TRV
“Parable of the Wicked Tenants”· Matthew 21:33–46
Translation
King James Version
But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.
American Standard Version
But afterward he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.
World English Bible Messianic
But afterward he sent to them his son, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
Geneva Bible (1599)
But last of all he sent vnto them his owne sonne, saying, They will reuerence my sonne.
Young's Literal Translation
`And at last he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son;
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Historical interpretation
Nine Centuries of Reception
8 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.
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Or, He set forth the Prophets as it were winepresses, into which an abundant measure of the Holy Spirit, as of new wine, might flow in a teeming stream.
Or, The tower is the eminence of the Law, which ascended from earth to heaven, and from which, as from a watch-tower, the coming of Christ might be spied. And let it out to husbandmen.
These more than the first who were sent, denote that time, when, after the preaching of single Prophets, a great number was sent forth together.
By the Son sent at last, is denoted the advent of our Lord.
Christ was cast out of Jerusalem, as out of the vineyard, to His sentence of punishment.
He is become the head of the corner, because He is the union of both sides between the Law and the Gentiles.
And wherefore sent He not His Son immediately? In order that they might condemn themselves for the things done to the others, and leave off their wrath, and reverence Him when He came. There are also other reasons, but for the present let us go on to what is next. But what means, "It may be they will reverence?" It is not the language of one ignorant, away with the thought! but of one desiring to show the sin to be great; and without any excuse. Since Himself knowing that they would slay Him, He sent Him. But He saith, "They will reverence," declaring what ought to have been done, that it was their duty to have reverenced Him. Since elsewhere also He saith, "if perchance they will hear;" not in this case either being ignorant, but lest any of the obstinate should say, that His prediction was the thing that necessitated their disobedience, therefore He frames His expressions in this way, saying, "Whether they will," and, "It may be." For though they had been obstinate towards His servants, yet ought they to have reverenced the dignity of the Son.
(Hom. lxviii.) The design of this further parable is to show that their guilt was heinous, and unworthy to be forgiven.
Or, it applies to His long-suffering, in that He did not always bring down immediate punishment on their sins.
(non occ. ap. Chrys.) He calls the Prophets servants, who as the Lord's Priests offer the fruits of the people, and the proofs of their obedience in their works. But they showed their wickedness not only in refusing the fruits, but in having indignation against those that come to them, as it follows, And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.
Wherefore then did He not send Him immediately? That from what they had done to the others they might accuse themselves, and putting away their madness they might reverence His Son when He came.
Or He speaks as declaring what ought to be; they ought to reverence Him; thus showing that their sin was great, and void of all excuse.
Or there is no contradiction, because both are right; they first made answer in these words, and then the Lord repeated them.
Or otherwise: the Lord proposed this parable to them with this intent, that not understanding it they should give sentence against themselves; as was done by Nathan to David. Again, when they perceived the meaning of the things that had been said against them, they said, God forbid.
Christ is the stone, the builders are the Jewish teachers who rejected Christ, saying, This man is not of God. (John 9:16.)
And that they might know that nothing that had been done was against God's will, He adds, It is the Lord's doing.
Or, He here points out their twofold destruction; first in their stumbling and being offended at Him, signified in that, Whosoever shall fall upon this stone; the other in the captivity that should come upon them, signified by that, But upon whomsoever it shall fall.
(Verse 37, 38.) But lastly, he sent his son to them, saying: They will respect my son. However, the farmers, upon seeing the son, said among themselves: This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and we shall have his inheritance. In the passage above, we read: Again, he sent other servants more than the previous ones, and they did the same to them. The patience of the householder is shown in that he sent them more frequently, in order to provoke the wicked tenants to repentance. But they treasured up wrath for themselves on the day of wrath (Rom. 2). Moreover, that which is joined: They fear for my son, he does not come from ignorance. For what does the head of the household not know, who in this place is understood as God the Father? But God is always said to be ambiguous, so that free will may be preserved for man. Let us ask Arius and Eunomius. Behold, the Father is said to be ignorant, and he tempers his judgement, and as far as you are concerned, he is proven to be lying. Whatever they may answer on behalf of the Father, let them understand it as being on behalf of the Son, who himself says that he does not know the day of consummation.
