And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. 2 When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. 6 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this Scripture:
“ ‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
11 this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
12 And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away.
I have been told previously that this train of thought makes sense. But I still wonder how the tenants believe they will receive the inheritance after killing the heir. Most of the time when you murder someone, you would end up in prison, unless that person was below your status. But the heir would seem like killing up.
Someone once said that you don't chop or saw wood above you, because dust or chips will fall in your eye. If this is the case, then likewise you do not kill someone or make war with someone above you (or with greater means than you). So what do the tenants or slaves expect to receive when they kill a free person or noble men (who is the heir)?
They expect to receive the vineyard. They have done their best to maintain control of the wealth of the Vineyard. They have done their best to prevent the Master or Maker of the Vineyard to receive anything. The heir comes so that they might respect him. But they treat him worse than many of the servants (whom they only beat).
Therefore, "What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others." What happens when you kill the son of God? Those who destroyed him will be judged, and others will be given his inheritance. Christ died for our sins, so that we might be brought back to paradise.
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