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