Preach Matthew!

Three of the Matthew passages address overtly financial themes. The parables of the Two Debtors and the Labourers in the Vineyard are complemented by an enacted parable tackling the difficult question of paying tax to Caesar. Like that of the Labourers, the parable of Tenants in the Vineyard draws on rich OT imagery of Israel as a vineyard and her people as stewards of a good land who seek to possess what is in truth an entrusted gift. The parable of the Wedding Feast stresses the stewardship theme of gracious invitation and hospitality, rooting the call to generosity in the generous invitation of God to us. In several places passages reflect Matthew's concern with judgment following failure to see the hand of God in Jesus' ministry.