The Parable of the Tenants is an allegory a story in which each of the elements has a symbolic meaning:
a) The owner of the vineyard was God
b) The vineyard is the nation of Israel.
c) The tenants were the Jewish religious leadership.
d) The servants represent God’s prophets.
e) The other tenants are most likely the church.
f) The Son is Jesus the Messiah.
LESSONS FROM THE PARABLE:
1. God expects fruit from His people. Matthew 21:34
The Parable uses the word “FRUIT” three times (vv. 34, 41, 43). The triple emphasis on “fruit” in these verses reflects the importance of the word throughout Matthew’s Gospel (3:8; 3:10; 7:17-18; 12:33; 13:23 and 21:19).
APPLICATION:
* To believers. We are greatly privileged in that God has given us His Word and has supplied us with everything pertaining to life and godliness.
2 Peter 1:3 By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.
Is my life such that people are attracted to Christ by the way I live?
2. God’s offer of salvation was not forever. Vv. 40-42
* Jesus came to be the rock upon which men and women can build an eternal life.
* We shouldn’t stumble on Jesus and His teachings, so that we neither fall on this stone nor let it fall on us, but rather build our lives on Jesus, the Cornerstone.
Illustration:
John 6:60 Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?”
John 6:61 Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so He said to them, “Does this offend you?
John 6:66 At this point many of His disciples turned away and deserted him.
* Rejecting God’s Son means destruction.
Matthew 21:44 Anyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.”
* God’s patience was amazing as He sent messenger after messenger (the prophets of the Old Testament) to try to bring the people to repentance.
* How were the prophets treated by the nation of Israel? The prophets were always being abused, threatened, and in some cases murdered.
Hebrews 11:36 Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons.
Hebrews 11:37 Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated.
Hebrews 11:38 They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.
APPLICATION:
* God wants us to have humble and repentant hearts.
* God’s mercy is vast and His patience is great. But these also have a limit. We also see God’s justice here. His patience will not last forever.
3. Everyone is ultimately accountable to God. vv. 42b-43
In this parable it is very clear that the new tenants have the same responsibility as the old “who will give him his share of the crop after each harvest.” v. 41.
It’s easy to recognize the Wicked tenants:
a. They don’t want to give fruits to the owner.
b. They rejected the owner’s authority.
c. They work only for themselves.
APPLICATION: We are now the tenants of the Kingdom of God.
CONCLUSION:
To unbelievers. Have you come to know Christ as your Lord and Savior, or have you rejected Him like the Jewish leadership did?
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