Matthew 21:33-46
The Story of the Renters
“Listen to another story. A man who owned some land planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it. He dug a pit for a winepress in it. He also built a lookout tower. He rented the vineyard out to some farmers. Then he moved to another place. When harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the renters. He told the slaves to collect his share of the fruit.
“But the renters grabbed his slaves. They beat one of them. They killed another. They threw stones at the third to kill him. Then the man sent other slaves to the renters. He sent more than he did the first time. The renters treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
“But the renters saw the son coming. They said to one another, ‘This is the one who will receive all the owner’s property someday. Come, let’s kill him. Then everything will be ours.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard. Then they killed him.
“When the owner of the vineyard comes back, what will he do to those renters?”
“He will destroy those evil people,” they replied. “Then he will rent the vineyard out to other renters. They will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read what the Scriptures say,
“ ‘The stone the builders didn’t accept
has become the most important stone of all.
The Lord has done it.
It is wonderful in our eyes’? (Psalm 118:22,23)
“So here is what I tell you. The kingdom of God will be taken away from you. It will be given to people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces. But the stone will crush anyone it falls on.”
The chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ stories. They knew he was talking about them. So they looked for a way to arrest him. But they were afraid of the crowd. The people believed that Jesus was a prophet.
Matthew 22:1-14
The Story of the Wedding Dinner
Jesus told them more stories. He said, “Here is what the kingdom of heaven is like. A king prepared a wedding dinner for his son. He sent his slaves to those who had been invited to the dinner. The slaves told them to come. But they refused.
“Then he sent some more slaves. He said, ‘Tell those who were invited that I have prepared my dinner. I have killed my oxen and my fattest cattle. Everything is ready. Come to the wedding dinner.’
“But the people paid no attention. One went away to his field. Another went away to his business. The rest grabbed his slaves. They treated them badly and then killed them. The king became very angry. He sent his army to destroy them. They killed those murderers and burned their city.
“Then the king said to his slaves, ‘The wedding dinner is ready. But those I invited were not fit to come. So go to the street corners. Invite to the dinner anyone you can find.’ So the slaves went out into the streets. They gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good. Soon the wedding hall was filled with guests.
“The king came in to see the guests. He noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man couldn’t think of anything to say.
“Then the king told his slaves, ‘Tie up his hands and feet. Throw him outside into the darkness. Out there people will weep and grind their teeth.’
“Many are invited, but few are chosen.”
