Keith Sharp | Matthew 21:33-43; Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-19
The Master had just led the Jewish leaders to publicly condemn themselves (Matthew 21:28-32). As if that were not enough, the Master then taught the most infuriating parable of all, openly leading the Jewish leaders to pass sentence upon themselves (Matthew 21:33-43; Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-19). The rulers would have arrested Him then and there but for their fear of the multitude (Matthew 21:46; Mark 12:12; Luke 20:19).
The Master told of a land owner who created a vineyard on His property. After planting the grape vines, he put up a hedge, either a stone wall or a thorn hedge, to protect the vines from thieves and wild animals. He dug a wine press where the workers could tread the grapes, allowing the juice to flow into a vat below. He built a tower of stone in which the workers could rest and on which they could watch for anyone or anything that would damage the vines or steal the grapes. Then he rented out the vineyard to vinedressers and left for another country. The owner had done all he could reasonably do to ensure the renters produced a bountiful crop (cf. Isaiah 5:1-4).
The land owner was an absentee landlord, and the vinedressers were share croppers. This was a common arrangement in Israel, since the country was often in turmoil, and landowners preferred to live elsewhere.
When harvest time came, the owner sent messengers to receive his part of the crop. But the vinedressers were wicked men who abused the messengers, even killing some, and refused to pay the owner his share. Amazingly, instead of immediately destroying those evil tenants, the owner sent other messengers, but the vinedressers treated them just as badly.
Finally the longsuffering owner decided to send his only son whom he loved dearly to them, reasoning that surely they would respect him. But the wicked tenants absurdly reasoned that if they killed the heir, they would get the vineyard themselves. So they threw the owner’s son out of the vineyard and killed him.
Then the Master allowed the Jews to pronounce sentence upon themselves. He inquired, “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?” (Matthew 21:40) Some in the crowd answered honestly and justly, “He will bring those wretches (Greek “kakos”) to a wretched (Greek “kakoce”) end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons” (Matthew 21:41, New American Standard Bible). Others, seeing the obvious point of the parable, cried, “Certainly not!” (Luke 20:16) The Parable of the Two Sons judged the Jewish leaders as guilty; in this parable they decide their own punishment.
But the Lord pressed His point and His claim to be the Christ. Quoting Psalm 118:22-23, Jesus claimed to be the stone which the builders rejected but which the Lord made the chief cornerstone upon and about which the whole building is constructed (Matthew 21:42; cf. Acts 4:11; Romans 9:33; 1 Peter 2:7).
Finally, He moved to individual application of the lesson. Christ is the stone that, if people stumble over, refusing to believe in Him, they will be broken, and if He falls upon them in judgment He will crush them (Matthew 21:44; Isaiah 8:14-15).
This parable is almost an allegory. An “allegory” is “ a story, play, poem, picture, or other work in which the characters and events represent particular moral, religious, or political qualities or ideas” (Cambridge). Galatians 4:21-31 contains an allegory in which real historical characters and events of the patriarchal age represent the covenants. A parable is usually a story about something that didn’t happen but could have happened that has one primary point and the details are just to make it a story. The Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers is both. It has one primary point: “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it”(Matthew 21:43). But the details of the story are more than just storyline; they represent important aspects of the Lord’s relationship with Israel.
The vineyard of the parable represents the kingdom of the Lord. The kingdom of God is His rule (Psalm 45:6). In a sense His rule is universal, for He rules everything (Psalm 103:19) including all the nations of men (Daniel 4:17,25,32). That rule is also eternal (Daniel 4:2-30). It is true that Old Testament Israel was metaphorically the vineyard of the Lord (Isaiah 5:1-7; Jeremiah 2:21), but that is because they were in a special sense the kingdom of God at that time (Exodus 19:5-6). God was King over Israel (1 Samuel 8:1-7), and the throne of Israel was the throne of God (1 Kings 2:12; 1 Chronicles 29:23). The law of Moses was the law of God for Israel (cf. Ezra 7:6,10; Nehemiah 8:1,14; Deuteronomy 5:1-3).
The owner of the vineyard is God. The vinedressers represent Israel as it was represented by its leaders (Matthew 21:45). The messengers represent the prophets of God, whom the Lord sent many times to call the nation to bear fruit for Him, but whom they would not heed (Jeremiah 7:25-26) but mistreated and killed (Nehemiah 9:26; Matthew 5:11-12; 23:34-37). The son represents Jesus, the Son of God. He was not simply one of the prophets but God’s only Son (John 1:18) and the heir of the kingdom (Mark 12:6-7; Hebrews 1:1-4).
The parable teaches us about God. It teaches His longsuffering. He was patient with Israel’s stubborn disobedience, sending prophet after prophet, though they would not heed (Jeremiah 7:25-26). His longsuffering is an expression of His loving desire for the salvation of every lost sinner (2 Peter 3:9). But the story also declares the severity of God on those who persist in rebellious disobedience (Mark 12:9; Luke 20:16; Romans 11:22).
There is no excuse for anyone who believes the Scriptures to insist that fleshly Israel is still the chosen people of God. After fifteen hundred years of refusing to heed God’s servants the prophets, they killed His beloved Son (Acts 7:52). They exhausted the longsuffering of God, and He removed the kingdom from them and gave it to another nation, spiritual Israel, all both Jew and Gentile who come to Christ in obedient faith (Romans 2:28-29; Galatians 6:16; 1 Peter 2:4-10).
The parable also teaches us the necessity of believing in Jesus Christ. If we stumble over Him in disbelief, we will be broken. If He falls on us in judgment, we will be crushed. He is the cornerstone upon which the kingdom, the church, and salvation rests. Do not stumble at Christ.
Works Cited
Cambridge Dictionaries Online
New American Standard Bible
