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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Matthew 21:28 Context: But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first, and said, 'Son, go work today in my vineyard.'</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001a.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801a.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551a.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251a.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051a.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901a.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801a.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501a.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451a.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../vmenus/matthew/21-28.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="/bmc/matthew/21-28.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="//biblehub.com/crossref/">Cross Refs</a> > Matthew 21:28</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../matthew/21-27.htm" title="Matthew 21:27">◄</a> Matthew 21:28 <a href="../matthew/21-29.htm" title="Matthew 21:29">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Context</div><font color="#000000"><b><i>Parable of Two Sons</i></b></font><p>      <span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/21-28.htm" target="_top"><b>28</b></a></span>But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, Son, go work today in the vineyard. <span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/21-29.htm" target="_top"><b>29</b></a></span>And he answered, I will not; but afterward he regretted it and went. <span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/21-30.htm" target="_top"><b>30</b></a></span>The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, I <i>will,</i> sir; but he did not go. <span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/21-31.htm" target="_top"><b>31</b></a></span>Which of the two did the will of his father? They said, The first. Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. <span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/21-32.htm" target="_top"><b>32</b></a></span>For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing <i>this,</i> did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him. <p><font color="#000000"><b><i>Parable of the Landowner</i></b></font><p>      <span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/21-33.htm" target="_top"><b>33</b></a></span>Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who <font size="1">PLANTED A</font> <font size="1">VINEYARD AND PUT A WALL AROUND IT AND DUG A WINE PRESS IN IT</font>, <font size="1">AND BUILT A TOWER</font>, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. <span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/21-34.htm" target="_top"><b>34</b></a></span>When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce. <span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/21-35.htm" target="_top"><b>35</b></a></span>The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. <span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/21-36.htm" target="_top"><b>36</b></a></span>Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. <span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/21-37.htm" target="_top"><b>37</b></a></span>But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, They will respect my son. <span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/21-38.htm" target="_top"><b>38</b></a></span>But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance. <span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/21-39.htm" target="_top"><b>39</b></a></span>They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. <span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/21-40.htm" target="_top"><b>40</b></a></span>Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers? <span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/21-41.htm" target="_top"><b>41</b></a></span>They said to Him, He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the <i>proper</i> seasons. <p>      <span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/21-42.htm" target="_top"><b>42</b></a></span>Jesus said to them, Did you never read in the Scriptures,<br>         T<font size="1">HE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED</font>,<br>         T<font size="1">HIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER</font> <i>stone;</i><br>         T<font size="1">HIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE</font> L<font size="1">ORD</font>,<br>         A<font size="1">ND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES</font>?<p><span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/21-43.htm" target="_top"><b>43</b></a></span>Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. <span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/21-44.htm" target="_top"><b>44</b></a></span>And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust. <p>      <span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/21-45.htm" target="_top"><b>45</b></a></span>When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. <span class="reftext"><a href="/matthew/21-46.htm" target="_top"><b>46</b></a></span>When they sought to seize Him, they feared the people, because they considered Him to be a prophet. <p><br /><br /><a href="//www.lockman.org" target="_top">NASB ©1995</a><div class="vheading2">Parallel Verses</div><span class="versiontext"><a href="/asv/matthew/21.htm">American Standard Version</a></span><br />But what think ye? A man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to-day in the vineyard.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/drb/matthew/21.htm">Douay-Rheims Bible</a></span><br />But what think you? A certain man had two sons; and coming to the first, he said: Son, go work to day in my vineyard. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/dbt/matthew/21.htm">Darby Bible Translation</a></span><br />But what think ye? A man had two children, and coming to the first he said, Child, go to-day, work in my vineyard.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/erv/matthew/21.htm">English Revised Version</a></span><br />But what think ye? A man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work today in the vineyard.