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.
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.
Read Matthew 21:33-46 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
Have you ever said something would happen, and then did things to help prompt that something to happen the way you described?
This could be describing how a leader casts a vision, and then works to bring their vision into reality, or it could be describing a pessimist who only sees the bad in life, and cannot seem to break free from his/her bleak reality.
Well Jesus also had a few self fulfilling prophecies, and in this passage’s parable, Jesus implies that He is “the Son” in this parable, the religious leaders are the evil tenants, and that they would ultimately put Him to death.
But ringing all through this parable is a much bigger truth: Because the religious leaders were hearing Jesus’ voice, they still had the opportunity to change and become God-respecting tenants.
Just because God has spoken judgment on someone/something doesn’t mean that it is too late. Just think about Jonah and Ninevah for a clear example.
More than likely, God’s proclamations are warnings that something big will happen if nothing changes. We could think of it like a parent saying “This is your last warning”, but coming from God, this definitely carries a lot of weight, and God has a track record of following through with the things He says (unlike many parents today).
In the parable, the tenants had the option of respecting the owner’s son, but they chose instead to kill him. This is a masterful illustration that Jesus uses because He strips away all the politics, all the history, and all the biases that the people had – including the religious leaders’ views as well. In one simple illustration, Jesus sums up the big problem with the religion in that region: the rules supporting the religion had replaced the focus on a relationship with God.
But with this illustration, Jesus is also saying, “You still have the chance to change.” By hearing Jesus’ voice, they could choose to once again respect God over their rules surrounding Him.
However, while they didn’t, the truth of this parable now lives with us. While we are able to recognize that we have God’s good news, we have the responsibility to be God-respecting tenants of this good news, and return a portion of the blessing God has given to us.
This discussion is about much more than just money. It also involves our time, talents, and relationships as well. God has blessed us with all these things and more, and it is wise of us to remember His role in everything we do.
In this parable, Jesus is also saying to you and I, “You still have the chance to change. You still can choose to place Me first in your life. I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life that leads to Heaven.”
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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