The last half of Matthew 21 contain two of Jesus’ parables that tell us that belief in Him is the way to Salvation. The second parable especially makes it clear that salvation is dependent upon Jesus and goes over prophecies of the rejection of Jesus by the Jewish nation.
Parable of the Two Sons
First is the Parable of the Two Sons found in verses 28-32. The first son says he will not obey his father, and then changes his mind and does obey. The second son says he will obey, but then doesn’t.
In this parable, the first son represents the “sinners” who listened to the message of John the Baptist and accepted Jesus as the Messiah. Even though they might have started out with a rebellious attitude, they later changed their mind and followed Jesus.
The second son represents the Pharisees, who being teachers of the scriptures and the most “holy” people around appear at first the to be the most likely and willing to do the Fathers will. But in reality they are the ones who reject the will of the Father by rejecting Jesus as the Messiah. Therefore, “the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God” ahead of the Pharisees, and unless the Pharisees repent from their self-righteous pride, they will not enter the kingdom of God at all.
Parable of the Tenants
The second parable of the Landowner and Tenants is in verses 33-46. In this parable, a landowner plans a vineyard and then rented the land to some tenant farmers. When it was harvest time, the landowner sent a servants to collect his fruit. When the tenants saw the servants, they beat, stoned, and killed them. Then the landowner sent his son.
But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, “This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.” So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
When Jesus asks the Pharisees what the landowner will do to the tenants, they correctly reply,
He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.
The tenants represent the Jewish nation, who throughout their history rebelled against God. Many prophets (represented by servants in the parable) were sent to the people, but their message was continually rejected by the majority of the people. Many of the prophets were beaten, stoned, and killed for bringing God’s message to the people. Then, God sends his only Son, who is also largely rejected by the Jews, and is also killed by the people. Just like in the Parable, God has given the benefits of his blessings and presence (the vineyard) to the Gentiles (other tenants).
Even though the Pharisees answered correctly in telling us the fate of the wicked tenants, they did not realize that they were actually included in that category until Jesus quoted Psalm 118:22-34 and explained it to them bluntly:
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
” ‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?“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. He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”
Then they understood and immediately started thinking of a way to arrest Jesus without causing a revolt from the adoring crowd.