I have to be quite honest. There is really very little about this parable that I like. “The weeping and gnashing of teeth” is one of my least favorite phrases in all of Scripture, and Matthew seems particularly fond of it. It appears six times in Matthew, once in Luke,...

There is a vineyard. Someone has planted it, put a fence around it, dug a winepress, built a watchtower, and entrusted it to tenants. And everything in Jesus’ parable turns on one simple fact: The vineyard does not belong to the tenants. They have been entrusted with it. They are...

“By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” That is the question the chief priests and elders ask Jesus. And it is a good question. Authority matters. We entrust people with authority over enormous parts of our lives. Parents have authority. Teachers have authority....