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The Parable of the Tenants
in the Vineyard

Matthew 21:33-46

Good News Translation (GNT)

33  "Listen to another parable," Jesus said. "There was once
   a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it,
   dug a hole for the wine press, and built a watchtower.
   Then he rented the vineyard to tenants and left home on
   a trip.
34  When the time came to gather the grapes, he sent his
   slaves to the tenants to receive his share of the harvest.
35  The tenants grabbed his slaves, beat one, killed another,
   and stoned another.
36  Again the man sent other slaves, more than the first time,
   and the tenants treated them the same way.
37  Last of all he sent his son to them. 'Surely they will respect
   my son,' he said.
38  But when the tenants saw the son, they said to
   themselves, 'This is the owner's son. Come on, let's kill
   him, and we will get his property!'
39  So they grabbed him, threw him out of the vineyard, and
   killed him.
40  "Now, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he
   do to those tenants?" Jesus asked.
41  "He will certainly kill those evil men," they answered,
   "and rent the vineyard out to other tenants, who will give
   him his share of the harvest at the right time."
42  Jesus said to them, "Haven't you ever read what the
   Scriptures say? 'The stone which the builders rejected
   as worthless turned out to be the most important of all.
   This was done by the Lord; what a wonderful sight it is!'
43  "And so I tell you," added Jesus, "the Kingdom of God
   will be taken away from you and given to a people who will
   produce the proper fruits."
44  (a)
45  The chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus' parables
   and knew that he was talking about them,
46  so they tried to arrest him. But they were afraid of the
   crowds, who considered Jesus to be a prophet.

   Footnotes
   (a) Matthew 21:44
   Some manuscripts add verse 44: Whoever falls on this
   stone will be cut to pieces; and if the stone falls on
   someone, it will crush him to dust (see Lk 20.18).

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Commentary taken from
'The Applied New Testament Commentary' (Kingsway)

The Parable of the Tenants

In this parable the man stands for God. The vineyard stands for the Jewish nation, Israel. God sent His servants, the Old Testament prophets, to Israel, one by one, to look for the fruits of repentance and righteousness.

Last of all, He sent His own Son, Jesus. The Jews (tenants), repeatedly rejected and killed God's prophets. They mistakenly supposed that the master was dead, and that the son had come to take his inheritance. If they killed the son, then, by Jewish law, the vineyard would be theirs.

Here the parable becomes a prophecy. When Jesus, God's Son, came to the Jewish nation, they caused Him to be killed. The prophecy was fulfilled in 70 A.D., when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem.

When the Jews rejected Jesus and His apostles, the Gospel of salvation was given to the Gentiles, also.

Then Jesus quoted Psalm 118:22-23 (22 The stone which the builders rejected as worthless turned out to be the most important of all. 23 This was done by the Lord; what a wonderful sight it is!) to show that even though the builders of the Jewish temple rejected Him, He would become the capstone of a new "temple," the church.

Then Jesus said to the Jewish leaders: "Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit."

The kingdom of God has been taken from the unbelieving Jews and given to the believing Gentiles. Jesus said, "He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed".

The Jews had cast the "stone" (the Christ) aside. But then they stumbled upon it because of their unbelief. Not only that, the "stone" also fell upon them and they were crushed That is, this same Jesus whom they had rejected later "fell upon them" in judgment.

The Gentiles have now been given the vineyard, that is, the kingdom of God. The Gentiles have now received the blessing of salvation, which some of the Jews rejected.

We are now the "tenants" of the vineyard. What kind of tenants are we? Do we reject God's servants who come to us? Do we give to God what we owe Him? Do we give Him the fruits of righteousness He asks for? The Jewish leaders understood that Jesus had spoken the parable against them. Therefore, they were even more angry with Jesus, and continued to look for a secret way to arrest Him.

Other versions are available here

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