The Parable of the Tenants - Gospel of Matthew - Part 61
The Parable of the Tenants
Matthew 21:33-46
Immanuel – 2/2/25
A fire is kindled in Jerusalem. It will be a fire so terrible, so consuming, that Jerusalem – as it was – will no longer stand. Yet a new Jerusalem will rise from its ashes.
It is Holy Tuesday – the final week – and the highest religious authorities are attempting to ambush the Jesus. Already Jesus is demonstrating that His authority is dimensions greater than the religious leaders’. As I mentioned last week, Jesus has launched into three polemic parables against Jerusalem’s religious leaders. Today we come to the second of those three parables: the parable of the tenants.
Purpose
This parable will give us an astonishing view into the kingdom of God, and how God’s kingdom is a radical fulfillment of the kingdom of Israel. We, in the church, are a part of that kingdom of fulfillment.
Jesus began the first polemic parable, the parable of the two sons, with a call to think. Jesus begins this second polemic parable with a summons to listen: “Hear another parable.” This is not simply a way of saying, “I’m gonna tell you another parable now.” No. Jesus is calling His audience – who are still the chief priests and elders of the people – to listen, to pay attention, to truly seek to understand. In other words, Jesus wants His words to pass through the ears of the religious leaders and penetrate their hearts.
With each of these three polemic parables, Jesus is both warning the religious leaders and offering them another chance. There is still time for them to repent. There is still time for them to realize that they are like the son who has said “no” to the Father. There is still time to turn from their self-righteous ways, to believe in Jesus, and become the sons who truly do the will of the Father. Though this parable is a warning, it is also an extended hand. If the religious leaders take Jesus’ words to heart, they would repent, and believe, and rejoice.
But Jesus’ summons to hear was not only for the religious leaders. It is for us also. Let us, therefore, listen with the ears of our hearts as Jesus tells another parable.
Read vs 33-39
Symbols in Parable
Master of a house, a vineyard, fruit, tenants, servants, a son: all of these have a meaning behind them. And we do not derive the meaning from our imaginations; we use Scripture to interpret Scripture. Jesus was using symbols very familiar to the Jews – symbols rooted in the Old Testament.
Let’s turn to one that powerfully unlocks Jesus’ parable.
Read Isaiah 5:1-7
This passage makes crystal clear the identity of Jesus’ images. The master of the house is God. The vineyard symbolizes Israel – the Jews. The Master is excellent at what He does, so He provides what every vineyard needs: a fence to protect His precious vines, a winepress for making wine, and a tower for observing invaders. These too have meaning, but it is more important for our purposes to see that the Master provided everything the vineyard needs to flourish.
The fruit of the vineyard, which the Master desires to harvest, is righteousness. Again and again, in the Gospel of Matthew, we have heard fruit equated with righteousness: in the preaching of John the Baptist, the Sermon on the Mount, the Parable of the Sower, and most recently – on the morning of this Holy Tuesday – with the cursing of the fig tree. We see fruit and righteousness equated throughout the Old Testament too. God longs for His people to bear the fruit of righteousness: A harvest most pleasing to Him.
Who then are the tenants, the ones given stewardship of the vineyard? The tenants are given their responsibility to care for the vineyard and cultivate it for the fruit of righteousness. The tenants are, of course, the religious leaders. This is confirmed in verse 45 when the chief priests and Pharisees perceive that Jesus speaks this parable against them.
These tenants, the religious leaders, have produced only fruitless, self-righteousness rather than true, obedient righteousness. Even more pointedly, they prove themselves to be the tenants by rejecting Jesus, the Son of God.
Throughout Israel’s history we see this reality played out. The religious leaders and kings continually lead the people in sin. Violence and injustice and hard-heartedness consume the land. There is no harvest of righteousness to be found. So God sends His servants to change the hearts of His people and the hearts of their leaders.
Who, then, are the servants that the Master sends?
“From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day. Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.”
-Jeremiah 7:25-26
The servants sent by the Master are the prophets. In wicked rebellion the tenants did not listen to the servant prophets. They went further, treating the servants shamefully, stoning them, even killing them.
The prophet Jeremiah has been named the Weeping Prophet. He was rejected and even thrown into a well to die (Jeremiah 38:4-6). Jewish tradition also holds that the religious leaders had him stoned. The religious leaders stoned to death the prophet Zechariah in the court of the temple (2 Chronicles 24:20-22) – in the same court in which Jesus delivered these parables. These were not the only prophets persecuted by Israel’s leaders. Additionally, as we saw just last week, the vast majority of religious leaders completely rejected John the Baptist.
