The Parable of the Tenants: Matthew 21:33-45, Mark 12:1-12, Luke 20:9-18 - Part 1. - Old Testament Reference

My hubby and I have talked and he has asked that I share my Bible studies on my blog as I currently have some extra time to share it. While my hubby and I do have a Bible reading plan together, my own personal Bible study is on the life of Christ, going through the Gospels chronologically, which includes studying through the parallel accounts of events in Jesus' life. I may take a number of days going through a small section, or I might breeze through a few sections all together, there is not real time frame in which I study them. 

I hope and pray that my studies may be a blessing to whomever stumbles across them. If you wish to discuss, comment, ask questions, or share your insights, I would gladly hear them.

Please note: I am studying through an ESV John MacArthur Study Bible, and to save time, I am copying small passages from BibleGateway and pasting them here. As I use other study tools, I will reference them so anyone can follow along. 

Context: The first rule of hermeneutics is "context, context, context." This passage takes place during the Passion week, or the final week leading up to His crucifixion. He has already made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, followed by clearing the Temple of all the money changers and pigeon sellers, and even prevented people from using the Temple as a short cut to carry things through. The animosity of the Jewish leaders is at an all time high, while the crowds have been enthusiastically following him and eagerly listening to Him. 

This passage is part of a response to His authority being challenged by the Jewish religious leaders, and is the second parable in a burning rebuke to them for their hard, rebellious hearts. 

The Parable of the Tenants: Matthew 21:33-45, Mark 12:1-12, Luke 20:9-18. - Part 1. Old Testament Reference

The previous day in my study, I began by reading through the passages in my study, and listening to them. As I was going through them, I saw a note from John Macarthur stating that the vineyard is a commonly known picture of Israel from the Old Testament, and he directs the reader to Isaiah 5:2. Reading the Old Testament passages helps us understand the context in which Jewish readers would have understood what Jesus was saying. So today, I am studying the Passage in Isaiah.

After reading through it, I am also including the surrounding verses of Isaiah 5:1-7:

"Let me sing for my beloved

    my love song concerning his vineyard:

My beloved had a vineyard

    on a very fertile hill.

2 He dug it and cleared it of stones,

    and planted it with choice vines;

he built a watchtower in the midst of it,

    and hewed out a wine vat in it;

and he looked for it to yield grapes,

    but it yielded wild grapes.

"3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem

    and men of Judah,

judge between me and my vineyard.

4 What more was there to do for my vineyard,

    that I have not done in it?

When I looked for it to yield grapes,

    why did it yield wild grapes?

"5 And now I will tell you

    what I will do to my vineyard.

I will remove its hedge,

    and it shall be devoured;

I will break down its wall,

    and it shall be trampled down.

6 I will make it a waste;

    it shall not be pruned or hoed,

    and briers and thorns shall grow up;

I will also command the clouds

    that they rain no rain upon it.

"7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts

    is the house of Israel,

and the men of Judah

    are his pleasant planting;

and he looked for justice,

    but behold, bloodshed;

for righteousness,

    but behold, an outcry!"

As you may have noticed, I've gone through and done some highlighting. I've highlighted what God did for His vineyard in yellow. I've highlighted the vineyard, and what the vineyard did in light purple. He then asks His listeners/readers, specifically Judah and the House of Israel, some very searching questions, which I highlighted in blue. Then I highlighted God's response to his vineyard's actions in orange; this is the "because they did (x), I will do (y)," which is an important correlation to see in Scripture. It shows God's response to what His people have done/will do.

As is often the case in parables, in the last verse we see the key to understanding this passage: the vineyard is the House of Israel and the Men of Judah. So I when I highlighted the last verse, I did so with the actions of the men of Judah/the House of Israel being highlighted as the vineyard's actions. 

So, now we have the passage highlighted, but we don't stop there. It helps us to be able to see the actions and responses of God and Israel/Judah, but it doesn't really get into what those actions and responses are. We have to go back through this passage again and start paying close attention. 

The passage begins with a song being sung about the beloved, that is God. He had a vineyard, which we know is Judah and Israel, and He carefully provided for it. The passage says he specifically:
 

• Planted it "on a very fertile hill" - He chose its placement carefully. Israel and Judah were given a wonderful fertile land, which we know as modern day Israel. 
• He dug it
• He cleared it of stones - both digging it and clearing it of stones are hard work and are important for the growth of a healthy vineyard. In the original conquest of Canaan, God gave Israel victory over the surrounding nations. (You can read the book of Joshua if you want to know more about that).
• He "planted it with choice vines" - Not just any vines, but good vines, excellent for producing good wine grapes
• He "built a watchtower in the midst of it" - He didn't just plant it and leave it, but He built it a watch tower for it to be guarded and protected. God had taken action many times to protect His people, carefully guarding and protecting them, sending them prophets, and blessing them.
• He "hewed out a wine vat in it" - He prepared for it to have a good harvest and to produce good grapes so that he might make good wine.
• After all this, "He looked for it to yield grapes" - He had done all the work, He had provided carefully for it, had done all that could be done, and the expectation now was to receive a rich harvest of good grapes. We see in verse 7 that these grapes He was looking for are specifically justice and righteousness.

In response to all this care of His vineyard, that is, the men of Israel and Judah, what did He get? Wild grapes. John MacArthur refers to these as "sour berries." The passage goes on to describe the grapes of the men of Judah and Israel in verse 7: 

• bloodshed
• injustice
• unrighteousness

So what was God's response to this? Well, He said He would do this:

• He would remove its hedge - that is, His protection of it. The result? It would be devoured. 
• He would remove its wall - another form of His protection. The result? It would be trampled down.
• He would make it a waste. 
• He would not prune it or hoe it, so that thorns and briars would grow on it. 
• He would command the clouds so that they would not rain upon it. 

        All these would be the response of God to the house of Israel and the men of Judah for their sins, which he promised in Deuteronomy 28. 

And we see this happen many times to the House of Israel and the men of Judah. You can read about it in the book of Judges, all through at 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, through the major and minor prophets, and finally in the oppression that Israel faced under Roman rule in the New Testament. There is a constant cycle of God's people getting comfortable, then lazy, turning from Him, and then God's increasing judgment upon them, until they repent and turn to Him. This is the cycle of Israel, and often, the cycle of the Church, in their relationship with God. 

Now, why is this important to link to the passages in Matthew, Mark and Luke regarding The Parable of the Tenants? Because firstly, it gives context to what the Jews would have understood, so we can see it from the perspective of the intended audience. Secondly, it sets up the Jews for the Parable that Jesus would tell, where the people in the hot seat aren't the men of Israel and the men of Judah, but the Jewish religious leaders who were supposed to be caring for the spiritual well being of Israel. They were supposed to be the tenants, caring for the vineyard.  

But that, dear friends, we will cover in the next blog post.