Nov 11, Parable of the Wicked Husbandman, Matthew 21:33-46
Again in this parable, the explanation comes immediately after the story. Verses 42-44 are directed to the Jewish leadership. Theses verses almost seem like part of the parable but are actually explanation or direct teaching to the hearers. Notice, the chief priests and Pharisees knew Jesus was speaking about them.
The servants represent the prophets who spoke for God. I am reminded of the suffering, humiliation, and rejection Jeremiah suffered at the hands of the Jewish people. When the landowner, God, sends His son, one would think the Son of God would get respect. The hard hearted and jealous religious leadership killed Jesus.
Two additional corollaries: 1) Neither the Jews or the Romans killed Jesus. Jesus confessed to blasphemy in the eyes of the Jewish council when He claimed to be the Son of God and the Messiah. God killed Jesus. God sacrificed Himself for our sins. 2) In what way might Jesus be displeased with the religious establishment today if He were walking the earth as then?
33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
35 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.—Matthew 21:33-46
The parable brings both a warning and promise.
ReplyDeleteIt is a warning to those in the Church(worldwide) or any religious people who would reject or deny the deity and Lordship of Christ. The promise seems to be that God will vindicate himself and his people who are persecuted by those who reject the Christ.