Isaiah recalls what the Lord did for his vineyard, which however, instead of juicy grapes, produces unripe berries. Often the people of God do not know how to correspond to the care of their Lord and to his expectations. The case of the vineyard of which Jesus narrates is different: its vines now produce abundant fruit. However, it is the peasants who hold them back, without giving the owner what is due him. They even go so far as to kill his son, the heir, to take possession of the vineyard as well as its products. The owner then decides to give his vineyard to others. The parable speaks of “heirs” and “inheritance”. If the heir dies, who will the inheritance pass to? Who are these “others” to whom the vineyard will go? In the Gospel of Matthew there are at least two significant places in which we speak of inheritance: the page of the Beatitudes, where Jesus proclaims that the meek will inherit the earth and the kingdom of God will be given to the poor (cf. Mt 5,5.3) ; and the parable of the final judgment where, to those who stand at the right hand of the king and have performed acts of love, it will be said: “Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” ( Mt 25,34). This is the nature of the fruits that the Lord wants to make shine in his vineyard: “I was hungry and you gave me to eat …”.

Commentary by Comunità di Dumenza

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves, Prinknash Abbey