Both readings today speak about rejection.

Not rejection from enemies,
but rejection from those who should have known better.

Joseph is hated by his brothers.

“Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons…
and they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.”

The hatred begins with jealousy.
With comparison.
With resentment.

Joseph is sent by his father
to look after his brothers.

He comes in obedience.
And they see him from a distance.

“Here comes this dreamer.”

They strip him of his robe.
They throw him into a pit.
And then they sell him.

They do not kill him with their hands.
But they hand him over.

It is betrayal
disguised as practicality.

They silence the son
so they can keep their own place.

This prepares us for the Gospel.

Jesus tells a parable
about a vineyard.

A man plants it,
puts a fence around it,
digs a winepress,
and builds a tower.

He leases it to tenants
and goes away.

When the time comes for fruit,
he sends his servants.

They are beaten.
They are stoned.
They are killed.

So he sends his son.

“They will respect my son.”

But the tenants say:

“This is the heir.
Come, let us kill him
and have his inheritance.”

They seize him,
throw him out of the vineyard,
and kill him.

The meaning is not hidden.

The servants are the prophets.
The son is Christ.

The vineyard is Israel.
The tenants are the leaders.

The sin is not ignorance.
It is refusal.

They know who he is.
And they do not want him.

Joseph’s brothers
do not deny he is their brother.
They deny him a place.

The tenants
do not deny the son is heir.
They deny him authority.

This is the deeper sin.

Not confusion.
But control.

Both stories show us
what happens
when God’s chosen one
is treated as a threat.

Joseph’s dreams
expose the brothers’ insecurity.

The son’s presence
exposes the tenants’ rebellion.

Truth unsettles
those who live by possession.

And so the response
is violence.

Not always physical.
Sometimes it is exclusion.
Sometimes it is silence.
Sometimes it is ridicule.

But it is always the same movement.

Remove the one
who reminds us
that we are not in charge.

Jesus ends the parable
with a question:

“When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes,
what will he do to those tenants?”

They answer themselves:

“He will put those wretches to a miserable death
and let out the vineyard to other tenants
who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

And Jesus quotes the psalm:

“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.”

Rejection does not cancel God’s plan.
It fulfils it.

Joseph will be sent into Egypt
and will later save his family from famine.

The Son will be thrown out of the vineyard
and will save the world by the cross.

What is meant for destruction
becomes the means of salvation.

But this does not excuse the sin.

“The kingdom of God will be taken away from you
and given to a people producing its fruits.”

Fruit is the issue.

Not status.
Not lineage.
Not position.

Obedience.

The vineyard is not owned by the tenants.
It is entrusted to them.

The sons are not property.
They are messengers.

The tragedy is to forget
that what we hold
is received.

The warning is for us as well.

We can belong to the Church
and still resist Christ.

We can work in the vineyard
and still refuse the Son.

We can hear the Word
and still protect our own control.

Joseph’s brothers were not pagans.
They were sons of Israel.

The tenants were not outsiders.
They were stewards.

So the question today
is not about others.

It is about us.

Where do we resent
what God reveals?

Where do we feel threatened
by His word?

Where do we push Christ away
so that we can keep our arrangements undisturbed?

The readings do not end in despair.

They end in truth.

God’s purpose is not stopped.
But our place in it
can be lost.

Joseph will be raised.
Christ will rise.

But the brothers must face what they have done.
And the tenants will lose the vineyard.

Lent is the time
when this parable
is meant to work on us.

Not to accuse.
But to convert.

We are not asked
to identify with Joseph or with Christ.

We are asked
to recognise the tenants
and the brothers
in ourselves.

To see where jealousy, fear, or control
has made us resist grace.

The stone is already laid.

The Son has already been sent.

The only question is
whether we receive Him
or cast Him out.

Because the vineyard
is not ours.

And the Son
is not a rival.

He is the one
through whom the fruit is meant to come.