12:1–12 Jesus’ parable of the Tenants in the Vineyard is transparently a description of the leaders of Israel as unwilling to receive God’s word sent to them by the prophets, as verse 12 demonstrates. In the preceding passage (11:27–33), these leaders showed their rejection of John the Baptist and their opposition to Jesus. The parable says that in these actions they are guilty of rejecting those sent to them by God and are like their ancestors who had rejected the ministry of earlier prophets (see notes). But the parable not only interprets the preceding encounter between Jesus and the Jewish leaders, it also provides the background for the incidents that follow. There, representatives of the Jewish leadership debate with Jesus in attempts to trap him in an incriminating statement (12:13–…