Matthew 21:37 Meaning and Explanation
“But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →A father's decision to send his son after servants have been abused makes this verse weighty and vulnerable. Jesus places the owner's expectation in direct speech, inviting listeners to consider the honor owed to a son who comes bearing his father's authority and claim.
The householder finally sends his son, expecting the tenants to reverence him. Jesus brings the parable to its decisive point: the Son carries a unique claim, and the tenants' response to him reveals their rebellion against the owner.
The Context of Matthew 21:37
In the parable of the wicked husbandmen, a householder has made a vineyard and entrusted it to tenants. At harvest he sends servants for the fruit due to him. The tenants beat, kill, and stone the first group, then treat a larger second group in the same way. Verse 37 follows those repeated acts. The owner sends his son, expecting reverence. The tenants instead identify him as the heir, cast him out of the vineyard, and kill him. Jesus asks the leaders what the owner will do; afterward he cites the rejected stone and declares that God's kingdom will be given to people bringing forth fruit.
What Does Matthew 21:37 Mean?
The phrase "last of all" marks a final sending within the story. The owner sends "his son," a relation distinct from the servants who came before. His expectation, "They will reverence my son," names the fitting response of honor toward the son and respect for the father's authority expressed through him. The verse does not say that the owner is unaware of the tenants' previous violence. The parable has already described it plainly. Jesus presents the sending as the owner's purposeful action, and the coming events reveal the tenants' hearts. Their treatment of the son will show that their quarrel reaches beyond servants to the owner whose vineyard they have seized.
Jesus tells this parable while confronting chief priests and Pharisees in the temple, and they later perceive that he speaks of them. The son stands at the climax after the servants, just as the whole chapter has displayed Jesus' distinctive authority. He enters Jerusalem as David's Son, acts in the temple, heals there, and teaches its leaders. The parable turns those scenes into a question of stewardship: will those responsible for God's vineyard reverence the one he has sent and render the fruit due to him? Their later plot against Jesus gives the parable a solemn forward-looking force, while Jesus still addresses them and calls forth their judgment.
Jesus' language about the son harmonizes with Matthew's earlier witness that Jesus is God's beloved Son. At his baptism and transfiguration, the Father identifies him and commands that he be heard. Here the Father's sending and the tenants' rejection anticipate Jesus being cast out and killed, yet the parable continues toward God's judgment and the gift of the kingdom to fruit-bearing people. The son's death is therefore neither accidental nor outside God's saving purpose, though the tenants bear responsibility for their violence. The rejected-stone citation that follows announces God's vindication of the one rejected by builders.
Bible Verses Related to Matthew 21:37
“And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
- Matthew 3:17
“While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.”
- Matthew 17:5
“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.”
- Matthew 21:38
“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,”
- Hebrews 1:1
Where Matthew 21:37 Echoes in Scripture
Hebrews 1:1 provides a particularly strong later echo. It places God's speech through prophets beside his climactic speaking through a Son, which closely matches the parable's movement from servants to the son. The verse does not retell the parable, yet it helps us hear why the son's arrival carries such decisive weight in God's redemptive communication.
How to Apply Matthew 21:37 Today
This verse invites reverence toward Christ that reaches beyond admiration. We can receive his teaching, honor his authority in the places where we hold responsibility, and bring God the fruit of obedience, mercy, and prayer. The parable also cautions communities entrusted with holy things. Offices, knowledge, traditions, resources, and places of worship remain gifts held under God's claim. Reverence for the Son includes refusing to use God's gifts for self-protection or self-advancement. His presence asks for humble reception, truthful repentance, and lives that answer the Father's generosity.
Reflection & Prayer
How might our ordinary choices show deeper reverence for the Son whom the Father has sent? Prayer: Father, teach us to hear and honor your Son. Free us from possessiveness, form in us the fruit you seek, and keep our hearts reverent before Christ.