ACC ~ Luke 20 v9 - 19

OVERVIEW:

The parable is allegorical where God is the Lord of the vineyard, which he has leased to tenants, the Jewish religious establishment (AMBROSE). God, who planted the vineyard, went abroad for a considerable amount of time. While he is abroad, God sent prophets to declare his salvific intentions and his judgment upon those who reject him. The foolishness and wickedness of the workers delude them into thinking that they will inherit the vineyard if they kill the Son, who possesses by inheritance what belongs to the Father (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA).

Jesus is interpreting the significance of his death for salvation history where the inheritance of the vineyard planted in Israel and given to them to nurture will be taken away and given to Gentiles (EPHREM THE SYRIAN). After Pentecost, the vineyard will be given to the apostles and teachers of the church, the new Israel (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). The church is now the vineyard, the Father the husbandman, and Christ the vine, into whom we have been grafted through the wood of the cross so that we might partake of the heavenly gifts (AMBROSE).

The people’s response is fear. “Let it not happen,” for they know the danger inherent in Jesus’ words (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). Jesus gives no answer, because the events of his life in the next few days will provide the answer. But it is clear: he is the stone which the builders rejected (EPHREM THE SYRIAN). As the cornerstone, Jesus joins two people together—Jews and Gentiles—in one body, the church. The scribes and chief priests were aware that many believed his teaching, and they were afraid to arrest Jesus because of how the people might react. More important, these religious leaders saw their fleeting place in Jesus’ reading of salvation history (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA).

20:9-15 | The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

THE VINEYARD IS THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL LEASED TO THE JEWS

AMBROSE: Very many derive various meanings from the word vineyard, but Isaiah clearly stated that the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel. [1] Who else but God founded this vineyard? He leased it and set out to foreign places. The Lord, who is always everywhere, does not journey from place to place, but he is present to those who love him and absent from those who neglect him. He was absent for many seasons, fearing that the foreclosure might seem premature. The more indulgent the generosity, the more inexcusable is the stubbornness. … He thus leased to the Jews his fortified, prepared and beautified vineyard. EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 9.23-24. [2]

[1] Is 5:7.

[2] EHG 378-79**.

GOD GOES ABROAD FOR A LONG TIME

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the man of Judah, a plant new and beloved. [1] He who planted the vineyard is God, who also went away for a long time. God still fills everything and in no way whatsoever is absent from anything that exists. How, therefore, did the Lord of the vineyard go away for a long time? After they saw him in the shape of fire at his descent on Mount Sinai with Moses, who spoke the law to them as the mediator, he did not again grant to them his presence in a visible way. To use a metaphor taken from human affairs, his relation to them was like one who made a long journey abroad. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 134. [2]

[1] Is 5:7.

[2] CGSL 531-32**.

GOD SENT PROPHETS

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: He went away, but plainly he cared for his farm and kept it in his mind. He sent faithful servants to them at three different times to receive produce or fruit from the tillers of the vineyard. There was no period in the interval, during which there were not sent by God prophets and righteous men to admonish Israel and urge it to bring forth as fruits the glories of a life in accordance with the law. They still were wicked, disobedient and callous, and their heart was hardened against admonition so that they would in no way listen to the word that would have profited them. … Israel was guilty of the charge of apostasy and of idol worship. This is how they shamefully threw out those who were sent to them. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 134. [1]

[1] CGSL 532**.

