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In this parable, the Jewish church is compared to a vineyard;
Almighty God to an householder;
his planting, pruning, and fencing his vineyard, denotes his care to furnish his church with all needful helps and means to make it spiritually fruitful;
His letting it out to husbandmen, signifies his committing the care of his church to the priests and Levites; the public pastors and governors of the church:
His servants are the prophets and apostles, whom he sent time after time to admonish thm to bring forth fruit answerable to the cost which God had expended on them;
His Son is Jesus Christ, whom the rulers of the Jewish Church slew and murdered.
The design and scope of the parable is to discover to the Jews, particularly to the Pharisees, their obstinate impenitency under all means of grace, their bloody cruelty towards the prophets of God, their tremendous guilt in crucifying the Son of God: for all which God would unchurch them finally, ruin their nation, and set up a church among the Gentiles, that should bring forth better fruit than the Jewish church ever did.
From the whole, note, 1. That the church is God's vineyard. A vineyard is a place inclosed, a place well planted, well fruited, and exceeding dear and precious to the planter and the owner of it.
2. As dear as God's vineyard is unto him, in case of barrenness, and unfruitfulness, it is in great danger of being destroyed and laid waste by him.
3. That the only way and course to engage God's care over his vineyard and to prevent its being given to other husbandmen, is to give him the fruit of it; that is but a vineyard that God lets out; it is no inheritance.
No people ever had so many promises of God's favour as the Jews had, nor ever enjoyed so many privileges, whilst they continued in his favour, as they did; yet though they were the first and the natural branches, they are broken off, and we Gentiles stand by faith; let us not be high-minded, but fear, Rom_11:20.