Then the Master sent His Son. Jesus is, of course, referring to Himself. He is the Son of the Master. This is yet another time when Jesus publicly identified Himself as the Son of God – though it is indirect.
After a string of countless prophets, at the fullness of time, the Son of God had come to His people, sent by the Father, to see righteousness propagated; yet the religious leaders hated Him.
This parable parts from earthly realities because God is not like a business owner. No business owner would be so merciful to allow tenants to deny his rights. He would immediately appeal to the law and exact punishment for the tenants. But so unlike a business owner, God is not acting to protect His interests. This is the way God acts towards sinners! When His justice is denied, He sends His servants. When they are treated wickedly, He sends His Son. Mercy after mercy. This a powerful illustration of a God who is slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and mercy!
But in spite of this gracious God, the religious leaders, or the tenants, thought they could take from Him. They believed the vineyard was theirs: theirs to control, theirs to own. That’s what we see in verse 38.
We need to understand something about ancient Jewish law. If someone, like a tenant, could prove that they had undisputed possession of a vineyard for three years, then the vineyard became theirs. By sending servants to collect, the landowner asserted his ownership of the land. The tenants’ rejection of the servants is a rejection of the master’s rightful claim.
When they see the master’s son coming, they reason that by killing him, the vineyard will be theirs. This betrays a belief of the tenants: They believe that the master is never returning; perhaps he is too caught up with work in distant lands. Therefore, if they kill the son, who will claim ownership. Or perhaps the master will realize that the tenants are too much trouble and let the matter go. The vineyard will be finally theirs!
Jesus is again prophesying about what will happen to Him. Israel’s religious leaders will condemn Jesus to death and hand Him over to be crucified by the Romans. They will take the Son of God outside of the city and there have Him murdered.
Read vs 40-41
Just like in the last parable, we see the religious leaders answer Jesus correctly – though they know not what they say. They can see so clearly that the tenants are wicked and deserve destruction, but they cannot see that they are the tenants.
Notice what Jesus just said too: “When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes…” The owner is indeed coming. God may seem far off, in a distant land, hidden and unconcerned, but He shall return! And with Him will come a fire of fury for the rebellious, murderous tenants. The unspeakable evil of killing His Son will not be forgotten!
In no uncertain terms, Jesus helps the religious leaders see they are the tenants, and a devastating punishment is rushing towards them.
Read vs 42-43
Jesus quotes, word for word, Psalm 118:22-23. During the Triumphal Entry, Psalm 118 was quoted in praise and celebration. Now it is quoted to terrible and glorious effect.
Here, Jesus is the stone. The builders, or the religious leaders, have rejected the Stone. But what they have meant for evil, God has meant for good. God the Father has taken the rejected stone and made it the cornerstone. Upon Him will something entirely new be built. And this new construction will be marvelous to behold!
But before that, Jesus said, “Have you never read the Scriptures?” The religious leaders have indeed read the Scriptures, but they did not understand them! How important it is to read for understanding, to seek God as you read the Bible, to plead that His words would penetrate your heart! If only the religious leaders had done this, truly and humbly, then would they have rejected the Stone?
But they did. And they hated Him; and they will eventually kill Him. So the Master will take the kingdom away from them. Their house will be left to them desolate! Later, on this same Holy Tuesday, Jesus says this even more explicitly.
Read Matthew 23:29-38
Yes, Jesus’ quotation of Psalm 118 means terror for the unrepentant religious leaders: woe and desolation and hell.
But there are others for which Psalm 118 means glory. The kingdom will be taken from the rebellious tenants and given to another people, a people producing fruits of righteousness.
Who? Who will God transfer the kingdom to? The Apostle Peter tells us exactly to whom the kingdom is transferred.
Read 1 Peter 2:4-10
Jesus, rejected by the Jews, crucified outside of the city; but the goodness and power of God was at work despite the wickedness of men. They could not kill the Son; for the crucified Messiah rose from His grave – life undefeated! The King of kings and Lord of lords, with everlasting holes through His hands and a scar on His side.
He bore the wounds of punishment deserved by the rebellious and the wicked. Indeed, He bore the wounds that the religious leaders deserved. If any of them, rebellious and wicked though they were – if any of us, rebellious and wicked though we are – come to Jesus in faith, acknowledging His authority over our lives, we shall be given the kingdom of God!
Jesus is the Chief Cornerstone in this new and living temple. Everyone who comes to Him in faith thus becomes the living stones built upon the living Cornerstone. The Church, of both Jews and Gentiles, become the new and living temple of God Most Holy!
As Paul writes:
You are…members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. -Ephesians 2:19-22
Brothers and sisters in Christ, we are the living temple of God. By faith in Jesus, the kingdom of God has been given to us. People from every nation, tribe, and tongue, united by Christ, are now become the chosen people of God.
