Resource Detail

2025 Study of Matthew’s Gospel

JESUS, THE CORNERSTONE

Matthew 21:33-46

Key Verses 21:42

1. What might the landowner, vineyard, and farmers represent in the context of Jesus’ teaching (33)? What do the landowner’s careful preparations reveal about his character and his relationship with the farmers? What can we learn from the fact that the landowner expected fruit from his vineyard (34)?
2. Who might the servants represent in Israel’s history (35-36)? What does the tenants’ violent behavior reveal about their attitude toward the owner? Why do you think the landowner kept sending more servants, even after the others were mistreated?
3. Who does the son represent in this parable (37)? What does the landowner’s decision to send his son show about his heart, patience, and hope? What does this story reveal about the human heart’s resistance toward God (38-39)?
4. What does the listeners’ response reveal about their understanding of justice (40-41)? What does it mean that “the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (42)? What do we learn about the different ways people respond to God’s truth (43-46)?

2025 Matthew’s Gospel November 2, 2025

JESUS, THE CORNERSTONE

Matthew 21:33-46

Key Verse 21:42

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

What do you think justice is? Most of us would probably say that justice means punishing evil and protecting what’s good. We all want to see justice done in our world. That’s why we love heroes like Captain America. But the truth is, living out justice is far more complicated than we think. It’s not as simple as punishing the bad guys and rewarding the good ones. There’s a professor of political philosophy at Harvard University named Michael Sandel. He wrote a book called Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? In it, he explores how the idea of justice has been defined throughout Western history. One of the most famous stories he uses is called The Trolley Dilemma. Have you ever heard of it?

Imagine this: you’re driving a trolley when suddenly the brakes fail. Ahead of you, five workers are fixing the tracks, unaware of the danger. You can’t stop the trolley in time. But you notice a side track to your right. There’s one worker standing there. If you stay on the main track, five people will die. If you turn onto the side track, one will die instead. What would you do? Most people say they would turn the trolley, choosing to save five lives instead of one. That’s the utilitarian answer — the belief that the right action is the one that produces the greatest happiness for the greatest number.

But Sandel then adds a twist. Now imagine you’re on a bridge above the tracks.
The trolley is coming again. Next to you stands a large man. If you push him onto the track, he’ll stop the trolley and save the five workers—but he’ll die. Would you push him? Most people say no. Even though the numbers are the same, something feels different. Why? This is the dilemma of human morality. Even when the outcome is the same, we make different choices depending on the situation.

Today, I want to talk with you about God’s justice. God’s justice is very different from human justice. Human justice focuses on fairness, but God’s justice flows from patience, mercy, and love.

When Jesus cleansed the temple, the religious leaders questioned Jesus’ authority. Jesus told them a story: the Parable of the Tenants. There was a landowner who planted a beautiful vineyard in the best location. He put a wall around it to keep out wild animals. He dug a winepress in it so that people could put grapes in and crush them with their feet or heavy stones to extract the juice. That juice would then be fermented to make wine. The landowner even built a watchtower to guard the vineyard from thieves. He did everything necessary to make sure his vineyard could produce a rich and abundant harvest.

So what did the landowner do next? He rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. It seems that from the very beginning, the landowner built this vineyard for the purpose of renting it out. Now, if you’ve ever bought a house, you probably know the difference: when someone builds a house to live in, they pay attention to every little detail—the lighting, the layout, the finishes. But when someone builds a house just to rent out, they usually don’t put in the same level of care or investment. That’s why, when you buy a house, it’s always good to find out whether the owner built it for themselves or just for rent! But here’s what’s interesting: even though this landowner planned to rent out his vineyard, he still built it with great care. Every detail—the wall, the winepress, the watchtower—was perfectly made. This shows how generous and thoughtful he was.

And then, he moved away. For the tenants, that was actually the best possible deal. Think about it: if you’ve ever rented a place where the landlord lives in the same house, you know how uncomfortable that can be. The landlord can show up anytime, check on things, or even make you feel like you’re being watched. But if the landlord lives far away, you feel free, right? So these farmers had the freedom to work, enjoy the vineyard, and look forward to a rich harvest. They were incredibly blessed.

When harvest time came, the landowner sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit. In ancient Israel, it usually took at least three years for a new vineyard to start producing grapes. During the third or fourth year, the grapes were often poor in quality, so it wasn’t until the fifth year that the harvest was truly good. So imagine this: the landowner had invested a lot of money, time, and effort into building that vineyard. Then he patiently waited—five long years—before sending his servants to collect what was rightfully his. We don’t know exactly how much rent the tenants were supposed to pay. The Bible doesn’t specify. But according to historical records, farmers in those days typically gave the landowner about one-third to one-half of their harvest. That was the normal arrangement. So this landowner wasn’t being greedy; he was simply asking for what belonged to him. It’s like this: imagine you put a large amount of money into opening a restaurant and then rented it out to someone else to manage. Wouldn’t it be natural to expect a portion of the profits in return? Of course it would. The landowner’s request was completely fair and reasonable.

But then—what happened next? Look at verse 35: “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.” Wow. Isn’t that shocking? How could they do such a thing? These tenants had been working in a beautiful vineyard. They’d enjoyed the freedom to live and work there, and they’d produced a rich harvest. It was all a blessing. They should have been thankful to the landowner. Giving him a portion of the fruit was the most natural thing in the world—it was his vineyard, after all. But instead, they seized, beat, and killed the servants who came to collect what was rightfully his. What were they thinking? The landowner must have been stunned. Their behavior was a clear act of rebellion—a direct challenge to his ownership and authority.