He hath planted a vine of which Isaiah speaks, The vine of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel. (Isa. 5:7.) And hedged it round about; i. e. either the wall of the city, or the guardianship of Angels.
A winepress, that is to say, An altar; or those winepresses after which the three Psalms, the 8th, the 80th, and the 83d are entitleda, that is to say, the martyrs.
And built a tower therein, that is, the Temple, of which it is said by Micah, And thou, O cloudy tower of the daughter of Sion. (Mic. 4:8.)
Not a change of place, for God, by whom all things are filled, cannot be absent from any place; but He seems to be absent from the vineyard, that He may leave the vine-dressers a freedom of acting.
Beat them, as Jeremiah, killed them, as Isaiah, stoned them, as Naboth and Zacharias, whom they slew between the temple and the altar.
But when He says, They will reverence my Son, He does not speak as in ignorance. For what is there that this householder (by whom in this place God is intended) knows not? But God is thus spoken of as being uncertain, in order that free-will may be reserved for man.
Let us enquire of Arrius and Eunomius. See here the Father is said not to know somewhat. Whatever answer they make for the Father, let them understand the same of the Son, when He says that He knows not the day of the consummation of all things. (Mat. 22:36.)
The Lord asks them not as though He did not know what they would answer, but that they might be condemned by their own answer.
The same things are treated under various figures; whom above He called labourers and husbandmen, He now calls builders.
Whoso sinneth, yet believeth on Him, falls indeed upon a stone and is broken, yet is not altogether crushed, but is preserved to salvation through endurance. But on whomsoever it shall fall, that is, whomsoever this stone shall itself assault, and whosoever shall utterly deny Christ, it shall so crush him, that not a bone of him shall be left in which a drop of water could be taken up.
This He brings in because the Priests had asked not in order to learn, but to tempt Him. But of the common folk many had believed; and for that reason He brings forward the parable of the two sons, showing them therein that the common sort, who from the first professed secular lives, were better than the Priests who from the first professed the service of God, inasmuch as the people at length turned repentant to God, but the Priests impenitent, never left off to sin against God. And the elder son represents the people; because the people is not for the sake of the Priests, but the Priests are for the sake of the people.
He is called man, by title, not by nature; in a kind of likeness, not in verity. For the Son knowing that by occasion of His human name He himself should be blasphemed as though he were mere man, spoke therefore of the Invisible God the Father as man; He who by nature is Lord of Angels and men, but by goodness their Father.
Or, by the hedge understand the protection of the holy fathers, who were set as a wall round the people of Israel.
Or, the winepress is the word of God, which tortures man when it contradicts his fleshly nature.
When, that is, Priests and Levites were constituted by the Law, and undertook the direction of the people. And as an husbandman, though he offer to his Lord of his own stock, does not please him so much as by giving him the fruit of his own vineyard; so the Priest does not so much please God by his own righteousness, as by teaching the people of God holiness; for his own righteousness is but one, but that of the people manifold. And went into a far country.
At each step of their wickedness the mercy of God was increased, and at each step of the Divine mercy the wickedness of the Jews increased; thus there was a strife between human wickedness and Divine goodness.
He sent Him not as the bearer of a sentence of punishment against the guilty, but of an offer of repentance; He sent Him to put them to shame, not to punish them.
But some say, that it was after His incarnation, that Christ was called a Son in right of His baptism like the other saints, whom the Lord refutes by this place, saying, I will send my Son. Therefore when He thus meditated sending His Son after the Prophets, He must have been already His Son. Further, if He had been His Son in the same way as all the saints to whom the word of God was sent, He ought to have called the Prophets also His sons, as He calls Christ, or to call Christ His servant, as He calls the Prophets.
