When the Lord of the Vineyard Comes - Matthew 21:40

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. 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. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him”, and in chapter twenty-one and verse forty of his book, Matthew shares how Jesus asked the chief priests and elders in Jerusalem what will happen, “when the lord therefore of the vineyard comes” where we read:

When the lord therefore of the vineyard comes, what will he do unto those husbandmen?

The verse reads, “When the lord therefore of the vineyard comes, ...” Matthew began with the word, “when” which means “at the time and moment” “the lord” or “the householder and master of the house” “therefore” which means “then, accordingly, consequently and these things being so” “of the vineyard” which means “to whom the field of vines belonged” “comes” or “arises and appears”. Matthew shared how Jesus began to question what would happen at the time and moment the “householder” comes to his vineyard and discovers that his son is dead.

The verse continues, “... what will he do unto those husbandmen?” Matthew added the words, “what will he do” which means “what will the householder make, form, construct and prepare” “unto those husbandmen” which means “toward the farmers and vinedressers of his fields”? Matthew wrote how Jesus asked the “chief priests and elders in Jerusalem” what the “master of the vineyard” will do to those people who “killed” his son.

When we consider Matthew's words in this verse, we can only imagine how angry this “father” would be when he heard that his son was dead. Not only was he the owner of the “vineyard”, but more importantly he was the “father” to his son, and the “husbandmen” “murdered” him. God owns the earth, “The earth is the LORD'S, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” (Psalm 24:1), and His Son Jesus came to His earth to save people from their sins. People “killed” Him, and thereby have in effect “murdered” the Son of the living God. Those who are wise will weigh out the price God has paid to “save” them from their sins and believe and trust in Jesus before He comes to deal with those who “killed” Him.

Next time Matthew writes how the chief priests and elders in Jerusalem answered Jesus, “he will miserably destroy those wicked men”, 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" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.