A couple of days ago, I was struck by the vast number of pumpkins now available in a supermarket. In fact, there were so many that they had their own space on the shop floor rather than in the aisle with other fruit – where they belong – like tomatoes and cucumber. Oh, wait a minute… In most shops, those fruits are found in the vegetable aisle, which might suggest that the retail managers didn’t pay attention to their biology classes at school. On the other hand, does it really matter whether items in supermarkets are laid out in line with strict botanical rules? Most of us think of tomatoes and cucumbers as vegetables and head straight to the relevant aisle to pick them up. Now, what about jaffa cake, usually found among biscuits… Just kidding!
As I’ve mentioned a number of times this year, St Matthew addressed his gospel to early Christian communities consisting mainly of Jewish converts. In fact, most of them wouldn’t use such a term to describe themselves. They saw their faith in Jesus as the ultimate Messiah as a developmental continuation of the Mosaic faith they had been practising since their birth and circumcision, as their forefathers had done for centuries. The primal Jewish Christians kept going to the Temple in Jerusalem to pray – the most obvious sign of such thinking. Very few non-Jews in those communities were proselytes – pagans who had converted to Judaism first. When the inevitable tensions and conflicts arose, often the dividing line was the ethnic origin, as testified by the Acts of the Apostles: “The Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food.” (6:1) Yet “the worst” was yet to come – a massive influx of pagans who had no prior knowledge or practice of Judaism, and worse still, they didn’t intend to go down that route to become Christians. The scene was set for the Church’s internal struggle, which proved huge, toxic and divisive. This is the context we must remember when reading today’s gospel passage.
The parable of the vineyard and its unruly tenants reflected the Old Testamental story of the Chosen People of God. “The corporate life of the chosen community was thus a summons to the rest of humankind to recognise God’s presence, sovereignty, and purpose – the establishment of peace and well-being in the universe and in humankind.” In simple terms, they had been chosen to reveal the one and only God to the brutal and sinful pagan world. Unfortunately, flawed human nature tends to turn such special selection into boastful pride and obnoxious superiority. In any religious context, such an attitude turns religious rules and morals into impenetrable defensive walls that give a false sense of safety while attacking vigorously (and often viciously) those who don’t conform to those ever narrower religious ideologies. Consequently, God – in whose name such a twisted religion is practised – is effectively banished from his rightful domain. In the parable, this was symbolised by the landowner’s numerous servants humiliated and even killed by the tenants. Their ultimate crime – the murder of the landowner’s son – led to taking the vineyard out of their hands and handing it to those who would fulfil their duty.
Unlike in the first reading, where the vineyard was partially demolished and exposed to a hostile environment, in the gospel parable, it was carefully handed over to the new tenants. In the original context of the gospel, there were Christians of pagan origin. We are their successors, given the responsibility for God’s vineyard. So, what’s the purpose of our religion? It might surprise you to learn that it’s pretty much the same as the purpose of ancient Judaism: “The corporate life of the chosen community was thus a summons to the rest of humankind to recognise God’s presence, sovereignty, and purpose – the establishment of peace and well-being in the universe and in humankind.” The key phrase to the understanding of today’s gospel is this line: “the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.” What kind of fruit?
The answer is two-pronged. On an individual level, the whole list of desired fruit was presented by St Paul in his letter to the Galatians: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (5:22-23) All religious practices, pieties and devotions must be carried out with the development of such fruit in mind – otherwise, they are worthless and vain. When we grow in those qualities as individuals, they naturally affect our ways of dealing with people around us and effectively fulfil the purpose of our special relationship with God: “to recognise God’s presence, sovereignty, and purpose – the establishment of peace and well-being in the universe and in humankind.” Jesus told you and me: “You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.” (John 15:16)
