Matthew 21:40 Meaning and Explanation
“When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →A well-told parable can lead hearers to speak the truth before they realize how closely it concerns them. Jesus reaches that moment here. The owners' coming is no vague possibility; the story has moved from patient sending to a reckoning. The question asks what justice requires after sustained violence against those sent on the owner's behalf.
Jesus asks his hearers to judge the tenants after they have described their abuse of the owner's servants and son. The question brings the parable to a moral decision about accountability, judgment, and God's rightful rule.
The Context of Matthew 21:40
The vineyard parable follows Jesus' discussion with the chief priests and elders and his parable of two sons. A householder prepared a vineyard and leased it to husbandmen. When he sent servants for fruit, the tenants beat, killed, and stoned them. He sent further servants, who received the same treatment. At last he sent his son, expecting reverence; the tenants cast him out of the vineyard and killed him in order to seize the inheritance. At verse 40 Jesus pauses the narrative and asks his audience what the vineyard's lord will do. Their reply in verse 41 supplies a judgment that Jesus then develops through Scripture and an application about fruitful response.
What Does Matthew 21:40 Mean?
The word "therefore" gathers the whole story: generous preparation, entrusted work, repeated missions, rejected servants, and the murder of the son. Jesus asks what the lord will do "when" he comes, placing the reckoning within the story's certain future. He does not immediately supply the answer. His hearers must name the fitting consequence of the tenants' conduct. That form of question gives moral clarity. They cannot describe the tenants' actions as harmless misunderstandings. Their conduct is violent rebellion against the owner's rights. The parable recognizes that patience has a purpose and that refusal can reach a point where the owner himself comes to judge.
The hearers answer that the wicked tenants will be destroyed and that the vineyard will be entrusted to others who will render fruit in season. Jesus then cites the rejected stone made the head of the corner and speaks of the kingdom being given to a people bringing forth its fruits. The chapter therefore connects judgment with God's continuing purpose for a fruitful people. The vineyard itself is not abandoned as a meaningless failure. Its owner remains committed to its fruit, and he entrusts its care where that purpose will be honored. This holds together divine patience, human accountability, and the persistence of God's kingdom work.
The parable plainly leads toward Jesus' coming death. The tenants kill the son after casting him out of the vineyard, and Matthew soon records Jesus being led outside the city to be crucified. Yet verse 40 also reminds us that the Son's rejection does not remove the Father's authority or defeat his purpose. The rejected stone becomes central by the Lord's doing, as Jesus says in the next verses. Christ's suffering belongs within God's redemptive work, and the parable warns against treating God's Son as one whose claim upon us can be ignored. His lordship calls for reverence and fruit.
Bible Verses Related to Matthew 21:40
“They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.”
- Matthew 21:41
“The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.”
- Psalm 118:22
“He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid.”
- Luke 20:16
“But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;”
- Romans 2:5
Where Matthew 21:40 Echoes in Scripture
Psalm 118:22 is the Scripture Jesus immediately brings forward after his hearers answer the question. Its image of the rejected stone becoming the chief corner gives the parable its decisive Christ-centered horizon. Human rejection is real and grievous, while God's purpose establishes the rejected one in the place of honor. Matthew 21:40 prepares the audience to recognize that God's judgment and God's vindication of his Son belong together.
How to Apply Matthew 21:40 Today
This question invites us to take moral accountability seriously without delighting in anyone's downfall. God is patient, and his patience gives time for repentance, faithful response, and restored obedience. We can examine the ways we handle entrusted responsibilities and the ways we respond when God's word confronts us. A community also benefits from this searching question when authority is exercised as stewardship under God rather than possession. The fitting response is reverence for Christ, care for what belongs to God, and a willingness to yield fruit that blesses others in the season given to us.
Reflection & Prayer
How does the certainty that God sees and will set things right shape our response to present responsibilities? Pray: "Righteous Lord, make us reverent and faithful. Keep us from hardening our hearts, and form in us the fruit that belongs to your kingdom through your Son."