The parable of the evil vine growers is one of the parables of Jesus Christ contained in the texts of the three evangelists . It tells of a certain owner of the vineyard, who gave it to people to manage, and then, when the time came for fruit, he alternately sent servants to the winegrowers, after which he sent his son, but all the messengers were killed by the winegrowers:
| Gospel | Parable |
|---|---|
( Matthew 21: 33-41 )  | Listen to another parable: there was a certain landlord who planted a vineyard, surrounded it with a fence, dug a sharpener in it, built a tower and, giving it to the wine-growers, went away. When the time of the fruits approached, he sent his servants to the winegrowers to take their fruits; the winegrowers, seizing his servants, beat another, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the former; and they did the same to them. Finally, he sent his son to them, saying: My son will be ashamed. But the winegrowers, seeing their son, said to each other: this is the heir; let's go kill him and take possession of his inheritance. And, seizing him, they brought him out of the vineyard and killed him. So, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do with these winegrowers? They say to him: these villains will be put to death by evil, and the vineyard will give to other winegrowers, who will give him fruit in their days. |
( Mark 12: 1-9 )  | And he began to tell them in parables: a certain man planted a vineyard and enclosed a fence, and dug a grindstone, and built a tower, and, having given it to the winegrowers, went away. And in due time he sent a servant to the winegrowers - to receive the fruit from the vineyard from the winegrowers. They seized him, beat him, and sent him away with nothing. Again sent another servant to them; and they broke his head with stones and released him with dishonor. And again he sent another: and they killed him; and many others were either beaten or killed. Having one more son, kind to him, he finally sent him to them, saying: My son will be ashamed. But the winegrowers said to each other: this is the heir; let’s go, kill him, and the inheritance will be ours. And, seizing him, they killed and threw him out of the vineyard. What will the owner of the vineyard do? “He will come and put to death the winegrowers, and give the vineyard to others.” |
( Luke 20: 9-16 )  | And He began to speak this parable to the people: one man planted a vineyard and gave it to the winegrowers, and went away for a long time; and at one time sent a slave to the winegrowers to give him fruit from the vineyard; but the winegrowers, having nailed him, were sent away with nothing. He also sent another slave; but they, having beaten and cursed, sent them away with nothing. And he sent a third; but they, even having wounded him, drove them out. Then the lord of the vineyard said: What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; maybe when they see him they will be ashamed. But the winegrowers, seeing him, reasoned among themselves, saying: this is the heir; let's go kill him, and his inheritance will be ours. And, taking him out of the vineyard, they killed him. What will the master of the vineyard do with them? He will come and destroy the winegrowers of those, and give the vineyard to others. Those who heard it said: let it not be! |
Theological interpretation
Most interpreters attach the following meanings to the images used in the parable [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] :
- the master of the house is GodThe parable of the evil growers. 21st century painting
- vineyard - the Jewish people , chosen by God to preserve faith; Jewish Church, Jerusalem
- fence - God's Law given through Moses , angels
- sharpener (reservoirs for receiving grape juice) - an altar on which blood was shed
- Tower - Temple
- winegrowers - the chiefs and teachers of the Jewish people ( high priests , scribes, Pharisees ), those to whom the accusatory sermon of Christ was addressed
- excommunication of the master - the patience of God, the time since the Lord led the Jews from Egypt to the Promised Land , the life of the Jews of their own free will
- the time of fruit - came in the time of the prophets
- servants and slaves - prophets who denounced the wickedness of the Jews, who suffered persecution and death from them
- its fruits - knowledge of God, spiritual gain
- son, heir - Christ
- brought out of the vineyard and killed - Christ's prophecy that He would be executed outside of Jerusalem, as well as in addition to the desire of the ingenuous people
- the coming of the master - when God sees the lawlessness committed by the leaders; in a narrow sense: The Second Coming of Jesus Christ
Thus, in the parable of the evil winegrowers, Jesus Christ convicts the leaders and teachers of the Jewish people for being corrupted and not jealous of fulfilling the will of God, having appropriated God for themselves, beat the prophets sent to them for admonition, and now they intend to punish the Son Of God.
In response to the parable of Christ, having understood who is understood as winegrowers, the high priests and elders exposed themselves by calling the winegrowers villains and, as it were, they made sure that they consciously rejected the truth that was obvious to them. The cited passages of the Gospels also contain indications of the impending massacre of the Romans against the Jews, the destruction of Jerusalem , and also that the honor to bear the word of God will be transferred to the apostles .
From the interpretation of B. I. Gladkov [7] :
This parable made a strong impression on the people; when Jesus said that the vine-growers had killed their son and thrown out of the vineyard, the people, indignant at the evil wine-growers, shouted with one voice: “Let this not be!” (Luke 20, 16).
The high priests, scribes, Pharisees and elders of the people viciously looked at everyone like convicted criminals. Jesus' closing words about the first parable did not leave them in any doubt that the second would expose their iniquity; the content of this second parable was so transparent that the leaders and corruptors of the Jewish people had to recognize themselves in evil winegrowers; they should have guessed that Jesus knew their decision to kill Him. Yes, they undoubtedly understood that under the parable vineyard the Jewish people, of course, were chosen by God, the care of which was entrusted to them by the Master of the vineyard, God, the high priests and the chiefs of the people (winegrowers); they understood that God sent His servants, prophets to them, to demand the fruits of their government of the people, to admonish them that this management was not entrusted to them for their personal benefit, but in order to take care of the fruiting of the vineyard and give its fruits to the Master, there is to educate the people in the spirit of the exact fulfillment of the will of God; they should remember that these prophets were persecuted and even killed, that the last Prophet and Baptist John was rejected by them, and that they who had called Himself the Son of God, Jesus, they had already decided to kill, but had not yet had time. In a word, the meaning of the parable was clear to them, as it is now for us; but if they had given at least the slightest hint to the people the opportunity to understand that they would recognize themselves as evil winegrowers, then this people would probably grab stones and beat them all. It was this fear of the people that doubled their shamelessness and arrogance, and they, in order to show everyone that the parable has nothing to do with them, were asked by Jesus — so when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do with these winegrowers? - answered: “There is no doubt that these villains will be put to death, and the vineyard will be given to other winegrowers, who will give it fruits in time.”
These villains themselves pronounced a sentence on themselves, which was soon fulfilled: they took control of the Jewish people; the right to be guides of the will of God among Jews and pagans who came to the Jerusalem temple was also taken away, since the temple was destroyed, and the people scattered throughout the earth ceased to exist as a people [8] .
Notes
- ↑ St. Theophylact Bulgarian. Interpretation of the Gospel of Matthew.
- ↑ St. Theophylact Bulgarian. Interpretation of the Gospel of Mark.
- ↑ St. Theophylact Bulgarian. Interpretation of the Gospel of Luke.
- ↑ St. Nicholas of Serbia. Theodulus, or Servant of God.
- ↑ Holy Martyr Thaddeus (Assumption). Sermons.
- ↑ Archpriest Seraphim of Slobodskoy. God's law.
- ↑ http://predanie.ru/lib/aut/100413/
- ↑ B. Gladkov. Interpretation of the Gospel .