After His entry into the Temple, and having cast out those who sold the animals for the sacrifices, then they took counsel to kill Him, Come, let us kill him. For they reasoned among themselves, It will happen that the people hereby shall disuse the practice of sacrificing, which pertains to our gain, and shall be content to offer the sacrifice of righteousness, which pertains to the glory of God; and so the nation shall no more be our possession, but shall become God's. But if we shall kill Him, then there being none to seek the fruit of righteousness from the people, the practice of offering sacrifice shall continue, and so this people shall become our possession; as it follows, And the inheritance shall be ours. These are the usual thoughts of all worldly Priests, who take no thought how the people shall live without sin, but look to how much is offered in the Church, and esteem that the profit of their ministry.
That their answer is true, comes not of any righteous judgment in them, but from the case itself; truth constrained them.
Otherwise: Luke has given the answer of their lips, Matthew that of their hearts. For some made answer openly contradicting Him, and saying, God forbid, but their consciences took it up with He shall miserably destroy these wicked men. For so when a man is detected in any wickedness, he excuses himself in words, but his conscience within pleads guilty.
When they seemed discontent, He brings forward Scripture testimony; as much as to say, If ye understood not My parable, at least acknowledge this Scripture.
As much as to say, How do ye not understand in what building that stone is to be set, not in yours, seeing it is rejected, but in another; but if the building is to be other, your building will be rejected.
Christ is called A Stone, not only because of His strength, but because He mightily crushes His enemies; whence it follows, And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, and on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder.
It is one thing to be broken, and another to be ground to powder. Of what is broken there remains something; but what is ground to powder is as it were converted into dust. And what falls upon a stone is not broken by any power of the stone, but because it fell heavily, either by reason of its weight, or of its fall from a great height. So a Christian in sinning, perishes, but not to the utmost that Christ can destroy; but only so far as he destroys himself, either by the greatness of his sin, or by his exalted rank. But the unbelievers perish to the utmost that Christ can destroy them.
The season of fruit, He says, not of rent-paying, because this stiff-necked nation brings forth no fruit.
Or, the first servants who were sent were the Lawgiver Moses himself, and Aaron the first Priest of God; whom, having beaten them with the scourge of their tongue, they sent away empty; by the other servants understand the company of the Prophets.
By what they say, This is the Son, He manifestly proves that the rulers of the Jews crucified the Son of God, not through ignorance, but through jealousy. For they understood that it was He to whom the Father speaks by the Prophet, Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance (Ps. 2:8.) The inheritance given to the Son is the holy Church; an inheritance not left Him by His Father when dying, but wonderfully purchased by His own death.
Or, The Jews endeavoured by putting Him to death to seize upon the inheritance, when they strove to overthrow the faith which is through Him, and to substitute their own righteousness which is by the Law, and therewith to imbue the Gentiles. It follows, And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.
Morally; a vineyard has been let out to each of us to dress, when the mystery of baptism was given us, to be cultivated by action. Servants one, two, and three are sent us when Law, Psalm, and Prophecy are read, after whose instructions we are to work well. He that is sent is beaten and cast out when the word is contemned, or, which is worse, is blasphemed. He kills (as far as in him lies) the heir, who tramples under foot the Son, and does despite to the Spirit of grace. The wicked husbandman is destroyed, and the vineyard is given to another, when the gift of grace which the proud has contemned is given to the lowly.
But despite of their displeasure, the same stone furnished the head stone of the corner, for out of both nations He has joined by faith in Him as many as He would.
(ord.) Or, the Lord whom they killed, came immediately rising from the dead, and brought to an evil end those wicked husbandmen, and gave up His vineyard to other husbandmen, that is, to the Apostles.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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Summary
In the climactic moment of the Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen, Matthew 21:37 depicts the vineyard owner's ultimate and final act of sending his beloved son to the rebellious tenants, expressing a profound hope that the son's unique status would elicit the respect and reverence that his previously sent servants had been denied. This act signifies God's persistent patience and ultimate revelation in sending His Son, Jesus Christ, as the final messenger to humanity, anticipating a response of honor and submission.
