Jesus tells a story that gets people angry
(From the Gospel of Luke, chapter 20, verses 9-19)
Jesus used to tell stories when he taught. He did this so that people could discover how the stories were like the stories of their own lives. He called these special teaching stories "parables."
A few days before he was killed, Jesus told this parable in the courtyard of the Temple in Jerusalem:
"Once upon a time a man decided to grow some grapes, so he planted a vineyard - a big garden full of grape plants. It took the man a long time to plant the grape vines and to get them strong and healthy so that they would grow lots of fruit. It was hard work, but he kept at it. He loved grapes and he knew others did, too. He planned to sell the grapes that grew in his vineyard.
"While the grapes were growing, the man decided to go a trip. He arranged for some workers to come and live on his farm and to take care of the grapes while he was away. He told them to take good care of his plants - to water them and to keep the bugs away and to pick the grapes when they were ripe. He told the workers to sell the grapes in the market place and to hold onto the money until he asked for it.
"Then he went away on his vacation.
"After a while, the owner of the vineyard wanted his money and so he sent one of his servants to the vineyard to collect what was owed to him. But the grape workers beat up the servant and sent him away empty-handed.
"The owner of the vineyard tried again. He sent another servant to collect the money that was owed to him. But the grape workers beat up that servant, too. They called him names and sent him away empty-handed.
"The man tried one more time, but the same thing happened to the third servant he sent! The workers were determined not to hand over the money they had made from the sale of the grapes.
"The owner of the vineyard thought to himself, 'What should I do? These workers of mine keep hurting the servants I send to them. How am I ever going to get the money that belongs to me? I know! I'll send my son. Surely they will respect my son and do what he asks,' he thought.
"The man's son went to the workers, asking for his father's rightful share of the money. The workers talked together, deciding what to do. Finally one of them said, 'Someday, when the owner dies, this vineyard will belong to his son. But if we kill this guy, then we can have the vineyard all to ourselves. Then we won't have to share the grapes or the money we make with anyone else.' So they killed the owner's son."
Many people were listening to Jesus when he told this story. Some of them were people who had come to the Temple from a long distance to celebrate Passover there. Others in the crowd lived in Jerusalem and visited the Temple all the time. Some of them even worked in the Temple. The people who worked in the Temple didn't like Jesus. They didn't like that people listened to Jesus when he taught but they wouldn't listen to them. They were enemies of Jesus. They wanted Jesus to be quiet and go away.
Jesus asked the crowd of people who had heard the parable, "What do you think the owner of the vineyard should do?"
Someone in the crowd said, "He should get rid of those awful workers and give the vineyard to people who will take good care of it and treat the owner fairly."
"I agree with you," Jesus said.
Jesus' enemies realized that the story he had told was about them. This made them even more determined to shut him up.
Questions to ponder:
I wonder if the vineyard reminds you of anything in your own life.
I wonder if anyone has ever been mean to you, or tried to make you be quiet or go away.
I wonder if Jesus knows about the people who have been mean to you.
I wonder how the man who owns the vineyard is like God.
I wonder how the mean workers were like Jesus' enemies.