Matthew 21:33-46

Matthew 21:33-46
The chief priests and elders had challenged Jesus, but Jesus used the occasion to expose their rebellious heart. In this text, Jesus uses a parable that specifically identifies Israel’s history as a nation. The Lord, as the “master of a house,” built Israel into a great nation – pictured by the planting of a vineyard with all the accompanying buildings by which wine would be made. The master then went into another country, but on a regular basis sent servants back in order to receive the fruits of the vineyard. This was a picture of the prophets who continually went to Israel and demanded that they give God His due respect and worship since their very existence was based on His grace and mercy. However, the tenants of the vineyard had no intention of paying the master what he deserved. Their motive was to be able to own the vineyard and run the vineyard as they saw fit. Therefore, they repeatedly beat the servants sent by the master. Eventually, the master sent his own son hoping that they would at least respect the son. But the tenants took even more drastic measures and killed the son. Of course, in this part of the parable Jesus was making His own prediction of what they were about to do to Him in just a few days.
The interesting part of the parable comes when Jesus again asks the leaders a question: What would a vineyard owner do to tenants like this? You can see that the chief priests were able to fully identify with the master of the vineyard. They responded in anger that any master would immediately take the vineyard away from the tenants, put them to death, and give it to people who were more deserving. Jesus then drove home His point. “Haven’t your read?” He said. His quotation is from Psalm 118:22-23, a passage referring to the coming of the messiah. The “stone” (the messiah), which was to be used as the chief cornerstone for the building of God’s new kingdom, would be rejected by the “builders” (the Jews). The Jews were not looking for the kind of messiah that Jesus was. Jesus was not concerned with the defeat of Rome, nor was He going to be involved with the power struggle these leaders wielded in order to maintain control over the people.
Jesus then gives the Jews a final dramatic warning of what was to come because of their rejection. Their vineyard (nation) was about to be taken away from them and given to a people who would produce its fruit. In 70 A.D., God fulfilled His promise. The Romans invaded Judea and destroyed every fortified city, including Jerusalem. Their nation had been taken away, and from that time it has predominantly been the Gentiles who have been given the kingdom and are producing its fruit.
Berry Kercheville