And [Jesus] began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while. When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” (Luke 20:9-16) This parable is literally jam packed with amazing things! It includes referencing past prophecies and Israel’s history, thoroughly explains the spiritual state of Israel, and what was then future prophecies about Jesus as Messiah. The setting of the parable is a vineyard and it directly correlates to the nation of Israel. We know this because Isaiah specifically told us when he wrote, For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry! (Isaiah 5:7) And with the people of Israel listening to the Law and Prophets read in the temple regularly, they understood they were the vineyard, which is why the last part of verse 16 mentions their exclamation of “Surely not!” The Past and Patience Jesus makes mention of the prophets who God had sent to Israel in His parable when He includes that the man who planted the vineyard had sent multiple servants to reap fruit from the tenants. The tenants had beaten them and treated them shamefully, sending them away empty-handed. The prophets of old, and there were many of them over the years, had also been treated awfully by the people, ignored, reviled, and killed. And while the parable only has one sentence that speaks of the period between the prophets and Jesus being sent, where Jesus said in the parable, Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? This shows a tremendous amount of patience and long-suffering on the part of God. No earthly king would have sent that many servants and seen that kind of treatment and then decide to send his son. An earthly king or ruler would have long since sent an army to destroy the tenants and take what was theirs without any mercy. And the tenants would have deserved it. But God, our King of kings, is gracious and merciful, patient and long-suffering, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:9) The Inheritance In the parable the tenants see the son of the vineyard owner and say, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. This is mind-blowing because the perspective of the tenants here is to gain the inheritance, yet Jesus as Messiah came to share the inheritance by adopting us as children of God through the redemption of His blood. Notice how the vineyard owner had only desired to get some of the fruit of the vineyard. He had every right to take it all, but he desired to bless and continue providing for the tenants, and yet the greed of the tenants and pride of thinking they could gain the inheritance by means of their own plan would lead to destruction. And while the Jewish people did indeed kill Jesus, hoping to maintain the earthly status they thought they had amassed for themselves, the irony is that God used their evil for the ultimate good of mankind, which was His plan all along. The death of Jesus brought about life and inheritance for those who believe. And they did take Jesus outside of the vineyard, outside the walls of the city, to kill him, and Jerusalem and the temple was destroyed a few short decades later and the gospel message was given to the Gentiles. Given to Others We, as Gentiles, are the others. God was faithful to carry out the plan of salvation and spread that good news, the gospel, all over as He had commissioned His followers to do. But here’s the thing… In the parable, it said, Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him. Jesus was sent and the Jewish people did not respect Him, they killed him. Yet to every heart who hears the gospel, the decision remains the same – will Jesus be respected as the Son of God and His commands obeyed or will selfish desire and pride reject Him? As we know the Lord wills, may the respect and obedience of the Son be the ...
