Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 21:33-44

"Hear another parable: There was a man that was a householder, who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into another country. And when the season of the fruits drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, to receive his fruits. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them in like manner. But afterward he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But the husbandmen, when they saw the son, said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and take his inheritance. And they took him, and cast him forth out of the vineyard, and killed him. When therefore the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do unto those husbandmen? 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. Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, The same was made the head of the corner; This was from the Lord, And it is marvelous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And he that falleth on this stone shall be broken to pieces: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will scatter him as dust." — Matthew 21:33-44 (ASV)

St. John Chrysostom: The purpose of this further parable is to show that their guilt was heinous and unworthy of forgiveness. ¹

Origen of Alexandria: The householder is God, who in some parables is represented as a man. He is like a father condescending to the infant lisp of his little child in order to instruct him.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: He is called a man by title, not by nature; in a kind of likeness, not in truth. For the Son, knowing that because of His human name He Himself would be blasphemed as though He were a mere man, therefore spoke of the Invisible God the Father as a man—He who by nature is Lord of Angels and men, but by goodness is their Father.

St. Jerome: He has "planted" a vine of which Isaiah speaks, The vine of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel (Isaiah 5:7). And "hedged it round about;" that is, with either the wall of the city or the guardianship of Angels.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Or, by the hedge, understand the protection of the holy fathers, who were set as a wall around the people of Israel.

Origen of Alexandria: Or, the hedge that God set around His people was His own Providence, and the winepress was the place of offerings.

St. Jerome: A winepress, that is to say, an altar; or those winepresses after which the three Psalms—8, 81, and 84—are titled, that is, the martyrs.ⁱ

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Or, He set forth the Prophets like winepresses, into which an abundant measure of the Holy Spirit, like new wine, might flow in a teeming stream.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Or, the winepress is the word of God, which tortures a person when it contradicts his fleshly nature.

St. Jerome: And built a tower in it, that is, the Temple, of which Micah says, And you, O cloudy tower of the daughter of Zion.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Or, the tower is the eminence of the Law, which ascended from earth to heaven, and from which, as from a watchtower, the coming of Christ might be observed. And let it out to tenant farmers.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: This happened when the priests and Levites were established by the Law and undertook the direction of the people. And just as a tenant farmer, though he may offer his lord something from his own produce, does not please him as much as by giving him the fruit of his own vineyard, so the priest does not please God as much by his own righteousness as by teaching the people of God holiness. For his own righteousness is but one, but that of the people is numerous. And went into a far country.

St. Jerome: This is not a change of place, for God, by whom all things are filled, cannot be absent from any place. Rather, He seems to be absent from the vineyard so that He may leave the vine-dressers freedom to act.

St. John Chrysostom: Or, it refers to His long-suffering, in that He did not always bring down immediate punishment on their sins.

Origen of Alexandria: Or, it is because God, who had been with them in the cloud by day and in the pillar of fire by night,ⁱ never after showed Himself to them in a similar way. In Isaiah, the people of the Jews are called the vineyard, and the householder’s threats are against the vineyard;ⁱ but in the Gospel, not the vineyard but the tenant farmers are blamed.

For perhaps in the Gospel the vineyard is the kingdom of God, that is, the doctrine contained in holy Scripture; and a person’s blameless life is the fruit of the vineyard. The letter of Scripture is the hedge set around the vineyard, so that the fruits hidden in it should not be seen by those who are outside. The depth of the oracles of God is the winepress of the vineyard, into which those who have profited from the oracles of God pour out their studies like fruit.

The tower built in it is the word concerning God Himself and concerning Christ's dispensations. This vineyard He committed to tenant farmers—that is, to the people that came before us, both priests and laity—and went into a far country, by His departure giving opportunity to the farmers.

The time of the vintage drawing near may be taken in relation to individuals and to nations. The first season of life is infancy, when the vineyard has nothing to show but that it has the vital power within it. As soon as it is able to speak, then is the time of putting forth buds. As the child’s soul progresses, so also does the vineyard, that is, the word of God. After such progress, the vineyard brings forth the ripe fruit of love, joy, peace, and the like. Moreover, for the nation who received the Law through Moses, the time of fruit draws near.

Rabanus Maurus: The season of fruit, He says, not of rent-paying, because this stiff-necked nation brings forth no fruit.

St. John Chrysostom: He calls the Prophets servants, who as the Lord's priests offer the fruits of the people and the proofs of their obedience in their works. But they showed their wickedness not only in refusing the fruits but in being indignant with those that came to them, as it follows, And the tenant farmers took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. ²

St. Jerome: They beat them, like Jeremiah; killed them, like Isaiah; and stoned them, like Naboth and Zechariah, whom they slew between the temple and the altar.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: At each step of their wickedness, the mercy of God increased; and at each step of the Divine mercy, the wickedness of the Jews increased. Thus there was a conflict between human wickedness and Divine goodness.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: These more than the first who were sent denote that time when, after the preaching of single Prophets, a great number was sent forth together.

