All right, here's that parable.
It's rather long, so let me read. Here another parable. There was
a certain householder which planted a vineyard, hedged it round about,
digged a winepress in it, and built a tower and let it out
to husbandmen, went into a far country. When the time of the
fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandman that
they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandman took
his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants,
more than the first, and they did unto them likewise. But last
of all, he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence
my son. But when the husbandmen saw the
son, they said among themselves, This is the heir. Come, let us
kill him. Let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him and cast
him out of the vineyard and slew him. When the Lord therefore
at the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? And they said unto him, he will
miserably destroy those wicked men, and let out his vineyard
unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in
their seasons, Jesus said unto them. Did you never read in the
scripture, the stone which the builders rejected, the same has
become the head of the corner? This is the Lord's doing. It
is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore I say unto you, the
kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation,
bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this
stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it
will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and
Pharisees had heard his parable, watch this, they perceived that
he spoke of them. But when they sought to lay hands
on him, they feared the multitude because they took him for a prophet. Now, a parable is a way of teaching
that is inculcated in the scripture in which there are natural things
and agricultural things and worldly things that are used as an illusion
under spiritual things and under spiritual truths and matter. But at the same time, a parable
can also hide some spiritual truth because of the way that
it is couched in the parable. For example, the disciples would
ask the Lord in Matthew 13 and 36, declare unto us the parable
of the tares. Matthew 15, 15. Peter said unto
the Lord, declare unto us this parable, because they didn't
really understand all of it at that time at all. And when our
Lord was alone, often he would further open the parable unto
his inner circle or unto his disciples that they might see
the spiritual truth therein that was hidden from the multitude
out in the open. We can remember that the prophet
Nathan used a parable to convict David and draw him to repentance
for is great sin. A parable of a rich man and a
poor man. One had one lamb and another
had many. But we have that aspect in the
parable of the vineyard. The Lord's parable exposed the
sin of the Jew in general and their leaders in particular against
the Son of God. As for the parable, it is one
of the Lord's parables, I say, that are prophetic in nature. There is a prophetic nature about
this parable. So, looking at the parable, having
read it, let's notice the cast of characters that play out in
this parabolic drama of our Lord. First of all, there was a certain
householder, a landowner, a landmaster, the master of the house. He's
the one that owned the parcel of land and owned the vineyard.
And then there were husbandmen, in the plural. These were given
the care and the oversight of the vineyards. Sometimes they're
called farmers or tillers of the ground. Back in our day in
the country, sharecroppers was how we might refer unto them. And then there was the grounds,
and it seemed to be plural. There were more than one. Then there were the servants.
of the householder or the owner or the landlord of the vineyard. And then there's the son of the
landowner that plays out in the parable. Now here's the structure
of the parable. The owner builds a great vineyard.
It's a good vineyard. It can't be any better. It's
perfectly suitable for the bringing forth of fruit. Then he turns
it over to some men who are to tend it, keep it, to form it,
and such like. And at a harvest time, he will
send his servant that they might receive for him the amount of
fruits that are his. Instead, they beat his servant,
finally send his son, and they kill him. And what will the owner
of the vineyard do? Well, he will miserably destroy
them, he'll take the vineyard away from them, and he will give
it unto others. But now, let's come to define
the figures that are in this parable. and they come from Old
Testament passages of scripture that are easily identified. I got it out of the footnotes
of the New Geneva Bible, if I remember. The landowner or the proprietor
is God. God is the one who has a vineyard. The vineyard is the kingdom of
God in verse 43. And the tennis reformers, bind
dressers, are the Jews, the nation of Israel. The servants are the
prophets of God that were sent unto them from time to time to
instruct them, correct them, and to rebuke them. Now, the
son is none other than the living son of the living God. And the
killing of the son is the crucifixion of our Lord upon Calvary. And the destruction of the vine
dressers is that judgment visited upon Israel in 70 AD, and the
transfer to another nation is taking it from their care and
giving it over unto the Gentile. So then we can ask, well, what
then is the design of this parable? Why was it given? What subject
matter is it that it is addressing here? Benjamin Keats wrote nearly
900 pages on the New Testament parable, more than any other
writer I know or any book I possess. The three points that he said
are visible that jump out at us here in this parable. Number
one, the high privileges that had been bestowed upon the Jews. They were the people of God.
