Luke 20:9-19

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants of a Vineyard (20:9-19).

But Jesus did not leave it there, He riposted with a parable that connected His accusers with the slayers of the prophets, by this confirming their connection with others in the past who had been unable to recognise those who came from God, and at the same time remarkably laying down His claim to being the unique and only Son of God, thus answering their question about the source of His authority indirectly, which is one reason why in both in Mark and Luke the parable immediately follows the question about authority.

The importance that Luke places on this parable comes out in that he places it centrally in the chiasmus of the whole Section (see above). It is the message around which the whole chiasmus is based.

In this parable He spoke of Israel as a vineyard, of God as its owner, and of the Jewish leaders as the tenants responsible for it. All this would be recognisable from the Old Testament. Those then sent by the Owner in order to collect the proceeds from the vineyard could only be the prophets, and Who then must be the last to come, the only beloved Son? In view of all His earlier claims we can be in no doubt that it is Jesus. (And yet there are still those who close their eyes and refuse to see this. Spiritual blindness is still among us).

The parable is based on real life. In Palestine at that time there were many farms and vineyards tenanted by tenant farmers, with absent landlords who expected to receive their rents. And we can with regard to some of those farms and vineyards that there was much skulduggery.

With regard to Luke's sources for the parable, we need have no doubt that he had Mark's Gospel in front of him, and yet he clearly did not just copy from Mark. It would seem that he also had other sources. This should not surprise us as he would have spoken with a number of people who were probably eyewitnesses, including especially some of the Apostles. His concern was not to ape Mark but to present the truth succintly without altering it, while emphasising what he saw as important.

Analysis of the passage.

a He began to speak to the people this parable. “A man planted a vineyard, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into another country for a long time” (Luke 20:9).

b “And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard, but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty, and he sent yet another servant, and him also they beat, and handled him shamefully, and sent him away empty, and he sent yet a third, and him also they wounded, and cast him out” (Luke 20:10).

c “And the lord of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. It may be that they will reverence him” (Luke 20:13).

d “But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours” (Luke 20:14 a).

e “And they cast him forth out of the vineyard, and killed him.” (Luke 20:14 b).

d “What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy these husbandmen, and will give the vineyard to others.” And when they heard it, they said, ‘God forbid' ” (Luke 20:15)

c ‘But He looked on them, and said, “What then is this that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, The same was made the head of the corner? Every one who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomsoever it will fall, it will scatter him as dust” (Luke 20:17).

b And the scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on Him in that very hour (Luke 20:19 a).

a And they feared the people, for they perceived that He spoke this parable against them (Luke 20:19 b).

Note that in ‘a' he speaks the parable concerning the husbandmen, and in the parallel the Scribes and Pharisees noted that He spoke it against them. In ‘b' their ancestors had laid hands on the prophets, and in the parallel they were seeking to lay hands on Jesus. In ‘c' the Lord determines to send His only Son, trusting that they will at least reverence Him as the One Who represents the owner most closely, and in the parallel they rejected Him with the obvious consequences. In ‘d' they make their decision to act against the heir and prospective owner by killing Him so as to gain possession of the vineyard, and in the parallel the owner kills them and takes over the vineyard. And centrally in ‘e' are their acts of deliberate rejection and brutal murder.