In the parable of the vineyard owner and the unworthy tenants, Jesus
addressed the Pharisees, the priests and the leaders of the Jewish
people of his time. He admonished them that God expected them to bear
fruit and offer them to God. Instead, they maltreated and killed the
prophets and killed even the Son of God himself who came to redeem
them, because what the prophets and the Son of God told them to do
interfered with what they had become comfortable with and their
worldly self interest.
The word of God, however, is addressed not only to the Pharisees and
the High Priest and the Jewish people of ancient history. The word of
God is addressed to everyone for all times and for all peoples,
including ourselves. We too are tenants in the vineyard of God. God is
expecting us to bear fruit for him. Are we bearing fruit and sharing
with God the fruits of His vineyard or are we like the followers of
the Pharisees and the High Priest, selfishly thinking only of our own
comfort and worldly desires? In our lives, are we choosing the will of
God over our own craving for fame and fortune, comfort and pleasure?
