Hear another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey. 34 When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce. 35 But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned. 36 Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way. 37 Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’ 39 They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?” 41 They answered him, “He will put those wretched men to a wretched death and lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper times.” 42 Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes’? 43 Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit. 44 [The one who falls on this stone will be dashed to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.]” 45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was speaking about them. 46 And although they were attempting to arrest him, they feared the crowds, for they regarded him as a prophet.
Jesus tells this parable while teaching in Jerusalem, where His conflict with the religious leaders has become increasingly direct. The chief priests and elders have already questioned His authority, and Jesus has answered them with the parable of the two sons. He now tells another parable in which the meaning becomes unmistakable to those who hear it.
The opening description of the vineyard deliberately recalls Isaiah's song of the vineyard, where God describes Israel as the vineyard He carefully planted and tended (Isaiah 5:1–7). Jesus says that the landowner planted the vineyard, surrounded it with a hedge, dug a wine press, and built a tower (v. 33). Each detail shows that the owner had provided what was needed for the vineyard to flourish. In an ancient vineyard, a hedge helped protect the vines and their fruit from animals and intruders, while the tower provided a place from which the vineyard could be watched and guarded. The wine press was prepared for the harvest that the owner expected the vineyard to produce.
The landowner represents God, and the vineyard represents the people whom God has made His own. The tenants represent the religious leaders entrusted with caring for God’s people. They do not own the vineyard; they have received responsibility for it and are accountable to its owner.
When harvest time comes, the owner sends servants to receive the produce that belongs to him. The servants represent the prophets whom God repeatedly sent to call His people to repentance and faithfulness. Jesus later laments over Jerusalem as the city that “kill[s] the prophets and stone[s] those sent to you” (Matthew 23:37). Yet the landowner continues sending servants. The repeated missions reveal God’s patience and His persistent desire that those entrusted with His vineyard listen to His word, turn from sin, and carry out the responsibility He has given them.
Finally the owner sends his son, saying, “They will respect my son” (v. 37). The son is Jesus. The story now moves beyond the prophets whom God had sent before Him. Jesus is not merely another servant; He is the Son. The tenants recognize Him as the heir, seize Him, throw Him out of the vineyard, and kill Him. In the parable, the son is taken outside the vineyard before he is killed, foreshadowing the way Jesus will be led outside Jerusalem and crucified beyond the city walls (John 19:17; Hebrews 13:12). Jesus is revealing beforehand the rejection and death that await Him.
Jesus then asks His hearers what the owner will do. They answer that he will judge the wicked tenants and “lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper times” (v. 41). In answering, the leaders pronounce the principle by which their own stewardship will be judged. The “other tenants” point first to new, faithful stewards of God’s people, but the image also opens toward the wider community Jesus is forming—a people gathered from both Jews and Gentiles who will bear the fruit God desires.
Jesus then turns to Psalm 118: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (v. 42; Psalm 118:22–23). The son who is rejected and killed will not remain defeated. God will vindicate Him. Jesus Christ, rejected by human leaders, will rise from the dead and become the cornerstone upon which God gathers and builds His people. The early Church repeatedly applied this psalm to the Death and Resurrection of Christ (Acts 4:10–11; 1 Peter 2:4–7).
Jesus therefore declares, “the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit” (v. 43). The closing verses identify those immediately addressed: the chief priests and Pharisees know that Jesus is speaking about them (vv. 45–46). Jesus is warning leaders who have been entrusted with responsibility for God's people yet are rejecting the One whom God has sent.
The vineyard itself remains God's. What changes is the stewardship of it. God entrusts His kingdom to a people who will produce its fruit. The community gathered around Jesus will include believing Jews and Gentiles united in faith in Him. The measure of faithful stewardship is therefore not ancestry, position, or religious authority, but whether God's gifts bear the fruit He intends.
That fruit is a life shaped by faith, repentance, obedience, justice, mercy, and love. Jesus had already taught, “By their fruits you will know them” (Matthew 7:20). The parable therefore reaches beyond the leaders standing before Him. Every person and every community entrusted with God’s gifts is called to receive them faithfully and allow them to bear fruit that will remain (John 15:16).
God has done everything necessary for His vineyard. He has spoken through the prophets and, finally and decisively, through His Son. Jesus Christ, the rejected Son, has become the cornerstone. Our response is to remain united to Him and allow the life He gives us to produce the fruit God desires.
Lord Jesus, You are the Son sent by the Father and the cornerstone of Your people. Help us to receive Your Word faithfully, remain united to You, and bear the fruit of faith, obedience, justice, mercy, and love. Amen.
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Sources and References
- The New American Bible, Revised Edition. Washington, DC: Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 2011. Notes on Matthew 21:33–46.
- Hahn, Scott, and Curtis Mitch. The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010. 45.
- Casciaro, José María, gen. ed. The Navarre Bible: New Testament, Expanded Edition. Dublin: Four Courts Press; New York: Scepter Publishers, 2008. 121–22.
- Brown, Raymond E., Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy, eds. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990. 665, para. 129.
- Mitch, Curtis, and Edward Sri. The Gospel of Matthew. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2010. 277–79.
- Aguilar Chiu, José Enrique, et al., eds. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. New York: Paulist Press, 2018. 952.
- Collins, John J., Gina Hens-Piazza, Barbara Reid, OP, and Donald Senior, CP, eds. The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century. 3rd fully rev. ed. London: T&T Clark, 2022. 1217.
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