Bible
Study: 2nd Peter 1, 2 to 7 and Mark 12, 1
to 12.
In today’s Gospel passage,
Jesus told a parable to his accusers, the chief priests and scribes who would
eventually ensure his arrest and death. Jesus used this parable to reveal his
true identity to them as the Son of God and the stone rejected by the builders
which has now become the corner stone.
The moment the chief priests
got the message behind the parable, they were caught to conscience because they
realised they were the ungrateful tenants who deserved to be destroyed for
killing the servants who were sent to collect the fruits of the vineyard.
Going further, we can also
see that the parable of the tenants applies also to every one of us as well. A man
planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, and dug a pit for the wine press,
and built a tower, and leased it to tenants. What does this mean? God created the
earth and filled it with rich mineral and natural resources. God put in
everything into the earth to make it capable of sustaining our human life.
Out of his own graciousness,
God made us and put us as tenants into the earth he created. We did not bring
anything with us while we came to possess the earth and it wasn’t even the case
that we were the ones who told him to create us.
But then, the moment we take
possession, we forget that we are mere tenants! We forget that we came to this
world empty and we can never own anything! We start defining ourselves
according to what we think belongs to us, I am a banker, I am an engineer, I am
the owner of this or that!
We become so attached to
material things that we are ready to kill, wound, maim, destroy either by words,
actions or thoughts anyone who tries to take what we think belongs to us. Take for
example, how many have died or killed themselves while struggling for land
ownership.
We even define our happiness
according to how much of these material things we have. We forget completely that
we will have to die one day and leave everything behind. We forget that nothing
truly belongs to us if it is impossible for us to take it with us while leaving
this world.
Like a patient land owner,
God keeps sending us his messengers to remind us that we are merely tenants in
this world, that we are just caretakers of our money, our talents, our
intelligence, our children and even our time! God keeps reminding us that we
are only to use what we have and not become possessed by them, but what do we
do? We completely neglect his message. We deafen our ears to his words and
completely ignore him. We fail to give him the fruits of the land that
rightfully belongs to him.
As tenants that we are, how
are to pay rents to God who is the rightful owner of all that we see around us?
By helping the poor and needy, by giving food and water to the hungry and
thirsty, by helping to alleviate the plights of others, by being merciful to
others not as privileged as we are, by not being selfish but thinking in terms
of others.
We pay rents to God by
living according to the commandments he has given to us, by living a life of
virtue as St. Peter admonishes us in the first reading. We pay rents to God by
adding knowledge to virtue, self-control to knowledge, steadfastness to
self-control, godliness to steadfastness, brotherly affection to godliness and
above all love.
One way we behave like these
ungrateful servants today is in the area of sexual immorality. People now live
as if there is no God or rather as if they are gods unto themselves. We dishonour
God by our immoral thoughts, words, jokes, music, actions and even dressing. Nakedness
in fashion has become the order of the day. If it is not transparent, it is
open at the back or made so tight fitting that it reveals all the curves and
edges in one’s body.
Self-control is lacking not
only among non-Christians but even among those of us who pride ourselves as
holy-holy-holy externally. We are not giving God the fruits he deserves as the owner
of our bodies and for this we shall be destroyed if we fail to repent.
Let us pray:
Lord Jesus, may I never
forget who I am as a tenant in this life that I may always give you the fruits
of my stewardship. Amen.
Good morning.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy new week.
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