📖 Biblical Definition
Christ's parable in Matthew 21:33-46. A householder plants a vineyard and lets it out to tenants. He sends servants to receive his fruits; the tenants beat, stone, and kill them. He sends his son: they will reverence my son. The tenants kill the son to seize the inheritance. Christ asks: what will he do unto those husbandmen? The hearers answer: he will destroy them and lease the vineyard to others. The chief priests and Pharisees recognized that Christ was speaking of them.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
WICKED TENAN, n.
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A scriptural parable of Christ; the wicked tenants who killed the householder's servants and son.
📖 Key Scripture
Matthew 21:33 — "There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it."
Matthew 21:38 — "This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance."
Matthew 21:42 — "The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner."
Matthew 21:45 — "They perceived that he spake of them."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Christ's parable said the kingdom would be taken from the original tenants; modern presumption invites the same.
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The wicked-tenants parable is one of the most pointed and political of Christ's parables. He told it during Passion Week to the Jewish leaders standing in front of Him. The vineyard is Israel; the householder is the Lord; the servants are the prophets; the son is Christ. The verdict in 21:43: the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
Modern Christian institutions sometimes presume that being entrusted with the vineyard guarantees the vineyard. The parable refuses the presumption. The Lord can move the kingdom to other tenants who will bring forth fruit. Bear fruit. Honor the Son. The servants of the original lease and the new lease are not interchangeable; the standard is fruit. Whose tenants are you?
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Greek roots below.
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G289 — ampelourgos — vinedresser
G2818 — kleronomos — heir
Usage
"Christ said the kingdom would be taken from original tenants who killed the Son."
"Modern Christian institutions presume; the parable refuses presumption."
"Bear fruit. Honor the Son. The standard is fruit, not lease-history."