“Hear
another parable. There was a man who was a master of a household, who planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, dug a wine press in it, built a tower, leased it out to farmers, and went into another country. When the season for the fruit came near, he sent his servants to the farmers, to receive his fruit. The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they treated them the same way. But afterward he sent to them his son, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But the farmers, when they saw the son, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and seize his inheritance.’ So they took him, and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?” They told him, “He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will lease out the vineyard to other farmers, who will give him the fruit in its season.”
Matthew 21:33-41
Matthew 21 [28.] But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first, and said, ‘Son, go work today in my vineyard.’ He answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind, and went. He came to the second, and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but he didn’t go. Which of the two did the will of his father?”
They said to him, “The first.”
Jesus said to them, “Most certainly I tell you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering into God’s Kingdom before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you didn’t believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. When you saw it, you didn’t even repent afterward, that you might believe him.
Matthew 21 [33.] “Hear another parable. There was a man who was a master of a household, who planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, dug a wine press in it, built a tower, leased it out to farmers, and went into another country. When the season for the fruit came near, he sent his servants to the farmers, to receive his fruit. The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they treated them the same way. But afterward he sent to them his son, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But the farmers, when they saw the son, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and seize his inheritance.’ So they took him, and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?”
Matthew 21 [41.] They told him, “He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will lease out the vineyard to other farmers, who will give him the fruit in its season.”
Matthew 21 [42.] Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,
‘The stone which the builders rejected,
the same was made the head of the corner.
This was from the Lord.
It is marvelous in our eyes?’
Meaning:
After the parable of the two sons (Matthew 21:28-32), Jesus tells the chief priests and elders a second parable. It answers the question they had asked him, “By what authority do you do these things?” In it Jesus tells the history of Israel and reveals who he is.
- “Planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, dug a wine press in it, built a tower”
Every listener would recognise Isaiah’s song of the vineyard. There God “planted it with the choicest vine, built a tower in the middle of it, and also cut out a wine press therein,” but when he looked for grapes, “it yielded wild grapes” (Isaiah 5:1-2). The vineyard is Israel, the owner is God, and the farmers are the leaders entrusted with caring for his people. The owner had provided everything they needed.
- “He sent his servants to the farmers, to receive his fruit”
Absentee landlords were common in Galilee, and tenants paid rent with a share of the harvest. The servants are the prophets God sent again and again, calling his people to bear the fruit of justice and faithfulness. The Chronicler summed up the story: “Yahweh, the God of their fathers, sent to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending, because he had compassion on his people... but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets” (2 Chronicles 36:15-16).
- “But afterward he sent to them his son”
The owner’s patience seems almost foolish. Mark says, “Therefore still having one, his beloved son, he sent him last to them” (Mark 12:6). The son is clearly Jesus himself, distinct from all the prophets. This is Jesus’ answer to the question of his authority: he comes not as another servant but as the Son and heir.
- “Come, let’s kill him, and seize his inheritance”
The farmers reasoned that if the heir were dead, the vineyard would be theirs. So the leaders wanted to keep control of Israel and the temple for themselves. Jesus describes his own coming death: “they took him, and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.” He would be crucified outside the city walls; as Hebrews says, “Jesus also... suffered outside of the gate” (Hebrews 13:12).
- “He will miserably destroy those miserable men”
Jesus asked his hearers to pronounce the verdict, and they condemned themselves. At first they did not see that the story was about them. The owner would give the vineyard to “other farmers, who will give him the fruit in its season.” Jesus goes on to say that God’s Kingdom will be taken from them and given to a nation producing its fruit (Matthew 21:43).
The Significance of Matthew 21:33-41
- God’s patience is great
He sent servant after servant and finally his own Son. His long-suffering should lead us to repentance, not to presumption.
- Jesus is the beloved Son
He is more than a prophet; he is the heir of all things, and our response to him decides our place in God’s Kingdom.
- Fruit is expected
God entrusts his people with his gifts and looks for the fruit of faith and righteousness.
Cross-References:
Isaiah 5:2: "He looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes." The original song of the vineyard.
2 Chronicles 36:16: "but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets," Israel’s treatment of the prophets.
Mark 12:6: "Therefore still having one, his beloved son, he sent him last to them," Mark’s account of the same parable.
Conclusion: In the parable of the wicked farmers, a householder plants a vineyard, leases it out and sends servants to collect his fruit. The farmers beat and kill them, and finally kill his son to seize the inheritance. The leaders agreed that the owner would destroy those men and give the vineyard to others. The passage retells Israel’s rejection of the prophets, reveals Jesus as the beloved Son who would be killed, and warns that God expects the fruit of his vineyard.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible