May you have more and more grace and peace as you come to know our Lord more and more.By his divine power, he has given us all the things that we need for life and for true devotion, bringing us to know God himself, who has called us by his own glory and goodness. In making these gifts, he has given us the guarantee of something very great and wonderful to come: through them you will be able to share the divine nature and to escape corruption in a world that is sunk in vice. But to attain this, you will have to do your utmost yourselves, adding goodness to the faith that you have, understanding to your goodness, self-control to your understanding, patience to your self-control, true devotion to your patience, kindness towards your fellow men to your devotion, and, to this kindness, love.
Grace and Peace Multiplied: Peter begins by wishing for his readers an abundance of grace and peace through knowledge of God and Jesus (1:2).
Divine Power for Life and Godliness: Through God's divine power, believers are granted everything they need for life and godliness, through knowledge of Him who called them (1:3).
Partakers of Divine Nature: Through God's promises, believers become partakers of the divine nature, escaping corruption and becoming like God (1:4).
Building Christian Virtues: Peter encourages believers to supplement their faith with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love (1:5-7).
This passage emphasizes the transformative power of God's grace, the call to participate in His divine nature, and the importance of cultivating Christian virtues in the lives of believers.
Jesus began to speak to the chief priests, the scribes and the elders in parables: ‘A man planted a vineyard; he fenced it round, dug out a trough for the winepress and built a tower; then he leased it to tenants and went abroad. When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce from the vineyard. But they seized the man, thrashed him and sent him away empty-handed. Next he sent another servant to them; him they beat about the head and treated shamefully. And he sent another and him they killed; then a number of others, and they thrashed some and killed the rest. He had still someone left: his beloved son. He sent him to them last of all. “They will respect my son” he said. But those tenants said to each other, “This is the heir. Come on, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.” So they seized him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. Now what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and make an end of the tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this text of scripture:It was the stone rejected by the buildersthat became the keystone.This was the Lord’s doingand it is wonderful to see?And they would have liked to arrest him, because they realised that the parable was aimed at them, but they were afraid of the crowds. So they left him alone and went away.
Parable of the Vineyard: Jesus tells a parable about a man who planted a vineyard, leased it to tenants, and sent servants to collect fruit, only for them to mistreat and kill the servants (12:1-5).
Sending His Son: The landowner sends his son, thinking they will respect him, but the tenants conspire to kill him, believing they will inherit the vineyard (12:6-8).
Rejection and Judgment: Jesus asks what the owner will do to those tenants, and the crowd responds that he will destroy them and give the vineyard to others. Jesus quotes Psalm 118, affirming that He is the rejected cornerstone (12:9-11).
The Religious Leaders' Reaction: The religious leaders realize Jesus is speaking against them and want to arrest Him, but they fear the crowd (12:12).
This passage underscores Jesus' authority, the rejection He faces, and the impending judgment upon those who reject Him.
.
monk and Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, Doctor of the Church The Greater Monastic Rules, § 2
.
No comments:
Post a Comment