Law under divinely appointed leaders without the constant, visible supernatural presence of God in His resplendent glory among them. They were required to walk by faith with God, and no longer by sight as had their forefathers did in the wilderness that visibly saw God’s presence every day. Now when the time of fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it (verse 34). The time between the householder’s departure from the vineyard and the nearness of the vintage can be considered a period of scheduled waiting to see how the husbandmen would fare in tilling the fruits of the vineyard. Often, when God sheds the abundance of His blessings on the sons of men, there comes a time of evaluative testing to see whether or not the recipient of divine blessing continues to follow and obey the instructions of God and put Him first, instead of the fruitful gain of material increase. Knowing the time of harvest was close at hand, the householder deploys his servants to collect the fruits of the vineyard from the tenants. The servants play a crucial part in revealing the true motive of the tenants as the parable unfolds to us later. They were sent from the householder and therefore the tenants were expected to openly respect and receive them as direct representatives of the householder himself. The meaning of the servants, in this indicting depiction of Israel’s continual apostasy from God clothed in symbolic language, is generally agreed by most Bible commentators to be the noble retinue of the Old Testament prophets. We are in strong agreement with this sound interpretation, but
not because Bible expositors are in general agreement as to the deduced meaning of the “servants” sent by the householder, but primarily because Scripture clearly reveals this to be the only true meaning of the particular identity ascribed to the servants. The two key words in verse 34 “sent” and “servants” disclose why this is so. Our Lord stated that the servants were “sent” by the householder. The prophets were official envoys sent from God to exhort and help prepare Israel to return, obey and faithfully serve God in humble subordination. In fact, from the days of Israel’s exodus down to the time prior to the Messiah’s first advent, the Lord had continually “sent” His “servants” the prophets to the chosen nation. “Since the day that your fathers came out of Egypt until this day, I have even sent to you all My servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them” (Jeremiah 7:25). The above quotation from the Scripture makes it quite obvious that the prophets were both “servants” and “sent” by God to Israel—the vineyard of the Lord (Isaiah 5:7). The Lord Jesus Christ testified of His sending the prophets to Israel when saying, “Behold, I send to you the prophets” (Matthew 23:34). God did not only send the prophets, but they were His faithful servants as well. God spoke to Israel through His faithful servants the prophets. “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7; Revelation 10:7; 11:18). The servants of the householder, as with the holy prophets under the authority of God, occupied a higher standing and a more honored position than the husbandmen, or the kings and religious
rulers of Israel. This was simply true because the servants were given authority by the householder to demand fruit from the tenants of the vineyard. The God of Israel sent prophets like Samuel, Nathan, Amos, and Haggai, and many other prophetic servants recorded in Holy Writ to boldly declare to the kings and religious rulers of Israel what God demanded and rightly expected from them as His Chosen People. In Israel’s case, it was the repeated maltreatment and hatred they murderously exhibited toward God’s servants, the holy prophets, which eventually led the leaders of Israel to commit the most terrible crime of all history—the murder of the Son of God! And this is precisely what is meant in the latter part of verse 34. The prophets passionately exhorted the nation of Israel to bring forth to God fruits of a spiritual nature—the fruits of repentance, righteousness, justice, obedience, mercy and humbleness. Indeed the requirements God voiced through the prophets are well summed up in the words of Micah the prophet, saying to Israel: “And what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with the Lord” (Micah 6:8). These were the holy fruits God desired from His vineyard Israel. So He sent His servants, the prophets, to demand and receive them. It is only natural to assume that the tenants of the vineyard would respectfully comply and warmly receive the princely emissaries of the absent householder. Ah, but the exact opposite occurs! The following verses of this parable well prove the awful truth of man’s innate depravity and violent opposition toward Almighty God.
Why Did Matthew Write his Gospel Matthew was one of the twelve Jewish apostles of Jesus and was thus a personal eyewitness following the Savior during His three year ministry in Israel. The Jewish texture and tone of Matthew’s Gospel makes it obvious to readers that Matthew wrote his Gospel to a Jewish audience providing apologetic proof that Jesus of Nazareth is the long-awaited Messiah of Israel. To bolster and reinforce this fact Matthew quotes First Coming Messianic prophecies from the OT that Jesus exclusively fulfilled in His life as the Messiah of Israel. Over 60 times Matthew quotes Old Testament prophecy that Jesus fulfilled as the Messiah of the Jewish Bible. This is irrefutable proof Jesus alone fulfilled these prophecies and no other. Out of deep love and a heavy burden for “the lost sheep of the House of Israel” Matthew goes to great length and detail to prove that
by fulfillment of Messianic prophecy Jesus of Nazareth is the One and only promised Messiah prophesied by God to come to the Jewish people in the land of Israel from the region of Galilee (Isaiah 9:1-2 with Matthew 4:13-19). As a tax collector for Rome in the land of Judea, Matthew was already expected to write short hand for
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