Prophets

Matthew 21:35-6 - "The farmers took the slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first time, and they did the same to them."

I guess the farmers really did feel as though their territory was being invaded. Jesus is describing an extreme reaction. I'm not sure how common a story this would have been. Taken strictly as a story, this is shocking behavior. Yet, most of Jesus' audience would have had in mind Isaiah 5:1-7, wherein Israel is the vineyard and God is the landlord. In this metaphor, then, the slaves are the prophets God sent to bring Israel back from their wild ways.

Viewed this way, the story makes more sense. Very few people wanted to hear the prophets in their day. They were God's negs; no one likes to be negged. They generally only had bad things to say about the rulers and the priests. They were correct, but they were downers. We still sometimes think of them as downers. As a consequence, they were not treated well by Israel's rulers. Jesus is accusing the chief priests and elders of the same behavior in rejecting John's ministry of baptism. They are the children of their fathers.

What about us? Do we listen to our prophets? Or do we ignore them or worse? Who are our modern-day prophets? Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was killed for his prophecy. Al Gore has been ridiculed, even though he was correct about climate change. Rev. Dr. William Barber II is reviving the Poor People's Campaign of Dr. King. Alicia Garza is lifting up the sacred humanity of black lives as the found of the Black Lives Matter movement. Will we listen to them and their brothers and sisters as they share their experiences and speak for God? Or will we continue to kill them literally or figuratively?