The Vineyard of the Kingdom

Mat 21:33-44 HNV (33) "Hear another parable. There was a man who was a master of a household, who planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, dug a winepress in it, built a tower, leased it out to farmers, and went into another country. (34) When the season for the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the farmers, to receive his fruit. (35) The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned another. (36) Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they treated them the same way. (37) But afterward he sent to them his son, saying, 'They will respect my son.' (38) But the farmers, when they saw the son, said among themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him, and seize his inheritance.' (39) So they took him, and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. (40) When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?" (41) They told him, "He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will lease out the vineyard to other farmers, who will give him the fruit in its season." (42) Yeshua said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures, 'The stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the head of the corner. This was from the Lord. It is marvelous in our eyes?' (43) "Therefore I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and will be given to a nation bringing forth its fruit. (44) He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whoever it will fall, it will scatter him as dust."


Jesus spoke constantly about the Kingdom. In Matthew alone, kingdom is mentioned in 53 different verses, and multiple times in some of those verses. Many of those times, Jesus likened the Kingdom to a vineyard. Why a vineyard?



A vineyard is a place of FRUIT PRODUCTION. Other than that single point of fact, there doesn't seem to be a common rule about vineyards. The rules are up to the Master - or Owner. Lets take a look at what Jesus said about this particular vineyard - the Kingdom.

• God is the Master of a household. It was He who planted the vineyard. Eden was this way - a garden. The Kingdom is this way.
• He set a hedge around it. This was a protected vineyard. Eden was this way. The Kingdom is this way.
• There was a wine press in it. That means that within the vineyard - and the Kingdom - are all the tools needed to produce the final product.
• There is a tower within it. There is always a method for seeing what the enemy is up to. What would that be in the Kingdom?
• It was leased to farmers. It wasn't sold - it was leased. God set Adam and Eve to work. He said, "Be fruitful and multiply." What did he ask for in return? All the fruit, or a small portion? How does the Kingdom work?
• The Master went away to let the workers do their work. Why? Conceivably, He had work to do of His own.
• When was He to return? When it was time for harvest.

From this point, the problems were not the enemy outside the vineyard. The corruption came from within the vineyard - the servants themselves. If you'll recall, the serpent was 'in' Eden.

This Kingdom is BIG, and it is DEFINED by fruit production. It's a kingdom where the laborers are expected to be fruitful, and to give the master his due. I believe it's interesting that the evil servants were producing fruit (or at least trying to), but desired to keep it all for themselves.