Mt 21:33-43, 45-46
[Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people,] 33“Hear another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey. 34When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce. 35But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned. 36Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way. 37Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’ 39They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?”
41They answered him, “He will put those wretched men to a wretched death and lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper times.” 42Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected/ has become the cornerstone;/ by the Lord has this been done,/ and it is wonderful in our eyes’? 43Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.” 45When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was speaking about them. 46And although they were attempting to arrest him, they feared the crowds, for they regarded him as a prophet.
Wretched Tenants: In Jesus’ time, many vineyard owners were rich absentee landlords. They had property in Israel but lived in Rome or other big cities. Tenant farmers instead could hardly make ends meet: they paid rent, taxes, and social dues. Naturally, they were frustrated, desperate, and driven to violence.
The parable is directed at Jesus’ opponents. The “antagonist” is no longer the landlord, but the “violent and greedy tenants” who do not give God his due. The parable recalls Isaiah’s “Song of the Vineyard” (Is 5:1-7). But while, in Isaiah, the problem lay with Israel itself, in Jesus’ parable it now lies with the leadership of the people. The chief priests and the Pharisees realize that Jesus is directing the parable at them, warning them that patronage will be taken from them and given to those able to produce fruits.
The parable may as well be directed at Matthew’s own community. Stewardship has been transferred to the leaders of the Judeo-Christian community. But they, too, are to take care that they produce proper fruit, otherwise it will be taken away from them and given to others more worthy.