October 4, 2026 · The Rev. Meredith Ellis · Isaiah 5:1-7; Matthew 21:33-46
Guest preacher the Rev. Meredith Ellis reads the parable of the tenants against the Roman 'domination system' of Jesus's day, and asks what Jesus would make of a world where the few hoard while the many go hungry. Christ has no body now on earth but ours, so it's time to get busy making good trouble.
Transcript
Good morning. We just heard two stories from Isaiah and then from the gospel. So I'm here to talk about those parables.
Jesus is addressing a crowd of disciples and followers. But the crowd also included Roman leaders, protesters, the scribes and chief priests. This series of parables follow the text we have heard over the last several weeks. Jesus is teaching in parables that describe a variety of misguided, unacceptable commands and behaviors he has witnessed. Upon entering Jerusalem to fully understand Jesus underlying message, it's important that we examine these parables in the context of that ancient world to grasp Jesus mandate to challenge the existing hierarchy. These leaders and protesters, the scribes and chief priests, need to understand the source of Jesus authority. It is God's holy authority that has chosen and sent Jesus to restore the value of the temple and Jerusalem, bringing serious changes, a revolt against the egregious corruption of these current leaders who held themselves as the reigning authority figures. As we examine these texts and their parables, some of what you hear will sound strangely familiar, given our current world of rulers and citizens. Hold those thoughts.
First, we need to examine who exactly are these chief priests and scribes? Why do they seem to assume the power they project to help our understanding of all that was transpiring in Jerusalem at that time? Here's a bit of a history lesson about the way meaning power and religion had changed in the temple and Jerusalem since the days of King David. And when Jesus arrived.
In the ancient Near Eastern world, at the time of Jesus birth, the Roman Empire ruled the region surrounding Jerusalem. Tiberius was the Roman Empire, recognized and lauded as the only religious leader, the Romans held a religious belief that Tiberius as emperor was the Son of God. Pontius Pilate was governor Under their rule. Jerusalem and the temple, formerly the sites of the Jewish religion, had long since deteriorated to become the centers for Commerce and Roman Authority, the center of a domination system. Under this domination system, political oppression, economic exploitation and religious legitimation were the rule by which this world was governed by Rome. In their book The Last Week, Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan explain that this domination system was run by its central dynamic the political and economic domination of the many by a few, and use of religious claims to justify it. The few who ruled at the top of the local system where the temple authorities headed by the high priest, including members of aristocratic families, scribes and elders, were part of this system. These were the individuals forced to uphold the local authority answering to Rome. Their primary obligation to Rome was loyalty and collaboration.
It's okay Joseph. On the same day as Jesus entered Jerusalem from the east riding a donkey, Pilate also entered Jerusalem from the west, leading a procession of cavalry and soldiers. They had arrived, assuming there need to be present, because it was the week of the Passover when crowds might need to be managed by Roman troops. Jesus entrance represented the kingdom of God, while pilots troops represented both imperial power and imperial theology. The idea that Jesus might be the Son of God was a direct threat to imperial Rome, creating immediate tension.
Following this first entrance from Matthew, we are given several parables about vineyards and landowners that Jesus preached to the crowds, using these parables to instruct those present about God's intention for his kingdom. First, from earlier in Matthew, Jesus began by reclaiming the temple as a place of prayer, peace, and faith. The temple was God's house where he abided, where he was honored, praised, and worshipped God's house. It did not belong to Rome. Next, Jesus began to reclaim Jerusalem as the center of religious life. But the corrupted practices had to be banished.
The first of these experiences of Jesus. Among them is the disruption in the temple. Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying there. And he overturned the tables of the money changers. He said to them, my house shall be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers. Following this encounter, the children and infirm present clustered around him and were healed by him, provoking yet another outcry of alarm and protest from the scribes and chief priests.
And still another text While Jesus was present in the temple, his authority was questioned by the chief priests and elders who had just witnessed Jesus command and the crowd's response. They inquired, by what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority? Jesus responded with a question himself, telling them, if they could answer his question, then he would answer theirs. Jesus is speaking. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin because they could not determine the right answer? Jesus would not reply to them by what authority he could perform these things.
In today's parable, Jesus has described landowners, those who work the vineyards, tenants, slaves, and eventually the landowner's son sent out to hold the vineyard workers accountable. Accountable. Yet the response given to their directions was to beat, mutilate and kill these workers, including the landowner's son. Chastising them, Jesus reminds his listeners that within the Kingdom of God, produce from the vineyards will be given to these workers deserving of this product. A reminder 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. The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on the stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.
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. Jesus is the cornerstone of our faith. Although the chief priests, Pharisees, and scribes did not want to admit who he was or that he held God's authority, we embrace him as God's Son, our Lord and Savior.
Today, in our fractured world, what would Jesus do? Never have we needed him more. What would Jesus do if he were to appear again in our midst. These parables describe some morally bankrupt people who are finally identified as the Pharisees and scribes. Those rulers in the old world referred to by Jesus as the money changers. If Jesus were to appear, would we recognize him? A scruffy Middle Eastern man in robes and sandals. I doubt it. He was not some clean cut white guy in a suit wearing a cross carrying a Bible. Nope.
Would he overturn tables and cause a ruckus to get our attention? We don't know. But he would not be happy with the condition of our world hungry people struggling to make ends meet. While the money changers are focused entirely on their power and bank accounts getting bigger. That's what Jesus was railing against in these parables. He wouldn't be happy in today's world. Not happy with people dying, angry about an unjust war. Not happy with the level of hunger Homeliness homelessness, treatment of all marginalized people. Not happy with the amount of money being hoarded by the few while the many suffer. He would be angry. He would be very unhappy with the brand of so-called Christianity that has been manufactured to support the current leaders, those hoarding money while they ignore the needs of God's people.
We are called as God's people to serve those in need. As Teresa of Avila wrote, Christ has no body now on earth but yours. No hands but yours. No feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ must look out on the world. We need to pay attention, considering our neighbors needs, offering help when we can. We need to be aware when our neighbors are hurting. We do not need to be sacrificial with our time or means, but we are called to present an alternative to the stingy, self-serving money changers creating this challenge.
We are called as God's people to serve those in need. We are called to love God and our neighbors as ourselves. We need to get busy and engage in some good trouble. We are called to transform our current world until it aligns more with God's kingdom. We need to be actively engaged in the transformation needed in our country, and we need to be creative and vocal about our approach. Standing up. Speaking out to those in power when we can. We must come together in community, gathering friends, family, neighbors to keep track of each other, counsel, support, connect and encourage. However, we can build bridges to listen and talk with those who don't agree.
Take time. Be compassionate. Christ has no body now on earth but yours but ours. God help us all. Amen.