Do you like twist endings? You know a story where you think you know the plot. You know you have it figured out, only to have the rug pulled right out from under your expectations. You realize you had no idea what was going on. I kind of like that sort of thing in a book or a movie. I have favorites and some movies are famous for their twists.
The Empire Strikes Back was the second Star Wars movie. Throughout the first movie and 95% of the second movie Luke Skywalker was told that the evil Darth Vader betrayed and killed his father Anakin. But at the end of Empire, we find out, along with Luke that Darth Vader is Luke’s father. There are other famous plot twists in movies. Charlton Heston’s character in Planet of the Apes finds out, despite believing he was on an alien planet ruled by a race of apes, he is actually on a future Earth. In Psycho, we learn that Norman Bates’ mother is actually Norman in a dress.
I hope I haven’t ruined any movies you haven’t seen or hoped to see.
Jesus also liked a good plot twist. In our scripture this morning, Jesus gives the Temple leadership a little bit of a twist ending to his parable.
Jesus is, again, speaking to the Temple leaders. The Chief Priests and elders. This is a continuation of the exchange we read last week. The day after Jesus stormed into the Temple screaming, over-turning tables, and, according to John’s gospel, cracking a whip to drive out the merchants and money changers, Jesus is back in Jerusalem and back at the Temple.
As he approaches, the Chief Priests and Elders confront him. They ask a question. Do you remember?
“By what authority do you do these things?” They were trying to discredit Jesus. To trap him and turn the crowds against him. But Jesus turned the situation against them. He asked them about John the Baptist’s authority. And told them a parable about 2 sons. One told his father he would not work in the vineyard, but changed his mind and went. The other son said he would go, but did not. Jesus wrapped up the story by telling the Temple leaders that they were no better than the second son and that prostitutes and tax-collectors would get in to heaven before they did. But Jesus wasn’t done with them just yet.
He had a second parable to tell them. It’s another story of a land owner. Another man who owns a vineyard. It is a familiar situation in their setting. In the Roman Empire it was common for someone to own land far from their home, and then lease the land to locals to work the land. The tenants would pay their rent in produce at the harvest.
So harvest time comes and the landowner sends his servants to collect his rent. They beat one. Killed another. Stoned another. So the owner sent more servants. More than three this time. They were treated exactly the same way. So the owner sends his son. The tenants see this as an opportunity. They decide that by killing the son, they can gain his inheritance. So they throw him out of the vineyard and kill him.
Jesus asks them, “What should the land owner do?”
The leaders answer, “He’ll kill those miserable wretches! And lease the vineyard to someone who will treat it and him properly.”
At this point I wonder what the Temple leaders are thinking. Remember, just a few minutes earlier Jesus insulted them probably as much as he could have insulted them. He didn’t say they were equal to prostitutes and tax-collectors, he said they were worse. They will enter God’s kingdom before you do. I’m sure that stung more than a little bit. These were two of the worst groups of sinners. To be associated with them was bad enough, but to be called lower, less deserving. These were supposed to be the Holiest of the holy people in Jewish culture. They were the go betweens for God and his chosen people.
And now he’s telling this story about a landowner and evil tenants and dead servants and sons. But apparently they are still not getting the point. Apparently their egos are still unharmed, even after Jesus’ earlier insult.
I say that because of their response. They respond with arrogance. From their response, it’s almost as if they’ve placed themselves in the role of the landowner. It would make sense. He’s the hero of the story, and they are the heroes of Jerusalem. And the tenants, well, that must be the Romans.
I just imagine their response is full of indignation, Jesus tricked them earlier, but this time they know the answer. They’re confident, they’re gloating. “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and find tenants who will honor their deal.” That sounds like they’re sucking up to the crowds a little bit. Get rid of Rome; give Jerusalem back to the Israelites. They can produce fruit.
“Yes, we, the Temple leaders will get rid of evil Rome and turn Jerusalem over to new tenants who will honor their covenant. Our people.”
Now comes the plot twist. It’s the “Luke, I’m your father” moment of the story. The Priests and Elders, they expect the story to go a certain way. The tenants are evil, the landowner is good. Rome is evil, we are good. Jesus takes it a different direction. Jesus quotes a psalm. “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”
Then he turns the tide on them again. “The kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to people that produce fruit for the Kingdom.” Again the Pharisees try to turn the crowds to their favor and Jesus calls them out for their hypocrisy.
So what is Jesus saying? Well, let’s look at the traditional interpretation of the parable.
Traditionally it is seen as an allegory. An allegory is a story where each character represents something or someone.
In this, the ‘parable of the wicked tenants’ the landowner represents God. The tenants are the Priests, Pharisees, and scribes; the very people to whom Jesus tells the story. The servants represent the various prophets throughout the centuries. They came to collect the fruits of God’s covenant with Israel and were persecuted or killed. The son, of course, represents Jesus. God’s final effort to collect from the evil tenants. The people who will produce that Jesus talks about is Christians. In light of that, some people interpret the evil tenants not as the Temple leadership, but as all Jews. I think that’s a bit of a stretch.
As a matter of fact, I want to offer an alternate interpretation. Because something gets lost in that interpretation. That’s us. Yeah, I mentioned Christians as the “new people,” I think if we accept that we’re giving ourselves a little too much credit. If we take that interpretation, then we’re really no better than the temple leaders who assumed they were the good and virtuous land owner. And, honestly, I think if we look at this story strictly as an allegory, we miss the point.
In fact, I’m not sure there is a correct interpretation. I’m not sure there is a hard and fast meaning to the parable or the story surrounding the parable. But, that doesn’t mean that we can’t learn from the story. That doesn’t mean we can’t look at the story and try to figure out what it means for us right here, right now.
Having said that, here’s what I hear when I read this parable. I read about a landowner who is more than patient, more than merciful. I think I might have sent a troop of soldiers after the first group of servants. Not this land owner. I see a group of tenants who are unfaithful. They made a deal, a covenant, with the owner. They would farm the land and produce fruit. They would return some of that harvest to the owner. Instead they renege. They decide they don’t want to give anything back. In fact, they decide the land is theirs. They are the ones doing the dirty work, after all. They’ve claimed the vineyard as their own. It’s a hostile takeover. A rebellion. Their purposes have taken precedence over the purposes of the owner.
That leaves me to wonder where I fit in the story. I’m not the owner. I’m not one of the servants. Definitely not the son. I have, more than once, put my own needs and plans ahead of God’s. I have broken my covenant. I have neglected my call and as a result not produced the fruit of the kingdom. What about you? Where are you in this story? Because really, this is the story of us. This is the story of the church. This is the story of each one of us. All of us fit in there somewhere.
There’s another way I’m like these evil tenants. Just like they experienced the grace of the landowner, I have experienced God’s grace. It is by that grace that I can see my true role in this story. It’s through grace that I can change my role in the story and produce fruit.
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