Matthew 21:28-46

“But what do you think about this illustration? Once there was a man who had two sons. He went to the first son, and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ The son answered, ‘I won't,’ but afterwards he was sorry for what he said and he did go. The man went to the second son, and told him the same thing. He replied, ‘I'll go,’ but he didn't. Which of the two sons did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. “I tell you the truth: tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you,” Jesus told them. “John came to show you the way to live right with God, and you didn't believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him. Later, when you saw what happened, you still didn't repent and believe him. Here's another illustration. There once was a man, a landowner, who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, made a winepress, and built a watchtower. He rented it to some tenant farmers, and then left to go to a different country. At harvest-time, he sent his servants to the farmers to collect the fruit that belonged to him. But the farmers attacked his servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned another. So he sent more servants, but the farmers did the same things to them. So then he sent his son. ‘They will respect my son,’ he told himself. But the farmers, when they saw the son, said to each other, ‘Here's the heir! Come on! Let's kill him so we can take his inheritance!’ They grabbed him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. When the vineyard owner returns, what will he do to those farmers?” The chief priests and elders said to Jesus, “He will put to death those wicked men in the most awful way, and rent out the vineyard to other farmers who will be sure to give him his fruit at harvest-time.” “So haven't you read this in the Scriptures?” Jesus asked them. “‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. The Lord has done this, and it is wonderful in our eyes.’ That's why I'm telling you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you. It will be given to a people who produce the right kind of fruit. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken, but it will completely crush anyone it falls upon.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his illustrations, they realized he was speaking about them. They wanted him arrested, but they were afraid of what the people would do because the people believed he was a prophet.