Matthew 21:28–46

A Story about Two Sons

²⁸“What do you think about this? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go to work in the vineyard today.’ 

²⁹“His son replied, ‘I don’t want to!’ But later he changed his mind and went. 

³⁰“The father went to the other son and told him the same thing. He replied, ‘I will, sir,’ but he didn’t go. 

³¹“Which of the two sons did what the father wanted?” 

“The first,” they answered. 

Jesus said to them, “I can guarantee this truth: Tax collectors and prostitutes are going into God’s kingdom ahead of you. ³²John came to you and showed you the way that God wants you to live, but you didn’t believe him. The tax collectors and prostitutes believed him. But even after you had seen that, you didn’t change your minds and believe him. 

A Story about a Vineyard—Mark 12:1–12; Luke 20:9–19

³³“Listen to another illustration. A landowner planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, made a winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to vineyard workers and went on a trip. 

³⁴“When the grapes were getting ripe, he sent his servants to the workers to collect his share of the produce. ³⁵The workers took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned a third to death. ³⁶So the landowner sent more servants. But the workers treated them the same way. 

³⁷“Finally, he sent his son to them. He thought, ‘They will respect my son.’ 

³⁸“When the workers saw his son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Let’s kill him and get his inheritance.’ ³⁹So they grabbed him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 

⁴⁰“Now, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those workers?” 

⁴¹They answered, “He will destroy those evil people. Then he will lease the vineyard to other workers who will give him his share of the produce when it is ready.” 

⁴²Jesus asked them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: 

‘The stone that the builders rejected 

has become the cornerstone. 

The Lord is responsible for this, 

and it is amazing for us to see’? 

⁴³That is why I can guarantee that God’s kingdom will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce what God wants. ⁴⁴Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken. If the stone falls on anyone, it will crush that person.”^a

⁴⁵When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his illustrations, they knew that he was talking about them. ⁴⁶They wanted to arrest him but were afraid of the crowds, who thought he was a prophet.