“Showdown: the Prophet vs. the Priests” (St. Luke’s: Friday, March 02, 2018; Gn. 37.3-28; Ps. 105; St. Mt. 21.33-43, 45-46)

High Noon.  Many movies that belong to the genre of “Westerns” include a climactic scene where the hero and the villain agree to meet in the street at “high noon” in order to fight to the death and thus settle their differences.  The scene usually begins with a camera shot of the entire length of the street, empty except for a ball of tumbleweed rolling by in the breeze.  The sun blazes down as first the hero, then the villain emerge from buildings on opposite sides of the thoroughfare.  They slowly make their way to the middle of the street as the residents of the town nervously peek out of their windows in order to take in the action.  Once in position, the evil murderer and the brave cowboy stare each other down across the yards of dusty ground between them.  Their hands float in the air, poised above the pistols holstered at their waists.  Beads of sweat emerge on their foreheads as their faces tense with the pressure.  Who will get off a shot first, and will his aim be true?  Or will his opponent be able to take advantage of his miscalculation?  A duel of this nature is as much a battle of nerves as it is a battle of marksmanship.  Everyone watches with baited breath as a pistol is brandished with lightning speed and the sound of a shot – echoes down the street…

Tension in the Temple.  Something similar is happening in today’s Gospel.  Instead of taking place in the street of a frontier town, today’s showdown occurs in the courts of the Jerusalem Temple.  In the place of cowboy and villain, we have Jesus and “the chief priests and the elders of the people”.  Today’s reading begins in the middle of a heated exchange that began 10 verses earlier when those responsible for the Temple had asked Jesus a question: “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” (21.23).  The “things” they are referring to are the actions that Jesus had taken upon entering the Temple following his “triumphal entry” into Jerusalem – i.e. the mess that Jesus had made as he drove the merchants who were selling sacrificial animals out of the Temple precincts (cf. 21.1-17).  “By what authority are you doing these things?” – i.e. “Who sent you?” “Who do you think you are?”  It’s the old question, put to Jesus once again.  This time, Jesus has ventured into the lair of his adversaries and by “cleansing” the Temple, he had “fired a shot across the bow” of the Jerusalem hierarchy.  Jesus’ actions were a direct challenge to those official leaders of God’s people, and they understood its meaning all too well.  “By what authority are you doing these things?”  The two sides now have each other’s attention, and the – for now – verbal dueling can begin.  Jesus replies with a question of his own: “Did the baptism of John come from heaven (i.e. “from God”), or was it of human origin?” (21.25), offering to answer his opponents’ question if they first answer his.  Please note: these questions are by no means an expression of idle curiosity – they are heavily loaded with meaning.  At stake is nothing less than the public recognition of those who truly represent Yahweh and will thus be seen to be the true leaders of God’s people.  As the saying goes, “There is only room for one sheriff in this town”.  Someone is merely pretending to speak for God; the moment of truth has arrived – who will be revealed to be the authentic spokesman of Yahweh and who will be exposed as a fraud?  Jesus’ question about John the Baptist places his opponents on the horns of a dilemma, one they are acutely aware of – if they reply that John’s ministry had indeed been a God-ordained mission, then their case against Jesus will collapse, since Jesus had been acclaimed by John as “the greater one who is to come” (cf. Mt. 3.11-12; 11.2-3).  However, if they reply that John had been simply acting on a whim, then they will endanger themselves with the crowds of pilgrims filling the Temple courts and who all believe that John had been a true prophet of God (21.26).  Since they have painted themselves into a corner, they simply tell Jesus: “We do not know”.  Jesus then offers the following riposte: “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things” (21.27).  The scene has all the qualities of a Mexican standoff.

Stories for a stand-off.  However, in a brilliant rhetorical flourish, Jesus breaks the deadlock by proceeding to do the precise thing he said he would not do – he answers his opponents’ question.  How?  By telling three parables (cf. 21.28-32; 21.33-46; 22.1-14).  Today’s Gospel is the second in this series of three stories which all share the same basic plot – in the first two, a landowner gives/sends instructions to his sons/employees; in the third, a king sends an invitation to his subjects.  In each of the three parables, there are employees who disobey their instructions and mistreat the servants who transmitted them/subjects who reject the king’s invitation and mistreat the servants who issued it.  At the end of today’s Gospel, we see that Jesus’ opponents had perceived only too clearly which characters in the story represented them – the disobedient tenants who mistreat and kill the messengers sent to them by the landowner.  If they had had their way, Jesus’ adversaries would have destroyed him at once; however, they are constrained – once again – by their fear of the crowds who believe Jesus – just like John – to be a prophet (21.46; cf. 21.26).  “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”  Jesus’ answer boils down to this: I have been sent by Yahweh as the last in a long line of messengers who have been sent on a fool’s errand – to demand the fruit (i.e. the obedience) that is due the owner of the vineyard (i.e. Israel, the people of God).  I am the true King of Israel, which means I have authority over the Temple.  I am the heir of the owner of the vineyard; i.e. I speak with all the authority of the One who brought Israel into existence.  Jesus is telling the people of the covenant that they have betrayed their very raison d’être – they have failed to play their proper role in the plan of God.  Dire consequences are announced for those tenants who mistreat the servants of the master – in today’s story, Jesus says: “(The landowner) will put those wretched men to a wretched death and lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper times” (21.41); at the end of the third story, Jesus declares that: “The king … sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city” (22.7).  Indeed, Jesus’ “cleansing” of the Temple had been merely a foretaste of the exponentially greater disaster that would follow within one generation – the total destruction of the Temple and the city of Jerusalem.

The irony of hate.  There is a heavy irony in today’s Gospel.  Jesus’ opponents recognize themselves as being the villains in the story – the tenants who mistreat and kill the servants of the master of the vineyard.  They recognize themselves, but they cannot bring themselves to recognize Jesus as being the Son; blinded by their hatred and envy (Mt. 27.18; cf. the Joseph story in the first reading), they continue to follow the course of action which will have them fulfill the parable’s prediction – the tenants of the vineyard will indeed murder the Son.  In a most ironic way, the very fact that the chief priests and elders “hand Jesus over” to Pilate to be crucified is an implicit acknowledgement of Jesus’ claim to be “the Son”.  Today’s Gospel is not a pleasant passage.  It’s a call to repentance.  If we find ourselves in a standoff with God – if we recognize ourselves as being people who need to hear and obey God’s call to return to him and embrace the love that He has shown us in sending us His Son, let us seize the opportunity to change our ways and welcome God’s gift.  Amen.