They were the covenant people of God. To them, many blessings
were granted unto them. Secondly, the parable, says Benjamin
Keech, reveals the abominable wickedness of the Jew. And as
it rises higher and higher, not only the servants of God, not
only the prophets of God, but finally crucifying the very son
of God himself. And the third lesson that jumps
out at us here is that being a prophetic parable, it foretells
the rejection of the Jew and the heavy judgment that God would
visit upon them and the bringing in of Gentile vinedressers, if
we may call them that, as we can see later down in verse 41
through verse 44. Now, let us note it. The Lord's
parable draws upon Old Testament imagery. This is not a strange
thing unto the Jew. God's gracious dealing for the
Jew to richly bless them, their ingratitude and rebellion throughout
all of their history in the old economy, and the judgments and
the chastisement that were visited upon them, including the captivity. There are two passages, I won't
turn and read them, about a vine and about God. One of them is
found in Psalm chapter 80 and verse 8 through 11. And God brought
a vine out of the land of Egypt. He planted it in the best possible
fertile place that it might be planted. And the psalmist there
uses figurative language to implore God to shine his mercy upon them
as a people and be gracious unto them. Then you have one in Isaiah
chapter 5 verse 1 through 7. Again it is the figure of a vine. transplanted, dressed as well
as could possibly be. And in this parable, the prophet
uses a song, as he calls it, to represent the condition of
the nation of Israel. Isaiah 5, 1, touching his vineyard,
it's put beyond all doubt there, in verse 7, that the vineyard
is a figure of Israel, the nation of Israel, and that the men of
Judah are his pleasant plant, as he calls them. Now in our
first text in Matthew 21, Verse 33, a certain householder planted
a vineyard and fortified it well. He hedged it round about to keep
out the varmints and the enemy. He had a walled enclosure about
this vineyard so that it was well protected. Also, he digged
a wine press or a wine vat in it, a place here where the grapes
could be taken and squeezed out and made into delicious wine
that he might receive. Then he built a tower in it where
a watchman might stand and watch out over the tower to be aware
of any enemies that might come and warn the caretaker so that
they could take advantage of it. In Psalm chapter 80, the
Lord transplanted a vine out of Egypt He cast out the heathen. Isaiah 5-2, gathered out the
stones. He planted it. It took deep root. It filled the land. It prospered
greatly. It grew and grew and it spread. The Lord delivered His people
from Egypt. He cast seven heathen nations
out of the land of Canaan. and he planted his chosen, beloved
vine there in that land. Now, in our parable, the householder
did two things. A, he let out the vineyard to
husband them. David Brown, writing on this,
said, these are the spiritual guides of the people under whose
care the fruits of righteousness are expected to be produced and
presented in glory unto God, such as the high priest. He calls
them the builders in Acts chapter 4 verse 11, the leaders. And then B, he went into a far
country. Luke chapter 20 and verse 9 said,
for a long time. He departed from the vineyard
and from the city for a long time. Some understood this of
the whole process of time during the mosaic economy until the
coming of Christ. But at seasonal times, Matthew
21, 34, when the time of fruit drew near, Mark 12, 2 says, at
the season Luke 20 and 10 said, at the season, these servants
are the prophets, the servants, the servants of God, the preachers
and those who instruct the people. And they came sent by God and
in the authority of God, in his name, in the command of his blessed
spirit. Now, how were they received?
It was the duty of the husbandman. to tend the vineyard, to make
sure it grew the best it could, produce as well as it could for
the benefit of the householder, of the owner. So, how were the
servants of God received? Matthew 21 35 they beat some
they stone some and they kill some Mark 12 and 3 they beat
him and they sent him away Empty Luke 20 and 10 the husbandman
beat him and sent him away Empty now the Lord charged in verse
37 you kill the prophets and you stone them that are Sent
he lays that to their chart. Then we read that the householder
is the owners of the vineyard, sent his son. We might think
of an only son. Mark 12 and 6 said, having one
son, his well-beloved, he sent him last with the reasoning,
surely they will reverence my son. If not my servants, if not
my laborers, then certainly my own son. for He's an extension
of me. He's of my nature. He is of me,
a servant, a son. What do the unfaithful husbandmen
do? They plot. They say, oh, this
is the heir. Let's kill him and the whole
inheritance shall be ours. Now the reality of this is that
the Jews persecuted the prophets, stoning some, killing some, They
were a disobedient and a game-saying people throughout all of their
history. Romans 10 and verse 21. And in the end of the age, God
sent His only Son, and the wickedness of the Jews reached its apex,
its peak, its highest point, as they took by wicked hand the
Son of God and crucified Him on a Roman cross. Now, the Bible
lays the death of Jesus at the feet of the Jew. You, again and
again, Peter charges the nation with his death. That is, Saul
consented unto the death of Stephen at the hands of the Jews, so
the Jews consented to the death of Jesus at the hand of the Romans,
using them to put him unto death. They delivered him over to the
Romans, and they put him upon a Roman cross. The Jews said,
we will not have this man to reign over us. Let his blood
be upon us and upon our children. Matthew 27 and 25. What a judgment
did they pass upon themselves in saying that? Go ahead and
kill him. Let his blood be upon us and
our children. And at this point in the parable,
verse 40, comes the question. What will the landowner do to
those wicked husbandmen? How will he deal with them? How
will he react? What action will he take? What
will be their punishment? We have three accounts of this
in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and their judgment would be twofold. A double blow. Number one, he
will miserably destroy those wicked men. Some say that this
is not easily expressed over into our English language. But
that the Greek language here is very picturesque and very
emphatic. He will badly destroy those bad
men. Miserably destroy those miserable
men. Even he will make a wretched
end of those wretched men. And this is soon confirmed in
verse 42 through verse 44 by the stone from Psalm 100 and
18, and verse 22, and verse 23. The stone that the builders rejected
has become the head of the corner, and who falls on it will be crushed
and wounded, and whom whom it falls, they will be destroyed. But there's a second thing. Not
only will He destroy those men who've done this awful, dastardly,
miserable deed, but he will give their vineyard unto other tenants. He will take them, he will remove
them, destroy them, and he will let out his vineyard unto other
tenants that he might receive his fruit in their season. We
see two things here. In Luke's account, 20 and 16,
when the Jews heard, they said, God forbid, that is, perish the
thought. May such never be. The word God
is not in the Greek, so some say, but Linsky calls their words
aptevi, that is the expressive of a wish, a desire expressed
verbally, as if to say in their heart, if not out loud, oh, may
this never be, that it be taken away from us and given unto another. And then secondly, we see in
Luke 20, 19, Matthew 21, 45, the Pharisees and the chief priests
realized that they were the subject of this parable of our Lord. They looked in it and saw a reflection
of themselves as a mirror held up before them. But rather than
repent, rather than turn back, they sought to kill him who had
exposed their evil for what it was. He reminds them of a passage
in Psalm 118, 22, and 23, in Matthew 21 and 42. The stone which the builders
refuse. They set it aside. It's not worthy. It has no place in the building.
