The cleansing of the temple was a dramatic event that both captured the attention of the people and aroused the anger of the religious establishment. The fact that Jesus daily made the temple His headquarters for ministry only made the members of the Sanhedrin more indignant, so they decided to question Him. “What authority do You have to do these things?” they asked. “And if You do have authority, who gave it to You?”
Authority is important for the success of any social, political, or religious organization; without authority, you have confusion. The chief priests claimed their authority from Moses, for the law set the tribe of Levi apart to serve in the sanctuary. The scribes were students of the law and claimed their authority from the rabbis whose interpretations they studied. The elders of Israel were the leaders of the families and clans, chosen usually for their experience and wisdom. All of these men were sure of their authority and were not afraid to confront Jesus.
They wanted to push our Lord into a dilemma so that no matter how He answered, He would be in trouble. If He said that He had no authority, then He was in trouble with the Jews for invading their temple and acting like a prophet. If He said that His authority came from God, then He would be in trouble with the Romans, who were always alert to would-be messiahs, especially during Passover season (see Acts 5:34–39; 21:37–39).
Note our Lord’s wise approach as He turned things around and put them completely on the defensive. First, He asked a question (Luke 20:3–8); then He gave a parable (Luke 20:9–16); and finally, He quoted a prophecy (Luke 20:17–18). In each of these approaches, He revealed the sins of the nation of Israel.
Their past rejection (vv. 3–8). Jesus took them back to John the Baptist for two reasons. First, John had pointed to Jesus and introduced Him to the nation (John 1:15–34), so their rejection of John was actually a rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Second, it is a spiritual principle that if we disobey truth we already know, God cannot reveal new truth to us (see John 7:14–17). Why answer their question when they had refused to submit to John’s message?
Now it was the religious leaders who were in the dilemma! No matter what answer they gave, they were in trouble, so they decided to “play dumb” and not answer at all. They were deceitful in asking the question and dishonest in the way they avoided answering it. Even if Jesus had given them an answer, their hearts were not prepared to receive it. If they had disobeyed God’s message given by John the Baptist (Luke 7:24–30), they would disobey the message given by God’s Son. That was the theme of the parable Jesus told.
Their present rebellion (vv. 9–16). These men knew the Scriptures and recognized that Jesus was speaking about the “vineyard” of Israel (Ps. 80:8ff.; Isa. 5:1–7). God the Father blessed the nation abundantly and gave the Jews a land that was rich and pleasant. All He asked was that they obey His statutes and give Him the “spiritual harvest” He deserved.
Instead of being grateful for their blessings and joyfully giving the Lord His due, the nation proceeded to rob God and reject His messengers (see Neh. 9:26; Jer. 7:25–26; 25:4). God was patient and sent them one servant after another, but they refused to obey (Matt. 23:29–39). Finally, He sent His beloved Son (Luke 3:22), and they killed Him. In this story, Jesus gave His own death announcement.
Under Jewish law, any man could lay claim to ownerless property. The tenants may have concluded that the owner was dead; otherwise he would have come himself. If they killed the son, then they could claim the vineyard for themselves. This is exactly the way the religious leaders were thinking as they stood there before Jesus (see John 11:47–54)!
Their future ruin (vv. 17–18). Jesus fixed a steady gaze on them and quoted Psalm 118:22. The rulers knew that this was a messianic psalm, and they had heard it shouted by the crowd when Jesus rode into the city (compare Luke 19: with Ps. 118:26). By applying this verse to Himself, Jesus was clearly claiming to be the Messiah. The “builders,” of course, were the Jewish religious leaders (Acts 4:11).
In the Old Testament, the “stone” is a familiar symbol of God and of the promised Messiah (see Gen. 49:24; Ex. 17:6; 33:22; Deut. 32:4, 15, 30–31; Isa. 8:14; 28:16; 1 Cor. 10:4). Because the Jews did not believe, they stumbled over Him and were judged. Those who trust Jesus Christ find Him to be the foundation stone and the chief cornerstone of the church (1 Cor. 3:11; Eph. 2:20).
But Jesus also referred to Daniel 2:34–35, 44–45, where the Messiah is pictured as a “smiting stone” that crushes all that gets in its way. He was warning the Sanhedrin that they would only destroy themselves if they condemned Him. The same principle applies today, and unbelievers should carefully heed His warning.
When the rulers rejected John the Baptist, they sinned against the Father who sent Him. When they crucified Jesus, they sinned against the Son. Jesus had told them that they could sin against Him and still be forgiven, but when they sinned against the Holy Spirit, there could be no forgiveness (Matt. 12:24–37). Why? Because that was the end of God’s witness to the nation. This is the so-called “unpardonable sin,” and it was committed by the Jewish leaders when they finally rejected the witness of the Spirit of God through the apostles. The evidence of their rejection was the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:51–60). Then the gospel went from the Jews to the Samaritans (Acts 8) and then to the Gentiles (Acts 10).
In this parable, Jesus illustrated the insidious nature of sin: the more we sin, the worse it becomes. The tenants started off beating some of the servants and wounding others, but they ended up becoming murderers! The Jewish leaders permitted John the Baptist to be killed, they asked for Jesus to be crucified, and then they themselves stoned Stephen. They sinned against the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and that was the end of God’s witness to them.
It is a serious thing to reject the message of God and the messengers of God (see John 12:35–43; Heb. 2:1–4).