He Sent His Son: Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 22, Year A. Matthew 21:33–44. Jesus tells the parable of tenants who receive a vineyard they did not plant and then act as though it belongs to them. Isaiah 5 identifies the vineyard as Israel, while Psalm 80 remembers the vine God brought out of Egypt. Jesus gathers those images into a warning about stewardship, rebellion, and the Son. The owner sends servants to receive the fruit, and the tenants beat, kill, and stone them. These servants represent the prophets. Yet the owner sends again. Judgment comes only after repeated mercy and repeated calls to repentance. Then Jesus reaches the center of the parable: “Finally he sent his son.” The Son is not merely another messenger. He is the heir. The tenants cast him out and kill him, anticipating the crucifixion Jesus is about to endure outside Jerusalem. Jesus then quotes Psalm 118: the stone rejected by the builders becomes the cornerstone. The leaders reject Jesus, but God vindicates him. The cross is followed by resurrection, and the rejected Son becomes the foundation of what God is building. Matthew 21:43 announces a real transfer of Kingdom stewardship. Israel’s covenant promises are not discarded but fulfilled in Jesus the Messiah. Jews who receive him and Gentiles who come to him are gathered into one New Covenant people, and Romans 11 gives the Church reason to pray for Jewish people to be grafted in through faith in Christ. The mark of this people is fruit. Isaiah names justice and righteousness; the Collect asks God to keep his household so that it may serve him in good works. Grace comes first, and fruit follows. The final question is personal: what will we do with the Son whom the Father has sent?