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/wbt/matthew/21.htm">Webster's Bible Translation</a></span><br />But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go, work to-day in my vineyard.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/wey/matthew/21.htm">Weymouth New Testament</a></span><br />"But give me your judgement. There was a man who had two sons. He came to the elder of them, and said, "'My son, go and work in the vineyard to-day.'<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/web/matthew/21.htm">World English Bible</a></span><br />But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first, and said, 'Son, go work today in my vineyard.'<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="versiontext"><a href="/ylt/matthew/21.htm">Young's Literal Translation</a></span><br /> 'And what think ye? A man had two children, and having come to the first, he said, Child, go, to-day be working in my vineyard.'<div class="vheading2">Library</div><span class="headingtext"><a href="//christianbookshelf.org/maclaren/expositions_of_holy_scripture_b/the_stone_of_stumbling.htm">The Stone of Stumbling</a><br></span><span class="snippet">Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.'--MATT. xxi. 44. As Christ's ministry drew to its close, its severity and its gentleness both increased; its severity to the class to whom it was always severe, and its gentleness to the class from whom it never turned away. Side by side, through all His manifestation of Himself, there were the two aspects: 'He showed Himself froward' (if I may quote the word) to the self-righteous <a href="//christianbookshelf.org/maclaren/expositions_of_holy_scripture_b/the_stone_of_stumbling.htm" title="continued">…</a><br></span><span class="citation">Alexander Maclaren—</span><span class="citation2">Expositions of Holy Scripture</span><p><span class="headingtext"><a href="//christianbookshelf.org/maclaren/expositions_of_holy_scripture_b/the_coming_of_the_king.htm">The Coming of the King to his Palace</a><br></span><span class="snippet">'And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 2. Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto Me. 3. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. 4. All this was done, that it might he fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5. Tell ye <a href="//christianbookshelf.org/maclaren/expositions_of_holy_scripture_b/the_coming_of_the_king.htm" title="continued">…</a><br></span><span class="citation">Alexander Maclaren—</span><span class="citation2">Expositions of Holy Scripture</span><p><span class="headingtext"><a href="//christianbookshelf.org/maclaren/expositions_of_holy_scripture_b/the_vineyard_and_its_keepers.htm">The vineyard and Its Keepers</a><br></span><span class="snippet">'Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: 34. And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. 35. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. 36. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they <a href="//christianbookshelf.org/maclaren/expositions_of_holy_scripture_b/the_vineyard_and_its_keepers.htm" title="continued">…</a><br></span><span class="citation">Alexander Maclaren—</span><span class="citation2">Expositions of Holy Scripture</span><p><span class="headingtext"><a href="//christianbookshelf.org/maclaren/expositions_of_holy_scripture_b/a_new_kind_of_king.htm">A New Kind of King</a><br></span><span class="snippet">'All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass.'--MATT. xxi. 4, 5. Our Lord's entrance into Jerusalem is one of the comparatively few events which are recorded in all the four Gospels. Its singular unlikeness to the rest of His life, and its powerful influence in bringing about the Crucifixion, may account for its prominence in the narratives. It took place probably <a href="//christianbookshelf.org/maclaren/expositions_of_holy_scripture_b/a_new_kind_of_king.htm" title="continued">…</a><br></span><span class="citation">Alexander Maclaren—</span><span class="citation2">Expositions of Holy Scripture</span><p><span class="headingtext"><a href="//christianbookshelf.org/jowett/my_daily_meditation_for_the_circling_year/june_the_twenty-first_room_for.htm">June the Twenty-First Room for the Saplings</a><br></span><span class="snippet">"Children crying in the temple, saying Hosanna!" --MATTHEW xxi. 1-16. Children's voices mingling in the sounds of holy praise! A little child can share in the consecrated life. Young hearts can offer love pure as a limpid spring. Their sympathy is as responsive as the most sensitive harp, and yields to the touch of the tenderest joy and grief. No wonder the Lord "called little children unto Him"! They were unto Him as gracious streams, and as flowers of the field. Let the loving Saviour have our <a href="//christianbookshelf.org/jowett/my_daily_meditation_for_the_circling_year/june_the_twenty-first_room_for.htm" title="continued">…</a><br></span><span class="citation">John Henry Jowett—</span><span class="citation2">My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year</span><p><span class="headingtext"><a href="//christianbookshelf.org/schleiermacher/selected_sermons_of_schleiermacher/v_christ_and_the_unstable.htm">Christ and the Unstable. </a><br></span><span class="snippet">TEXT: MATT. xxi. 10-16. WE have lately seen from several examples that what is properly to be regarded as the suffering of the Saviour, that is, His pain on account of sin, and of the opposition which it offered to His divine work, did not begin merely with the time which, in a stricter sense, we indicate as His period of suffering, but accompanied Him from the beginning of His earthly life, and more especially during His public career. We shall consider this to-day more closely in connection with <a href="//christianbookshelf.org/schleiermacher/selected_sermons_of_schleiermacher/v_christ_and_the_unstable.htm" title="continued">…</a><br></span><span class="citation">Friedrich Schleiermacher—</span><span class="citation2">Selected Sermons of Schleiermacher</span><p><span class="headingtext"><a href="//christianbookshelf.org/augustine/sermons_on_selected_lessons_of_the_new_testament/sermon_xxxix_on_the_words.htm">On the Words of the Gospel, Matt. xxi. 19, Where Jesus Dried up the Fig-Tree; and on the Words, Luke xxiv. 28, Where He Made A</a><br></span><span class="snippet">1. The lesson of the Holy Gospel which has