Matthew 21:36-39. “Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.”
In a final effort, the householder sent his son to the vineyard to gather the profits from the husbandmen. Surely, thought the father, they will respect my son and heir, and he will settle the problems there.
Imagine the consternation and fury the elders and priest must have felt as Jesus uttered these words. The very Son that the Father had sent was standing in their midst. They had to understand what He was saying. How would they treat the Son? Will they receive Him and His message? No, not for a moment. Their desire to see Jesus destroyed must have hardened in that moment into the plans they made to trick Him, trap Him, accuse Him and kill Him; to take Him outside the city and destroy Him, and seize His inheritance.
It is through His death, and resurrection, that we receive His inheritance, becoming joint-heirs with Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:17). That all would benefit by Jesus’ death was not in the plans of the chief priests, of course, but they did not know that they were part of the plan to bring salvation to a lost and dying world. They only knew that they had to destroy Christ before He destroyed their influence and power.
Jesus made sure they knew that He knew their hearts and minds. He knew what they wanted.
Linda's Bible Study 