Rabanus Maurus: Or, the first servants who were sent were the Lawgiver Moses himself and Aaron the first priest of God. After beating them with the scourge of their tongues, they sent them away empty. By the other servants, understand the company of the Prophets.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: The Son sent at last denotes the advent of our Lord.

St. John Chrysostom: Why then did He not send Him immediately? So that from what they had done to the others they might accuse themselves and, putting away their madness, they might reverence His Son when He came.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: He sent Him not as the bearer of a sentence of punishment against the guilty, but of an offer of repentance. He sent Him to put them to shame, not to punish them.

St. Jerome: But when He says, They will reverence my Son, He does not speak out of ignorance. For what is there that this householder (by whom God is intended in this place) does not know? But God is spoken of in this way, as if uncertain, so that free will may be preserved for humanity.

St. John Chrysostom: Or He speaks by declaring what ought to be: they ought to reverence Him. In this way, He shows that their sin was great and without any excuse.

Origen of Alexandria: Or we may suppose this was fulfilled in the case of those Jews who, knowing Christ, believed in Him. But what follows, But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance,’ was fulfilled in those who saw Christ and knew Him to be the Son of God, yet crucified Him.

St. Jerome: Let us ask Arius and Eunomius. See, here the Father is said not to know something. Whatever answer they make for the Father, let them understand the same of the Son, when He says that He does not know the day of the consummation of all things.ⁱ

Pseudo-Chrysostom: But some say that it was only after His incarnation that Christ was called a Son—in right of His baptism, like the other saints. The Lord refutes them in this passage, saying, I will send my Son. Therefore, since He planned to send His Son after the Prophets, He must have already been His Son. Furthermore, if He had been His Son in the same way as all the saints to whom the word of God was sent, He ought to have called the Prophets His sons, as He calls Christ, or to call Christ His servant, as He calls the Prophets.

Rabanus Maurus: By what they say, This is the heir, they manifestly prove that the rulers of the Jews crucified the Son of God not through ignorance, but through jealousy. For they understood that it was He to whom the Father speaks by the Prophet, Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance (Psalm 2:8). The inheritance given to the Son is the holy Church—an inheritance not left to Him by His Father at death, but wonderfully purchased by His own death.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: After His entry into the Temple and casting out those who sold animals for the sacrifices, they then took counsel to kill Him. Come, let us kill him. For they reasoned among themselves, "It will happen that the people will stop the practice of sacrificing, which relates to our gain, and will be content to offer the sacrifice of righteousness, which relates to the glory of God. And so the nation will no longer be our possession, but will become God's. But if we kill Him, then with no one to seek the fruit of righteousness from the people, the practice of offering sacrifice will continue, and so this people will become our possession." As it follows, And the inheritance shall be ours.

These are the usual thoughts of all worldly priests, who take no thought for how the people will live without sin, but look only to how much is offered in the Church, and consider that the profit of their ministry.

Rabanus Maurus: Or, the Jews endeavored by putting Him to death to seize upon the inheritance, when they tried to overthrow the faith that comes through Him and substitute their own righteousness, which is from the Law, and to instill it in the Gentiles. It follows, And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Christ was cast out of Jerusalem, as out of the vineyard, to receive His sentence of punishment.

Origen of Alexandria: Or, what He says, And cast him out of the vineyard, seems to me to mean this: as far as they were concerned, they judged Him a stranger to both the vineyard and the tenant farmers. When the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenant farmers?

St. Jerome: The Lord asks them not as if He did not know what they would answer, but so that they might be condemned by their own answer.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: That their answer is true does not come from any righteous judgment in them but from the case itself; they were constrained by the truth.

Origen of Alexandria: Like Caiaphas,ⁱ they did not prophesy from themselves, but prophesied against themselves that the oracles of God were to be taken from them and given to the Gentiles, who could bring forth fruit in due season.

Glossa Ordinaria: Or, the Lord whom they killed came immediately, rising from the dead, and brought those wicked tenant farmers to a miserable end, and gave up His vineyard to other farmers, that is, to the Apostles. ³

St. Augustine of Hippo: Mark does not record this as their answer. Instead, he relates that the Lord, after asking them the question, answered it Himself. But it may be easily explained that their words are added in such a way as to show that they spoke them, without inserting "And they answered." Or this answer is attributed to the Lord because, since what they said was true, it could well be said to have been spoken by Him who is Truth. ⁴

St. John Chrysostom: Or there is no contradiction, because both are right; they first made answer in these words, and then the Lord repeated them.

St. Augustine of Hippo: This troubles us more: how is it that Luke not only does not relate this to have been their answer, but attributes to them a contrary answer? His words are, And when they heard it, they said, “God forbid!” (Luke 20:16). The only way that remains for understanding this, therefore, is that of the listening multitudes, some answered as Matthew relates, and some as Luke.

