Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 21:41

"They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will let out the vineyard unto other husbandmen, who shall render him the fruits in their seasons." — Matthew 21:41 (ASV)

They said to him... — The fact that the answer to the question came not from the speaker, but from those who heard the parable, is unique to Matthew's Gospel. Assuming that the scribes and Pharisees were the ones who answered, we can see in their response either a genuine unawareness that they were the men on whom the punishment would fall (see Note on Matthew 21:31), or, more likely, an affected horror by which they tried to hide their conviction that the parable was aimed at them. In front of the crowd, they would not admit that they flinched at this hint that their plans were known.

Those wicked men — A better translation is those miserable men, as the adjective is the same as the preceding adverb. Their answer, like the speech of Caiaphas in John 11:49-51, was an unconscious prophecy. This prophecy contained both the destruction of the Holy City and the transfer of the privileges that had belonged to Israel to the Gentile Church, which would grow into the universal Church. The Lord of the vineyard would not be robbed of its fruit, and sooner or later, he would find faithful and true laborers.