And make sure you catch this, it’s so important: Israel has not been replaced. This is the fulfilment of Israel, its reconstruction. This is what God’s ancient plan for Israel was always pointing towards: to become a blessing for all the families of the earth. Paul – inspired by the Holy Spirit – argues for this extensively in so many of his letters. But here is a beautiful summation of his reasoning:
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. -Galatians 3:28-29
How awesome is this! The kingdom of God does not belong to bloodlines. Socioeconomic advantage and gender afford you no privilege in the kingdom! It is through grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone, for the glory of God alone. This is what the word of God has declared!
So come to this Chief Cornerstone in faith and the vineyard is your inheritance! The kingdom of God has been given to you. Your joyful response, even as we saw last week, is to produce the fruits of righteousness with your life.
Read vs 44
There are multiple Old Testament references in this verse. Jesus is absolutely saturated in Scripture. Indeed, He is the Living Word. Before I get to them, listen to this quote from a commentator. It will help us understand the distinction between falling on the stone and being broken versus having the stone fall on you and getting pulverized.
“Fall on it – and there is a touch of mercy even here – and you will be broken, but the broken man can be healed. But let it fall on you, and you will be ground to dust, and there is no healing then.”1
Yes, when you come to Jesus, you cannot help but see your brokenness, how desperately you need Him to save you from it. And He will. He is gentle and lowly. When we truly come to Him for healing His heart is so stirred, so moved to compassion, that He cannot help but to lead us into healing. It is His nature. It’s what He loves to do.
But to hear His words and reject Him, that is to have a mountain of condemnation fall upon your head – just as it was for the religious leaders.
There is an image in the second chapter of Daniel that is strange and powerful, and it comes to bear on Jesus’ words. In Daniel 2, vision is described of an enormous statue that represents the successive empires of the world: Babylonians, Medio-Persians, Greeks, and Romans. But then there is another kingdom. Some entirely new dominion emerging during the Roman era.
The God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these [former] kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever. -Daniel 2:44
In this vision, guess what represent the kingdom established by God: A stone. This single stone strikes the statue, and the statue is shattered to pieces. As if it were suddenly turned to ashes, it blows away in the wind. The crushing stone then begins to grow, becoming a mountain, eventually filling the whole earth.
This is another vision of the kingdom built upon Jesus Christ, the Stone, the Chief Cornerstone. By faith we living stones are united to Him, Jews and Gentiles. And the stone grows, it is filling the earth.
As one of the servants, sent by the Master, said,
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. -Habakkuk 2:14
All other kingdoms – indeed every kingdom built by men – will blow away in the wind: meaningless, futility. Just like the Israel built by the self-righteous hands of religious leaders.
Read vs 45-46
Perhaps you remember from our sermon series about King David, a time when David acted in grievous sin. The prophet Nathan told David a parable of a wicked man. When David realized that the parable was about him, he immediately saw his own wickedness, knew his offense against God, and he repented.
The religious leaders react in the complete opposite way. There is no repentance, no turning to Jesus for forgiveness and mercy. No. Instead their hearts boil with treachery. But because the crowds believe Jesus to be a prophet – at least for now – they are powerless.
For now they will bide their time, continuing to work the crowd while they attempt to turn them on Jesus.
They do not believe that Jesus is the Son. And they do not believe that the Master of the house is coming. But He is. Then all the tribes of the land will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Matthew 24:30)
He was coming in a particular way for that generation. Jerusalem would burn and not one stone of that temple would be left upon another. But in another way, God comes to all generations. When we each go the way of our fathers we shall meet Him, face to face, and we shall give an account for our lives. Then we shall either find refuge, hidden in the stone, or we shall be crushed in our iniquity.
As Paul writes,
We will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. -Romans 14:10-12
Will you cling to the Cornerstone and stand on the Day of Judgment, or will you fall, crushed beneath the weight of your rejection of the Son of God?
I plead with you each, listen to the testimony of Scripture. Pay attention to His word. Truly seek to understand. Bear the fruit of righteousness, living in obedience to the will of the Father.
Truly you can be joined to His people. Trust your life to the crucified yet risen Christ. He bore His wounds for you. Find in Him forgiveness, and healing for your every brokenness. There is a mountain of stone that is growing, crushing the kingdoms of man, filling the earth. Have you found your home in it?
The owner is indeed coming. God may seem far off, in a distant land, hidden and unconcerned, but He shall return! And He has sent His Son!
Read vs 44
1Morris, L. (1992). The Gospel According to Matthew. Pg 544. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
