RETURN TO
SYLLABUS
THE PARABLES OF JESUS CHRIST
LESSON #43
THE PARABLE OF THE HOUSEHOLDER AND THE HEIR (MAT 21:33-46)
- MEMORY VERSE: 1PET 2:6, 7 OR 8 (YOUR CHOICE)
- THE PARABLE OF THE HOUSEHOLDER AND THE HEIR (MAT 21:33-46)
- THIS PARABLE IS RELATED TO THE LAST TWO. REVIEW YOUR NOTES CONCERNING THE VINEYARD IN
THIS LESSON. (ISA 5:1-7)
- JESUS SPOKE THIS PARABLE TO THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS OF HIS DAY.
- READ MAT 21:33-46
- READ ISA 5:1-7
- WE HAVE THE SAME OBJECTS IN THE PARABLE IN MAT 21 AS WE DO IN ISAIAH 5.
- WHO DOES THE HOUSEHOLDER REPRESENT?
- THE HOUSEHOLDER REPRESENTS GOD, THE FATHER, WHO HAS AUTHORITY OVER HIS HOUSEHOLD.
- WHAT DOES THE VINEYARD REPRESENT?
- THE VINEYARD REPRESENTS THE LAND OF ISRAEL. THIS IS THE LAND OF THE PROMISE THAT GOD
GAVE TO ABRAHAM.
- READ PSA 80:8-19
- GOD DUG THE VINEYARD.
- GOD PROMISED A PARTICULAR PIECE OF LAND TO ABRAHAM AND HIS DESCENDANTS BY FAITH. (GEN
12:1, 7)
- OF ALL THE LAND IN THE WORLD, ISRAEL IS NOT A PARTICULARLY BEAUTIFUL PIECE OF GEOGRAPHY.
HOWEVER, THERE IS EVIDENCE THAT IT WAS MORE BEAUTIFUL THEN THAN IT IS TODAY. TODAY MUCH OF
THE LAND IS DRY AND LACKS SUFFICIENT WATER.
- GOD DUG AND REMOVED THE ROCKS FROM THE LAND.
- PAGAN TRIBES OF CANAANITES INHABITED THE LAND BEFORE THE ISRAELITES ENTERED IT WITH
JOSHUA. THEY WERE A PAGAN PEOPLE FILLED WITH IMMORALITY, CHILD SACRIFICE, AND ALL MANNER
OF SEXUAL DISEASES.
- GOD HELPED THE ISRAELITES REMOVE THE CANAANITES FROM THE LAND.
- GOD PLANTED THE VINEYARD WITH THE CHOICEST VINE.
- THE ISRAELITES WERE GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE. THAT MAKES THEM THE CHOICE VINE. HOWEVER,
THE CHOICEST VINE WERE THOSE ISRAELITES THAT WERE FAITHFUL TO GOD BY FAITH AND WERE IN THE
BLOODLINE OF CHRIST.
- WHAT IS MEANT BY THE PHRASE "BEING HEDGED ABOUT"? (33)
- GOD TOLD THE ISRAELITES THAT THEY SHOULD BE SEPARATE FROM OTHER NATIONS.
- THEY MUST NOT MARRY WITH PAGAN PEOPLE.
- THEY MUST NOT WORSHIP THE IDOLS OF PAGAN TRIBES.
- GOD PROMISED THEM THAT IF THEY WOULD WORSHIP ONLY JEHOVAH, HE WOULD SURROUND THEM WITH
PROTECTION FROM THEIR ENEMIES.
- THIS WAS A CONDITIONAL PROMISE. THEY MUST WORSHIP ONLY THE ONE TRUE GOD IF THEY WANTED
HIS PROTECTION.
- NOTICE THAT ISA 5:5 SAYS THAT GOD WILL REMOVE THE HEDGE OF PROTECTION BECAUSE OF THEIR
FAILURE TO BE GOD’S PEOPLE AND THE VINEYARD WOULD BE TRAMPLED DOWN.
- AS A RESULT, WE HAVE SEEN THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF PERSECUTION AGAINST THE JEWS AS WELL AS
ENEMY NATION AFTER ENEMY NATION MARCH ACROSS THE PROMISED LAND AND CONTROL IT.
- NOTICE THAT ISA 5:6 SAYS THAT THERE WOULD BE NO RAIN ON THE VINEYARD.
- THIS IS WHY THE PROMISED LAND CHANGED FROM BEING A LAND FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY TO A
PARCHED LAND STRUGGLING OVER WATER RITES.
- RAIN IS ALSO A SPIRITUAL SYMBOL OF THE PRESENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. THE PROPHET EZEKIEL
DOCUMENTS HIS VISION OF THE GLORY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT DEPARTING FROM THE TEMPLE. (EZE 10)
- WHAT DOES THE WINEPRESS REPRESENT?
- READ REV 19:11-16
- THE WINEPRESS IS A SYMBOL FOR JUDGMENT IN THE BIBLE.
- THE WINEPRESS IN THE VINEYARD IS THE CROSS OF JESUS CHRIST WHERE GOD JUDGED MAN’S
SINS AT THE CRUCIFIXION IN JERUSALEM. (ROM 6:10 2COR 5:21)
- WHAT DOES THE TOWER REPRESENT?
- ISA 5:2 TELLS US THAT GOD BUILT A TOWER IN THE MIST OF THE VINEYARD.
- A TOWER WAS A STRUCTURE USED TO WATCH FOR THE COMING OF ENEMIES. HOWEVER, IT WAS A
STRUCTURE THAT EVERYONE COULD SEE FROM A GREAT DISTANCE.
- THE TOWER REPRESENTS THE WORD OF GOD THAT GOD GAVE TO THE ISRAELITES. THE PURPOSE OF THE
WORD WAS TO WARN THEM OF THEIR SPIRITUAL ENEMIES. HOWEVER, GOD GAVE THE WORD TO THE JEWS
SO THEY THAT WOULD BE A LIGHT TO THE GENTILES. THEY WERE TO PRESERVE THE WORD OF GOD FOR
THE WORLD.
- WHO DO THE TENANT FARMERS (OR THE HUSBANDMAN) REPRESENT?
- THE TENANT FARMERS IN THE PARABLE REPRESENT THE JEWS.
- GOD GAVE THEM SACRED SPIRITUAL RESPONSIBILITES, SOME OF WHICH THEY PERFORMED WELL AND
OTHERS THEY FAILED TO PERFORM.
- GOD GAVE THEM THE RESPONSIBILITY OF PRESERVING THE WORD OF GOD.
- BECAUSE THEY SUCCESSFULLY FULFILLED THIS RESPONSIBILITY IS WHY WE HAVE THE WORD OF GOD
TODAY.
- GOD GAVE THEM THE RESPONSIBILITY OF PRESERVING THEIR GENEALOGIES TO KEEP A RECORD OF THE
BLOODLINE OF CHRIST.
- THE JEWS SUCCESSFULLY FULFILLED THIS RESPONSIBILITY. THIS IS THE REASON WE HAVE THE
GENEALOGIES OF CHRIST IN THE BOOKS OF MATTHEW AND LUKE.
- GOD GAVE THEM THE RESPONSIBILITY OF SERVING ONLY THE GOD JEHOVAH.
- THE JEWS MISERABLY FAILED TO FULFILL THIS RESPONSIBILITY. THEY CONSTANTLY FELL INTO ALL
MANNER OF IDOLATROUS RELIGIONS.
- GOD’S PURPOSE WAS THAT GENTILES WOULD LOOK AT THE JEWS AND WANT A BLESSED AND
PROSPEROUS NATION LIKE THE JEWS, AND THEN DESIRE A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE GOD, JEHOVAH..
- INSTEAD GOD HAD TO CONTINUALLY CHASTIZE THE JEWS FOR THEIR FAILURES BY REMOVING
BLESSINGS FROM THEM. NO GENTILE NATION WAS DRAWN TO A GOD WHO JUDGED HIS OWN PEOPLE.
- GOD GAVE THEM THE RESPONSIBILITY OF BEING A LIGHT TO THE GENTILES.
- INSTEAD OF BEING A LIGHT, THEY SECLUDED THEMSELVES FROM GENTILES TO THE POINT WHERE THEY
HATED THE GENTILES AND THE GENTILES HATED THE JEWS.
- WHAT IS THE FAR COUNTRY? (33)
- AFTER CALLING THE JEWS TO BE HIS PEOPLE, GIVING THEM HIS PROMISES, DELIVERING THEM OUT
OF EGYPT, HELPING THEM GAIN THE PROMISED LAND, THEY STILL WOULD NOT BE HIS PEOPLE, SO HE
LIFTED HIS HAND OF PROTECTION AND LEFT THEM TO THEIR OWN DEVICES. THEY DID NOT HAVE AN
EXTRAORDINARY MANIFESTATION OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD AFTER THAT. (DEU 34:10-12)
- THEN WHEN JESUS CAME AND OFFERED THE KINGDOM OF GOD TO THE JEWS, THEY REJECTED HIM AND
CRUCIFIED HIM. THEREFORE, HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN AND LEFT THEM TO THEIR OWN DEVICES.
- WHO DO THE SERVANTS REPRESENT? (35-36)
- THE SERVANTS REPRESENT THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS. THEY CALLED THE PEOPLE TO
ACCOUNTABILITY…IN OTHER WORDS, LIKE THE SERVANTS OF A LANDLORD THAT GOES TO COLLECT
THE RENT.
- INSTEAD OF RECEIVING THOSE SERVANTS WITH HONOR AS THOUGH THEY WERE RECEIVING THE
LANDOWNER, THE JEWS KILLED THEM.
- MOST OF THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS OF GOD WERE PERSECUTED AND KILLED BY THEIR OWN
PEOPLE.
- ISAIAH WAS SAWED IN PIECES. JEREMIAH WAS STONED. AMOS WAS MURDERED WITH A CLUB. (HEB
11:36-38)
- WHO IS THE SON?
- BECAUSE THE HOUSEHOLDER REPRESENTS GOD, THE FATHER, THE SON REPRESENTS JESUS CHRIST, THE
SON OF GOD.
- THIS PARABLE IS A PROPHETIC PREDICTION OF HIS COMING DEATH ON THE CROSS AT THE HANDS OF
THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS.
- "…LET US SEIZE ON HIS INHERITANCE." (38)
- CHRIST’S INHERITANCE IS HIS TITLE OF LORDSHIP. THE JEWISH RELIGIOUS LEADERS SOUGHT
TO RETAIN THEIR PRESTIGE, WEALTH, AND POWER SO THEY COULD BE THEIR OWN LORD.
- NOTICE IN MAT 21:40, JESUS ASKS HIS HEARERS WHAT SHOULD BE DONE TO THESE TENANT FARMERS
FOR KILLING THE HEIR.
- THEIR ANSWER IN VERSE 41 IS PROPHETIC OF THEIR OWN DESTRUCTION IN 70 AD AND THE GRAFTING
OF THE GENTILES INTO THE BODY OF CHRIST. THEY PRONOUNCED SENTENCE UPON THEMSELVES.
- WHO ARE THE "OTHER FARMERS"? (41)
- THE "OTHER FARMERS’ REPRESENT THE GENTILE BELIEVERS, THE CHURCH. (ROM 11)
- SALVATION WAS TO BE OFFERED FIRST TO THE JEWS AND THEN TO THE GENTILES. PAUL BECAME THE
APOSTLE TO THE GENTILES.
- WHAT DOES THE FRUIT REPRESENT?
- ISA 5:2 SAYS THAT GOD LOOKED FOR THE VINEYARD TO PRODUCE GRAPES, BUT IT BROUGHT FORTH
WILD GRAPES. THEY WERE TO PRODUCE THE SPIRITUAL FRUIT OF BRINGING PEOPLE TO GOD, BUT
INSTEAD THEY PRODUCED ROTTENNESS.
- THE TERM, "WILD GRAPES" MEANS, = SMALL, HARD BERRIES ROTTEN ON THE VINE.
- READ PSA 18:2, 31
- WHO IS THE STONE?
- JESUS CHRIST IS THE STONE REVEALED IN THREE ASPECTS:
- =1= THE STONE THAT THE BUILDERS REJECTED.
- THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS BUILT ON JESUS CHRIST. THE JEWS WERE TO BE THE BUILDERS OF
GOD’S KINGDOM, BUT THEY REJECTED THE FOUNDATION STONE, JESUS CHRIST.
- INSTEAD OF A BUILDING STONE, CHRIST BECAME A STONE OF STUMBLING FOR THE JEWS. (ISA
8:14-15 ROM 9:32-33 1COR 1:23 1PET 2:8)
- =2 = THE STONE THAT IS "THE HEAD OF THE CORNER" REPRESENTS CHRIST WHO IS THE
CORNER STONE, ACCEPTED BY THE GENTILE CHURCH.
- THE CORNER STONE ESTABLISHES THE TRUE ANGLE FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE WALLS. JESUS
CHRIST IS THE TRUE STANDARD OF A MODEL TO THE CHRUCH. (1COR 3:11 EPH 2:20-22 1PET 2:4-5)
- =3=. THE THIRD ASPECT IS CHRIST, THE SMITTING OR CRUSHING STONE OF DESTRUCTION.
- PEOPLE AND NATIONS WHO FIGHT AGAINST CHRIST AND ISRAEL WILL BE CRUSHED AT HIS SECOND
COMING. (DAN 2:34, 45)
- WHAT IS THE CENTRAL TRUTH OF THE PARABLE?
- GOD GAVE A SACRED RESPONSIBILITY TO THE JEWS, AND HE GAVE THEM MANY PROMISES AND
PRIVILEGES, BUT THEY FAILED HIM BY KILLING HIS PROPHETS AND REJECTING HIS SON, JESUS
CHRIST. GOD WOULD THEREFORE SET ASIDE THE JEWS FOR A TIME AND BUILD WITH A BELIEVING GROUP
OF GENTILES.
- IN THIS PARABLE, JESUS TELLS US WHO HE IS, THE SON OF GOD, AND OF HIS COMING DEATH AT
THE HANDS OF THE RELIGIOUS AUTHORITIES.
- NOTICE THAT AFTER ISA 5:1-7, THERE IS A SERIES OF 6 CURSES UPON THE JEWISH LEADERS. THAT
SAME PATTERN IN REPEATED IN MATTHEW 23:13-39. JESUS PRONOUNCES 8 CURSES UPON THE JEWISH
LEADERS OF HIS DAY.
- APPLICATION:
- THE JEWS WERE CHOSEN BY GOD TO SERVE GOD. HE GAVE THEM CERTAIN RESPONSIBILITIES.
CHRISTIANS, IN THIS NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH AGE, ARE CHOSEN BY GOD TO SERVE GOD. GOD HAS
GIVEN US THE RESPONSIBILITY TO PREACH THE GOSPEL AND TO PRESERVE HIS WORD.
- IF GOD LIFTED HIS HAND OF BLESSING AND PROECTION FROM THE JEWS BECAUSE OF THEIR FAILURE
TO FULFILL THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES, HE WILL ALSO DO THE SAME TO THE GENTILE CHRISTIAN
CHURCHES WHO FAIL THEIR RESPONSIBILITY OF LEADING OTHERS TO GOD. (REV 2:5 REV 3:16)
HOMEWORK
THE PARABLE OF THE MARRIAGE FEAST AND THE GARMENT (MAT 22:1-14)
THIS IS A SELF-STUDY. PLEASE DO NOT SEND HOMEWORK ANSWERS TO THE TEACHER FOR
CORRECTION.
- APPLICATION OF THE PARABLE OF THE HOUSEHOLDER AND THE HEIR (MAT 21:33-46)
- THE JEWS WERE NOT THE ONLY ONES TO WHOM GOD GAVE A SACRED RESPONSIBILITY. READ MAR
16:13-16. THIS IS THE RESPONSIBILITY GOD GAVE TO EVERY BELIEVER IN JESUS CHRIST.
- HOW ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR SACRED RESPONSIBILITY?
- HOW CAN YOU BE A BETTER TENANT FARMER?
- PREPARATION FOR THE PARABLE OF THE MARRIAGE FEAST AND THE GARMENT (MAT 22:1-14)
- READ MAT 22:1-14 AND REV 19:6-9
- REVIEW THE CENTRAL TRUTHS OF THE LAST 3 PARABLES WE STUDIED.
- TO WHOM IS THE PARABLE SPOKEN?
- WHO DOES THE "CERTAIN KING" REPRESENT (2)?
- WHO ARE THE SERVANTS (3)?
- WHO ARE THE "OTHER" SERVANTS (4)?
- WHO IS THE "REMNANT" (6)?
- WHAT DOES THE "MARRIAGE" (WEDDING) REPRESENT?
- WHO ARE THE GUESTS THAT CAME (10)?
- WHAT DOES THE WEDDING GARMENT REPRESENT?
- WHAT DOES JESUS MEAN BY THE PHRASE, "MANY ARE CALLED BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN" (14)?
- WHAT IS THE CENTRAL TRUTH OF THE PARABLE?