Luke 20:9
Then He proceeded to tell the people this parable: "A man planted a vineyard, rented it out to some tenants, and went away for a long time.
He went on to tell the people this parable
This phrase introduces a parable, a teaching method frequently used by Jesus. The Greek word for "parable" is "παραβολή" (parabolē), which means a comparison or analogy. Parables were a common teaching tool in Jewish tradition, used to convey deep spiritual truths through simple, relatable stories. Jesus often used parables to reveal the mysteries of the Kingdom of God to those who were open to understanding, while concealing the truth from those who were hard-hearted or opposed to His message. This method of teaching invites listeners to engage deeply, reflecting on the account to uncover its meaning.

A man planted a vineyard
The "man" in this parable represents God, and the "vineyard" symbolizes Israel, a metaphor rooted in the Old Testament. In Isaiah 5:1-7, Israel is depicted as the vineyard of the Lord, planted and cared for with great attention. The act of planting signifies God's initiative and investment in His chosen people, establishing them with purpose and expectation. The vineyard imagery evokes themes of growth, fruitfulness, and divine care, reminding the audience of God's covenant relationship with Israel and His desire for them to bear spiritual fruit.

rented it out to some tenants
The "tenants" represent the religious leaders of Israel, entrusted with the care and spiritual leadership of God's people. The Greek word for "tenants" is "γεωργοῖς" (geōrgois), meaning farmers or husbandmen. This arrangement implies a responsibility to cultivate and produce fruit, reflecting the leaders' duty to guide the nation in faithfulness to God. The concept of renting suggests a temporary stewardship, highlighting the accountability of the leaders to God, the true owner of the vineyard.

and went away for a long time
This phrase indicates God's patience and the period of waiting for Israel to fulfill its purpose. The "long time" suggests God's enduring forbearance and the opportunity given to the leaders to demonstrate faithfulness. Historically, this can be seen in the centuries of prophetic messages and divine guidance provided to Israel, calling them back to righteousness. The patience of God is a recurring theme in Scripture, emphasizing His desire for repentance and reconciliation rather than immediate judgment.

Persons / Places / Events
1. The Man
Represents God, the owner of the vineyard, who entrusts His creation to humanity.

2. The Vineyard
Symbolizes Israel, God's chosen people, and by extension, the Kingdom of God.

3. The Tenants
Represent the religious leaders of Israel who were entrusted with the care of God's people.

4. The Parable
A teaching method used by Jesus to convey spiritual truths through everyday accounts.

5. The People
The audience to whom Jesus was speaking, including His disciples and the religious leaders.
Teaching Points
Stewardship and Responsibility
God entrusts us with His creation and expects us to be faithful stewards. We must evaluate how we are managing the resources and responsibilities He has given us.

Accountability
Just as the tenants were accountable to the owner, we are accountable to God for our actions. Reflect on how we respond to God's call and correction in our lives.

Rejection of God's Messengers
The tenants' rejection of the owner's servants parallels the rejection of prophets and ultimately Jesus. Consider how we respond to God's Word and His messengers today.

God's Patience and Justice
The owner’s patience with the tenants reflects God's long-suffering nature, but His eventual judgment underscores the certainty of divine justice.

The Kingdom of God
The parable highlights the transfer of the Kingdom to those who produce its fruits. We are called to bear fruit in keeping with repentance and faith.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the parable of the vineyard owner and tenants challenge our understanding of stewardship in our personal lives and communities?

2. In what ways can we identify with the tenants' rejection of the owner's servants, and how can we ensure we are receptive to God's messages?

3. How does the concept of accountability to God influence our daily decisions and interactions with others?

4. Reflect on a time when you experienced God's patience. How does this parable encourage you to respond to His grace?

5. Considering the broader biblical account, how does this parable inform our understanding of the Kingdom of God and our role within it?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Isaiah 5:1-7
This passage describes Israel as a vineyard, providing a prophetic backdrop to Jesus' parable.

Matthew 21:33-46
A parallel account of the parable, offering additional insights into the tenants' actions and the owner's response.

Psalm 80:8-16
A prayer for the restoration of Israel, depicted as a vine brought out of Egypt.

John 15:1-8
Jesus describes Himself as the true vine, emphasizing the importance of abiding in Him.

