And the chief priests and the Pharisees, having heard his parables, knew that he spoke about them.
Jesus had just told a story about tenants who killed the owner's son, and the leaders of Israel saw themselves in it. What they did next — and why the watching crowd held them back — is the lesson of these closing verses of Matthew 21.
Jesus spoke in story form, yet the leaders felt the point land.
William KellyIt is a remarkable scene in every way. The Lord is now drawing His testimony to a close, and He speaks with piercing decision. The chief priests and Pharisees might be spiritually powerless and dull, and His words might be wrapped in parables. Even so, they felt clearly where He was aiming. And yet, whatever their murderous will, they could do nothing until His hour had come. The people bowed to His word in some measure, and took Him for a prophet. He brought God before their conscience, and their awe gave only a faint answer to His words of coming woe.
One writer points to who made the vineyard, what He looked for in return, and where these leaders had met the picture before.
The Christian's FriendIt is HE who planted the vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug the winepress and built the tower. Then He entrusted it to tenants. This represents His care and work, and in return He looks for fruit. In general, the parable applies to all who have heard of Christ and have refused to believe in Him. But its first application is certainly to the Jews, and they must have understood that well. Isaiah 5 uses the same picture and very similar language about them, and God there shows that He had taken the greatest possible pains.
Understanding is not conversion. They had no answer left, yet nothing inside them moved.
F. W. GrantThey are silenced, but not won. The human heart is a fortress that can barricade itself against the clearest evidence. The conscience can harden itself by rejecting the truth again and again, until light becomes darkness.
Another commentator, on Luke's account of the same scene, names what was missing in them.
William KellyAgain the Holy Spirit notes their bad conscience, their hatred of Jesus, and their fear of the people. God was in none of their thoughts, otherwise they would have repented and believed in Jesus. What a comment on the parable was their desire to lay hands on Him!
The next verse explains the delay. They wanted to arrest Him, but the crowd held them back. One writer names the exchange behind that fear.
F. W. GrantThe chief priests and Pharisees knew that He was speaking about them; but His words held the people, and they could do nothing yet. Those who have lost the fear of God are the very people who will be most completely ruled by the fear of man.
Another commentator names the two masters they served.
J. N. DarbyThe rulers feared the people — slaves not only to their own passions and unbelief but to the people themselves.
The tenants in the story killed the son. The men who understood the story at once set out to do the same.
Leslie M. GrantHow unreasoning was the blindness of their hatred, however! They realised He had spoken this parable against them. So they want to fulfil His prophecy at once, without seeing that they were only confirming what He had said! But for the moment their fear of the people holds them back. It was not His time, though that time was only a few days away.
The men who did this were religious men. One writer presses the warning on every later reader:
The Christian's FriendMan was put in a religious position, taught with patience, and given outward advantages. Instead of giving fruit to God, he completes the crowning act of wickedness. Religious man kills the Prince of Life! What a solemn warning to those who would be zealous for God but do not know Him! They do not know Him because they neither know nor love His Son. That religion which does not have Christ as foundation and top-stone is worse than none at all.
- Perceived — The story hid nothing from them. The Lord brought God before their conscience, and they knew He meant them.
- Silenced — Having no answer is not the same as being won. A conscience that keeps rejecting the truth grows hard, until light becomes darkness.
- Unrepentant — God was in none of their thoughts. Had He been, they would have repented and believed instead of plotting.
- Enslaved — They lost the fear of God, so the fear of man ruled them. Only the crowd, who took Him for a prophet, held them back.
- Confirmed — They reached out to seize Him, and so acted out the very story they had just understood.
And seeking to lay hold of him, they were afraid of the crowds, because they held him for a prophet.
The Lord has just told the parable of the vineyard, and the leaders know it is aimed at them. Their answer is not repentance but a plan to arrest Him, and only the crowd's opinion of Him holds them back.
The leaders understood the parable. Understanding it did not soften them. It drove them to rage.
Hamilton SmithWith the conscience touched, but the heart unreached, man is only maddened. So these wicked men tried to seize Him. For the moment, nothing but calculation held them back, because they feared the people. So "they left Him and went away." How hopeless is the condition of those who deliberately turn their backs on Christ and go their own way!
Their own words in the parable had already passed sentence on them.
The Christian's FriendIn short, these wretched men were shown to be helpless and ignorant when Christ, who is Divine Wisdom, dealt with them. He made them confess the folly of their unbelief and the wickedness of their conduct. He even made them state the just judgment they deserved... But their eyes were at length opened; for when they had heard the Lord's parables, "they perceived that He spoke of them." And what was the effect? Only further and more pronounced enmity.
What stops them is not conscience but a headcount.
F. W. GrantThe chief priests and Pharisees knew that it was of them that He was speaking; but His words held the people, and they could as yet do nothing. Those who have lost the fear of God are just those who will be most completely dominated by the fear of man.
This is the second time in the chapter that the crowd has muzzled them.
F. B. HoleIn their defeat they thought of murder, and were only restrained for the moment by fear of popular opinion. In verse 26 we saw fear of the people putting its restraint upon their tongues. In verse 46 it lays a restraining hand upon their actions.
The crowd's verdict is the only thing shielding Him — and it is a low verdict. They rate Him a prophet. They do not name Him as the promised King.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThey knew Him; they knew what He meant. They wanted to take Him then, so great was their hatred, yet they were cowards fearing men, not God. The people held Him for a prophet only and not for the Messiah.
Their hands were tied, but not by the crowd alone. The timing of His death was never in their control.
William KellyIt is a notable scene in every way. The Lord is now drawing His testimony to a close, and He speaks with piercing decision. The chief priests and Pharisees might be powerless and dull in spiritual things. His words came in parables. Even so, they clearly felt where those words were aimed. And yet, however murderous their will, they could do nothing until His hour had come. The people bowed to His word to some degree, and took Him for a prophet. He brought God before their conscience, and their awe gave a faint answer to His words of coming woe.
The men plotting the arrest are the religious leaders of the nation.
The Christian's FriendMan was placed in a religious position, patiently taught, and blessed with outward advantages. Yet instead of bearing fruit for God, he carries out the crowning act of wickedness. Religious man kills the Prince of Life! What a solemn warning to those who want to be zealous for God but do not know Him! They do not know Him because they neither know nor love His Son. That religion which does not have Christ as foundation and top-stone is worse than none at all.
- Conviction. They grasped the parable exactly. But understanding the word is not the same as bowing to it: the truth touched their conscience and never reached their heart.
- Cowardice. Losing the fear of God does not free a person; it hands them over to the fear of people. Public opinion becomes the only brake left.
- Crowd. The shield that saved Him that day was a shallow one. The people rated Him a prophet, not the Messiah, and that estimate would not hold long.
- Clock. Their murderous will could do nothing until His hour came. The delay was God's timing, not their mercy.
- Caution. Those who arranged His death were the religiously privileged. Religion built on anything other than Christ is worse than no religion at all.