Bethel Christian Fellowship
Fair Lawn, NJ
March 29, 2015
The Parables of Jesus (13): The Wicked Tenants
Luke 20:9-19
According to tradition, there is a well-known story which goes back to the days of building
Solomon’s Temple. One author relates this story in the following way:
The great stones were quarried and shaped at a distant site, according to the
careful instructions of the architects, then hauled up to the temple site where
they could be assembled without the noise of stonecutting. Early in the project
a stone was sent up that did not seem to fit anywhere, so the builders cast it
aside and forgot all about it. Later, when the temple was nearly complete,
they sent word to the quarry that they were ready to receive the capstone, the
one stone specially fitted to go in last and hold the others in place. The word
came back that such a stone had been sent up long before, and only after a
long search did the builders realize their mistake. Finding the cast-off capstone,
they discovered that it fit perfectly. (Richard D. Phillips, Turning Your World
Down: Kingdom Priorities in the Parables of Jesus)
Upside
In the book of Psalms, there is a song of thanksgiving in which Israel is likened to such a stone.
It speaks of a time when the nation suffered great adversity and rejection, like the throwing away
of a capstone. Yet the Psalm goes on to describe how the Lord changed their adversity into a
marvelous victory, thus giving the reason for them to enter into a communal testimony of
thanksgiving: “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this
and it is marvelous in our eyes.” (Ps. 118:22-23)
The parable before us today ends with Jesus quoting this very passage and applying it to
Himself. In just a few short days, He would be despised and rejected, and put to death by wicked
men. Yet the disciples could anticipate His resurrection, confirming that He would become the
capstone of the new people of God, and the One on whom their entire salvation depended.
Likewise, for all today who want to know God and to have eternal life, we must rest and build
upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and His saving work.
All three synoptic Gospels record the story that has been traditionally called “The parable of the
wicked tenants” (Matt. 21:33-44; Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-18). In Matthew’s Gospel, it is one
of three extended parables that Jesus tells on Tuesday of the Passion Week, during a long day of
controversy with the Pharisaical establishment (Matt. 21:28-22:14). Each one is a parable of
judgment against these religious leaders of Israel because of their rejection of Him as the
promised Messiah. As a result, this particular parable is designed to show that the stewardship of
the kingdom of God will be taken from the nation Israel and given to others.
As we turn to Luke’s account of the story, there are five things we want to note, each in
summary fashion.
1. The Purpose of the Parable: Luke makes this clear at the very end of the story. Although
Jesus is addressing the crowds, the story is directed against their religious leaders: “The teachers
of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest Him immediately, because they knew
He had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people” (20:19). This
parable, therefore, is a warning to the Jewish people of the coming doom for those who have
rejected Jesus, the Messiah. As one lying beneath a falling stone is crushed, those who have
opposed and rejected Him will suffer the same fate.
2. The content of the parable (20:9-16a). The story has been summarized well by I. Howard
Marshall: “It is a description of tenants . . . who refuse to pay proper respect to their employer,
but attempt to gain possession of his property for themselves, and are ready to go to any lengths,
even murder, to do so. There is no indication that they have been half-hearted in their duty of
looking after the vineyard: on the contrary, they have presumably been so successful in tending it
that they are unwilling to share the profits with anybody else. But such rank insubordination will
bring its own reward: the owner will turn them out and let out the vineyard to other tenants.”
(Commentary on Luke)
3. The Underlying Meaning of the Parable: This is fairly obvious in light of the impending
events that will take place in the life of Jesus. The landowner is God; the vineyard is the
Kingdom of God; the servants are the prophets; the son of the landowner and heir of the
vineyard is Jesus; the wicked tenants are the religious leaders who oppose Jesus. The slaying of
the Son is the crucifixion, which will take place three days later. The removal of the tenants is
the transferal of the Kingdom to a new people of God, which will include Gentiles. (These other
tenants will be members of the Church, already mentioned in Matt. 16:18 and 18:17.)
4. The Lesson of the Parable (20:16b-18). Jesus calls upon his listeners to ponder the one
Scripture that best explains how the parable relates to him (and them). The beloved Son is the
“messianic stone” of Psalm 118:22. The analogy is clear: “Just as Israel had been scornfully
oppressed by her enemies, and been delivered by God, so must Jesus, after being oppressed and
rejected by the authorities, prove the eventual victor” (R. T. France, Jesus and The Old
Testament). God’s marvelous vindication of Him will be evidenced by the resurrection,
establishing Him as the “capstone” of the new people of God. This connection is clearly made in
the preaching of the Apostle Peter: “. . . then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead,
that this man stands before you healed. He is ‘the stone you builders rejected which has become
the capstone.’” (Acts 4:10-11)
5. The Application of the Parable: There is nothing in the story itself which suggests that the
identity of the “other tenants,” to whom the vineyard has been entrusted, refers to the Gentile
body of Christ. However, a Christian reading with “20/20 hindsight” can scarcely fail to make
this connection. When the Jews rejected the gospel message at the outset of Paul’s first
missionary journey, Paul turned to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46-48). He followed that same course
of action when the Jews rejected the Gospel message on his second missionary journey. It was
then he declared, “From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” (Acts 18:6) By the time Peter would
go on to write his first epistle, he would describe the universal body of Christ in terms that were
once reserved for only the Jewish people: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a
holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you
out of darkness into His wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9)
The reason for this, of course, is due to the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ, once rejected and
crucified by wicked men but now resurrected by the power of God, has become the capstone of
His church, the spiritual house of God. Thus the Apostle Peter, quoting the prophet Isaiah,
would also affirm, “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone; and the one
who trusts in Him will never be put to shame” (1 Peter 2:6; Cf. Isa. 28:16).
We sing of this glorious truth today, because Jesus as the capstone, or cornerstone, of the Church
is the centerpiece of our faith. Many of our hymns remind us of this, but one of the best is one
that blends a traditional, familiar hymn with a new refrain. It goes like this:
My hope is built on nothing less,
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ name.
Christ alone. Cornerstone.
Weak made strong in the Savior’s love.
Through the storm, He is Lord.
Lord of all.