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In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells a parable about a landowner who plants a vineyard, leases it to tenants, and then sends servants to collect the harvest. The tenants beat, stone, and kill the servants. Finally, the landowner sends his son, saying, “They will respect my son.” Instead, the tenants kill him as well, hoping to take possession of the inheritance.

Matthew’s Gospel presents the parable as a warning that the kingdom of God will be entrusted to a people who produce its fruits. This interpretation has sometimes been used to suggest that God rejected the Jewish people and replaced them with Christians. Such a reading is dangerous and fails to respect the Jewish roots of Jesus, his disciples, and the Christian faith.

Rather than using this parable to condemn another people, we should allow it to challenge every religious community—including our own. The question is not, “Who are the wicked tenants?” The question is, “How have we treated what God has entrusted to us?”

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There is little room for misunderstandings in this parable. I am sure the Pharisees and Scribes who heard this story for the first time must have bristled in annoyance as they knew Jesus was referring to them. This parable speaks to us today as well.

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I have often asked this question, If your faith became illegal, would there be enough evidence for your neighbor’s to convict you? This question is adapted from a question asked by John Wooden, a deeply religious basketball coach in 1997. This question highlights the deeper question about how much our faith impacts our daily life choices. I am reminded of this question when I reflect on the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard. This parable challenges our understanding of justice and mercy. It is a challenging parable. We may find ourselves more sympathetic to the workers who had worked all day and less so to those who only worked for an hour. I am reminded of the parable of the prodigal son found in Luke 15:11-32. I have given workshops on forgiveness and have used this parable to describe God’s forgiveness. I have noticed however that many people are more sympathetic to the eldest son, the responsible one, the one who stayed home and worked in his father’s fields than the son receiving his father’s merciful forgiveness.

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