Luke 20:10

10 When the time came to gather the grapes, he sent a slave to the tenants to receive from them his share of the harvest. But the tenants beat the slave and sent him back without a thing.

Luke 20:10 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 20:10

And at the season
Or "when it the time of fruit", as the Ethiopic version renders it, agreeably to (See Gill on Matthew 21:34):

he sent a servant to the husbandmen;
or servants, as in ( Matthew 21:34 ) ; the prophets of the Lord, his messengers, whom he sent to them, to exhort them to bring forth the fruits of righteousness, as follows:

that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard;
that is, that they, bringing forth good fruit in their lives and conversations, whereby it might appear that they were trees of righteousness, and the planting of the Lord; he, or they observing them, might give an account of them to the Lord, to the glory of his name:

but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty;
the Jews not only mocked these messengers of the Lord, and despised their words, but misused them, ( 2 Chronicles 36:15 2 Chronicles 36:16 ) they beat them with their fists, smote them on the cheek, and scourged them with scourges; so that they had no account to give of their fruitfulness in good works, but the contrary; (See Gill on Matthew 21:35) and (See Gill on Mark 12:3).

Luke 20:10 In-Context

8 And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you, then, by what right I do these things."

9 Then Jesus told the people this parable: "There was once a man who planted a vineyard, rented it out to tenants, and then left home for a long time.

10 When the time came to gather the grapes, he sent a slave to the tenants to receive from them his share of the harvest. But the tenants beat the slave and sent him back without a thing.

11 So he sent another slave; but the tenants beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him back without a thing.

12 Then he sent a third slave; the tenants wounded him, too, and threw him out.