It's not fit. It doesn't work. It's not good.
It doesn't look well. So the Apostle Peter in Acts
4.11 calls the Jewish leaders, you builders, you leaders, you
builders. You set aside the stone, but
Lord God in His providence and power has made it the very head
of the corner. And the Lord makes a special
application in Matthew 21 and 44 that those who stumble and
fall upon this firm stone will be badly, if not fatally, injured. And upon whom the stone falls,
it will grind them unto powder. Now, in Matthew 21, 43, therefore
say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and
given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. He is speaking
to the chief priest and the Pharisee, and he's speaking of the Jewish
system of worship and those that occupy or sit in Moses' seat,
blind leaders, the overseers of the kingdom, the teachers,
these who are supposed to lead men and women in the right way. And they're called in this place
to be the replacement for those from whom it is taken away. Spurgeon wrote, the doom of the
unfaithful religious leaders was their sin, unquote. What they had done, they were
to lose the blessings of the gospel, the kingdom of God, and
all the closeness. God did not cast them aside and
bring, God did cast them aside rather, and he brought in the
wretched Gentiles to oversee and to carry on the work of the
gospel and the Christian movement. Isaiah wrote 65 in verse 1, I'm
sought of them that ask not after me. I'm found of them that sought
me not. I said behold me unto a nation
not called by my name. That's a prophecy of the Gentile. The Jews would never have believed
it. Never in a thousand years would
they believe being replaced by the Gentile, though it was written
up in their scripture on many occasions. Now we see the great
change play out in the book of Acts that the Lord prophesies
here. In Acts chapter 13, for example,
when the Jews contradicted and they blasphemed what Paul preached,
13th chapter of Acts, then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said,
listen to verse 46, It was necessary that the Word of God should first
have been spoken unto you. But lo, you put it from you.
You judge yourself unworthy of everlasting life. Lo, we turn
unto the Gentiles. And they did that, or began that,
in the church at Antioch. Now the same thing happened again
in Rome. In Acts chapter 28, Paul there
preaching, saw the prophecy of Isaiah 6, 9 and 10 fulfilled
in the Jews to whom he spoke at Rome. Their heart waxed gross,
their ears stopped up, their ears were dull, and in verse
28 of that chapter of Acts, be it known therefore unto you that
the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles and they will
hear it. Now, here's their sin against
God and against Christ. Here's the prophecy, and then
it's fulfilled. And the final stroke fell in
70 A.D., when Jerusalem was destroyed, when the temple was torn down
and not one stone upon another was left standing, even as our
Lord prophesied. What a bloody, bloody massacre
it was. Their priests were murdered.
They were murdered and their blood ran in the street. Many
of the people of the city were slaughtered. All of their genealogies,
all of them, were destroyed in the fire and the burning of the
temple. And now their eyes are holding so that they cannot see
Christ, nor they cannot hear the gospel. And for centuries,
the people of God have for the most part now been Gentiles by
the call and power of God. And the Jews, Paul said, are
enemies of the gospel for your sake, he said in Romans chapter
11 and 12. Spurgeon wrote, what a warning
to a nation that's had the blessings of God, a nation that's had freedom
of religion and abundance of gospel, access to the gospel,
freely preached, and then to turn to secularism or something
else and the judgment of God come in its stead. Here's an
instance where Israel saying greatly against the Lord. The
Lord punished them, chastised them, brought to an end, and
prophetically the parable came to pass. Lo, I turned unto the
Gentiles, Paul said, and he did, and God did. And that's a good
parable, I think, for us to see that in the scripture.