Chapter

Matthew 21:37

ESV Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
NIV Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
NASB But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
CSB Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
NLT Finally, the owner sent his son, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’
KJV But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.
NKJV Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

What does Matthew 21:37 mean?

Isaiah 5:1–7 depicts Israel as a vineyard which fails to produce good fruit, despite the owner's care. As a result, the owner destroys it. Parallel to that, Jesus has been presenting a parable about another vineyard, also representing Israel. This time, the focus is on the men who the landowner charged with caring for the field. The owner rented the well-prepared field (Matthew 21:33–36) to some tenants. Their agreement would have been to give to the landowner a share of each harvest. But when the owner sends servants to collect his share, the tenants beat them and even kill some of them. This parallels Israel's tragic history of prophets being ignored or murdered by religious leaders (Acts 7:52)

Now the owner of the vineyard decides to send his own son to collect the rightly owed crops. He imagines that the tenants will respect his son, though they have killed his servants. Instead, the following verse will show that they see the arrival of the son as an opportunity to defeat the owner of the vineyards once and for all.
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