THE FOOLISHNESS OF KILLING THE HEIR

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The lord of the vineyard thinks to himself saying, “What shall I do?” We must carefully examine in what sense he says this. Does the householder use these words because he had no more servants? He certainly did not lack other ministers of his holy will. When a physician may say of a sick man, “What shall I do?” we should understand him to mean that every resource of medical skill had been tried without success. We affirm that the lord of the vineyard, having practiced all gentleness and care with his farm but without benefiting it in any way, says, “What shall I do?” What is the result? He advances to still greater purposes. “I will send,” he says, “my son, the beloved one. Perhaps they will reverence him.” Observe in this, that after the servants, he sends the Son as One not numbered among the servants but as a true Son and therefore the Lord. Although he put on the form of a servant for the dispensation’s sake, he was God, very Son of God the Father who possessed natural dominion. Did they honor him who was sent as Son and Lord and as One who possesses by inheritance whatever belongs to God the Father? No, they murdered him outside the vineyard, having plotted among themselves a foolish and ignorant plan full of all wickedness. They say, “Let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.” COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 134. [1]

[1] CGSL 532-33**.

20:16-18 | The Interpretation

JESUS TAKES THE INHERITANCE FROM ISRAEL AND GIVES IT TO GENTILES

EPHREM THE SYRIAN: He proposed another parable. “A certain man, a householder, planted his vineyard.” [1] This is like what the psalmist said, “You brought a vine out of Egypt, you drove out the nations and planted it.” [2] He protected it with a hedge, the law, and prepared a pit in it for the winepresses, the altar, and built a tower there, [3] the temple, and sent his servants to bring him its fruit. The first, the next and the last were not received. Then he sent his Son. [4] He was not the last, for although he appeared at the end, he already existed. John witnessed, “A man will come after me, who is before me.” [5] He did not do this because he was unaware that the ancestors were incapable of receiving the produce but to remove the detractions of these stubborn ones from their midst. They were saying that he was not able to direct and prepare everything that he wanted to by the law, so therefore he sent his Son to impose silence on them. When they saw his Son coming, they said, “Here is the heir of the vineyard. Come! Let us kill him, and the inheritance of the vineyard will be ours.” [6] They killed him, but their inheritance was taken away from them and given to the Gentiles. It happened just as he had said, “For to him who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” [7] COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 16.19. [8]

[1] Mt 21:33.

[2] Ps 80:8 (79:9 LXX).

[3] Mt 21:33.

[4] Mt 21:37.

[5] Jn 1:15, 30.

[6] Mt 21:38.

[7] Mt 13:12.

[8] ECTD 252-53*.

THE VINEYARD GIVEN TO THE HOLY APOSTLES

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The farm was given to other farmers. Who are they? I answer the company of the holy apostles, the preachers of the evangelical commandments, the ministers of the new covenant. They were the teachers of a spiritual service, and knew how to instruct people correctly and blamelessly and to lead them most excellently to everything that is pleasing to God. … The God of all plainly reveals that the farm was given to other farmers and not only to the holy apostles but also to those who come after them, although they are not from Jewish blood. He says by the voice of Isaiah to the church of the Gentiles and to the remnant of Israel, “Aliens shall stand and feed your flocks, foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers.” [1] Many were called from the Gentiles, and holy people from their number became teachers and instructors. Even to this day, people of Gentile race hold high place in the churches. They are sowing the seeds of piety to Christ in the hearts of believers and making the nations entrusted to their care into beautiful vineyards in the sight of God. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 134. [2]

[1] Is 61:5.

[2] CGSL 533-34**.

THE CHURCH, THE FATHER, CHRIST

AMBROSE: The vineyard prefigures us, because the people of God, founded on the root of the eternal Vine, appear above the earth, bordering the lowly ground. They now grow ripe with budding flowers. They now are clothed with dense greenery and take on a gentle yoke [1] when they worship with mature branches as if with the twigs of the vine. The Father Almighty truly is the Vinedresser, and Christ is the Vine. We, not vine sprouts, are pruned by the sickle of the eternal cultivator if we do not bear fruit in Christ. [2] The people of Christ then is correctly named a vineyard, either because the sign of the cross is woven on its forehead [3] or its fruit is gathered in the last season of the year. It may also be called a vineyard because there is equal measurement in the church of God for rich and poor, humble and powerful, servants and masters. There is no difference in the church, as in all the rows of the vineyard. [4] As the vine clings to trees, so the body is joined to the soul and the soul to the body. When the vine clings, it is raised up. When it is pruned, it is not diminished, but it increases. The people of God is stripped when it is bound, uplifted when it is humbled, crowned when it is cut back. The tender shoot cut from an old tree is grafted onto the progeny of another root. When the scars of the old shoot are cut away, the people of God likewise grow into the wood of the cross. It is as if they are cherished in the arms of a pious parent. The Holy Spirit comes as if cast down into the deep ditches of the earth and poured into this prison of the body. With the flow of saving water, the Holy Spirit washes away whatever is filthy and raises the posture of our members to heavenly discipline. EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 9.30. [5]

