The Vineyard and the Fast

I was fasting and sitting on a certain mountain, thanking the Lord for everything he had done with me, when I saw the shepherd sitting down beside me. He said, “Why have you come here so early in the morning?” “Because, sir,” I said, “I am keeping a station.” “What is a station?” he asked. “I am fasting, sir,” I answered. “And what is this fasting you keep?” he said. “I fast the way I have always fasted, sir,” I said. “You do not know how to fast to the Lord,” he said. “This useless fast you keep for him is no fast at all.” “Why do you say this, sir?” I asked. “I tell you,” he went on, “that what you think is a fast is not a fast. But I will teach you what a fast is that is full and acceptable to the Lord. Listen.” [a]

“God does not want that kind of empty fasting. Fasting to God that way, you will accomplish nothing for righteousness. Fast to God with this kind of fast instead. Do nothing evil in your life, but serve the Lord with a pure heart. Keep his commands, walking in his rulings, and let no evil craving rise in your heart. Trust God, that if you do these things, and fear him, and hold yourself back from every evil act, you will live to God. And if you do them, you will keep a great fast, one acceptable to God.”

“Listen to the parable I am about to tell you. It belongs to fasting.” [d]

“A man had a field and many slaves, and he planted part of the field as a vineyard. He picked out one slave, trustworthy and well liked and held in honor, called him over, and said to him, ‘Take this vineyard I have planted and stake it until I come, and do nothing else to the vineyard. Keep this order of mine, and you will have your freedom from me.’ Then the slave’s master went abroad.”

“Once he had gone, the slave set to work and staked the vineyard. And when he had finished the staking, he saw that the vineyard was full of weeds. So he thought it over and said to himself, ‘I have finished this order of my lord. Now I will dig the rest of this vineyard over. It will look better dug, and with no weeds it will give more fruit, since nothing will be choking it.’ So he dug the vineyard over and pulled out every weed in it, and that vineyard became very beautiful and thriving, with nothing choking it.”

“After a time the master of the slave and of the field came back and went into the vineyard. When he saw the vines neatly staked, and the ground dug over besides, and all the weeds pulled out, and the vines thriving, he was overjoyed at his slave’s work. So he called his beloved son, whom he had made his heir, and the friends he kept as advisers, and told them what orders he had given his slave and what he had found done. And they were glad along with the slave for the witness his master bore him.”

“And he said to them, ‘I promised this slave his freedom if he kept the order I gave him. He kept my order, and on top of that he did good work on the vineyard, and he pleased me greatly. In return for the work he has done, I want to make him joint heir with my son, because when he saw the good thing to do he did not let it slip his mind but carried it through.’ The master’s son agreed with him in this decision, that the slave should be joint heir with the son.”

“A few days later the master gave a dinner and sent him many dishes from it. When the slave received the dishes sent him by his master, he took what was enough for himself and shared out the rest among his fellow slaves. His fellow slaves were glad to get the dishes, and they began to pray for him, that he might find greater favor with the master for treating them so.”

“The master heard everything that had happened, and again he was overjoyed at what the slave had done. He called his friends and his son together once more and reported to them what the slave had done with the dishes he had been given; and they agreed still more warmly that the slave should be made joint heir with his son.”

I said to him, “Sir, I do not understand these parables, and I cannot take them in unless you explain them to me.” “I will explain everything to you,” he said, “and whatever I talk over with you. I will show you his commands. And if you do any good beyond what God commands, you will win more glory for yourself and stand in greater honor with God than you would otherwise have done. So if, while keeping God’s commands, you add these services as well, you will have joy—provided you keep them the way I have told you.” “Sir,” I said, “whatever you tell me to do, I will keep it, for I know you are with me.” “I will be with you,” he answered, “because you are so eager to do good; and I will be with everyone who has that eagerness.” [g]

“This fasting is very good, so long as the Lord’s commands are kept. So this is how you are to keep the fast you mean to observe. First of all, guard yourself against every evil word and every evil craving, and clean your heart of all the empty things of this age. If you guard against these, your fast will be complete.”

“And this is what you are to do. When you have finished what is written, on the day you fast taste nothing but bread and water. Add up what the food you would have eaten that day would have cost, and give that amount to a widow or an orphan or someone in need. In this way you will practice humility, so that out of your humility the one who receives it may fill his own soul and pray to the Lord for you.”

“So if you complete the fast the way I have told you, your sacrifice will be acceptable to God, and this fast will be written down; and service carried out this way is good and glad and welcome to the Lord. Keep these things like this, you and your children and your whole household. If you keep them you will be blessed; and everyone who hears them and keeps them will be blessed, and whatever they ask of the Lord they will receive.”