Hebrews 3:1-6
Discusses the faithfulness of Christ over God's house, contrasting with the unfaithfulness of the tenants.
Tenants Who Wanted to be OwnersAlexander MaclarenLuke 20:9
Christ's Collision with the SanhedrinR.M. Edgar Luke 20:1-19
Abused MercyJohn Trapp.Luke 20:9-19
Fruitfulness the Test of ValueSword and Trowel.Luke 20:9-19
God's Manifold MercyC. H. Spurgeon.Luke 20:9-19
LessonsJ. Foote, M. A.Luke 20:9-19
Parable of the Vineyard Let to HusbandmenJ. Thomson, D. D.Luke 20:9-19
The Herodians and Pharisees Combined Against JesusJ. Thomson, D. D.Luke 20:9-19
The Madness of Opposing ChristC. S. Robinson, D. D.Luke 20:9-19
The Rejected SonD. O. Mears.Luke 20:9-19
The Son RejectedCharles M. Southgate.Luke 20:9-19
The Wreck of InfidelityLuke 20:9-19
People
David, Isaac, Jacob, Jesus, John
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Abroad, Considerable, Farmers, Field-workers, Forth, Husbandmen, Journey, Parable, Planted, Proceeded, Rented, Simile, Speak, Story, Tenants, Vine-dressers, Vine-garden, Vine-growers, Vineyard
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Luke 20:9

     4903   time
     5433   occupations

Luke 20:3-26

     7552   Pharisees, attitudes to Christ

Luke 20:9-10

     5802   care

Luke 20:9-15

     6231   rejection of God

Luke 20:9-16

     5438   parables
     5477   property, land
     6710   privileges
     7512   Gentiles, in NT

Luke 20:9-18

     2309   Christ, as judge
     4538   vineyard
     6223   rebellion, of Israel

Luke 20:9-19

     7135   Israel, people of God

Library
Whose Image and Superscription?
'Whose image and superscription hath it?'--Luke xx. 24. It is no unusual thing for antagonists to join forces in order to crush a third person obnoxious to both. So in this incident we have an unnatural alliance of the two parties in Jewish politics who were at daggers drawn. The representatives of the narrow conservative Judaism, which loathed a foreign yoke, in the person of the Pharisees and Scribes, and the Herodians, the partisans of a foreigner and a usurper, lay their heads together to propose
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Tenants who Wanted to be Owners
'Then began He to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time. 10. And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. 11. And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. 12. And again he sent a third: and they wounded him
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

The God of the Living.
He is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.--ST LUKE xx. 38. It is a recurring cause of perplexity in our Lord's teaching, that he is too simple for us; that while we are questioning with ourselves about the design of Solomon's earring upon some gold-plated door of the temple, he is speaking about the foundations of Mount Zion, yea, of the earth itself, upon which it stands. If the reader of the Gospel supposes that our Lord was here using a verbal argument with the Sadducees,
George MacDonald—Unspoken Sermons

The Resurrection of the Sleeping Saints.
"And the dead in Christ shall rise first." This is the second blessed event which shall occur at the Redeemer's return--the sleeping saints will be awakened and raised. This brings us to a branch of our subject upon which there is much ignorance and confusion in Christendom generally. The idea which popularly obtains is that of a general resurrection at the end of time. So deeply rooted is this belief and so widely is it held that to declare there will be two resurrections--one of saints and another
Arthur W. Pink—The Redeemer's Return

The Morality of the Gospel.
Is stating the morality of the Gospel as an argument of its truth, I am willing to admit two points; first, that the teaching of morality was not the primary design of the mission; secondly, that morality, neither in the Gospel, nor in any other book, can be a subject, properly speaking, of discovery. If I were to describe in a very few words the scope of Christianity as a revelation, [49] I should say that it was to influence the conduct of human life, by establishing the proof of a future state
William Paley—Evidences of Christianity

In Reply to the Questions as to his Authority, Jesus Gives the Third Great Group of Parables.
(in the Court of the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, a.d. 30.) Subdivision A. Introduction ^A Matt. XXI. 23-27; ^B Mark XI. 27-33; ^C Luke XX. 1-8. ^c 1 And it came to pass, on one of the days, ^b they [Jesus and the disciples] come again to Jerusalem: ^a 23 And when he was come into the temple, ^b and as he was walking in the temple [The large outer court of the temple, known as the court of the Gentiles, was thronged during the feasts, and was no doubt the part selected by Jesus and his apostles when
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