And yet, what did the landowner do? The Bible says, “He sent other servants to them, more than the first time.” Maybe he thought there had been some misunderstanding—perhaps a conflict between his servants and the tenants. So he decided to send more of them—maybe kinder, more patient, better-trained servants—hoping they could reason things out peacefully and bring back the harvest. But the result was the same. The tenants treated them with the same violence.

At this point, the landowner had every reason to lose trust in them. He could have assumed that they had evil motives. He could have sent his soldiers to punish them immediately. But instead, he chose patience. He decided to give them one more chance. So what did he do? Verse 37 says, “Last of all, he sent his son to them.” That’s incredible. Who would send their son into such a dangerous situation? But the landowner said, “They will respect my son.” He still had hope. He believed that maybe the tenants would come to their senses, recognize their wrongdoing, and honor his son. This landowner was truly a man filled with patience, mercy, and compassion.

But the tenants completely betrayed the landowner’s trust. When they saw his son coming, they said to one another, “This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.” So they grabbed him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Can you believe that? The tenants turned violent, killed the son, and tried to steal what never belonged to them. What do you think of their actions? They were wicked, greedy, and cruel. If this were a Marvel movie, this would be the moment when Captain America would show up to set things right—to punish the evildoers and restore justice. That’s how we think justice should work, right?

Then Jesus turned to the religious leaders of Israel and asked, “When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” And how did they answer? They said, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and rent the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.” They were furious as they listened to the story. They wanted justice—they wanted those evil tenants to be punished. That’s what justice demands. But here’s the key point Jesus wanted us to know: we are those tenants. Historically, the people of Israel behaved just like them. They rejected God’s prophets again and again. And those religious leaders—the ones Jesus was speaking to—were about to reject and kill God’s Son Jesus. They were the wicked tenants in the story.

In this parable, the landowner represents God. The vineyard represents the world. The farmers represent us—human beings, and more specifically, the people of Israel. The servants represent God’s prophets. And the son represents God’s Son, Jesus. God created this world perfectly and entrusted it to us. We humans could have lived happily and forever in the beautiful Garden of Eden that God created for us. But because of Satan’s temptation, sin entered the world. People rebelled against God and rejected His ownership. And ever since then, humanity has drifted farther and farther away from God. But God didn’t give up on humanity. He chose Abraham, the father of faith, and began His history of salvation through him. God gave the people of Israel the Law and the promise of salvation. However, they rejected and rebelled. They persecuted, beat, and even killed the prophets God sent. And, in the end, they put to death God’s only Son, Jesus. We, too, betrayed God and rebelled against Him. But God kept sending us His servants, continually inviting us to return to Him — yet we rejected and ignored them. What should God do in the face of that? Shouldn’t He send His army right away to punish us? Shouldn’t He judge these people, consign the wicked to hell, and remake the world clean and new? Isn’t that what justice looks like?

But God didn’t do that. Instead, through His Son Jesus, God opened the way of salvation. Look at verse 42. Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” Here, Jesus quoted a prophecy from Psalm 118:22–23. It uses the image of a building. In ancient Jewish architecture, the most important stone in a structure was the cornerstone. The cornerstone guaranteed the building’s balance and stability. It also connected and unified the walls that extended in different directions. But Jesus said, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” What does that mean? It means that people rejected and killed Jesus, but God used Him as the very foundation for His kingdom. The kingdom of God is made up of those who believe in Jesus, who trust in His suffering, His death on the cross, and His resurrection. God’s kingdom is built when people come together and are united around Jesus as the center. Through the One whom people rejected, God opened the door for us to enter His kingdom. Anyone who recognizes their sin of rejecting Jesus, repents, and welcomes Him into their heart by faith will be saved and become part of God’s kingdom. This is the amazing expression of God’s love, mercy, and patience.

At the beginning of this message, I talked about the Trolley Dilemma—a story that raises questions about human justice. Now, I’d like to share a very different story—one that helps us understand God’s justice. It comes from a short film called The Most (which means The Bridge), directed by a Czech filmmaker. The movie also involves a train, but it tells a completely different kind of story. It’s about thirty minutes long, but I’m going to show you a shortened version—just six minutes. This film beautifully captures the love and heartbreak of a father who sacrifices his son to save the people on the train. In the same way, our Heavenly Father gave His Son, Jesus, to die for us so that we might live. Through Jesus’ death, God’s justice and love came together at the cross. And just like the woman and her child at the end of the film, the sacrifice of God’s Son brings new life to those who believe.

When I was in high school, my friends often invited me to church. One time, I went to the church of a friend who had been persistently inviting me, and I harshly criticized the people there, saying, ‘Why are Christians so hypocritical?’ After that, my friend never invited me again. Later, in college, many campus evangelists invited me to Bible study, but each time I ignored and refused them. I even had a serious argument with one evangelist. In the end, he said to me, ‘God will judge you.’ And I replied, ‘I don’t care.’ But God was patient and merciful toward me. He showed me the love of Jesus, who died on the cross for my sins. I repented of my sins and accepted Jesus as my Savior. God gave me a new life, and now I’m working in His vineyard to bear much fruit for His glory. Praise the Lord!

Now the question is yours to answer: Will you receive Jesus, or will you live like the tenants in the vineyard who rejected Him? If you accept Jesus, the Son of God, you will receive salvation and enter His kingdom. But if you reject Him, you will face judgment. So what will you choose today? May we accept Jesus as our Savior, so that we may live and have eternal life. Amen.