Matthew 21:37 records the owner of a vineyard deciding to send his own son to collect the harvest, believing the tenants will treat him with respect. The verse shows the owner’s patience and his hope, even after repeated refusals. Jesus says these words in a parable he tells to the chief priests and elders of Jerusalem, the religious leaders who are challenging his authority in the temple courts.
But afterward he sent to them his son, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
Matthew 21:37 (WEB)
What Matthew 21:37 Means
The verse opens with “But afterward,” which tells you the owner has already tried something else. He first sent servants, and when they were mistreated, he sent more servants. Only after that failed does he send his son. The sequence shows a man who keeps extending trust and who does not give up easily.
The phrase “They will respect my son” reveals his reasoning. He assumes that the tenants, whatever they have done to his servants, will recognize the authority and worth of the one who carries his name and standing. His expectation is reasonable on its face, which is what makes the tenants’ reaction so shocking. The verse does not promise that people will always respond well to the messengers God sends. It shows that the sender keeps sending anyway.
The Context of Matthew 21:37
Matthew’s Gospel was written for a readership that knew Jewish scripture and the imagery of Israel as God’s vineyard, drawn from passages like Isaiah 5. In that picture, the vineyard is the people of God and the owner is the Lord. Jesus is telling a story his hearers would recognize, and they would have understood that the tenants stand for the leaders who were responsible for Israel’s spiritual fruit.
The verses just before and after make the point sharper. The servants stand in the line of the prophets, whom Israel had often rejected, and the son points toward Jesus himself. Verse 38 shows the tenants planning to seize the inheritance by killing the heir, and verse 40 turns the story into a question about judgment. Read in that setting, Matthew 21:37 is not a quiet family scene. It is the hinge of a parable that exposes the danger of rejecting God’s final appeal.
Key Phrases in Matthew 21:37
Isaiah 5:7
For the vineyard of the LORD of Armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for justice, but, behold, oppression; for righteousness, but, behold, a cry of distress.
(WEB)
This verse states the imagery directly, identifying the vineyard as Israel and the fruit God looked for as justice and righteousness. Reading it alongside Matthew 21:37 helps you see why the parable would have been so pointed to Jesus’ original hearers, who knew this metaphor from the prophets.
Hebrews 1:1-2
1 God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds.
(WEB)
These verses describe God speaking through the prophets in earlier times and then through a Son in these last days. They offer a theological frame for the progression in the parable, showing how the sending of the son fits into God’s larger pattern of revealing himself to people.
A Short Prayer From Matthew 21:37
Lord, you keep sending your word and your messengers into my life, even when I have been slow to listen. Thank you for your patience with those who have turned away from you. Help me to receive what you send with respect and humility, and make me willing to bear fruit in the places you have placed me. Where I have resisted, soften my heart, and let me honor the one you have sent. Amen.