I begged him hard to explain to me the parable of the field, and of the master, and of the vineyard, and of the slave who staked the vineyard, and of the stakes, and of the weeds pulled out of the vineyard, and of the son, and of the friends who were his advisers; for I understood that all of it was some kind of parable. And he answered me, “You are far too headstrong with your questions. You ought not to ask any questions at all. If something needs to be made clear to you, it will be made clear.” “Sir,” I said, “whatever you show me and do not explain, I will have seen for nothing, since I will not understand what it is. And in the same way, if you speak parables to me and do not unfold them for me, I will have heard you for nothing.” [k]

He answered me again and said, “Anyone who is a slave of God and has his own Lord in his heart asks understanding of him and receives it, and unfolds every parable; and the Lord’s words that are spoken in parables become known to him. But those who are feeble and lazy about petitioning hesitate to ask the Lord for anything. The Lord, though, is full of compassion, and gives without a break to everyone who asks him. And you—strengthened by the holy angel, given such a right of petition by him, and not lazy—why do you not ask understanding of the Lord and receive it from him?” “Sir,” I said, “with you here beside me I am bound to ask you and to question you. You show me everything and talk with me. But if I were seeing or hearing these things without you, I would ask the Lord to make them clear to me.”

“I told you a moment ago,” he said, “that you are crafty and headstrong, asking for the explanations of the parables. But since you keep at it, I will unfold for you the parable of the field and all the rest that goes with it, so that you can make them known to everyone. Listen now, and understand.” [m]

“The field is this world. The Lord of the field is the one who created all things, and finished them, and gave them their strength. The slave is the Son of God. The vines are this people, whom he himself planted. The stakes are the holy angels of the Lord, who hold his people together. The weeds pulled out of the vineyard are the lawless deeds of God’s slaves. The dishes he sent him from the dinner are the commands he gave his people through his Son. The friends and advisers are the holy angels who were created first. And the master’s journey abroad is the time still left before his coming.”

I said to him, “Sir, all of this is great and marvelous, and every part of it is glorious. Could I ever have understood it? No—and neither could anyone else, however clever he was. Explain to me one more thing, sir, that I mean to ask you.” “Say whatever you like,” he answered. “Why, sir,” I asked, “is the Son of God set in the place of a slave in the parable?”

“Listen,” he said. “The Son of God is not set in the place of a slave. He is set in great authority and lordship.” “How, sir?” I said. “I do not understand.” “Because,” he answered, “God planted the vineyard—that is, he created the people and handed them over to his Son. And the Son set the angels over them to keep them safe. And he himself cleansed their sins, working hard and draining off a great deal of labor; for no vineyard can be dug over without hard work and toil. So having cleansed the people’s sins, he showed them the paths of life, giving them the law he had received from his Father.” [p]

“As for why the Lord took his Son and the glorious angels as advisers about the slave’s inheritance—listen. The Holy Spirit, who already existed, who created the whole creation, God caused to live in flesh of his own choosing. So this flesh, in which the Holy Spirit lived, served the Spirit well, going about in dignity and purity, never defiling the Spirit in any way at all.”

“And so, since it had conducted itself well and purely, and had worked hard alongside the Spirit, and had cooperated with it in every matter, and had borne itself with strength and courage, he chose it as a partner with the Holy Spirit; for the way this flesh went pleased him, because it was not defiled on earth while it had the Holy Spirit.”

“So he took his Son and the glorious angels as advisers, so that this flesh too, having served the Spirit blamelessly, might have some place to pitch its tent, and might not seem to have lost the wages of its service. For all flesh will get its wages if it is found undefiled and unstained, with the Holy Spirit living in it. You now have the explanation of this parable as well.”

“I was glad, sir,” I said, “to hear this explanation.” “Listen now,” he said. “Keep this flesh of yours pure and undefiled, so that the Spirit living in it may bear witness for it and your flesh may be counted righteous. See that it never comes up in your heart that this flesh of yours is perishable, so that you misuse it in some defilement. If you defile your flesh, you will defile the Holy Spirit too; and if you defile the flesh, you will not live.” [u]

“And if a man was ignorant of this before, sir,” I said, “before these words were heard—how can he be saved, when he has defiled his flesh?” “As for those earlier acts of ignorance,” he said, “God alone is able to give healing, since all authority belongs to him—provided that from now on you do not defile your flesh or your spirit. The two belong together, and neither one can be defiled without the other. So keep both pure, and you will live to God.”