Risky Rejection

    As we come to the end of the liturgical year we reach the closing chapters of Matthew. These chapters feature a growing confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees who are rejecting His message. 
On October 2 (28th Sunday in Ordinary Time), Mt. 21:33-43 tells the story of a Landowner who sent servants to a vineyard that he had leased. The tenants rejected the servants, who in this parable stand for prophets. Lastly the Landowner sends his Son, also rejected and then killed. The tenants foolishly thought that this would secure ownership of the vineyard.
    At one level the parable does not make sense. What tenant would be foolish enough to think that the Landowner would cede ownership of the tenant killed his son? The parable is best read as a warning: Prophets are unpleasant people - unpleasant because they are telling us truths that we don't want to hear. Our natural instinct is to reject them. We do so at our own risk. The prophets are telling us truths (usually about ourselves as a society) that we need to hear.