Luke 20:13Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Following the intense suffering endured by the prophets, the Son is sent forth. He expresses a possibility, saying, "Perhaps they shall be ashamed" of Him. His use of 'they shall be ashamed' does not arise from uncertainty about the future; He knows that they would inflict even greater harm upon Him than they did to the prophets. Rather, it is intended that they would feel shame for their actions. However, their shamelessness in killing Him only serves to highlight their culpability, as despite God's desire for them to feel shame regarding the Son, they instead pronounced a judgment that contradicted it. This phraseology is echoed throughout Scripture, for example: "Will they perhaps listen?" (Jer. 26:3); "Will they listen?" (Ezek. 2:5; Ezek. 3:11). In these instances, God employs such language not out of ignorance of what is to come, but to illustrate this expression, preventing anyone from claiming that God's foreknowledge compelled disobedience.

The owner of the vineyard reflects inwardly, pondering, “What shall I do?” It is essential to examine the context behind his statement. He does not express this concern due to a shortage of servants; indeed, He has other agents of His divine purpose at His disposal. Rather, akin to a doctor lamenting to a patient, “What should I do?” who has exhausted every possible treatment without success, we conclude that the vineyard owner, despite having shown utmost kindness and diligence to his tenants, feels compelled to ask, “What shall I do?” What follows? He aims for even greater outcomes, declaring, “I will send My beloved Son.

After the Jewish leaders had mistreated numerous messengers and sent them away empty-handed, unable to yield any results, God chose to send His only Son. However, these unworthy individuals, seeking to claim His inheritance, ultimately killed the Son by crucifying Him and cast Him aside, effectively rejecting Him.

Similarly, this is true.

* See Matthew 21:37.

Through a similar vein of discourse, the Lord continued to disclose that due to their obstinacy and malevolent resistance, not only were they themselves but the entire nation deprived of the privilege of entering the kingdom of the Messiah. The new parable, shared not just with the Pharisees but also with the crowd (Luke 20:9-19), was drawn from the vineyard metaphor. In this tale, the Lord entrusted the vineyard not for laborers to work it, but that some would be sent solely to gather its fruits, dispatched multiple times—twice, even thrice. Yet, the wicked tenants mistreated the servants; they beat some, killed others, and stoned still others. Ultimately, He sent His Son; however, they resolved to murder Him as well, aiming to seize possession of what belonged to the Master by force.

It appeared that the moment had arrived to reclaim the vineyard from the unprincipled vine-growers. However, the owner, in his kindness, resolved to make one final attempt: "I have," he stated, "a cherished son; I will send him to them, for they surely will not reject him; they will likely feel remorse and honor him." Thus, the owner's son journeyed to the vine-growers, but upon seeing him from afar, they recognized him as the heir and, fearing he would claim the vineyard, plotted to eliminate him. "Let us put him to death," they conspired, "so that the vineyard may belong to us forever." Once they had made this determination, they seized him, killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.

Despite all the efforts he made for his vineyard, it yielded no fruit, or perhaps only sour fruit. The vinedressers, unable to produce any harvest and unwilling to confess their lack of productivity for which they were accountable, insulted, beat, wounded, and ultimately killed one messenger after another that the owner of the vineyard had sent. Finally, he dispatched his son. This son, whom they recognized, yet chose to reject, was also beaten, cast out, and killed. "So when the owner of the vineyard arrives, what will he do to these vinedressers?"