Parable of the Tenants

The Pharisees were restless
as they listen to the Great Teacher,
they gnashed their teeth in outrage
as the words of Jesus struck deep.
It was not hard to understand the fury they kept
for envy and pride were eating up their hearts.

And so Jesus went on to say:
“A man planted a vineyard;
puts up fences, wine press
and a tall watchtower.
He then asked his tenants
to watch over his estate
while he went to a foreign land.

When the time of harvest came,
He sent his servants to the tenants
to get his rightful share,
but the tenants grabbed his servants
beated up one, killed another,
and stoned the others.
The owner sent more servants to his vineyard
but the same fate they suffered.

At last, the owner sent his son,
he thought, “Perhaps, my son they’ll respect”.
Yet when the tenants saw his son,
among themselves they agreed:
“Let’s kill him and get his inheritance!”
So they dragged him out of the the vineyard
and slayed him ruthlessly.”

Now, when the owner of the vineyard
have returned for his harvest,
What would he do?
Shall he kill them all and hire new tenants
who would give him his share?

The Pharisees saw the truth in each word
yet their eyes they closed to Him,
They understood but would not believe;
they saw but would not accept.
The Rock they trampled on
had become the Cornerstone.

The time will come when
we shall all account
for the life that we have lived,
Have we believed and have lived
as we have believed?

a Poetic Prose

Copyright © October 2011 by Arnel Oroceo for Of Verses and Rhymes
All Rights Reserved, International Copyright Secured