Understanding the Parable of the Wicked Tenants (Part 2) (Matthew 21:33-46)

Understanding the Parable of the Wicked Tenants (Matthew 21:33-46)

In Part 1, we see that Jesus is the Stone ejected by the builders.
Jesus is the son killed by the tenants.

And the Father is going to kill the tenants.

This is actually a prediction / prophecy by Jesus  concerning the events that are about to take place.

Subsequently we see that Jesus was rejected  totally by the Jews.
Jesus was killed and crucified by the Jews.

At the Cross, Jesus cried out "It is Finished"

My question: What was finished?

- The death of Jesus was finished.
- The Adam race was finished.
- Sin's dominion over mankind is finished.
- The war against the enemy is finished.
- God's obligation under the Old Covenant is finished.

(Side note: The Old Covenant system resembles many other religions of the world. If you do something for God then only God will bless you. It's like you scratched His back, He will scratch your back. You need to do something to earn the favor of God. That is the Old religious system).


Very Important: However, there was ONE thing that Jesus did NOT Finish..?

Answer: Jesus did not finish the Days of Vengeance. The Father has not killed the "wicked tenants" yet. You read in Mt 21, that the vinedresser is very angry, and he is going to destroy them.


The Days of Vengeance is fulfilled only in Luke 21:22 and Mt 24.

Mat 21:43  Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.


God is going to destroy the Temple, take away the kingdom of God from them and give it to another.

This was actually prophesied by Isaiah in Isa 65:15, where it says Israel is going to slay the chosen of God, and God will give His kingdom to another.


Question: Who is God going to give it to.?

God is going to give it to you and me.

According to 1 Pet 2:9-10, those who accept the Son, have become the chosen, God's people.

Israel is no longer God's special people.
(Stop praying for Israel and Jerusalem to earn the blessing of God. That was in the Old Covenant).

Those who receive the Son = they are God's special people.

We are now God's holy people; we have been transferred from our old kingdom into God's kingdom.


Jesus said it is going to happen.

And this is the Time Sequence of how it is going to happen:

a. The End of the Old Covenant / system.

b. Vengeance of God against that old system because of the rejection of His Son.

and

c. God's kingdom given to others who accept the Son.

Conclusion: THAT is how we should understand the Parable of  the wicked tenants.

Understanding the Parable of the Wicked Tenants (Part 1) (Matthew 21:33-46)

Understanding the Parable of the Wicked Tenants (Matthew 21:33-46)


This passage is found in Matthew 21:33-46.

Some people actually called it the Parable of the Vine dresser because it concerns a Landlord who owns a vineyard to produce wine.

In a gist, the story goes like this:

The Landowner has planted a vineyard so that he can produce wine from the wine press.

He then lease it the tenants and went away. When it was harvest time, he send his servants to collect his share of the harvest. One after another, all his servants were harmed or killed by the tenants who refuse to give the produce. The Landowner then send his son. The tenants  killed his son also so that they can keep the vineyard for themselves.
What will the  Landowner do? He will kill all the tenants, and lease the vineyard to others who can give him the produce.


To understand Mt 21, you need to know that it is part of Mt 21, 22, 23, 24. It is about the last week of Jesus in Jerusalem (according to my Harper Study Bible).

The  golden rule in bible understanding: Context is very important.

Mt 24 deals with the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple within THAT generation. It has nothing to do with us in the 21st Century or the future. And Mt 21 is the starting of the beginning of how God is going to destroy the temple. The destruction of Jerusalem is also called the End of the Age. The Last Days. The End Times (see my other writings).

So Mt 21 is the beginning of the End Times. It begins with the marching of Jesus on a donkey into the city of Jerusalem.

Some people called it the Olivet Discourse, because  it begins from Mt 21:1 at the Mount of Olives.

Mark 11: gives a similar sequence of time of Mt 21.

Mk 11:1 Triumphant entry into Jerusalem.

Mk 11:12 Jesus curses the fig tree (some say the fig tree represents Israel).

Mk 11:15 Jesus cleanses the temple at Jerusalem.

Mk 11:20 The fig tree withered and died.

Mt 21 and Mk 11 is ALL about Israel, Jerusalem and the Temple. It is not about you and me. It talks about the Inefficiency of the Old Covenant (the old system in the Temple). Besides this parable, Jesus spoke of other parables that is about the same thing = the inefficiency of the Temple and Old Covenant.

In Mt 21:28-32 In the Parable of the 2 sons, it is also about the Inefficiency of Jerusalem and its Temple. It is another illustrated parable on the inefficiency of the Old Covenant system. The 1st son were the Jews who did not do the will of the Father.

Subsequently, the other parables within Mt 21 - 24 all deals with the same thing. The inefficiency of the Old Covenant or the Temple system.

It seems like Jesus is using these parables again and again and again, so that He can at least try to reach out to some of these hard headed and hard hearted Jews. Mind you, the Pharisees (religious Jews) and scribes (educated Jews) and priests (religious leaders) KNEW that Jesus was talking about them and nobody else.

Mat 21:45  When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard these stories, they knew that Jesus was talking about them.

Somehow, along the way, the modern day 21st Century believer thought Mt 21 - 24 is about them. Wrong bible interpretation..!!

Coming back to the Parable of the tenants, Mt 21:33-46,  the STONE that the builders reject becomes the Cornerstone.

The Stone is Jesus. The Son killed by the tenants is Jesus.

Important: Jesus is predicting: They are going to kill Him.

AND the Father is going to do something about these tenants.


This is the LEAD Story leading to Mt 24 = which is the Days of Vengeance..!!

The Father is going to Finish them off..!!

The Father is going to take Vengeance against the Pharisees and priesthood, those who killed Jesus.

In Luke 21, we have the same scenario, the Days of Vengeance is for the Jewish people who killed Jesus.

TO BE CONTINUED.. (PART 2)

What is a parable?

Jesus did not say a thing to them without using a parable. (Mark 4:34)

What is a parable?

A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, which illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, whereas parables have human characters. A parable is a type of analogy. It is also apart of figure of speech.

John 16:25
Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father.

Language expression is an important part in understanding the context of scriptures. Learning how ancient Jews speaks is very important.

God spoke to his prophet in Parables in the OT

Hosea 12:10;
I spoke to the prophets, giving revelation after revelation, and employing parables in the prophetic writings.

The sad thing is when people begin to read parables as though it is some so called spiritual revelation.

Even those who heard it did not think it as such.

Jonathan Forgor