Luke 20:9-12 9And he began to tell to the people this parable: “A certain man planted a vineyard and hired it to tenant farmers and went into another country for a long time. 10And at the right time, he sent a servant to the tenant farmers, so that they might give him the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenant farmers beating him sent him away with nothing. 11And he proceeded to send another servant. But also beating and treating him shamefully, they sent him away with nothing. 12 And he sent yet a third. Also wounding this one they cast him out.
The parable Jesus told was in response to the growing criticism of the Jewish religious leaders in the previous passage. The setting was the temple courts, and the audience was those gathered there. The targets were the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees. This story is told in all three Synoptic Gospels, which suggests its importance in the story of Jesus’ activities in Jerusalem during his last week. The story is symbolic and allegorical. Readers like Theophilus can discern the meaning from following the whole story of Luke’s Gospel. Those present in the original setting may have missed the implications until after Jesus’ crucifixion.
The parable is another story about a certain person who goes away and leaves people in charge. The man in the story planted a vineyard and went away. Luke’s version of the story leaves out details found in the other accounts. He gets right to the key point about the sending of servants. In the Old Testament (Psalm 80:8–13; Isaiah 5:1–7; 27:2; Jeremiah 2:21; Ezekiel 19:10–14; Hosea 10:1–4), a vineyard symbolizes God’s people. The man represents God, who put leaders in charge of caring for his people, Israel. Each generation of leaders was responsible for the spiritual welfare of the people.
The parable has several surprises. The first comes when the owner of the vineyard sends his servants to collect the grapes from the harvest and how these servants are treated by the tenants. It can take a vineyard three or more years to begin bearing fruit. During that time, the tenants began to feel entitled to the fruit. They thought it was theirs. They had assumed ownership of the vineyard and failed to remember that they were only stewards of the owner’s property. The owner had been gone a long while, and during this time, their selfishness began to take over. The tenants treated badly each one of the servants the owner sent. The great harm they did by beating and shaming the servants showed their total disregard and indifference to the owner.
The implied meaning of this part of the parable is that God put the priesthood in charge of the spiritual care of his people. The fruit was the spiritual growth of the nation and their call to be a holy nation (Exodus 19:5-6). God sent prophets to remind the people of their need to be holy and a witness to the nations around them. The priests and religious leaders, however, rejected the call of the prophets. In many cases, such as with Jeremiah, they rejected, beat, abused, and imprisoned the prophets. They thought their way was more important than God’s way. Their vision became clouded by sin and selfishness. Their problem is symbolic of all people’s problem. When we fail to listen to God’s word through his messengers because we want to go our own way, our hearts will become calloused and blind.
For older posts, click here.