And no one should be perplexed that Matthew says that the chief priests and elders of the people came to the Lord, and that he connects this entire discourse into one, down to this parable of the vineyard, without mentioning any other speaker. For it may be supposed that He spoke all these things with the chief priests, but that Matthew, for the sake of brevity, omitted what Luke mentions: namely, that this parable was spoken not only to those who asked Him concerning His authority, but to the populace, among whom were some who said, "He shall destroy them, and give the vineyard to others."

At the same time, this saying is rightly thought to have been the Lord's, either for its truth or for the unity of His members with their Head. And there were also those who said, "God forbid"—namely, those "who perceived that He spoke this parable against them."

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Alternatively, Luke has given the answer of their lips, Matthew that of their hearts. For some made answer openly contradicting Him and saying, "God forbid," but their consciences took it up with "He shall miserably destroy these wicked men." For so when a man is detected in any wickedness, he excuses himself in words, but his conscience within pleads guilty.

St. John Chrysostom: Or, as another option: the Lord proposed this parable to them with this intent, that not understanding it they should give sentence against themselves, as Nathan did with David. Then, when they perceived the meaning of what had been said against them, they said, "God forbid."

Rabanus Maurus: Morally speaking, a vineyard has been leased to each of us to cultivate, when the mystery of baptism was given to us to be cultivated by action. Servants—one, two, and three—are sent to us when the Law, Psalms, and Prophets are read, after whose instructions we are to work well. He that is sent is beaten and cast out when the word is despised or, which is worse, is blasphemed. He kills the heir (as far as it is in his power) who tramples underfoot the Son of God and insults the Spirit of grace. The wicked tenant farmer is destroyed, and the vineyard is given to another, when the gift of grace which the proud has despised is given to the humble.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: When they seemed discontented, He brings forward Scripture testimony, as if to say, "If you did not understand My parable, at least acknowledge this Scripture."

St. Jerome: The same things are treated under various figures; those whom He called laborers and tenant farmers above, He now calls builders.

St. John Chrysostom: Christ is the stone, and the builders are the Jewish teachers who rejected Christ, saying, This man is not from God (John 9:16).

Rabanus Maurus: But despite their displeasure, the same stone became the head of the corner, for He has joined together by faith in Him as many as He willed from both nations.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: He has become the head of the corner because He is the union of both sides, between the Law and the Gentiles.

St. John Chrysostom: And so that they would know that nothing that had been done was against God's will, He adds, This was the Lord’s doing.

Origen of Alexandria: That is, the stone is the gift of God to the whole building, and is wonderful in our eyes—we who can discern it with the eyes of the mind.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: It is as if to say, "How do you not understand in what building that stone is to be set? Not in yours, seeing it is rejected, but in another. But if the building is to be a different one, then your building will be rejected."

Origen of Alexandria: By the kingdom of God, He means the mysteries of the kingdom of God, that is, the divine Scriptures, which the Lord committed first to that former people who had the oracles of God, but secondly to the Gentiles who brought forth fruit. For the word of God is given to no one but him who brings fruit from it, and the kingdom of God is given to no one in whom sin reigns.

How did it come to be given to them from whom it was afterwards taken away? Remember that whatever is given is a free gift. To whom, then, He leased the vineyard, He leased it not to those who were already elect and believing. Rather, to whomever He gave it, He gave it with a decree of election.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Christ is called a Stone, not only because of His strength, but because He mightily crushes His enemies, from which it follows, And whoever falls on this stone will be broken, but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.

St. Jerome: Whoever sins, yet believes in Him, falls indeed upon a stone and is broken, yet is not completely crushed, but is preserved for salvation through endurance. But on whomever it shall fall—that is, whoever this stone itself attacks and who utterly denies Christ—it shall so crush him that not a fragment of him will be left large enough to carry water.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: It is one thing to be broken and another to be ground to powder. Something remains of what is broken, but what is ground to powder is, as it were, turned into dust. And what falls upon a stone is not broken by any power of the stone, but because it fell heavily, either because of its weight or its fall from a great height. So a Christian in sinning perishes, but not to the utmost that Christ can destroy; he perishes only so far as he destroys himself, either by the greatness of his sin or by his exalted rank. But the unbelievers perish to the utmost that Christ can destroy them.

St. John Chrysostom: Or, He points out their twofold destruction here: first, in their stumbling and being offended by Him, signified by, Whoever falls on this stone; the second, in the captivity that would come upon them, signified by, but on whomever it falls.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Or, those that fall on Him are those who despise and persecute Him. These do not perish utterly but are broken, so that they cannot walk upright. But He shall fall upon these when He comes from above to judge, bringing a punishment of destruction. Thence He says He "shall grind them to powder," because the wicked are like the dust which the wind scattereth abroad on the face of the earth (Psalm 1:4). ⁵

1. Hom, lxviii
2. non occ., ap. Chrys
3. ord.
4. de Cons. Ev., ii, 70
5. Quaest. Ev., i. 30