In first-century Palestine, it did not have the same metaphorical and strictly religious connotation that makes the term so safe within our own theological world. In fact, it evoked the memory and visionary impulse of Yahweh who acts to deliver Yahweh's 'chosen ones' from occupation and oppression at the hands of alien nations. All people are called to be about the caring works of justice, love and nurture, so that life is preserved, so that fairness and equity happen in human interactions, so that the needs of people and things are met. Exegetical Notes by Brian P. Stoffregen at CrossMarks . Perhaps they assumed that the owner was dead when they saw his son.
Harvest time is a time of extremes.
It is the most satisfying, energizing, frustrating, demanding, exhilarating, frightening, deadly time. Yet we are called into the harvest. If through stupidity and ingratitude we reject the gift we are fools, just like the ungrateful men in Jesus's adaptation of the traditional vineyard story. Structuralist analysis from Semeia 1. In The Other Side online.