Matthew 21:28–22:14
The Parable of the Two Sons
28 “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’
29 “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
30 “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.
31 “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”
“The first,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
The Parable of the Tenants
33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
35 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’[a]?
43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”[b]
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.
The Parable of the Wedding Banquet
22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’
5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.
13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
Some people claim to be religious. But they do not live for Jesus. These people do not belong to God’s kingdom.
There are three stories in this passage. Jesus told the parables about the religious leaders. They followed on from what Jesus had just said. (Read 21:23–27.) Jesus showed the leaders that they were like blind guides. They could not recognize truth that was clear.
Yes and no (verses 28–32)
The first parable contrasted two groups. They were the religious leaders and the ‘sinners’. The leaders said that they were loyal to God. They wanted to obey his word. But this did not happen when John the Baptist came. (Read verse 25.) John had God’s message. But the leaders refused to follow him. So, their talk was good. They had many ceremonies. But these things did not mean anything really.
But there were the ‘sinners’. They had refused to obey God’s word in the past. (Their lives showed this clearly.) But they heard John’s message gladly. They wanted to follow Jesus. These ‘sinners’ had good reactions both to John and to Jesus. But this did not please the religious leaders. The result was that the ‘sinners’ were entering the kingdom of God. And the religious leaders did not enter the kingdom of God.
An impossible ambition (verses 33–45)
This is the second parable. It probably comes from a real situation. This sort of thing happened in ancient Israel. Owners of property there often lived far away from it. People would pay rent for the property or business. In this story, it was a fruit farm for grapes. The owner would expect to receive a share of the profits. In Jesus’ day, this situation was very unpopular.
In the story, the owner sent his servants to get his share of the harvest. The farmers attacked them and killed one of them. The owner sent more servants. But the same thing happened. He even sent his son. But they killed him too.
Jesus explained the meaning of the story. The owner was God himself. The fruit farm for grapes was the kingdom of God. (Note: This picture language was in the Old Testement too. Read Isaiah 5:1–7.) The farmers meant the religious leaders in Jesus’ time. The servants were the prophets. The son was Jesus. So, the lesson was clear. The Jewish leaders would lose their part in the kingdom of God. This was because they had refused to accept the prophets. (John the Baptist was the last of the prophets.) The Jewish leaders were planning to kill Jesus too.
Jesus was teaching important truths in this story. We can be citizens of God’s kingdom. This is a very great advantage. But there are responsibilities too.
There are three responsibilities here. First, a Christian should live a good life (verse 43). This is like a tree that should have fruit (verse 34b). Next, Christians must hear God’s word. And they must act on God’s word. We must not be like the farmers in Jesus’ story (verses 34–39). Lastly, Christians must believe Jesus’ words (verse 42). This is like ‘building’ upon Jesus. Jesus speaks about a danger too. It is to refuse to believe God’s word. It is to refuse to accept God’s Son. To do this will bring judgement (verse 41).
Ungrateful guests (22:1–14)
This parable is really three stories in one story. Verses 1–7 tell the story of an invitation to a royal wedding big meal. The guests whom the king invited did not want to go to it. He asked them again. But they still refused to come. Verses 8–10 tell how all sorts of people came to the big meal. Verses 11–14 tell the incident about the guest who did not wear wedding clothes. These three stories were describing the kingdom of heaven (verse 2).
► Verses 1–7. The king is God himself. The big meal is for the Messiah. It will happen at the end of time. The servants are the prophets. The previous parable suggested this. But the prophets may include John, Jesus and the disciples. The story is about three things. First, there is God’s patience. There are many chances to enter God’s kingdom.
Next, there were the people who refused the king’s invitation. They were too busy, because they were doing other things. (These things were not wrong. But they were not as important.) But there was something more serious. They completely refused to accept the authority of the man who sent the invitation. So, there must be judgement for them.
It is hard to explain such behavior. The invitation was to a royal wedding. Most people would never refuse a chance like that! There is more. In the ancient world, any wedding was a happy occasion. Of course, a royal wedding was extra special. Most people’s lives were very dull. So, a wedding would give them a chance to enjoy something.
► Verses 8–10. Some people lost their right to attend the wedding big meal. So, all sorts of men and women were there instead. They would know that they did not deserve to be there. It will be the same at the end of the world.
► Verses 11–14. The details are not clear at first. There was a custom in Jesus’ time. It was to offer special clothes to guests at a wedding. One person seems to have refused this gift. Jesus was teaching that all are welcome to attend the big meal. They could be ‘bad people’. But they must accept the way that God does things. Otherwise, they would be as bad as those who refused the invitation. Verse 14 probably emphasized this idea.
The message of the parable is clear. Most of the Jews refused God’s invitation again and again. (This was especially true about the leaders.) It was a wonderful invitation. So it is hard to explain why the Jews would refuse it. Other people would accept the invitation. But these non-Jews must do two things. They must come to Jesus. And they must be willing to do what God wants.
Questions
1. Think about times when you have said ‘Yes’ to something that is good. Then you have decided against it. Now, think about times when you have said ‘No’. Then you have changed your mind. Make two lists. If the second list is longer, thank God!
2. The Jewish leaders thought that they had the right to have all of God’s benefits. Can people who are in churches today be like them? What should these people be like?
3. God has given the world to men and women. He wants them to look after it. If this is true, Christians should set an example. How can we do this?
4. God has an invitation for people today. Many of them make excuses not to accept it. Make a list of the reasons that they give. How can we make the invitation more attractive? (But we must show that it is a serious matter too.)