Journey to Pascha Series; Great and Holy Tuesday (Sung on Monday Evening)

 

Great and Holy Tuesday – The Parable of the Tenants and the Call to Repentance

On Holy Tuesday, the Bridegroom Matins focuses on the Parable of the Wicked Tenants (Matthew 21:33-46) and other teachings of Christ that reinforce the themes of judgment, repentance, and faithfulness.

1. The Parable of the Wicked Tenants (Matthew 21:33-46):
   
   

• In this parable, Christ tells the story of tenants who refuse to give the owner of the vineyard his share of the produce, even killing his messengers and son. The vineyard represents Israel, the tenants represent the Jewish religious leaders, and the son is Christ Himself.
  
  

• Theologically, this parable reflects God's long-suffering patience with His people, but also the eventual consequence of rejecting His messengers and His Son. It calls attention to the responsibility that Christians bear to live faithfully according to God's will, bearing fruit in their lives.
  
  

2. The Question of the Greatest Commandment (Matthew 22:34-40):
   
   

• Christ's response to the question about the greatest commandment is an essential teaching in the context of Holy Week: to love God with all one's heart, soul, and mind, and to love one's neighbor as oneself. This law of love is foundational for Christian life, and Holy Tuesday emphasizes the importance of living out these commandments in preparation for Christ's sacrifice.
  
  

• Theologically, this teaching highlights the centrality of love in the Christian life, not just as a feeling but as an active, self-sacrificial choice to serve God and others, modeled in the life and death of Christ Himself.
  

Tone 6
Come, O faithful,
let us work zealously for the Master,
for He distributes wealth to His servants!
Let each of us, according to his ability,
increase his talent of grace:
let one be adorned in wisdom through good works;
let another celebrate a service in splendor!
The one distributes his wealth to the poor;
the other communicates the Word to those untaught.
Thus we shall increase what has been entrusted to us,
and, as faithful stewards of grace,
we shall be accounted worthy of the Master’s joy.
Make us worthy of this, O Christ our God, in Your love for mankind!