Matthew 21:33-41

“They said to him, ‘He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.’”

It’s the last week of his ministry and Jesus has the full attention of the religious leaders. He’s totally disrupted the business of the temple and as the angry elders and priests crowd around he uses the familiar language of the vineyard metaphor to pull them into another parable.  He uses a slightly different twist and ends by describing the wretched behavior of the landlord’s tenants. Not quite knowing where Jesus is going with the story they answer his question with the right answer. They still haven’t figured out that Jesus regards them as the wicked tenants. 

It seems strange to see Jesus baiting his opponents in this fashion. After all he began his ministry by telling the crowds that they should love their enemies and not resist those who treat them poorly. Evidently Jesus wasn’t the pushover that some folks make him out to be. He loved the temple and it crushed his spirit to see the travesty that its caretakers had made of it. They were plunderers and thieves and he believed that their malfeasance should be exposed.

Sometimes that’s exactly what people of faith are called to do. Where we see injustice we have an obligation to speak out, and sometimes make a fuss. Often that’s the only way we can get the powerful and the arrogant to account for their sins!

Thought for the Day: What keeps me from standing up to bullies?