Today the "trial" by the elders and chief priests of Jesus for his cleansing of the Temple continues. What they wanted to know was: "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?" (Mtt 21: 23) Yet, it seems, that the chief priests and the elders are the ones being held to account. Interestingly, it is only in Matthew that they speak a verdict on themselves when they say: "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." (Mtt 21: 41) Jesus makes it plain to them that this applies to the chief priests and the elders themselves. They are hoist by their own petard. The consequence of this is that the Kingdom is henceforth given over to those who will produce the fruits in due season. Saint Matthew would say that it is the Christian community which is the new tenants and it is charged with producing the fruit. Once the chief priests and Pharisees realize that the parable is directed at them they want to arrest Jesus. Are we as Church, in 2023, producing the fruit of the Kingdom? Or, do we share the attitudes and practices of entitlement and self-interest that Jesus condemns?
No comments:
Post a Comment