Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (21: 33-43, 45-46) where Jesus shares the Parable of the Tenants.

Fr Paul says, the Gospel we hear today, not surprisingly, introduces a series of confrontations between Jesus and the Jewish leaders. Jesus uses the story about the tenants of a vineyard to show that the leaders were not leading the people as they should. Everyone would understand the story and the image of the vineyard.

Fr Paul explains, God is the land owner who creates the vineyard, the tenants are the Jewish leaders, the son is Jesus. At the end of the Gospel, we can sense that the noose is tightening around Jesus’ neck. They wanted to arrest Him, but the time was just not quite right.

As we continue our Lenten journey, Fr Paul invites us to reflect on this simple point of today’s Gospel; that the Jewish leaders could not see Jesus was the promised Messiah.