Context
Literary Context
This verse is the dramatic turning point in the Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen, narrated by Jesus in Matthew 21:33-46. Preceding this, the landowner (representing God) had repeatedly sent servants (representing prophets) to collect his due, only for them to be brutally mistreated and killed by the tenants (representing the religious leaders of Israel). The sending of the son, therefore, is not merely another attempt but the final, most significant, and most vulnerable act, escalating the stakes of the parable and setting the stage for the son's tragic fate and the tenants' subsequent judgment.
Historical & Cultural Context
Jesus tells this parable in the temple courts in Jerusalem, directly addressing the chief priests and elders (Matthew 21:23). The audience would have immediately recognized the symbolism: the "vineyard" often represented Israel (Isaiah 5:1-7), the "landowner" was God, and the "tenants" were the religious leaders entrusted with God's people. The practice of leasing vineyards was common, and the expectation of a share of the produce was standard. The repeated rejection and murder of the servants would have been shocking, yet it mirrored Israel's historical rejection and persecution of God's prophets, as lamented in Matthew 23:37.
Key Themes
Matthew 21:37 significantly contributes to several key themes within Matthew's Gospel and the broader biblical narrative. It underscores God's Patience and Persistent Pursuit of His people, culminating in His ultimate self-revelation. The sending of the son highlights Jesus' Unique Divine Sonship and Authority, positioning Him not merely as another prophet but as the rightful heir and the very embodiment of the Father's will, as seen in Matthew 3:17. Furthermore, the landowner's expectation of reverence, contrasted with the tenants' actual response in Matthew 21:38-39, powerfully foreshadows the Rejection and Crucifixion of Jesus by the very religious leaders to whom the parable was addressed, a central theme throughout the Passion narrative.
Exposition and Analysis
Key Word Analysis
This verb signifies "to send out, properly on a mission." It implies a deliberate commissioning with authority and purpose. In this context, it underscores the landowner's intentional and final act, dispatching his son with the expectation that his unique status would command respect and achieve the mission of receiving the vineyard's fruit. The sending of the son is not a casual act but a strategic, ultimate deployment.
While a common word for "child," its use here is profoundly significant. It denotes immediate, familial kinship, establishing the son's unique relationship to the landowner as heir and beloved. In the allegorical context, this word unequivocally points to Jesus' divine Sonship, distinguishing Him from all previous messengers (the servants/proph ets) and establishing His supreme authority and inherent right to the inheritance.
This word carries a dual meaning: "to respect, to have regard for" and "to be ashamed before, to put to shame." The landowner's hope was that the tenants would be awestruck, humbled, or shamed into proper behavior by the presence of his own son, recognizing his authority and their obligation. This implies a moral and ethical recognition of the son's status, leading to a change in behavior, rather than mere acknowledgment.
Verse Breakdown
"But last of all he sent unto them his son"
This phrase emphasizes the climactic nature of the landowner's action. "Last of all" (G5305, hýsteron) highlights that this is the final, ultimate, and most significant attempt. After all previous efforts with servants had failed, the landowner exhausts his options by sending the most precious person to him—his own son. This act signifies the profound depth of the landowner's patience and his unwavering desire to receive what is rightfully his, even at immense personal risk.
"saying"
This simple participle introduces the landowner's internal thought process and expressed hope. It reveals his expectation and the rationale behind sending his son. It's a statement of anticipation, setting up the dramatic irony that will unfold as the tenants' actions directly contradict this hope.
"They will reverence my son"
This is the landowner's hopeful declaration. The word "reverence" (G1788, entrépō) implies a deep respect, a sense of shame or awe that would compel the tenants to acknowledge the son's authority and treat him appropriately. It reflects the landowner's belief that the sheer identity and relationship of the son would be enough to overcome the tenants' previous wickedness, compelling them to honor him and, by extension, the father.
