Luke 20:16

16 He will come and put them to destruction and give the garden to others. And when he said this, they said, May it not be so.

Luke 20:16 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 20:16

He shall come and destroy these husbandmen
Which had its accomplishment at the destruction of Jerusalem: according to the other evangelists, these words are the answer of the chief priests, Scribes, and elders, to the above questions put to them by Christ, after he had delivered the parable; but here they seem to be the words of Christ, who also said the same, and confirmed what they had observed, and could not but own, that it was just and right, and what might be expected, with what follows:

and shall give the vineyard to others;
the land of Judea to the Romans in particular, and the church state, with the Gospel and ordinances of it, to the Gentiles in general, sometimes called "others"; (See Gill on Luke 5:29) and (See Gill on Luke 18:11).

and when they heard it, they said, God forbid;
though they were their own words, yet repeated and confirmed by Christ, and perceiving that they were the persons intended, deprecate the fulfilment of them; at least so far as they understood they related to the killing of the Messiah, and to the destruction of their nation, city, and temple.

Luke 20:16 In-Context

14 But when the workmen saw him, they said to one another, This is he who will one day be the owner of the property: let us put him to death and the heritage will be ours.

15 And driving him out of the garden they put him to death. Now what will the lord do to these workmen?

16 He will come and put them to destruction and give the garden to others. And when he said this, they said, May it not be so.

17 But he, looking on them, said, Is it not in the Writings, The stone which the builders put on one side, the same has become the chief stone of the building?

18 Everyone falling on that stone will be broken, but the man on whom the stone comes down will be crushed to dust.