Kingdom Chat Week 35: The Parable Of The Householder
For this week’s discussion, I want us to look at the parable of the Housholder in Matthew 21:33-46. It is one of the numerous parables that Jesus told to illustrate the Kingdom of God. In this parable, we learn that a particular wealthy farmer planted a vineyard, fenced it, dug a winepress, put up a watchtower, then turned it over to some tenants and went off on a trip. When it was time to harvest the grapes, he sent his servants back to collect his profits. The tenants grabbed the first servant and beat him up, and murdered the next one. They threw stones at the third but, luckily, he got away. The owner tried again, sending more servants. They got the same treatment. The owner was at the end of his rope. He decided to send his son, thinking that surely they will respect his son. But it turned out that these tenants are bent on evil because when they saw the son arrive, they rubbed their hands in greed and said, ‘This is the heir! Let’s kill him and have it all for ourselves.’ They grabbed him, threw him out, and killed him.
The characters in this story represent different entities of which we will examine. First, the householder illustrated God the Father, who sent His Son into the world to redeem humankind. Secondly, the vineyard represents the Kingdom of Heaven, which God entrusted to the Jews, planted by God with the rich and fruitful vines of the knowledge of God, His commandments, institutions of religion, and His revealed word. The Tenants represent Israel, who had charge of the vineyard to render the fruit in due season to the householder. The householder going away illustrates the long period that God permitted the nation of Israel to be ruled under the guidance of kings and prophets of the law (Acts 13:17-43). The fruit harvest time illustrates the seasons that God expected results from the Jews in extending the kingdom among other nations and doing those things required to bring the knowledge of God to others. The servants in this story represent the Old Testament prophets, priests, and teachers, whom God sent to the Jews to render to Him the fruit of the Kingdom (Mt. 23:37-39; Heb. 11:32-40), and the son of the householder signifies Jesus, the son of God, who God sent to the lost sheep of Israel.
The maltreatment of the servants and the son illustrates the bitter hatreds and backslidings of Israel against God from the time in Egypt to the crucifixion of Christ. The scheme of the tenants to seize the inheritance illustrates the reason for Israel’s rejection of the Messiah. Jesus was referring to the religious rulers who rejected the notion that Jesus is the Messiah. These rulers knew that if Jesus was the Messiah and introducing the kingdom of God, the whole spirit of which was different from the kingdom of the religious elders; they would lose their places as rulers, as teachers, as men of influence, and their authority over the people and their chief business. These religious rulers and elders were so connected with a system of religion and wrong ideas, principles, and customs, which must pass away with the reign of the Messiah that if Christ prevailed, they must fall.
So, they imagined that if they could destroy Christ, they could continue in their possession of the inheritance and the religious oppression of the people. But Jesus came to set the people free truly, not just from the devil but also from spiritual bondage in the form of wrong doctrines, teachings, and mindsets that held people back from experiencing the true power and freedom in the kingdom of God, which he brings. In Mt. 23:13, Jesus rebuked these religious leaders, “I’ve had it with you! You’re hopeless, you religion scholars, you Pharisees! Frauds! Your lives are roadblocks to God’s kingdom. You refuse to enter and won’t let anyone else in either.”
God wants you to have eternal life and have it more abundantly, not controlled by rules, regulations, and doctrines that do not testify of the freedom that is in Christ. The Kingdom of God is yours to possess. It resides deep inside your spirit, far from the reach of religion, politics, and worldly culture.
As you reflect on this discussion, are there areas of your life that you need deliverance, freedom, or the truth of God to be revealed? Please share your experience with us. You can also share any insights that the Holy Spirit has given you concerning this parable that we just read.
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Thank you for expounding upon this parable @phil4krist. I think for the first time I read it and felt heartbroken by what it represents. I was reminded of the danger of “religion”. The way that the tenants refused to give the householder his share of what he had set up and given to them in the first place (what He is rightfully due) is sad. It demonstrates a lack of love, respect and honor for the householder. In other words, God shares His Kingdom with us, sends His Son for us, and yet we in our selfish ways so often end up making it about ourselves and our own profit. As much as it is true of the Pharisees, we can slip into this attitude very easily if we don’t readily check our own motivations and behaviors. I often get into the “motions” of service, whether it is with church, work or family, and it becomes about me getting things done so that I am satisfied with myself rather than doing those same things as service unto God and giving him the honor that He deserves. As mature believers, we are often doing the “right” things, but rightly handling the things of the Kingdom becomes more about adjusting the heart behind our actions rather than the actions themselves.
Thank you@phil4krist for the exposé on this parable of the Kingdom. It admonishes us on the risk of playing religion, not acknowleging the true purpose of God. Jesus told the Jews that they err because they do not know the scriptures nor the power of God. He told them that they suppress the word of God through their traditions (religious mindset exalted above the God of the true worship of God).
I think this parable warns us about the danger inherent in human nature where we covet and cling to positions and privileges of power to a point that we forget its true purpose. This is why the greatest threat to Christianity comes from religious leaders because they do not want their loss of purpose to be exposed by the ones who are demonstrating the true life of the Kingdom. They fight to retain their relevance which is why they didn’t mind lying to kill Jesus even when it was against the law they represented.
We must never lose focus on the true purpose of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ- He came to unfold the Kingdom of God and its influence on this earthly realms. We are His offspring and fruit of the Kingdom.
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