Matthew the apostle wrote how Jesus asked the chief priests and the elders of Jerusalem, “Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and dug a wine-press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son”, and in chapter twenty-one and verse thirty-eight of his book, Matthew shares how the husbandmen said, “this is the heir; come, let us kill him” where we read:
But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves,
This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
The verse reads, “But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, ...” Matthew began with the word, “but” which means “nevertheless, nonetheless, moreover and” “when” or “at the time and moment” “the husbandmen” which means “the farmers and vinedressers” “saw the son” which means “the husbandmen perceived this was the householder's male descendant and offspring”, “they said” or “the husbandmen uttered, declared and proclaimed” “among themselves” or “to each one of the group of farmers, husbandmen and vinedressers”. Matthew shared how Jesus said the “farmers and vinedressers” perceived that this one sent was the “householder's son”, and they proclaimed the following.
The verse continues, “... This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.” Matthew added the words, “this is the heir” which means “this one sent is the one who receives by lot his possession by right of sonship”; “come” or “come now and here”, “let us kill him” which means “permit and purpose the farmers and vinedressers desired to extinguish, abolish and make perish the householder's male descendant and offspring”, “and let us seize” or “and permit and purpose that the husbandmen themselves detain, hinder, hold fast, keep secure and get possession” “on his inheritance” which means “of the son's heirship and patrimony”. Matthew wrote how Jesus said the “farmers and vinedressers” who realized this was the “householder's son”, and they decided to “kill” him so they could take his “inheritance” from him.
When we meditate upon Matthew's words in this verse, we see how ruthless and forgetful these “farmers and vinedressers” were. The “householder” entrusted them with his “vineyard”, and when the time of harvest came, they beat, killed and stoned his servants” and purposed to “kill” his son. Their thought they would “gain” the “inheritance” that was due to the “householder's son” by doing so, and they believed “killing him” would entitle them to what was promised by the father to him. God sent His Son Jesus to the earth to die for the sins of the whole world, and when people reject Him as their “Savior and Lord”, they align themselves with those who are in opposition to the “householder” as in Jesus' story.
Next time Matthew writes how Jesus tells how the husbandmen, “caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book
“Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the
marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the
Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms
Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County"
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www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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