Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen
– by Daniel R. Vess
Matthew 21:33-46; Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-18
In Luke’s account of the Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen he mentions the chief priests and scribes being present for this parable. When Jesus asked his audience to “hear another parable” He is adding insult to injury to the Jewish leaders. He had just told them in the previous Parable of the Two Sons that the tax collectors and the prostitutes would enter the kingdom of heaven before they would. Now this parable is going to accuse them of murdering God’s servants, the prophets, and also the very Son of God. They also will be accused of rejecting the Messiah who they saw as the chief cornerstone.
In this parable God is the householder or owner who planted the vineyard. The vineyard is the Jewish nation. The wicked husbandmen who were placed over the vineyard are the priests and elders of the people who failed to listen and obey God’s prophets. The servants that were sent again and again are the prophets of the Old Testament and including John the Baptist. The son who was cast out of the vineyard and killed is Jesus Christ Himself. The parable can be divided into God’s part, man’s part, and Christ’s part.
God’s Part
- God’s Provisions for Man (Matt. 21:33)
To keep a vineyard safe from animals and thieves a hedge was planted or a stone wall built to keep them out. Several things are provided by the owner. This represents all the great blessings which God had given Israel when He made them His own special nation. It would not be prudent to attempt to assign specific events and items to each of these provisions. Generally speaking God gave Israel a land, cities they did not build, vineyards they did not plant, fields they did not sow, etc. He gave them the Law of Moses, the Levitical priesthood, the tabernacle and later the Temple, etc. In the parable the owner placed a hedge, built the wine press, provided a tower for the workers and for security, and of course planted the vines in the vineyard. He gave them every possible advantage to help insure that they would be able to take the vineyard and bring forth fruit. God Himself founded their Kingdom God made every provision for their benefit. God gave over the possession of the Promised Land to the Israelites all He expected of them was their undivided obedience and worship to Him and only Him. - God’s Purpose for Man (Matt. 21:34)
According to the Law of Moses (Lev. 19:23-25) the first time the owner was able to collect on the vineyard would have been afer five years. Giving the vines time to mature and the vinedressers and chance to practice good husbandry. God expects the fruit in its season. He wants to see the fruits of obedience coming from His servants. God provides all of man needs and man’s responsibility is to be a faithful, obedient worker. As God had provided everything for the first couple in the Garden of Eden and expected them to obey, so He did with Israel in the Promise Land. - God’s Patience with Man (Matt. 21:35-37)
Notice the longsuffering the owner. He gives the husbandman several chances to give what they owed. They were shown mercy and responded with wickedness. They were given more mercy and they continued to rebel. It is very evident that God sent more and more prophets the longer the Israelites rebelled. Most of the prophets sent by God come not in the beginning of the nation but toward the end just before God punishes them with the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities.
The high point of the owners mercy is when he sends his son to collect thinking they will surely respect his son. The Gospel of Mark adds that this was an only son, greatly beloved. When God sent His only Son of Promise to the Jews of the first century is was not because he had run out of prophets or patience. The longsuffering of God has always been used to motivate His people to come to repentance. However, they killed the Son of God just as they did the prophets. And would continue to kill the apostles and prophets in the New Testament.
- God’s Punishment of Man (Matt. 21:41)
In the parable, after the wicked men had killed the Son, no more mercy could be shown. It was time for the owner of the vineyard to take vengeance. The longsuffering of God will eventually give way to the Divine Justice. Jesus is most likely referring to the slaughter and destruction fell upon the Jews when the Romans came against Jerusalem in 70 AD. This parable looks back at the good God has done for them throughout the centuries and the evil they had done, the current rejection of His Son, and it also looks forward and predicts the utter destruction of the Jews as a nation.
Man’s Part
- Rejected God’s Servants (Matt. 21:35,36)
The Old and New Testaments are resplendent with examples of the rejection of God’s servants. The Hebrew writer explained the great faith of many of the men and women who suffered persecution at the hands of their fellow Jews, “others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourging, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented- of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth” (Heb. 11:35-38). This passage may be referring to prophets like Jeremiah (Jer. 20:1,2) or Zechariah son of Jehoiada (2 Chr. 24:20,21). In the New Testament they had beheaded John the Baptist, in the near future they would stone Stephen to death and beheaded James. - Rejected God’s Son (Matt. 21:37,46)
The thrust of the parable hits its target. The Jewish religious leaders would have arrested Jesus on the spot had they not feared the people who regarded Him as a prophet. This was blasphemy to the religious leaders, and they would have arrested Him then and there were it not for their fear of the people. Yet by the end of the week they would have their chance to kill the Son. Peter would later accuse them of murdering God’s Son ( Acts 2:23; 4:25,27). The rejection of God’s Son is always fatal. - Rejected God’s Kingdom (Matt. 21:42)
The goal in killing the son was to take the vineyard for themselves. Just as Naboth was killed so that King Ahab could seize the ownership of his vineyard. Note that in Naboth’s case, as would be true with Jesus, false witnesses were used against him. Killing the Son of God did not spare the kingdom of the Jews or preserve it for the pharisees. It only hastened its final destruction. - Rejected Themselves (Matt. 21:41,45)
Jesus asked the religious leaders what the owner of the vineyard should do to these rebellious servants. Inadvertently they decided destruction against themselves. What other answer was there for them to give? They would perceive the parables were leveled at them. This only hardened their hearts in wanting to kill Him and thus fulfilling the very parable that predicted their attitude and actions.
Christ’s Part
- Proclaims to Be God’s Son (Matt. 21:37)
Jesus is viewed not as a servant but a son. Even though the common people viewed Him as a prophet, the parable shows Him to be the Son of God. In Mark’s account Christ is called “a beloved son” (12:6,7). The incarnation of the Son of God to the Jews was God’s final act of mercy in an attempt to bring them to repentance. - Provides Proof of Messiahship (Matt. 21:42)
For the true patriotic Jew the term “Messiah” stimulated dreams of valiant Jews taking up arms and defeating the hated Romans and reestablishing the Jewish Nation free from foreign control. When He arrived in Jerusalem that previous Sunday, Jesus was proclaimed the Son of David. In quoting from Psalm 118: 22,23 the Jews would see the connect to Him and the promised Messiah. The very fact that Jesus is rejected is proof that He is the Messiah. - Professes to Be the Chief Cornerstone (Matt. 21:42-44)
The prophecy of the rejected cornerstone in Psalm 118:22,23 is quoted or referred to in Acts 4:11; 1 Peter 2:4,7; Romans 9:32,33; Ephesians 2:20. Now the son of the owner who is Jesus is identified with the stone which the Jews would reject. By rejecting Jesus the religious leaders among the Jews would be casting aside the very cornerstone of the building which they seek to erect. Jesus did not fit their concept of a military and political Messiah. By casting him aside they would stumble over Him and destroy themselves. Even killing Jesus would not prevent this. The cross of Christ thereafter became unto the Jews a stumbling block and to the Gentiles foolishness (1 Cor. 1:23). - Presents the Kingdom to Others (Matt. 21:43)
The Jews were God’s special people who had all of privileges and the greatest of opportunities yet all this was lost when the rejected Jesus. If they would lose the vineyard and the Gentiles which represent the other nation in the parable would be given the opportunity and privilege to demonstrate obedience to God. “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men” (Tit. 2:11).
God is still being merciful with mankind today in His delay of sending His Son. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). To reject Christ today is be bring judgment upon the disobedient.