And He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress, built a tower, and entrusted it to tenant farmers, and went to a foreign country.
This parable was especially directed to Israel’s spiritual leaders. The vineyard symbolizes God’s people, Israel, whom the Lord had set apart from the other nations, kept under His special care, instructed through the Law and the prophets, and granted great spiritual privileges. The fence shows God’s guarding care, the winepress His right to expect fruit, and the tower the order of spiritual watchfulness and protection. The tenants were the leaders to whom the people’s spiritual care had been entrusted. Yet they were not the owners of the vineyard, but only stewards. This word reminds us that every ministry is a duty entrusted by God, and that a person is accountable before the Lord for the graces he has received.