Read
Read Isaiah 4:2-5:30
Verses chosen
for meditation: Isaiah 5:1-7
Let me sing for
my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on
a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice
vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in
it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. And now, O
inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What
more was there to do for my vineyard, that
I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield
grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? And now I will tell you what I will do to
my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I
will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it
a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow
up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the
vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of
Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold,
bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!
Reflect
What kind of a
love song is this?
Is there
anything wrong with the vineyard?
What is wrong
with the grapes?
Are the actions
taken by the vineyard owner appropriate?
What can be
done about the wild grapes?
Relate
The first few
lines of the Song of the Vineyard are endearing, if not achingly tender. They paint
the wishful optimism and unqualified passion of the vineyard owner who spared
no efforts in making the harvest the best one ever.
But as the song
continues, the tune changes. The harvest fails to yield the kind of grapes that
is expected. The initial outpouring of affection then gives way to a levelling
of blame, first against the owner himself.
Was the painstaking
labour put in by the vineyard owner himself not good enough?
From the manner
of questioning, it is obviously clear who the invested party is. It is the one
who had painstakingly selected the vine cuttings, poured in everything and
pinned all hopes on the outcome. So, when the unexpected happened, the first natural
question was the conduciveness of the vineyard as well as the exhaustiveness of
the efforts put in. It just begs the question: Could anything more have been
done?
Compare this to
the reaction on our end where we are still blaming the vineyard owner, even
today, and never once ourselves for all that have happened. In doing so, we
have
conveniently
avoided the question on the kind of grapes we have turned out to be - wild and
worthless. If ever there was an explanation, it would be the fault of the
vineyard owner that we have turned out this way.
Still, there are many who probably
do not even know that there is something wrong with the grapes. Or
they might ask: Is the bar set too high? They argue that the grapes are seen to
have fallen short for that reason. We can go on ignoring or arguing all we
want, but that won't bring about the justification that we need.
In the end, the
vineyard owner decides to take it all upon himself to undo everything that he
had done, all the protective and nurturing elements that were beneficial for
the vineyard since they were offering no advantage. There's no way that the
owner would have felt good doing what he did to the vineyard that was once his
pride and joy. It would have brought inconsolable pain to see the entire
vineyard, once cherished, left in ruins. It only goes to show the utter
disappointment of the vineyard owner. He could do nothing else, at least at
this point, to make the vineyard yield the kind of grapes that it should.
But he knows
that there is one last card to be played, which would involve the sacrifice of his
only son. Again, which owner in their right mind would even consider such a
card? Only an owner with an all-consuming love for his vineyard. So, play the
card, he did as the story unfolds in much later chapters.
Just like this,
the love song continues, achingly and tenderly, to this day.
This love song
is a call from the vineyard owner to all wild grapes to return to their
intended form. (We’ll see a reversal in Chapter 12).
Rest
Lord, forgive
our 'wild grape' attitudes and actions. Far from being what was expected, we
have become the very thing that disappoints. We confess, therefore, that we've
not at all been right with you. It's like us paying lip service when our
hearts, minds, and bodies are actually elsewhere and not meaning the things we
say or do. Besides, we've also been unkind and unjust, both knowingly and
unknowingly. So, forgive the wild grapes in us.
Naville Chia
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