Friday 18 March 2022

Today is Friday the 18th of March, in the second week of Lent.
The Kyiv Chamber Choir sing, In Thy Kingdom. As you listen, reflect on the kingdom of God being present to us in the here and now…

(Lyrics currently unavailable)

Today's reading is from the Gospel of Matthew.
Matt 21:33-43,45-46
'Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watch-tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, "They will respect my son." But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, "This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance." So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?' 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.'
Jesus said to them, 'Have you never read in the scriptures: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is amazing in our eyes"? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

Notice firstly the parable here, before it is applied to Jesus and his adversaries. How do you react to the story of these ungrateful and violent tenants?
The chief priests and the Pharisees see themselves as the target of Jesus's words. What is it that makes them feel that they are the ones being criticized here?
Notice, as the second part of the passage is read again, the promise that the Kingdom will be given to the people who will produce its fruits. How might you be seen as one of those people?
What do you want to say to the one who wants to give you the Kingdom of God as a gift?


You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.
Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace,
that is enough for me.