Matthew 21:34-35

‘And when the season of the fruits drew near, he sent his servants to the vineyard workers, to receive his fruits. And the vineyard workers took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.”

When the time came that fruits could be expected the owner sent servants to collect the portion of the harvest that was due to him, no doubt also with instructions to oversee the harvesting and meet any expenses due. But when the vineyard workers saw them they beat them, killed them, or stoned them, depending on their fancy. See Matthew 23:31; Matthew 23:37; Luke 13:34. Beatings were a normal treatment exacted on those in disfavour (see Jeremiah 20:2; Jeremiah 37:15), and for the stoning of a prophet see 2 Chronicles 24:21. For the killing of prophets see 1 Kings 18:13; Nehemiah 9:26.

Ironically the ‘vineyard workers', that is the religious leaders of Israel, would have claimed that they did ‘pay their rent'. They made all the required offerings (compare Isaiah 1:11) and gave tithes of all that they received (contrast Malachi 3:8). But these were not the fruits that God was looking for (Matthew 7:21 as exemplified in Chapter s 5-7; Isaiah 11:16).

‘Sent His servants.' See Matthew 23:34; Jeremiah 7:25 - ‘I have sent unto you all my servants the prophets, day by day rising up early and sending them -- but they made their neck stiff and did worse than their fathers', and 2 Chronicles 24:19 - ‘yet He sent prophets to them to bring them again to the Lord'. Compare also 2 Chronicles 36:15, ‘the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people, and on His dwellingplace, but they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, until there was no remedy --- therefore He slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary ---and they burned down the house of God and broke down the walls of Jerusalem'. None knew better than Jesus that history repeats itself.

For the maltreatment of successive men of God see 1 Kings 18:13; 1Ki 22:27; 2 Chronicles 24:20; Nehemiah 9:26; and for the sending of prophets, Jeremiah 25:4; Amos 3:7 Zechariah 1:6. The consequences that followed are also clearly described.