual life works in us.  While its focus may be on spiritual leadership, and is certainly therefore essential to the leadership of the Churches to take seriously, I think also it applies to each one of us, and perhaps that's how the readers of this blog may best take it.  We're stewards of what we're given:  our lives, our talents, our possessions, the life we're given and the part of the world we inhabit.  What do we do with this vineyard?  Do we remember the kinds of fruits the owner desires here?  Taking the parable of the Sower (Jesus' first parable told), we can ask ourselves how we are cultivating our inner ground, whether we're letting toil or the weeds choke us out and get in the way of our real goals here.  Going back to today's parable, we can also ask ourselves if there have been times in our lives when those who seem to bear Christ to us have been dismissed or mistreated.  Jesus' words are not just for the Jewish leadership.  They are for all of us, for each of us.  How do we treat those who reflect His image?  How do we receive testimony?  Where do we bear the fruit in our heart that St. Paul speaks of in the letter to the Galatians?  Are we prepared to be true servants of the vineyard owner, even at the risk of mistreatment?  All of these questions are here.  But we must take the response seriously, the consequences of heartless choices.  Do we have ears to hear?  Do we have eyes to see?