Where ch 11 dealt with recognition, this chapter deals with explanation; but in both Jesus' authority is being demonstrated.

v1: Jesus did not use many parables so late in His ministry, but those He did use brought clear challenges to unbelievers. His listeners would have thought of the reign of the king, in prosperity and peace (1 Kings 4.25), and Isaiah's parable (Is 5.1-2). The parable here explains the Lord's dealings with Israel; in Isaiah the vineyard was laid waste, here it is given to others.

The work of calling Israel was God's work; He planted a vineyard, the nation of Israel; He set a hedge around it, the law which protected the nation; He dug a place for the wine vat, a place of judgement by that same law; He built a watchtower, Levites, prophets, Judges; He leased it to vinedressers, the people of Israel; and He went into a far country, testing the people. The common practice of a vineyard owner leasing his property to farmers (vinedressers) was used to illustrate God's dealings with Israel.

v2: At the harvest time, the right time for fruit; see 11.13. The time had come for Israel, for the Messiah had come to Israel. He expected to find fruit, bringing glory to the owner of the vineyard.

v2-5: The parable refers to servants, prophets sent to receive the fruit; one was beaten and sent away empty handed, another stoned and shamefully treated, the next one killed; others were beaten and killed.

Compare Heb 11.36-38; great and godly men was mistreated by Israel; Joshua and Caleb (Num 14.10); David (1 Sam 30.6); Jeremiah (Jer 37.16,21); Urijah (Jer 26.21-23).

v6: Finally He sent His Son; Heb 1.1, the final revelation to Israel. "Until John" (Matt 11.13); there were no more prophets, no more opportunity to give the vineyard owner His due.

v7-8:  The tenants argued that they should kill the sin and then the vineyard would become theirs. That would have applied only on the death of the owner (hence the reference to the inheritance), as the ownership would revert to the tenants. They had not considered the option that the owner himself would return.

v9: The response to Jesus' question was obvious; His hearers would have given the same response (Matt 21.41). God has given the vineyard to others, the Church, Rom 10.19.

v10-11: See Ps 118.22-23; 1 Pet 2.6-8. Dan 2.3-4 refers to a stone cut out without hands, yet the one rejected by the builders. Although the image has changed, the message remains the same; salvation is the Lord's doing, but the people were not willing to receive from Him, and they are the losers.

v12: The chief priests and scribes were fearful. Like the vineyard workers, they knew the seriousness of rejecting the Son; 'Was Jesus really the Son of God?'; they stood condemned, and had to leave. Yet the Scriptures still had to be fulfilled; they had still to put Jesus to death.

v13-15: The Pharisees and Herodians were important leaders in the nation. They came to Jesus, also to destroy Him, but He recognised their hypocrisy. Although their words were true, their hearts and intentions were not. Unlike the Pharisees, the Herodians were a political group, obviously allied with Herod. In 3.6, they also worked with the Pharisees to destroy Jesus. An alliance between deeply religious and overly political is perhaps strange, but doubtless both regarded Jesus as an enemy of their respective causes.

Jesus rebuked them, "Why are you trying to trap me?"; no one had any right to test God. Jesus was the king, who did not need to carry money, for all things were His; Jesus was the servant, who did not have any money. The paradox of Jesus Christ the king and the servant.

v16: The idea of an inscription is used in Heb 1.3, about Jesus Christ being the 'inscription', or "image" of God.

v17: The lesson to be learned; where there is an obligation, it must be paid. The greatest obligation is that we obey God.

v18-23: The Sadducees' question was based on the O.T. law providing for widows. Whether or not their question was based on a real incident was not relevant; Matthew suggests that it was real, "seven brothers among us" (Matt 22.25). Jesus dealt with the principle.

v24: Jesus said that their problem was two-fold; they rejected the truth of the Scriptures, and they doubted the power of God. The Lord Jesus Himself was perfectly mature; He understood every word of Scripture, and He knew exactly the power of God.

v25: The power of God is seen in that there is a resurrection.

v26-27: The Scriptures teach that God is the God of the living; Abraham, Isaac and Jacob still live.

v28: The scribe was a man of intellectual interest only in the things of God; he was confident that he would be accepted by God, but he ended up being tested by the Lord Jesus.

v29: The Lord God is One; Eph 4.1-6; the unity of God should be reflected in His people; and we must be united in loving Him.

v30: The Lord Jesus quoted from Deut 6.4-5, and insisted that our love for God must be total, as the whole person is devoted to Him; the heart, or will, our decision making; the mind or soul, our personality; and our strength, our spiritual desire.

v31: The combination of the first and second commandments here provide the basis for the whole law, Matt 22.40, Rom 13.8. The Lord's quote is the 'yoke of the kingdom,' a well-known Jewsih concept of loyalty to God, but without the full commitment to the more than 600 specific rules found in the OT.

v32-33: The scribe gave a respectful commendation; he accepted the way of God, and was pleased that Jesus did also.

v34: The sting in the tail! The Lord commended truth; He did not condemn every scribe, just because many of them opposed Him, but He commended truth in any.

The Lord turned around the scribe's question; the Lord Jesus had the authority as to whether a person was in the kingdom of God. The scribe sought orthodoxy and accuracy; the Lord Jesus commended faith and love.

Jesus turned around the question in v28; 'you are not far from the kingdom of God.' He did not embarrass nor humiliate the other party.

v35-37: Jesus took the opportunity, having silenced Pharisees, Herodians, Sadducees, and the scribes, to bring His own question. The Jewish nation were expecting the Messiah to be the son of David; but how was the son of David also David's Lord?

The answer is in the wonderful truth of the incarnation, Rom 1.3-4, that Jesus was the root and offspring of David. The Lord clearly taught of Himself.

The common people heard Him with delight, not because they necessarily accepted Jesus, but because He had silenced the religious leaders.There was an evident animosity between the religious leaders and the 'common people.' In John 7.49,, the people are accused of knowing nothing of the law. The Lord identified with these people.

v38-40: Jesus attacked the wrong motives of the scribes. Not all the scribes were necessarily like this, but many clearly were, and the Lord had been in the temple area for a number of days, and had observed such things. Their wrong desires reflected unbelief, and they would receive 'greater condemnation'; and "be punished more severely". At least amongst the common people there was little pretence.

v41-44: Another incident illustrated real godliness. The Lord Jesus, and the other N.T. writers frequently commended women; Elizabeth, Mary, Anna, Luke 1-2; sinful woman, Luke 7.44-48; Mark, Luke 10.42; woman at Bethany, 14.6-9; woman at the tomb, 16.1-2; Dorcas, Acts 9.36; Phoebe, Rom 16-1.2; Mary, Rom 16.6. The Lord Jesus saw and commended their devotion; this was a contrast to the common attitude of the day that tended to demean women.

v41: Jesus observed 'how' the people put money into the treasury; He was less worried about 'how much'. Doubtless some announced their offerings with trumpets, see Matt 6.2. As Terry Virgo puts it, ‘God is intensely interested in our giving.’ (God’s Lavish Grace, p145) This is not to do with law and condemnation, but testing our hearts, and motivating us to give generously and cheerfully

v42: Jesus knew everything about the woman; perhaps He already knew her, and expected her coming, and used the incident to teach His disciples.

v43-44: Jesus did not condemn those who gave out of their abundance, but gave the highest commendation to the woman who gave "all she had to live on". The actual value would be around 50p. We note too that Jesus brought this teaching only to His disciples.