Parable of the Leased Vineyard

In the parable, and therefore in Jesus’s accusation, the tennets recognized the validity of the son being from the Father. There was no ignorance on their part, but an arrogant assumption that they could succeed in usurping the son’s authority.

The implication that those questioning Jesus were the vintners of the story was unmistakable. The use of the vineyard representing Israel was a common analogy and the threat to the religious leaders was that they would be replaced as God’s vinedressers. Luke gives us their response to that threat. When they said “God forbid!” it wasn’t that they should not act like that, but that they were irreplaceable.