“Holier Than Thou”

Friday of the Second Week of Lent
Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030626.cfm

In today’s gospel, Jesus is speaking to the chief priests and elders. The chief priests were in Jerusalem serving in the Temple. They were the priestly class amongst the Jewish people. Most of which would have been Sadducees, or part of the wealthy aristocrats that had found partnership with the Roman government and shared in “keeping the peace” with the Jewish people. Some of them would have been part of the Sanhedrin, or a governing group who interpreted Jewish laws, tended to the temple duties, and held trials. The Pharisees, on the other hand, were lay people who interpreted the law more locally in synagogues, or community houses. Sadducees strictly followed church law and the Torah whereas the Pharisees were more open to oral traditions such as the resurrection of the dead and cultural rules and traditions. The Sadducees were in seats of much higher power and authority. While both groups enforced the law, the Sadducees, on the norm, were far more strict and legalistic. The Sadducees were an elite class.

So Jesus’s parable most likely would not have been received well. To start, it implies that the Sadducees were merely tenants and not actually given full authority. The Temple can be seen as the property with the vineyard. Like with the vineyard in the parable, the temple and its grounds were constructed with clear instructions. It was considered to be the house of God, or the place where humanity connects to God. The temple too, like the vineyard, had its routines and seasons.

In the parable, the landowner sends servants in times of harvest. These servants can be seen as the prophets; people like John the Baptist. But, instead of listening to them and recognizing that they represented God, the chief priests and their class belittled, punished, and even killed them. These “servants” were a threat to their position of power. Their mere existence proved that chief priests were merely  tenants, placeholders, or stewards. They were not truly in the real position of power. They were not even a delegate or representative. They may have been responsible for the “form” of religious practice, but they were not the actual “function.” They were only representative of the faithful in appearance, not in reality. They missed the deeper intent behind the law. The tenant may appear to be the owner, but the harvest does not belong to them; it belongs only to the owner. While Jesus doesn’t dismiss the form, he’s always more concerned with the function. Jesus questions the form if the function is not present. Appearance only matters if it reflects what is truly there. Function must precede form. 

As the parable continues, the landowner sends his son, or the one with real authority, and assumes that he will be respected.The tenants decide to kill him in an attempt to gain his inheritance. Jesus asks them how they think the landowner would react, and they respond that the owner would kill those men and find good tenants. Positions of earthly authority are like these tenants, they are always temporary and replaceable. Within God’s creation and the systems we create, the most we can ever be is a good steward. If we push ourselves beyond that, we become a bad tenant. Stewardship will never be ownership unless the owner gives it. You cannot give that which is not yours to give.

Jesus then turns to scripture to point out that the divine is revealed through unlikely sources. You may not even recognize the son for the son is “the stone the builders rejected.” And that stone, while being rejected, will soon amaze others as the cornerstone.

Jesus concludes the parable, by saying that the Kingdom of God works the same way. It’s not the form of systems of belief, but the function that’s behind it that’s important. All the rituals and all the laws in all religions are only as good as they accomplish two things: increase love of God and increase love of others. You can check all the boxes of your religious practices, but if you don’t love, what good is it? You can look the part of a faith person, but not actually know God. Jesus is calling us to be genuine in our faith and get to the heart of the matter. There is no need to put on airs or dress it up. Jesus is not asking us to look the part, but to be the part. It’s what’s inside that matters most. Be the tenant that God has called you to be.