In Reply to the Questions as to his Authority, Jesus Gives the Third Great Group of Parables.
(in the Court of the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, a.d. 30.) Subdivision C. Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen. ^A Matt. XXI. 33-46; ^B Mark XII. 1-12; ^C Luke XX. 9-19. ^b 1 And he began to speak unto them ^c the people [not the rulers] ^b in parables. { ^c this parable:} ^a 33 Hear another parable: There was a man that was a householder [this party represents God], who planted a vineyard [this represents the Hebrew nationality], and set a hedge about it, and digged a ^b pit for the ^a winepress in it
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Cix. Jewish Rulers Seek to Ensnare Jesus.
(Court of the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, a.d. 30.) Subdivision A. Pharisees and Herodians Ask About Tribute. ^A Matt. XXII. 15-22; ^B Mark XII. 13-17; ^C Luke XX. 20-26. ^a 15 Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might ensnare him in his talk. ^c 20 And they watched him, and sent forth { ^b send unto him} ^a their disciples, ^b certain of the Pharisees and of { ^a with} ^b the Herodians, that they might catch him in talk. [Perceiving that Jesus, when on his guard, was too wise for them,
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Jesus' Last Public Discourse. Denunciation of Scribes and Pharisees.
(in the Court of the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, a.d. 30.) ^A Matt. XXIII. 1-39; ^B Mark XII. 38-40; ^C Luke XX. 45-47. ^a 1 Then spake Jesus ^b 38 And in his teaching ^c in the hearing of all the people he said unto ^a the multitudes, and to his disciples [he spoke in the most public manner], 2 saying, ^c 46 Beware of the scribes, ^a The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat: 3 all things whatsoever they bid you, these do and observe: but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Third Day in Passion-Week - the Events of that Day - the Question of Christ's Authority - the Question of Tribute to Cæsar - The
THE record of this third day is so crowded, the actors introduced on the scene are so many, the occurrences so varied, and the transitions so rapid, that it is even more than usually difficult to arrange all in chronological order. Nor need we wonder at this, when we remember that this was, so to speak, Christ's last working-day - the last, of His public Mission to Israel, so far as its active part was concerned; the last day in the Temple; the last, of teaching and warning to Pharisees and Sadducees;
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Third Day in Passion-Week - the Last Controversies and Discourses - the Sadducees and the Resurrection - the Scribe and the Great Commandment - Question
THE last day in the Temple was not to pass without other temptations' than that of the Priests when they questioned His authority, or of the Pharisees when they cunningly sought to entangle Him in His speech. Indeed, Christ had on this occasion taken a different position; He had claimed supreme authority, and thus challenged the leaders of Israel. For this reason, and because at the last we expect assaults from all His enemies, we are prepared for the controversies of that day. We remember that,
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Fac-Similes
OF ANCIENT NEW TESTAMENT MANUSCRIPTS, TO ILLUSTRATE CHAPTER XXVI., PAGE 380. Most of the following specimens of ancient manuscripts are taken from Scrivener's Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament. No. (1) is from Tischendorf s Novum Testamentum Graece ex Sinaitico Codice; Nos. (2) and (11) from Smith's Dictionary of the Bible; and No. (5) from Horne's Introduction, Vol. IV. No. (1). PLATE I. SINAI CODEX, Century IV. Heb. 12:27-29. Notice the occasional use of very small letters. In
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

The Third Day in Pasion-Week - the Last Series of Parables: to the Pharisees and to the People - on the Way to Jerusalem: the Parable
(ST. Matt. xix. 30, xx. 16; St. Matt. xxi. 28-32; St. Mark xii. 1-12; St. Luke xx. 9-19; St. Matt. xxii. 1-14.) ALTHOUGH it may not be possible to mark their exact succession, it will be convenient here to group together the last series of Parables. Most, if not all of them, were spoken on that third day in Passion week: the first four to a more general audience; the last three (to be treated in another chapter) to the disciples, when, on the evening of that third day, on the Mount of Olives, [5286]
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Wherefore I Cannot Indeed Say, of Females who have Fallen Away from a Better...
14. Wherefore I cannot indeed say, of females who have fallen away from a better purpose, in case they shall have married, that they are adulteries, not marriages; but I plainly would not hesitate to say, that departures and fallings away from a holier chastity, which is vowed unto the Lord, are worse than adulteries. For if, what may no way be doubted, it pertains unto an offense against Christ, when a member of Him keepeth not faith to her husband; how much graver offense is it against Him, when
St. Augustine—On the Good of Widowhood.