[1] See Mt 11:30.

[2] See Jn 15:1-2.

[3] See Ezek 9:4, 6.

[4] See Col 3:25.

[5] EHG 380-81**.

THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS UNDERSTOOD

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: What did the scribes and Pharisees say when they heard the parable? Their words were, “Heaven forbid!” One may see by this that having understood its more profound significance, they put away from them the impending suffering and were afraid of the coming danger. They however did not escape, because they could not be restrained from disobedience, nor would they submit to believe in Christ. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 134. [1]

[1] CGSL 534**.

JESUS IS THE STONE REJECTED BY THE BUILDERS

EPHREM THE SYRIAN: He led them to the point of judging themselves, saying, “What do the vinedressers deserve?” [1] They made a pronouncement concerning themselves, saying, “Let him destroy the evil ones with evil.” [2] He then explained this, saying, “Have you not read that the stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner?” [3] What stone is this? It is the one known to be as hard as lead. See, he has said, “I am setting a plumb line in the midst of the sons of Israel.” [4] To show that he himself was this stone, he said concerning it, “Whoever knocks against that stone will be broken to pieces, but it will crush and destroy whomsoever it falls upon.” The leaders of the people were gathered together against him and wanted his downfall because his teaching did not please them. He said, “It will crush and destroy whomsoever it falls upon,” because he got rid of idolatry along with other such things. “The stone that struck the image has become a great mountain, and the whole earth has been filled with it.” [5] COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 16.20. [6]

[1] See Mt 21:40.

[2] See Mt 21:41.

[3] Mt 21:42; Ps 118:22 (117:22 LXX).

[4] Amos 7:8.

[5] Dan 2:35.

[6] ECTD 253*.

JESUS JOINS TWO PEOPLE TOGETHER

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Although he was a chosen stone, those who had the duty to build up the synagogue of the Jews in everything that was edifying rejected the Savior. He still became the head of the corner. Now the sacred Scripture compares with a corner the gathering together or joining of the two people. I mean Israel and the Gentiles in the sameness of sentiment and faith. The Savior has built the two people into one new person by making peace and reconciling the two in one body to the Father. [1] This resembles a corner, which unites two walls and binds them together. Blessed David wondered at this corner or gathering together of the two people into one. He said, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. This [the corner] has been done by the Lord, and is marvelous in our eyes.” [2] Christ has bound together the two people in the bonds of love and in the same sentiment and faith. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 134. [3]

[1] Eph 2:15-16.

[2] Ps 118:22-23 (117:22-23 LXX).

[3] CGSL 534**.

20:19 | The Application

THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS FEAR THE PEOPLE

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Again the gang of Pharisees is inflamed with unbridled rage. They draw the bow of their envy. They grind their teeth at him who calls them to life. They savagely attack him who seeks to save and who humbled himself from his supreme and godlike glory to our condition. They plot the death of he who became man that he might abolish death. The wise Evangelist shows us the only cause that hindered their shameless pride. He said that they feared the people. He understood, therefore, that they were not restrained by a feeling of piety toward God. The commandment given by Moses that plainly says, “You shall not kill the holy and the just,” [1] did not bridle their violence. They had far more respect for the fear of people than the reverence due to God. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 135. [2]

[1] Ex 23:7.

[2] CGSL 537**.