182. Discourse in the Temple: The Parable of the Vinedressers. Mt. 21:33–46; Mk. 12:1–12; Lk. 20:9–19

“Now listen to another parable,” said the Lord. “There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard, and put a fence around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and leased it to tenants, and went away to another country.”

“When the season for the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his produce. But the tenants seized his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned still another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first; and they treated them the same way. Afterwards he sent his son, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance’; and they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.”

“Finally, having one more son, whom he loved dearly, he said: ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Perhaps they will respect him.’ And he sent his son to them, saying: ‘Perhaps when they see him, they will be ashamed.’ But the tenants, when they saw the son, said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ So they seized him, cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him.”

“Now when the master of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him: “He will put those wicked men to a miserable death, and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper times.”

“Yes,” confirmed the Lord, “he will come and destroy those tenants, and will give the vineyard to others.” Hearing this, the chief priests said: “God forbid!” But the Lord, looking at them, said: “What then is this that is written: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Have you never read this in the Scripture?” (Ps. 117:22–23) “Therefore I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush them.”

When the chief priests and Pharisees heard his parables, they understood that he was speaking about them; they perceived that he had told this parable concerning them. And they wanted to arrest him and lay hands on him, but they were afraid of the crowd, because they held him to be a prophet.