The Wicked Tenants

Jesus was presumably still in the temple, where the representatives of the Sanhedrin had come to question him. They had failed in their first attempt at tricking Jesus into an answer that would condemn him.

Jesus wants us to understand God’s truth for ourselves, applying it personally and obeying it. Merely knowing information is not enough. This particular parable pointedly described the religious leaders who stood before Jesus, showed that Jesus knew their intention to kill him, and warned them of their ultimate punishment for their actions.

The moment Jesus spoke of a vineyard, the well-versed religious leaders would have recognized the correlation with the words of , where Isaiah described Israel as a vineyard. Thus, they immediately understood that Jesus was speaking of the nation of Israel in his parable. Isaiah’s parable described judgment on Israel; Jesus’ parable described judgment too. The vineyard also portrays God’s grace.

The situation pictured in this parable was by no means unusual. Galilee had many such estates with absentee owners who had hired tenant farmers to care for the fields and crops. Much land was dedicated to grape vineyards, with wine being one of the major exports of Galilee. The tenant farmers paid their “rent” by giving a portion of the crop to the landowner, who would send servants at harvest time to collect it. Tensions often arose; records exist of bitter disputes between landowners and their tenants. The angry tenants in Jesus’ parable reflected the social upheaval in Palestine at the time.

This was a choice vineyard that required protection. A stone wall protected it from thieving people or animals; a pit collected the juice of the grapes as they were crushed; and a watchtower was a lookout and a shelter for the grape gatherers. These details provide local color but have no particular allegorical significance. The characters, however, provide the allegory.

The main elements in this parable are (1) the man who planted the vineyard—God, (2) the vineyard—Israel, (3) the tenant farmers—the Jewish religious leaders, (4) the landowner’s servants—the prophets and priests who remained faithful to God and preached to Israel, (5) the son—Jesus, and (6) the others to whom the vineyard was given—the Gentiles.

Israel, pictured as a vineyard, was the nation that God had cultivated to bring salvation to the world. The religious leaders not only frustrated their nation’s purpose; they also killed those who were trying to fulfill it. They were so jealous and possessive that they ignored the welfare of the very people they were supposed to be bringing to God. By telling this story, Jesus exposed the religious leaders’ plot to kill him, and he warned them that their sins would be punished.

When the grape harvest came, the absentee landowner sent a servant to collect the “rent”—namely some of the fruit of the vineyard. Generally this amounted to a quarter to a half of the crop, probably in the form of wine, not grapes. In Jesus’ parable, the “servants” that were sent to the tenants refer to the prophets and priests whom God had sent over the years to the nation of Israel.

The picture of angry tenants beating the landowner’s slave and sending him on his way without any “rent” did not shock Jesus’ audience. The rapidly deteriorating situation in Palestine, with guerrillas fighting for freedom from Rome and bandits rampaging the land, made this an especially poignant parable. The tenants who were entrusted with the care of the vineyard represented the religious leaders who were entrusted with the spiritual care of Israel. But instead of listening to the prophets, God’s “servants,” the religious leadership had mistreated them and had stubbornly refused to listen.

The first servant returned empty-handed to the landowner. Determined to collect his due, the landowner sent a second servant. This one was treated even more harshly; a wound to the head was a serious injury.

The landowner sent still another servant; that servant was murdered. Not to be put off, the landowner continued to send servants, but every servant met harsh treatment. While some were beaten; others were killed.

Jesus could hardly have made his point more clear. Throughout Israel’s history, the leadership constantly rejected the prophets God sent to them, refusing to turn away from idols or to follow God’s guidance. Many of God’s prophets were beaten; others were killed. The fact that he sent so many portrays God’s patience, mercy, and loving-kindness.

With all the servants having been mistreated or killed, the landowner had only one messenger left—his beloved son. This son was sent to the tenant farmers to collect the fruit of the vineyard in hopes that the farmers would give the son due honor and respect. This “beloved son” refers to Jesus. This is the same description God used at Jesus’ baptism and at the Transfiguration. The son was sent last of all to the stubborn and rebellious nation of Israel to win them back to God and away from the self-serving religious leadership.

So here we see a landowner who loses several servants, then sends his only son, may be accused of closing his eyes to the dangers of the mission. The son, after all, is a land-grabber’s prime target. Getting rid of him clears title for greedy tenants. The landowner should know this.

Why would God send Jesus if the prophets had already been badly treated? Because the mission required it, and love required that the mission be completed.

Next time you feel depressed and sullen, gray and cloudy, as though there’s not much to live for, remember that divine love looked for you. God’s Son came for you.

The tenants probably thought that the arrival of the son meant that his father (the landowner) had died. In Palestine at that time, “ownerless” or unclaimed land could be owned by whoever claimed it first. Thus they reasoned that if they killed the son, they could claim the property as their own. So they killed the son and threw his body over the wall without burial—a horrible indignity in Israel.

Jesus came to call Israel back to God. But the religious leaders, caught up in their positions, wanted to hold on to their power and prestige with the people. Jesus threatened to take that away; they couldn’t match his teaching, his miracles, or his popularity. They thought that killing Jesus was the only way to gain back the respect of the people that seemed to be slipping from their grasp. Notice that Mark made the point that the body was thrown out of the vineyard; therefore, the son was killed in the vineyard. Jesus would be killed in Israel yet outside the walls of Jerusalem as the result of a plot formed by Israel’s religious leaders.

Jesus then asked his listeners to consider what the landowner would do once he heard of his son’s murder. In Greek, “owner” is kurios, meaning “master”; it was also a title for God (the Lord). In using this word, Jesus was giving a deliberate hint about who the “owner” represented.

Jesus then answered his own question. All agreed that the landowner would come, kill the tenants, and give the vineyard to others who would care for it and pay the rent on time.

Like the son who was rejected and murdered by the tenant farmers, Jesus referred to himself as the stone which the builders rejected. The cornerstone was the most important stone in a building, used as the standard to make sure the other stones of the building were straight and level. Israel’s leadership, like the builders looking for an appropriate cornerstone, would toss Jesus aside because he didn’t seem to have the right qualifications. They wanted a political king, not a spiritual one. Yet God’s plans will not be thwarted. One day that rejected stone will indeed become the “cornerstone” with all the right qualifications—for Jesus will come as King to inaugurate an unending kingdom. And he had already begun a spiritual kingdom as the cornerstone of a brand-new “building,” the Christian church. Jesus’ life and teaching would be the church’s foundation.