Adversaries

Sometimes people don't live up to their part of the bargain.

Then he began to speak to them in parables. "A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watchtower; then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard.  But they seized him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. - Mark 12:1-3

Jesus begins his parable with a problem most people in his day might not have considered.  The tenants won't pay their rent. 

It is told from the perspective of the landlord, rather than the tenant.

The one being abused here is the wealthy landowner.  This is not a story about oppression, but of greed and abuse.

When people come to me seeking help with paying their rent, the situation is often described in reverse.  The landlord is the unreasonable one, showing no compassion when the tenant is late with payment.

But there is always more to the story.

I think that is why Jesus turned the story around.  He wants us to see ourselves through the eyes of God, the Father, the one who has and gives with love.

Now it is clear that not all landlords are as forgiving and compassionate as God.  They would not put up with tenants who beat their servants or messengers, and therein lies the twist in the story.

Jesus gives us an example of a loving God to show us how we could be loving of and for each other.

We could be the compassionate landlord, but we would like to have honest tenants as well.

If the relationship we have tenant to landlord, employee to employer is always adversarial, both sides will look for ways to win out.  I am good and you are evil.

That doesn't work.

As the parable shows, there will be occasions when one side takes advantage of the other, but I don't think that means we should stop trying to make the relationship work.

There are risks involved, though.  Who wants to be taken advantage of?

So, we keep our distance and set up strict rules with harsh punishments.

At the end of the story, the land owner comes to destroy the tenants and give the land to others.  Is he wrong in doing so?

Perhaps if we are able to see the greed of the tenant as well as the wealth of the landlord, we will will have a better appreciation for the power struggles in our world.

Someone will always be in a position of power over another, and someone will always try to take advantage of the situation.

Greed works both ways.

And either way causes pain.

More to come...