Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 21:40

"When therefore the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do unto those husbandmen?" — Matthew 21:40 (ASV)

Jesus puts the matter before them. Out of their own mouths the verdict will proceed. There is a time when the lord of the vineyard comes. To those chief priests that hour was drawing very near. The question for them to think of was, “What will he do to those husbandmen?”

As a class, the religious leaders of the Jews were guilty of the blood of a long line of prophets, and they were about to crown their long career of crime by the murder of the Son of God Himself. In the destruction of Jerusalem, the God of heaven visited them and dealt out just punishment to them. The siege of the city and the massacre of the inhabitants was a terrible avenging of the innocent blood which the people and their rulers had shed.