John Calvin Commentary Matthew 21:33

"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." — Matthew 21:33 (ASV)

Hear another parable. The words of Luke are somewhat different, for he says that Christ spoke to the people, while here the discourse is addressed to the priests and scribes. But the solution is easy; for, though Christ spoke against them, he exposed their baseness in the presence of all the people. Mark says that Christ began to speak by parables, but leaves out what was first in order, just as in other passages he gives only a part of the whole.

The substance of this parable is that it is no new thing if the priests and the other rulers of the Church wickedly attempt to defraud God of his right. For long ago they practiced the same kind of robbery towards the prophets, and now they are ready to slay his Son; but they will not go unpunished, for God will arise to defend his right.

The object is twofold: first, to reproach the priests with base and wicked ingratitude; and, secondly, to remove the offense that would be caused by his approaching death. For by means of a false title, they had gained such influence over simple people and the ignorant multitude that the religion of the Jews depended on their will and decision.

Christ therefore forewarns the weak, showing that, as so many prophets, one after another, had formerly been slain by the priests, no one should be distressed if a similar instance were to occur in his own person. But let us now examine it in detail.

A man planted a vineyard. This comparison frequently occurs in Scripture. Regarding this passage, Christ only means that while God appoints pastors over his Church, he does not convey his right to others. Instead, he acts in the same manner as if a proprietor were to let a vineyard or field to a husbandman, who would labor in its cultivation and make an annual return.

As God complains through Isaiah (Isaiah 5:4) and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 2:21) that he had received no fruit from the vine on whose cultivation he had bestowed so much labor and expense, so in this passage Christ accuses the vine-dressers themselves, who, like base swindlers, appropriate to themselves the produce of the vineyard.

Christ says that the vineyard was well furnished and in excellent condition when the husbandmen received it from the hands of the proprietor. By this statement, he presents a significant aggravation of their crime, for the more generously he had acted toward them, the more detestable was their ingratitude.

Paul employs the same argument when he wishes to exhort pastors to be diligent in their duty, arguing that they are stewards chosen to govern the house of God, which is the pillar and round of truth (1 Timothy 3:16).

And rightly so; for the more honorable and illustrious their condition is, they are under much deeper obligations to God not to be indolent in their work. So much the more detestable (as we have already said) is the baseness of those who pour contempt on the great kindness of God and on the great honor which they have already received from Him.

God planted a vineyard,⁴³ when, remembering his gratuitous adoption, he brought the people out of Egypt, separated them anew to be his inheritance, and called them to the hope of eternal salvation, promising to be their God and Father. For this is the planting of which Isaiah speaks (Isaiah 60:21; Isaiah 61:3). By the wine-press and the tower are meant the aids that were added for strengthening the faith of the people in the doctrine of the Law, such as sacrifices and other ritual observances. For God, like a careful and provident head of a family, has left no means untried for granting to his Church all necessary protection.

And let it to husbandmen. God might indeed by himself, without the agency of men, preserve his Church in good order; but he takes men for his ministers and makes use of their hands. Thus, long ago, he appointed priests to be, as it were, cultivators of the vineyard.

But what is remarkable is that Christ compares the prophets to servants who are sent after the vintage to demand the fruit,⁴⁴ for we know that they too were vine-dressers and held a charge in common with the priests. I reply, it was not necessary for Christ to be careful or exact in describing the resemblance or contrariety between these two orders.

The priests were certainly appointed at first on the condition of thoroughly cultivating the Church by sound doctrine. But as they neglected the work assigned them, either through carelessness or ignorance, the prophets were sent as an extraordinary aid. Their role was to clear the vine from weeds, to lop off superfluous wood, and in other ways to compensate for the neglect of the priests.

At the same time, they were to reprove the people severely, restore decayed piety, awaken drowsy souls, and bring back the worship of God and a new life. And what else was this but to demand the revenue due to God from his vineyard?

All this Christ applies justly and truly to his purpose. For the regular and permanent government of his Church was not in the hands of the prophets but was always held by the priests—just as if a lazy husbandman, while neglecting cultivation, claimed the place to which he had once been appointed, under the plea of possession.

⁴³ “Son vigne;” — “His vineyard.”;” — “His vineyard.”

⁴⁴ “Le fruit de la vigne;” — “the fruit of the vine.”;” — “the fruit of the vine.”