Difficulties and Objections
"Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not My way equal? are not your ways unequal?" (Ezek. 18:25). A convenient point has been reached when we may now examine, more definitely, some of the difficulties encountered and the objections which might be advanced against what we have written in previous pages. The author deemed it better to reserve these for a separate consideration rather than deal with them as he went along, requiring as that would have done the
Arthur W. Pink—The Sovereignty of God

Synopsis. --Account to be Made of the Law of Atrophy through Disuse. --The virgin Birth and the Corporeal Resurrection of Jesus
VII SYNOPSIS.--Account to be made of the law of atrophy through disuse.--The virgin birth and the corporeal resurrection of Jesus, the two miracles now insisted on as the irreducible minimum, affected by this law.--The vital truths of the incarnation and immortality independent of these miracles.--These truths now placed on higher ground in a truer conception of the supernatural.--The true supernatural is the spiritual, not the miraculous.--Scepticism bred from the contrary view.--The miracle narratives,
James Morris Whiton—Miracles and Supernatural Religion

Of the Practice of Piety in Holy Feasting.
Holy feasting is a solemn thanksgiving, appointed by authority, to be rendered to God on some special day, for some extraordinary blessings or deliverances received. Such among the Jews was the feast of the Passover (Exod. xii. 15), to remember to praise God for their deliverance out of Egypt's bondage; or the feast of Purim (Esth. ix. 19, 21), to give thanks for their deliverance from Haman's conspiracy. Such amongst us is the fifth of November, to praise God for the deliverance of the king and
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Jesus Attends the First Passover of his Ministry.
(Jerusalem, April 9, a.d. 27.) Subdivision A. Jesus Cleanses the Temple. ^D John II. 13-25. ^d 13 And the passover of the Jews was at hand [We get our information as to the length of our Lord's ministry from John's Gospel. He groups his narrative around six Jewish festivals: 1, He here mentions the first passover; 2, another feast, which we take to have been also a passover (v. 1); 3, another passover (vi. 4); 4, the feast of tabernacles (vii. 2); 5, dedication (x. 22); 6, passover (xi. 55). This
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Cix. Jewish Rulers Seek to Ensnare Jesus.
(Court of the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, a.d. 30.) Subdivision B. Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection. ^A Matt. XXII. 23-33; ^B Mark XII. 18-27; ^C Luke XX. 27-39. ^a 23 On that day there came { ^b come} unto him ^c certain of the the Sadducees, they that { ^b who} say there is no resurrection [As to the Sadducees, see p. 71. We may regard their attitude toward Christ as expressed by their leader Caiaphas, see p. 528]; and they asked him, saying, 19 Teacher, Moses wrote unto us [See Deut. xxv. 5,
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The King on his Throne.
"Crown Him with many crowns, The King upon His Throne." When the time came for our Blessed Lord to return into Heaven again, He ascended in the presence of His Apostles, whilst in the act of blessing them; "and a cloud received Him out of their sight" (Acts i. 9). And, we are told, they "returned to Jerusalem with great joy" (S. Luke xxiv. 52), not sorrowing as before at His being taken from them. And when we consider what His Ascension implied, we can see that they had good reason for their joy.
Edward Burbidge—The Kingdom of Heaven; What is it?

The Barren Fig-Tree;
OR, THE DOOM AND DOWNFALL OF THE FRUITLESS PROFESSOR: SHOWING, THAT THE DAY OF GRACE MAY BE PAST WITH HIM LONG BEFORE HIS LIFE IS ENDED; THE SIGNS ALSO BY WHICH SUCH MISERABLE MORTALS MAY BE KNOWN. BY JOHN BUNYAN 'Who being dead, yet speaketh.'--Hebrews 11:4 London: Printed for J. Robinson, at the Golden Lion, in St. Paul's Churchyard, 1688. This Title has a broad Black Border. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. This solemn, searching, awful treatise, was published by Bunyan in 1682; but does not appear
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

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