Luke 20:14
But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.
The husbandmen knew the owner's son was the heir and deliberately plotted together to kill him so the inheritance would be theirs, when he had come in person to his vineyard to receive its first fruits. The son is Christ, the Majesty of heaven and Creator and Lord of life and glory, and the husbandmen are the priests, rulers and religious leaders of the Jewish nation, to whom God had first patiently sent prophets with warnings and mercy only to have them persecuted and killed, so that as a last resort He sent His Son to reach their hearts. The leaders determined He must die because He exposed their wicked practices, pressed the claims of God and His law upon them, and gave rebukes they would not bear, lest they lose popularity, place and power. Their willful rejection was the work of Satan by the hands of men to cut off light from heaven, and it culminated in the crucifixion, bringing breaking-heart sorrow to Christ for their ruin and bringing judgment in the loss of the vineyard and the taking of the kingdom to give it to other tenants who would obey. The parable applies not to the Jewish nation alone but to the church in this generation, which God has endowed with great privileges and expects corresponding returns of love, humility and obedient service, yet many religious teachers repeat the husbandmen's refusal by setting human tradition above the word of God and turning men away from His law and from Christ.
Heir Recognized and Rejected
The tenants knew the owner's son when he came in person to his vineyard to receive its first fruits, and they reasoned deliberately together that because he was the heir they would kill him so that the inheritance would become theirs. Their counsel was not mistake or ignorance but a conscious plot to seize what belonged to another by destroying him.
In the parable the son is Christ, the Majesty of heaven, the Creator of the world and Lord of life and glory, and the husbandmen are the priests, rulers, religious teachers and leaders of the Jewish nation. God had first patiently sent prophets and messengers to call those husbandmen to account and receive the fruit of the vineyard, with warnings, reproof and mercy. They were not heeded but were treated as enemies, persecuted and killed, and later messengers met the same fate with even greater hatred. As a last resort He sent His Son to reach their hearts and turn them to God.
The verse belongs to Christ's final warning to the temple rulers. His effort to reform the corrupt priesthood was necessary even though it would be in vain, and He gave the unbelieving people evidence of His divine mission. The leaders plotted His destruction because He exposed their wicked practices, presented the claims of God and the law as the great standard of obedience, and gave rebukes and warnings they refused. They denied His right to come between them and the people, set themselves to turn the people against Him, and determined He must die to keep Him from revealing them and costing them popularity, place and power. They did so because they would not sacrifice pride of reason and praise of men for truth.
The killing was the work of Satan done by the hands of men gathered under his banner, working through disobedient people to oppose God and cut off light and communication from heaven, and it culminated in the crucifixion of Christ. It was willful rejection, not inability to receive Him, though He loved them and laid down His life for them.
Judgment and Present Lesson
The contempt shown to the Majesty of heaven, the Creator of the world, in His coming was without parallel in condescension and was a marvel to the angels of heaven. His coming in person to His vineyard to receive its first fruits was met with deliberate backsliding, as the husbandmen determined to reject Him to seize His inheritance. It brought Christ breaking-heart sorrow and lamentation, not for Himself but for the sins of the people and their lost condition and ruin. It was the same sorrow with which He wept over Jerusalem when she would not be gathered and declared her house left desolate.
Their rejection of Christ expressed backsliding and refusal of light, for which the priests and rulers bore great responsibility. The plot to kill the recognized heir to take the inheritance exposed the deception and rebellion of the priests and rulers, who saw that He exposed their wicked practices and decided He must die to keep Him from revealing them and costing them popularity. Rejecting Christ after refusing the warnings, reproof and mercy sent through the prophets led to separation from God and ruin. The Lord declared He would punish contempt, injustice and cruelty toward His servants with judgment, the loss of the vineyard, the taking of the kingdom from its rulers to give it to those who obey its Ruler and to other tenants. A nation's sin and a nation's ruin were due to its religious leaders, who by misleading the people robbed God of the service He claimed and turned the nation away from Christ.
The parable of the vineyard applies not alone to the Jewish nation but has a lesson for the present. The church in this generation has been endowed by God with great privileges and blessings, and He expects corresponding returns. The Saviour's use of a vineyard to represent the world is to be studied.
The husbandmen of the Lord's vineyard are religious teachers, then the Jewish priests and leaders and now many in the church today following in their steps. Their refusal to return the fruit of the ground and their anger against the heir is repeated in turning men away from the plain requirements of the word of God and from Christ, educating them in transgression instead of obedience, and preventing the people from bearing fruit to His glory. They set human teaching and man-made commandments, traditions, ordinances and customs above the word of God, present the law mixed with human tradition, teach from the pulpits that the law of God is not binding, and foster pride and self-satisfaction and pride of reason and praise of men while ignoring God's claims and turning the people away from His precepts. God's law is the transcript of His character embodying the principles of His kingdom, and obedience to God's laws in the spiritual as in the natural world is the condition of fruit-bearing and of elevation of character and fullness of blessing on mind and soul and body, on house and field, for this life and the life to come. In setting aside the law men place themselves outside the channel where God's blessings flow, without knowing what they are doing.
God's messengers still come at the Master's bidding demanding obedience to the word of God and presenting His claim to the fruits of the vineyard, the fruits of love and humility and self-sacrificing service, as Christ did when He presented the claims of God and the law as the great standard of obedience. Like the Jewish leaders, many husbandmen are stirred to anger and use their influence to lead men to reject the claim of God's law, and God calls such teachers unfaithful servants guilty of withholding from the Lord the fruits of His vineyard. Those entrusted with God's vineyard must work every part faithfully and use its blessings and facilities for the whole field, not reserve them for the portion under their own care.