Matthew 21:33-46

³³ “Listen to another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it out to tenants, and went into another land.

³⁴ When the season for fruit harvest drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit.

³⁵ And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.

³⁶ He sent other servants again, more than the first. And they did the same to them.

³⁷ Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’

³⁸ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and we will have his inheritance.’

³⁹ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

⁴⁰ When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

⁴¹ They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits at the appropriate times.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘ The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and we see it as a marvelous thing’?

⁴³ This is why I am telling you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who are producing its fruits.

⁴⁴ And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they figured out that he was speaking about them.

⁴⁶ And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they thought he was a prophet.

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the rightful heir

There is a difference between putting on a good religious show and welcoming Jesus into our lives. The difference is respect for him as the rightful heir to God’s universe. The chief priests and Pharisees had no problem with the concept of the Messiah, but there was a difference between accepting an idea and submitting to a leader. Somewhere inside us is a little Pharisee who is comfortable with his own way of running the vineyard. If we don’t run that imposter off, he will crucify Christ all over again in our hearts.

LORD, we choose to submit to your Son, the rightful heir to your universe.