Matthew 21:39 meaning
In this passage, Jesus employs a powerful parable about tenants in a vineyard to illustrate the tragic rejection of God's messengers, culminating in the rejection of His own Son. The vineyard symbolizes Israel, entrusted to its leaders, while the servants represent the prophets sent by God. Each time God seeks fruit from His people, He is met with hostility and, ultimately, violence. The climax of this narrative indicates that those who sought to maintain control over God's vineyard resorted to killing the Son, believing they could seize the inheritance for themselves.
The verse reminds us that rejecting divine authority comes with severe consequences. As Jesus indicates, those tenants will face judgment, and care of the vineyard will be given to others, symbolizing the transition of God's focus from Israel's leaders to a new community of believers—the church. This transition underscores a critical teaching: with privilege comes responsibility, and failure to fulfill that duty leads to disinheritance. This profound truth reverberates through the church today, reminding us of the weight of our stewardship before God and the call to bear fruit worthy of His Kingdom in Matthew 21:39.
This quick synopsis was AI autogenerated utilizing existing TheBibleSays commentaries as the primary source material. To read a related commentary that has been fully developed, see the list below. If there is an issue with this summary please let us know by emailing:[email protected]
Deeper Commentary Covering this Verse:
- Matthew 21:33-41 meaning. Jesus tells the parable of a landowner who plants a vineyard on his land. He then hires vine-growers to work His vineyard while He is away. When the harvest comes, the vineyard owner sends some slaves to collect its produce, but instead of paying the landowner what was His, the vine-growers beat and kill them. They do the same to the landowner’s son. Jesus asks the priests and elders what will happen to the evil vine-growers when the landowner returns. They reply that he will bring them to a wretched end. In the subsequent section, Jesus applied the parable to the Jewish leaders as being like those evil slaves.
Other Relevant Commentaries:
- Matthew 21:45-46 meaning. The Sadducees and Pharisees have understood that Jesus was speaking against them. They desire to arrest Him for what He said. But they do not do so at this time, because they are afraid of how the many people who believe Jesus is a prophet will respond if they tried to seize Him.
- Matthew 21:42-44 meaning. Jesus follows up the Sadducees’ and Pharisees’ response to how the landowner will bring the wretched vine-growers to an end with a startling question and a condemning passage from the Psalms. He ends His rebuke by telling them that God will take away their place in His kingdom from them and scatter them like dust.
- Matthew 27:17-18 meaning. "The Passover Pardon": Pilate’s Second Attempt to Release Jesus. Pilate offers the crowd a choice as to which prisoner he will customarily release: the notorious prisoner Barabbas or Jesus, called Christ. Matthew points out that Pilate did this because he knew the Jews accused Jesus out of envy. Matthew 27:17-18 begins Matthew’s account of the third phase of Jesus’s Civil Trial. This phase is called: "Pilate’s Judgment."