just been read, has given us an alarming warning, lest we have leaves only, and have no fruit. That is, in few words, lest words be present and deeds be wanting. Very terrible! Who does not fear when in this lesson he sees with the eyes of the heart the withered tree, withered at that word being spoken to it, "Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever"? [2949] Let the fear work amendment, and the amendment bring forth fruit. For without doubt, the <a href="//christianbookshelf.org/augustine/sermons_on_selected_lessons_of_the_new_testament/sermon_xxxix_on_the_words.htm" title="continued">…</a><br></span><span class="citation">Saint Augustine—</span><span class="citation2">sermons on selected lessons of the new testament</span><p><span class="headingtext"><a href="//christianbookshelf.org/spurgeon/spurgeons_sermons_volume_13_1867/a_sermon_to_open_neglecters.htm">A Sermon to Open Neglecters and Nominal Followers of Religion</a><br></span><span class="snippet">If the whole of us were thus divided into two camps, and we could say these have made a covenant with God by sacrifice, and those on the other hand are still enemies to God by wicked works, looking at the last class we might still feel it necessary by way of personal application to make a division among them; for although all unbelievers are alike unpardoned and unsaved, yet they are not alike in the circumstances of their case and the outward forms of their sins. Alike in being without Christ, they <a href="//christianbookshelf.org/spurgeon/spurgeons_sermons_volume_13_1867/a_sermon_to_open_neglecters.htm" title="continued">…</a><br></span><span class="citation">Charles Haddon Spurgeon—</span><span class="citation2">Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 13: 1867</span><p><span class="headingtext"><a href="//christianbookshelf.org/spurgeon/spurgeons_sermons_volume_18_1872/another_royal_procession.htm">Another Royal Procession</a><br></span><span class="snippet">When our Lord was here on earth, he was a humble man before his foes, a weary man and full of woes, and only now and then did some glimpses of his native royalty burst forth from him; he had now and then a day in which his regal rights were assumed and his royal position was claimed. He is gone from us now as to his actual presence, but he is with us spiritually, and his spiritual presence here is not unlike what his bodily presence was in the days of his flesh. For the most part, the glory of his <a href="//christianbookshelf.org/spurgeon/spurgeons_sermons_volume_18_1872/another_royal_procession.htm" title="continued">…</a><br></span><span class="citation">Charles Haddon Spurgeon—</span><span class="citation2">Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 18: 1872</span><p><span class="headingtext"><a href="//christianbookshelf.org/spurgeon/spurgeons_sermons_volume_35_1889/the_withered_fig_tree.htm">The Withered Fig Tree</a><br></span><span class="snippet">Flippant persons have spoken of the story before us in a very foolish manner. They have represented it as though our Lord, being hungered, thought only of his necessity, and, expecting to be refreshed by a few green figs went up to the tree in error. Finding no fruit upon the tree, it being a season when he had no right to expect that there would be any, he was vexed, and uttered a malediction against a tree, as though it had been a responsible agent. This view of the case results from the folly <a href="//christianbookshelf.org/spurgeon/spurgeons_sermons_volume_35_1889/the_withered_fig_tree.htm" title="continued">…</a><br></span><span class="citation">Charles Haddon Spurgeon—</span><span class="citation2">Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 35: 1889</span><p><span class="headingtext"><a href="//christianbookshelf.org/spurgeon/spurgeons_sermons_volume_37_1891/hosanna.htm">Hosanna!</a><br></span><span class="snippet">Assuredly, this honor paid to our Lord was passing strange; a gleam of sunlight in a day of clouds, a glimpse of summer-tide in a long and dreary winter. He that was, as a rule, "despised and rejected of men", was for the moment surrounded with the acclaim of the crowd. All men saluted him that day with their Hosannas, and the whole city was moved. It was a gala day for the disciples, and a sort of coronation day for their Lord. Why was the scene permitted? What was its meaning? The marvel is, that <a href="//christianbookshelf.org/spurgeon/spurgeons_sermons_volume_37_1891/hosanna.htm" title="continued">…</a><br></span><span class="citation">Charles Haddon Spurgeon—</span><span class="citation2">Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 37: 1891</span><p><div class="vheading2">Links</div><a href="/niv/matthew/21-28.htm">Matthew 21:28 NIV</a> • <a href="/nlt/matthew/21-28.htm">Matthew 21:28 NLT</a> • <a href="/esv/matthew/21-28.htm">Matthew 21:28 ESV</a> • <a href="/nasb/matthew/21-28.htm">Matthew 21:28 NASB</a> • <a href="/kjv/matthew/21-28.htm">Matthew 21:28 KJV</a> • <a href="//bibleapps.com/matthew/21-28.htm">Matthew 21:28 Bible Apps</a> • <a href="/matthew/21-28.htm">Matthew 21:28 Parallel</a> • <a href="/">Bible Hub</a></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../matthew/21-27.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Matthew 21:27"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Matthew 21:27" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../matthew/21-29.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Matthew 21:29"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Matthew 21:29" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="rightbox"><div class="padright"><div id="pic"><iframe width="100%" height="860" scrolling="no" src="//biblescan.com/mp/matthew/21-28.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div></div><div id="rightbox4"><div class="padright2"><div id="spons1"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td class="sp1"><script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script><br /><br /><iframe src="//biblemenus.com/adframebhbl.htm" width="122" height="250" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></div> <div id="bot"><div align="center"><span class="p"><br /><br /><br /></span><script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script><br /><br /></div><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhparnew.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></body></html>