Matthew 21:45

45 When the religious leaders heard this story, they knew it was aimed at them.

Matthew 21:45 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 21:45

And when the chief priests and Pharisees
Which latter, though not before mentioned, were many of them of the grand sanhedrim, as well as the chief priests, scribes, and elders: "had heard his parables"; that of the two sons being sent into the vineyard, and that of the letting out the vineyard to husbandmen,

they perceived that he spake of them:
they plainly saw that they were designed by the son, that promised to go into the vineyard, but did not; only talked of works, but did not do them: and that they were the husbandmen that acted the ungrateful part to the householder, and the cruel one to his servants, and would to his son, their own consciences told them they were the men. They knew that the whole was levelled against them, and designed for them, and exactly hit their case.

Matthew 21:45 In-Context

43 "This is the way it is with you. God's kingdom will be taken back from you and handed over to a people who will live out a kingdom life.
44 Whoever stumbles on this Stone gets shattered; whoever the Stone falls on gets smashed."
45 When the religious leaders heard this story, they knew it was aimed at them.
46 They wanted to arrest Jesus and put him in jail, but, intimidated by public opinion, they held back. Most people held him to be a prophet of God.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.