[33] "Hear another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey. [34] When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce. [35] But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned. [36] Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way. [37] Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, 'They will respect my son.' [38] But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.' [39] They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. [40] What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?" [41] They answered him, "He will put those wretched men to a wretched death and lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper times." [42] Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the scriptures: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes'? [43] Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit. [44] (The one who falls on this stone will be dashed to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.)" [45] When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was speaking about them. [46] And although they were attempting to arrest him, they feared the crowds, for they regarded him as a prophet.
(CCC 443) Peter could recognize the transcendent character of the Messiah's divine sonship because Jesus had clearly allowed it to be so understood. To his accusers' question before the Sanhedrin, "Are you the Son of God, then?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am"(Lk 22:70; cf. Mt 26:64; Mk 14:61-62). Well before this, Jesus referred to himself as "the Son" who knows the Father, as distinct from the "servants" God had earlier sent to his people; he is superior even to the angels (Cf. Mt 11:27; 21:34-38; 24:36). He distinguished his sonship from that of his disciples by never saying "our Father", except to command them: "You, then, pray like this: 'Our Father'", and he emphasized this distinction, saying "my Father and your Father" (Mt 5:48; 6:8-9; 7:21; Lk 11:13; Jn 20:17). (CCC 755) "The Church is a cultivated field, the tillage of God. On that land the ancient olive tree grows whose holy roots were the prophets and in which the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles has been brought about and will be brought about again. That land, like a choice vineyard, has been planted by the heavenly cultivator. Yet the true vine is Christ who gives life and fruitfulness to the branches, that is, to us, who through the Church remain in Christ, without whom we can do nothing (LG 6; Cf. 1 Cor 39; Rom 11:13-26; Mt 21:32-43 and parallels; Isa 51-7; Jn 15:1-5). (CCC 1988) Through the power of the Holy Spirit we take part in Christ's Passion by dying to sin, and in his Resurrection by being born to a new life; we are members of his Body which is the Church, branches grafted onto the vine which is himself (Cf. 1 Cor 12; Jn 15:1-4): [God] gave himself to us through his Spirit. By the participation of the Spirit, we become communicants in the divine nature.... For this reason, those in whom the Spirit dwells are divinized (St. Athanasius, Ep. Serap. 1, 24: PG 26, 585 and 588). (CCC 2074) Jesus says: "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing" (Jn 15:5). The fruit referred to in this saying is the holiness of a life made fruitful by union with Christ. When we believe in Jesus Christ, partake of his mysteries, and keep his commandments, the Savior himself comes to love, in us, his Father and his brethren, our Father and our brethren. His person becomes, through the Spirit, the living and interior rule of our activity. "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you" (Jn 15:12).
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