ACC ~ Matthew 21 v39 - 41

THE HOUSEHOLDER AND THE VINEYARD

EPIPHANIUS THE LATIN: The householder in this parable is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The vineyard he planted represents the Jewish people who were begotten from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, multiplied like the stars in the sky and the sand of the shore, liberated from the land of Egypt and the yoke of slavery, and led through the sea to the promised land, as the prophet said: “You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.” [1] The Lord planted the Jewish people in the promised land, flowing with milk and honey, so that they would bear the fruit of the commandments of God. “He surrounded it with a hedge” means that God fortified it with the protection of angels. The wine press he dug signifies the holy church, where the fruits of righteousness and holiness are gathered; just as the grapes are pressed only with great toil and effort, so also the holy martyrs are crushed like grapes and shed their blood only through great persecutions and tortures. The tower constructed in the middle of the vineyard is our Lord himself, who appeared like a strong tower in the midst of the holy church through the Virgin. Because of his presence, all the saints and martyrs are protected with spiritual weapons from their most wicked enemy, who is the devil. “When harvest time drew near, he sent his servants,” that is, the prophets, “to the tenants,” who were the teachers of the law, “to collect the fruit of the vineyard.” He had already sent the prophets to them repeatedly to collect his fruit, but they were disdainful and rebellious toward the Lord and greeted his prophets with swords, beatings, stonings and other persecutions. They killed Isaiah, stoned Jeremiah, pursued Elijah and beheaded John the Baptist. Every nation that persecutes its teachers and fails to produce the fruit of the gospel is an accomplice to the Jews. “Finally, therefore, he sent his only son to them, saying, ‘surely they will respect my son.’” The “only son” of the householder is the Lord, the Son of God, who came by the will of the Father to his vineyard, which is the Jewish people. “But when the tenants,” who are the teachers of the law, “saw his son, they said to themselves, ‘this is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours,’ and they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.” They also crucified our Lord outside the city, while they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Yet they did not in fact come to possess the inheritance of the law; instead, they sentenced themselves to death, for the Lord asked, “What will the owner of the vineyard do to the tenants when he comes?” They responded, “He will destroy the evil tenants and give the vineyard to other tenants who will produce its fruit in a timely manner.” They condemned themselves by their own words, as the Lord implies when he speaks about himself and their faithlessness: “The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; therefore, I say to you that the kingdom of God will be removed from you and given to a people producing its fruits.” [2] INTERPRETATION OF THE GOSPELS 31. [3]

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

[2] Mt 21:42-43.

[3] PL Supp 3:876-77.

THEY CAST HIM OUT OF THE VINEYARD AND KILLED HIM

CHRYSOSTOM: And where do they wish to kill him? “Outside the vineyard.” Do you see how he prophesies even the place where he was to be slain? Well, they did cast him out, and they killed him.

And Luke indeed says, “He declared what they must suffer.” When they heard this, they said, “God forbid!” [1] He then asks them to remember the testimony of Scripture: “He looked at them and said, ‘What then is this that is written: The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner.’ Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces.” [2] Matthew’s account does not contradict Luke’s. They passed the sentence against themselves, as Matthew says, and again, when they perceived what they had said, they added, “God forbid.” By the words of the prophet against them, he sought to persuade them that this certainly would come to pass.

He signified only in a hidden way that he would “give the vineyard to others,” not mentioning the Gentiles and not affording his opponents a handle to use to attack him. It was for this reason that he spoke in parables, that they themselves might pass the sentence. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 68.2. [3]

[1] Lk 20:16.

[2] Lk 20:17-18.

[3] PG 58:641; NPNF 1 10:415-16.