Matthew 22:4 | 1743
21:31 w Lk 7:29 x Lk 7:50
21:32 y Mt 3:1-12 z Lk 3:12, 13; 7:29
a Lk 7:36-50 b Lk 7:30
21:33 c Ps 80:8 d Isa 5:1-7
e Mt 25:14, 15
21:34 f Mt 22:3
21:35 g 2Ch 24:21; Mt 23:34, 37; Heb 11:36, 37
21:36 h Mt 22:4
21:38 i Heb 1:2 j Mt 12:14 k Ps 2:8
21:41 l Mt 8:11, 12 m Ac 13:46; 18:6;
28:28
21:42 n Ps 118:22, 23; Ac 4:11; 1Pe 2:7
21:43 o Mt 8:12 21:44 p Lk 2:34 21:46 q ver 11, 26 22:2 r Mt 13:24 22:3 s Mt 21:34 22:4 t Mt 21:36
29“‘ I will not,’ he an swered, but later he changed his mind and went. 30“ Then the fa ther went to the other son and said the same thing. He an swered,‘ I will, sir,’ but he did not go. 31“ Which of the two did what his fa ther wanted?”“ The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them,“ Truly I tell you, the tax col lec tors w and the pros ti tutes x are entering the king dom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, y and you did not be lieve him, but the tax col lec tors z and the pros ti tutes a did. And even af ter you saw this, you did not re pent b and be lieve him.
The Parable of the Tenants
21:33-46pp— Mk 12:1-12; Lk 20:9-19
33“ Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted c a vine yard. He put a wall around it, dug a wine press in it and built a watch tower. d Then he rented the vine yard to some farm ers and moved to an other place. e 34 When the har vest time ap proached, he sent his ser vants f to the ten ants to col lect his fruit.
35“ The ten ants seized his ser vants; they beat one, killed an other, and stoned a third. g 36 Then he sent other ser vants h to them, more than the first time, and the ten ants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them.‘ They will re spect my son,’ he said.
38“ But when the ten ants saw the son, they said to each other,‘ This is the heir. i Come, let’ s kill him j and take his in her i tance.’ k 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40“ There fore, when the owner of the vine yard comes, what will he do to those ten ants?” 41“ He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” l they re plied,“ and he will rent the vine yard to other ten ants, m who will give him his share of the crop at har vest time.” 42 Jesus said to them,“ Have you never read in the Scrip tures:
“‘ The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’ a? n
43“ There fore I tell you that the king dom of God will be taken away from you o and given to a peo ple who will pro duce its fruit. 44 Any one who falls on this stone will be bro ken to pieces; any one on whom it falls will be crushed.” b p
45 When the chief priests and the Phar i sees heard Jesus’ par a bles, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to ar rest him, but they were afraid of the crowd be cause the peo ple held that he was a prophet. q
The Parable of the Wedding Banquet
22:2-14Ref— Lk 14:16-24
22 Jesus spoke to them again in par a bles, say ing: 2“ The king dom of heaven is like r a
king who pre pared a wed ding ban quet for his son. 3 He sent his ser vants s to those who had been in vited to the ban quet to tell them to come, but they re fused to come.
4“ Then he sent some more ser vants t and said,‘ Tell those who have been in vited that I have pre pared my din ner: My oxen and fat tened cat tle have been butch ered, and ev erything is ready. Come to the wed ding ban quet.’
a 42 Psalm 118:22,23 b 44 Some manuscripts do not have verse 44.
21:33 – 46 The Parable of the Tenants. Now Jesus likens the Jewish leaders listening to him to tenants of a vineyard who refuse to give the landowner“ his share of the crop at harvest time”( v. 41). Christ promises to replace them with“ a people who will produce its fruit”( v. 43): Jewish and Gentile followers of Jesus alike. 21:33 These are realistic details of a first-century vineyard. They also allude to Isa 5:1 – 7, a prophecy of judgment against the Israelites, and perhaps to Ps 80:8 – 16. 21:34 – 39 The details become increasingly unrealistic as the parable progresses. On the symbolic level, the parable refers to the way the Israelites often treated God’ s“ servants”
( the prophets), culminating in their execution of God’ s very“ son”( Jesus). 21:40 – 46 Just as a vineyard owner would replace the wicked tenants with faithful ones, God will replace the Jewish leaders with obedient followers, which for Matthew means all disciples of Jesus. Jesus quotes Ps 118:22 – 23, understood as Messianic prophecy in at least some Jewish circles, to bolster his claim. 21:42 cornerstone. Could also be a capstone. Both options seem to be in view in v. 44, because it is both a stone one can trip over and a stone that can fall on top of a person.
22:1 – 14 The Parable of the Wedding Banquet. If the parable of the two sons( 21:28 – 32) indicts the Jewish leaders and the parable of the wicked tenants( 21:33 – 44) announces their sentence, then this parable depicts their( spiritual) demise. For a similar parable, see Luke 14:16 – 24. 22:2 – 3 Much like a“ save the date” wedding invitation, ancient Israelites told invitees the date of the wedding months in advance. The invitees had few legitimate excuses, then, for refusing to attend when that day arrived. The rich and powerful in the country would be the most likely invitees to a prince’ s wedding festivities. 22:4 – 6 The banquet is ready with the finest fare an ancient king could offer. A second summons could scarcely be ignored. But