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 will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone 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.
Here the landowner represents God, the vineyard represents Israel, and the tenants represents the chief priests, Pharisees, scribes, and elders. The servant represents the servant of God, the prophet. The son of the landowner represents the Lord Jesus. The landowner sent his servants to the vineyard represents God sent his prophets to preach the word of God to Israel, and some of them were beaten, some were killed, and some were stoned to death. God sent His Son, the Lord Jesus to them and was crucified by them. Here the Lord Jesus prophesied that He would be put to death by them. The Lord Jesus quoted Old Testament prophecy:
The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; (Psalm 118:22)
Here the stone rejected by the builders is the Lord Jesus, who became the cornerstone, on which the church was built, and the church began with the resurrection of the Lord Jesus after his death. Here it is said that the kingdom of God will be taken away from them and given to fruitful people. God chose the Israelites first, and the Lord Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom of God to them first, but they did not believe and rejected the Lord Jesus, and the gospel was preached to the Gentiles, that is, to us, the non-Israelites.
In this parable, we see God’s faithful love and patience, and he gives people opportunities to turn back to Him one time after another.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
I hope that more people will believe in the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, to be born again and be saved, and to have the hope of eternal life.
May God bless you and your family!
