Jesus pronounced doom on the Pharisees and their false system. It was one of those times when He was teaching in the Temple Plaza and they came up to pester Him again, likely associates of the Sanhedrin itself. Matthew places it with the time they questioned His authority to teach and heal. He silenced them and then warned of God's wrath.
Asking them how they would judge, He told the story of two different sons whose father asked them to go and work his vineyard. The vineyard was an ancient symbol of God's Covenant Nation. The first son said he'd rather not work that day, then regretted it later and went to work. The second said, "Yes Sir!" But then he never got around to doing it. Who actually carried out the will of their father?
Of course the Pharisees said it was the first son. Upon this, Jesus said it was a picture of all those folks that the Pharisees rejected because they wouldn't knuckle under their pretentious authority. Tax collectors and harlots would repent and make peace with God before the Pharisees would.
The same John the Baptist, whose authority the Pharisees couldn't discern, came to preach the Scriptures, but they didn't repent. Instead, all the so-called sinners and social outcasts came to him and repented, being baptized. After all those decades of harassing such "sinners" and seeing none of them change, God speaks to them through John. The Pharisees should have been celebrating that the wayward souls came back to the Covenant. Instead, they decided it meant there was something wrong with John, as if rescuing lost sheep was somehow a sinister act.
Jesus unloaded another parable on them. He told about a head of household who went to a lot of trouble constructing and planting a vineyard. He did it right, with all the appropriate facilities, fully self-contained. Then he leased it to some people who were supposed to be good at producing a nice vintage from it. Then the owner traveled abroad on other business.
While he was there in a foreign country, he sent some servants back at wine-making time to obtain his portion of the produce, typically something like 10%. We can imagine the renters thinking that if the real authority was so remote, then what risk would there be in ignoring his messengers? They went a step further and beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. The owner kept sending representatives and the renters kept abusing them.
Perhaps they would respect the owner's own son? No, but they plotted to kill him. As the only heir to the vineyard, if he was dead, and the owner stayed away, there was a chance they could seize the title of the property. All of this assumes the owner would never return in person. Who was going to enforce the distant owners will? He had to show up in person with a title deed to the property in order to file a claim in the local court system and get a judge to order any action.
What did those Pharisees reckon would happen when the owner did return in person? Of course, the wicked renters would be arrested and executed. Then the owner would find more honorable people to lease his vineyard. The Pharisees' own words would judge them.
Jesus quoted Psalm 118:22-23 about the stone the builders rejected becoming the cornerstone of a new project. Anything built in that hilly land required a massive block set into the side of the slope in such a way that the rest of the stones in the building could lean against it from up-slope. It was the most important stone in the whole building. They understood this as a Messianic reference, and it wasn't lost on them that Jesus claimed to be the Messiah.
Then, Jesus flatly told them that they were the criminals in the parable who had been hired by God to bring forth the fruit of the Covenant. Instead, they tried to consume all God's provision upon themselves, treating God's vineyard as their private playground, instead of as a sacred trust to change the world. So God would come and remove them and lease it out to another nation that was more honorable.
Meanwhile, those who trip over Jesus' claim to be the Messiah would be broken and then remade, but those on whom this Stone fell would be crushed. The crowd understood the references, and so did the Pharisees. They would have arrested Him on the spot, but knew the crowd would riot in Jesus' favor.
Asking them how they would judge, He told the story of two different sons whose father asked them to go and work his vineyard. The vineyard was an ancient symbol of God's Covenant Nation. The first son said he'd rather not work that day, then regretted it later and went to work. The second said, "Yes Sir!" But then he never got around to doing it. Who actually carried out the will of their father?
Of course the Pharisees said it was the first son. Upon this, Jesus said it was a picture of all those folks that the Pharisees rejected because they wouldn't knuckle under their pretentious authority. Tax collectors and harlots would repent and make peace with God before the Pharisees would.
The same John the Baptist, whose authority the Pharisees couldn't discern, came to preach the Scriptures, but they didn't repent. Instead, all the so-called sinners and social outcasts came to him and repented, being baptized. After all those decades of harassing such "sinners" and seeing none of them change, God speaks to them through John. The Pharisees should have been celebrating that the wayward souls came back to the Covenant. Instead, they decided it meant there was something wrong with John, as if rescuing lost sheep was somehow a sinister act.
Jesus unloaded another parable on them. He told about a head of household who went to a lot of trouble constructing and planting a vineyard. He did it right, with all the appropriate facilities, fully self-contained. Then he leased it to some people who were supposed to be good at producing a nice vintage from it. Then the owner traveled abroad on other business.
While he was there in a foreign country, he sent some servants back at wine-making time to obtain his portion of the produce, typically something like 10%. We can imagine the renters thinking that if the real authority was so remote, then what risk would there be in ignoring his messengers? They went a step further and beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. The owner kept sending representatives and the renters kept abusing them.
Perhaps they would respect the owner's own son? No, but they plotted to kill him. As the only heir to the vineyard, if he was dead, and the owner stayed away, there was a chance they could seize the title of the property. All of this assumes the owner would never return in person. Who was going to enforce the distant owners will? He had to show up in person with a title deed to the property in order to file a claim in the local court system and get a judge to order any action.
What did those Pharisees reckon would happen when the owner did return in person? Of course, the wicked renters would be arrested and executed. Then the owner would find more honorable people to lease his vineyard. The Pharisees' own words would judge them.
Jesus quoted Psalm 118:22-23 about the stone the builders rejected becoming the cornerstone of a new project. Anything built in that hilly land required a massive block set into the side of the slope in such a way that the rest of the stones in the building could lean against it from up-slope. It was the most important stone in the whole building. They understood this as a Messianic reference, and it wasn't lost on them that Jesus claimed to be the Messiah.
Then, Jesus flatly told them that they were the criminals in the parable who had been hired by God to bring forth the fruit of the Covenant. Instead, they tried to consume all God's provision upon themselves, treating God's vineyard as their private playground, instead of as a sacred trust to change the world. So God would come and remove them and lease it out to another nation that was more honorable.
Meanwhile, those who trip over Jesus' claim to be the Messiah would be broken and then remade, but those on whom this Stone fell would be crushed. The crowd understood the references, and so did the Pharisees. They would have arrested Him on the spot, but knew the crowd would riot in Jesus' favor.