Jesus’s “Parable of the Tenants” has the vineyard’s owner sending his son to collect his share of the harvest. The tenants recognize he is the heir and devised a plan to kill him and take the inheritance as their own.
Greed and an evil sense of self-importance ruled their decision and the following action. Foolishness also prevailed because they were never in the chain of ownership. The only way they could legally receive it was for the owner to sell it, something he never intended. They would always be simple farmers and he would always be the owner.
When the simple farmers killed the son, the owner came and killed the tenants and gave his vineyard to others. The people who heard this parable understood the meaning (16b). The Jewish leadership would kill Jesus, the Son of God. God would destroy the nation and give the care of the kingdom over to the Gentiles.
How has the world responded to the duty of caring for God’s people? How have I? Jesus gave the church the great commission. “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” (Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8) Have I been participating in the kingdom’s growth? Or in the vineyard in need of watering and cultivating? Am I, a simple farmer, overvaluing my assigned place? Will he not do the same to the church if we are just like the Jewish leadership?
