The Vineyard (27th Sunday in Ordinary Time)

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Vineyards were a common sight in the hills of Israel and Judah, and were a crucial part of their agricultural life. The grapes produced from these vineyards were used to produce wine both for everyday consumption and for important religious feasts such as Passover. For this reason, great care had to be taken to cultivate the grapevines and protect them from scavengers and raiders.

In this passage, God likens His people to a vineyard which He has taken great care to cultivate and protect, with the hope that it would produce grapes. However, the vineyard produced only wild grapes, which were not fit for consumption. In the same way, the Hebrews were expected to obey the Law that God set for them and become a beacon of righteousness, but instead did the exact opposite and have strayed from His path. Because of this, the curses which God had threatened Israel with for disobedience would inevitably come down upon them (see Repentance Unto Life).

Yet God would not ultimately cast off the Israelites. Later on in Isaiah, another vineyard passage appears. Here, He speaks of how He will protect His vineyard, and how Israel will blossom and bear fruit:

In that day,

“A pleasant vineyard, sing of it!

I, the Lord, am its keeper;

every moment I water it.

Lest anyone punish it,

I keep it night and day;

I have no wrath.

Would that I had thorns and briers to battle!

I would march against them,

I would burn them up together.

Or let them lay hold of my protection,

let them make peace with me,

let them make peace with me.”

In days to come Jacob shall take root,

Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots

and fill the whole world with fruit. (Isaiah 27:2-6)

This once again speaks to the theme of repentance that appears in the other prophetic readings. God wants His people to repent, and is always waiting for them to do so. Even the Jews who rejected Jesus (as symbolized by the unfaithful tenants in the Gospel reading) are not outside the scope of God's mercy, for they are also offered a chance to repent and believe in the Messiah whom they have rejected. This is why the Church has traditionally prayed for the conversion of the Jewish people every Good Friday.

This is good news for us as well, because even when we go astray, God will not give up on us for as long as we are still alive and there is still a chance for repentance. He may chastise us for a while, but is ready to take us back when we realize the error of our ways and come back to Him.

J. Luis Dizon