Matthew 21:31-26 records the parable of the tenants. Jesus begins the parable by telling of a landowner who planted a vineyard. He made the proper provisions for protecting the vineyard. He built a wall around it to keep animals from getting in and ruining the vineyard. He dug a winepress in the vineyard so that, when it came time to harvest the grapes, the workers would be able to squeeze the juice out of the grapes to produce wine. He also set a watchtower near the vineyard to keep enemies from coming and destroying it.

Jesus said that the landowner then rented out the land to some farmers and went away on a journey. Renting out land for other people to farm isn't that unusual a practice. The writer had the opportunity to meet the owners of some vineyards in Austria, and some of the vineyards were rented out for other people to farm.

When the time of harvest was approaching, the owner sent servants to collect the fruit from the vineyard. But rather than hand over the crop to the servants, the farmers beat one of the servants, killed another, and stoned yet another. More servants were sent, after the farmers treated the first set of servants so shamefully. The second group of servants were treated the same as the first.

Verse 45 makes it clear that the chief priests and Pharisees were the audience when Jesus was telling this parable. The chief priests and Pharisees knew well that this was exactly how Jews had treated the prophets, several centuries earlier. The servants in this parable symbolize the prophets.

After the two groups of servants were rejected by the farmers, the owner decided to send his son. It would only be right that they would respect the owner's son. The owner clearly symbolizes God the Father, and Jesus is the son represented in this parable. When the tenants saw the son, they decided to kill him and take his inheritance. The writer admittedly fails to understand how the tenants thought they would get the son's inheritance if the son were to be killed. The death of the owner's son doesn't mean that the vineyard would be passed on to the tenants.

The benefits of hindsight and Scripture make it clear that Jesus was referring to his own death here. That was most likely less clear to Jesus' original listeners. Jesus also said that the owner's son was thrown out of the vineyard and killed. This corresponds to the fact that Jesus would later be taken outside of Jerusalem and crucified.

Jesus then asked his listeners what would happen to the tenants when the owner comes. They rightly said that the owner would bring those scoundrels to a terrible end and rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time. This is a clear reference to those who reject Christ facing an awful fate, while those who accept Christ will spend eternity with him and will share in the rewards he offers to them.

Jesus quoted Psalm 118:22,23 when he said that the stone the builders rejected has become the capstone. Seven hundred years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah predicted that Jesus would be rejected. He also predicted that Jesus would personally rule on earth, which will happen after Jesus' Second Coming.

In verse 43, Jesus told the Pharisees and chief priests that the kingdom of God would be taken away from them and it would be given to a people who will produce its fruit. The people who are given the kingdom of God those who accept and follow Christ. Jesus told them that the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, meaning that this person would come face-to-face with the reality of his or her sin. However, the one who falls on that stone will also receive forgiveness and salvation. The one upon whom the stone falls will be crushed, which refers to the destruction of those who fall under God's judgment.

The Pharisees and chief priests understood that Jesus was talking about them and looked for a way to arrest him. However, they were afraid because the people held him to be a prophet.

Note: the photos on this page are not from Israel. They were taken by the author on a visit to Austria and are included here to help the reader visualize a vineyard, like the one described in this portion of Matthew.

*= from the Expositor's Bible Commentary