The Vineyard Owner

16. March 2009 by Bernice Davis.

Hello:

 

Today, we are concluding the 21^st chapter of Matthew.  We discussed Friday how this chapter closes out with two parables.  We discussed one on Friday and today will discuss the other thereby concluding our chapter.

 

 

Matthew 21:33 ”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 went away on a journey. 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 capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? 43 ”Therefore I tell you that the

kingdom of

God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.” 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.

 

As we have been studying from last week, we know that this is the last week of Jesus’ earthly life.  Jesus is using a parable to again rebuke the Pharisees and religious leaders for their false teachings and their fruitlessness.   I will not labor with a long explanation; this is the last of a series of three parables that all have the same theme; the fig tree, the parable of the two sons, and now the vineyard owner.  This particular one refers to the prophets that were sent before Jesus who the religious leaders did not believe and had them killed and finally they will kill the Son, the heir of the vineyard.   It all speaks to the fact that the kingdom will be stripped from them and given to a people that will bear fruit.The interpretation is as simple as this; the owner of the vineyard was God.  The tenants that it was leased to were the religious leaders, the servants that the owner sent back to collect the harvest were the prophets and they were killed.  The son which was the heir was Christ, which they also killed. The text says that the religious leaders knew that Jesus was talking about them and they sought opportunity to arrest him but they were afraid of the crowd for the people deemed him as a prophet.Tomorrow, we will continue our journey on the last week of the life of Jesus.

Stay encouraged!!!!!!!!

 

Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily. 

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »