What is the meaning of Matthew 21:39? So they seized him “So they seized him…” (Matthew 21:39) - In the parable, the tenant farmers represent Israel’s religious leaders (see Matthew 21:45); the “him” is the landowner’s son, unmistakably pointing to Jesus (Matthew 21:37). - Seizing speaks of deliberate, hostile rejection—an echo of John 1:11, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” - Their grasping control mirrors earlier attempts to lay hands on Jesus (John 7:30; Luke 4:28-29). - This line reveals the heart of human rebellion: when confronted with God’s rightful authority, fallen humanity tries to take matters into its own hands (Genesis 37:18-20 foreshadows this mindset in Joseph’s brothers; Acts 2:23 shows it fulfilled at the cross). Threw him out of the vineyard “…and threw him out of the vineyard…” (Matthew 21:39) - The vineyard pictures Israel (Isaiah 5:1-7). For the son to be expelled signifies Jesus’ rejection by the covenant community. - Crucially, the act occurs outside: Jesus was crucified outside Jerusalem’s walls, “outside the city gate” (Hebrews 13:12-13; John 19:17). - Being cast out fulfills prophetic patterns of the scapegoat (Leviticus 16:21-22) and Psalm 118:22, “The stone the builders rejected.” - It also highlights the leaders’ attempt to keep their sin hidden; they want no public accountability within God’s “vineyard” (Jeremiah 26:11, 23). And killed him “…and killed him.” (Matthew 21:39) - The climax reveals the tenants’ ultimate intent: eliminating the heir to seize the inheritance (Matthew 21:38). - This foreshadows the cross, where Jesus is “pierced for our transgressions” (Isaiah 53:5), though wicked hands carry it out (Acts 2:23). - Jesus’ death is not an accident but God’s sovereign plan for redemption (Acts 4:27-28). - The murder triggers coming judgment on the tenants (Matthew 21:40-41) and opens the vineyard to others who will bear fruit—namely, all who trust in Christ (Romans 10:12-13; 1 Peter 2:9-10). summary Matthew 21:39 distills humanity’s response to God’s Son: seize, expel, kill. Yet in God’s design, that very rejection becomes the doorway to salvation. The verse warns against resisting Christ’s rightful authority, assures us that Scripture’s prophecies stand fulfilled to the letter, and invites us to bear the fruit of faithful stewardship within God’s vineyard. |
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