Matthew 21:43 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.

NIV: "Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.

NASB: Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit.

CSB: Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit.

NLT: I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit.

KJV: Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

NKJV: “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.

This states, directly, what the parable of the tenants in the vineyard said indirectly (Matthew 21:33–41). Christ tells the chief priests and Pharisees standing in front of Him in the temple that the kingdom of God will be taken from them.

Israel's leaders had held a powerful position on earth for centuries. Israel was God's chosen people, and He dealt with His people most directly through the leaders who were meant to guide them to obedience and righteousness and trust in Him. Those leaders, though, had failed for far too long, rejecting God's prophetic messengers (Acts 7:52). Now they had even rejected God's own Son, Jesus, as the Messiah. The result would be that the leaders of Israel would lose the role of tending the vineyard of God's people on earth.

Instead, Jesus says, the kingdom of God will be given to a people who will produce the fruit of righteousness and obedience to Him. Commentators disagree on whether Jesus is referring explicitly to moving the focus of God's relationship with humanity from Israel to the church, made up of all who trust in Jesus alone for their salvation. The church begins with the twelve apostles and grows for a time as an apparent extension of Judaism before eventually becoming a mostly Gentile movement. What all agree on is that Jesus will now be the dividing line between those who are the people of God and those who are not. All who would belong to God must come through Jesus, the cornerstone.

Matthew 21:33–46 begins with another vineyard-related parable from Jesus. This one involves tenants who refused to pay the owner His agreed upon share of the crops. Instead, they mistreated and killed the servants he sent and then killed the owner's son. Jesus compares Israel's religious leaders to these tenants, saying the kingdom of God will be taken from them. Jesus identifies Himself in a psalm about a stone rejected by the builders but chosen by the Lord to be the cornerstone. All who reject Him will fall on the cornerstone or have it fall on and crush them.

Jesus fulfills a prophecy from Zechariah about the coming of the king to Jerusalem by riding in on a donkey. The people celebrate and praise Him as the Messiah. Jesus drives the marketers and moneychangers out of the temple and heals some people. He curses a fig tree and tells the disciples nothing will be impossible for them with faith. Jesus forces cowardly and hypocritical religious leaders to back down with a question about John the Baptist. He then exposes their fraudulent spirituality with two parables about vineyards. Jesus applies to Himself a psalm about a rejected stone being made the cornerstone by the Lord.

Matthew 21 finds Jesus arriving near Jerusalem after leaving Jericho in the previous chapter. His triumphal entry is accomplished riding a donkey, and to raucous praise, fulfilling a prophecy about the Messiah. Jesus cleanses the marketplace from the temple, heals, and presents lessons about faith and Israel's failed leadership. This leads into further conversations which Matthew compiles from Jesus' interactions with the Pharisees.

The Gospel of Matthew clearly shows the influence of its writer's background, and his effort to reach a specific audience. Matthew was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, a Jewish man, and a former tax collector. This profession would have required literacy, and Matthew may have transcribed some of Jesus' words as they were spoken. This book is filled with references to the Old Testament, demonstrating to Israel that Jesus is the Promised One. Matthew also includes many references to coins, likely due to his former profession. Matthew records extensive accounts of Jesus' teaching, more than the other three Gospels.