Literary Devices
Matthew 21:37 is rich with literary devices, primarily functioning as a powerful Allegory. The entire parable is an extended metaphor where elements directly correspond to spiritual realities: the landowner is God, the vineyard is Israel, the servants are the prophets, the tenants are the religious leaders, and the son is Jesus. This allegorical structure allows Jesus to convey profound theological truths in a relatable narrative form. Furthermore, the verse employs Foreshadowing, as the landowner's hopeful statement "They will reverence my son" immediately sets up the tragic reality of the son's rejection and murder in the subsequent verses, predicting Jesus' own crucifixion. There is also a strong element of Dramatic Irony, where the audience (and indeed, Jesus' immediate listeners) knows the outcome of the story, making the landowner's hopeful utterance deeply poignant and tragic, highlighting the profound blindness and wickedness of the tenants.
Theological and Thematic Connections
Matthew 21:37 stands as a powerful testament to God's ultimate self-revelation and His unwavering pursuit of humanity. After a long history of sending prophets and messengers, God's final and most profound act was to send His own Son. This demonstrates the immeasurable value God places on His relationship with humanity and His desire for reconciliation. The expectation of "reverence" for the Son underscores the inherent authority and divine nature of Jesus, who is worthy of all honor and submission. The tragic irony of the parable, where the Son is rejected, highlights humanity's persistent rebellion against God's loving overtures, yet it also sets the stage for God's redemptive plan through that very rejection.
Reflection and Application
Matthew 21:37 challenges us to deeply consider our own response to God's ultimate revelation in Jesus Christ. The landowner's final, desperate act of sending his son, believing "They will reverence my son," mirrors God's profound hope for humanity's response to Jesus. This verse invites us to examine whether we, unlike the wicked tenants, truly reverence the Son. Do we acknowledge His divine authority, embrace His teachings, and submit to His Lordship? Or do we, perhaps subtly, reject His claims for our own selfish desires, seeking to seize our own "inheritance" apart from His rule? This passage reminds us that God's patience is immense, culminating in the sending of His most precious gift. Our eternal destiny hinges on our response to Jesus, the Son whom God sent. It calls us to a posture of humility, awe, and obedience, recognizing the immense privilege of knowing and being known by the Son of God.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What is the significance of the landowner sending his "son" after the servants?
The sending of the son signifies the landowner's ultimate and final appeal, demonstrating the depth of his patience and the supreme value of his relationship with his son. In the allegory, it represents God's final and most profound revelation to humanity by sending His own Son, Jesus Christ, after a long history of sending prophets (the servants). This act underscores Jesus' unique divine identity and authority, distinguishing Him from all previous messengers. It also highlights the extreme measure God took to seek reconciliation and receive the "fruit" from His people, even at the cost of His Son's life.
Christ-Centered Fulfillment
Matthew 21:37 finds its profound Christ-centered fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ, the beloved Son whom God sent into the world. The landowner's hopeful declaration, "They will reverence my son," tragically gives way to the historical reality of Jesus' rejection and crucifixion at the hands of the very religious leaders to whom this parable was addressed. Jesus, the true Son and Heir of all things (Hebrews 1:2), was indeed sent as God's final and ultimate messenger, embodying the fullness of God's revelation (John 1:18). His coming marked the culmination of God's patient pursuit of humanity, yet He was "despised and rejected by men" (Isaiah 53:3). The tenants' wicked plot to kill the son to seize the inheritance (Matthew 21:38) perfectly foreshadowed the Jewish leaders' conspiracy to crucify Jesus, believing they could thereby maintain their power and control. However, this act of ultimate rejection, far from thwarting God's plan, became the very means of salvation. Through the Son's death and resurrection, God established a new covenant, making a way for all who believe to become His children and inherit eternal life, fulfilling the true purpose of the vineyard—to bear abundant fruit for God's glory (John 15:5). Thus, the Son, though rejected by many, is now the cornerstone of God's eternal kingdom (Matthew 21:42).