“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.”
My Notes
What Does Matthew 21:38 Mean?
Matthew 21:38 is the turning point of the parable of the wicked tenants — one of Jesus's most transparent and confrontational parables, told directly to the chief priests and Pharisees (v. 45) who are plotting His death. The parable is thinly veiled allegory: the vineyard is Israel, the owner is God, the tenants are Israel's leaders, the servants are the prophets, and the son is Jesus Himself.
"But when the husbandmen saw the son" — the Greek ton huion (the son) is emphatic. Not another servant. The son. The heir. The owner's final, most personal envoy. Every previous messenger was a servant — this one changes the category entirely.
"They said among themselves, This is the heir" — the Greek houtos estin ho klēronomos (this is the heir) reveals that the tenants know exactly who they're dealing with. Their violence is not a case of mistaken identity. They recognize the son. They understand his authority. And that recognition is precisely what motivates the murder.
"Come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance" — the Greek apokteinōmen auton kai schōmen tēn klēronomian autou (let us kill him and take his inheritance) exposes the logic of the crime. The tenants believe that eliminating the heir will give them ownership. If no heir exists, the vineyard defaults to them. The murder is strategic, calculated, based on a coherent (if evil) plan.
Jesus is describing His own murder in advance — to the people who will carry it out. The chief priests understand the parable is about them (v. 45). They know they are the wicked tenants. And they respond by plotting to do exactly what the parable predicts (v. 46 — "they sought to lay hands on him"). The parable doesn't prevent the murder. It illuminates it.
Reflection Questions
- 1.The tenants recognized the son and killed him anyway. Where in your life do you recognize God's authority but resist it because it threatens something you've claimed as your own?
- 2.The murder was strategic — 'let us seize his inheritance.' What are you holding onto so tightly that you'd resist God's rightful claim to it?
- 3.Jesus told this parable to the people who would carry it out, and it didn't stop them. When has hearing truth about yourself failed to change your behavior? What would it take?
- 4.The parable says God sent servants first, then His son. How do you recognize the difference between God's gentle warnings (servants) and His definitive word (the Son)?
Devotional
They knew who he was. That's the part that makes this parable unforgivable.
The tenants didn't kill the son by accident. They didn't mistake him for another servant. They saw him, identified him as the heir, and made a calculated decision: if we kill the heir, we get the inheritance. The recognition was complete. The violence was strategic.
Jesus is telling this parable to the chief priests and Pharisees. He's describing their plot — to their faces — before they carry it out. And the devastating irony is that hearing the parable doesn't change their behavior. They understand it's about them (v. 45). They feel the accusation. And their response is to do the exact thing the parable describes: they seek to seize Him (v. 46).
That's the terrifying power of sin at its most deliberate. It's not ignorance. It's not confusion. It's knowing exactly who Jesus is and deciding that His authority threatens what you've built, so He has to go. The vineyard has become yours in your mind. The servants who came before were nuisances. But the son — the son is the real threat, because the son has actual authority.
This parable asks a question that cuts deeper than it first appears: what have you built in God's vineyard that you're protecting against God's own Son? What area of your life have you treated as your own territory — your career, your reputation, your plans, your control — so thoroughly that when God sends His authoritative word into it, your instinct is to kill the messenger rather than surrender the inheritance?
The tenants' error was thinking they could eliminate the heir and keep the vineyard. They couldn't. And neither can you.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
But when the husbandmen saw the son,.... Whom many of them knew, though some did not: some were entirely ignorant of…
The parable of the vineyard - This is also recorded in Mar 12:1-12; Luk 20:9-19. Mat 21:33 Hear another parable - See…
let us seize on his inheritance This would be impossible in real life, but not more impossible than the thought of the…
Cross References
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