Are you a good or bad tenant?

The parable that Jesus told, as recorded in Matthew 21, has divided people for two thousand years. Many readers immediately feel sympathy for the agents of the landlord who are beaten by the tenants. Most people understand that the son of the landlord represents Jesus who was killed by the people to whom he was sent.

Those who rejected Jesus are understood to be Jews and for thousands of years Christians have harbored animosity toward them for killing Jesus. Of course, he was not the first cornerstone of salvation in Israel's history. He was not the first savior to be rejected in Israel's history.

Have we read this parable too narrowly?  Sometimes we need to look for ourselves in the stories of the Bible and risk finding ourselves in the characters who are unsavory. Can it be possible that we ourselves have been among those who have rejected Christ?  We'll look into this on Sunday.

Allen