Single lesson
Responding to God: Two Sons, Tenants and a Wedding Feast
Matthew 21:28–32; Matthew 21:33–46; Mark 12:1–12; Luke 20:9–18; Matthew 22:1–14
Jesus told three parables about response. One son says no and then goes. Tenants refuse to give fruit and reject the son. Invited guests refuse a wedding feast, and one guest is found unready. These stories press listeners to consider belief, repentance, fruit and readiness.
Before you teach
In these passages, Jesus speaks in parables about doing a father’s will, giving a vineyard owner his fruit, and responding to a king’s invitation. The stories include rejection of servants, rejection of a son, and serious judgement. In Matthew, the chief priests and Pharisees perceive that he is speaking about them.
Students will identify the situation or question in each parable and explain from the text how Jesus warns about refusing God’s call, failing to give fruit, and not being ready for the king’s feast.
Welcome: Compare words and actions
6 minWrite three headings where everyone can see them: said, did, and outcome. Ask students to listen for those patterns in each parable. Briefly introduce the first story: one son refuses, then goes; the other agrees, then does not go. Explain that Jesus asks which one did the father’s will, so actions matter in this discussion.
Matthew 21:29, Matthew 21:30, Matthew 21:31
Read and explain: The two sons and repentance
8 minRead Matthew 21:28–32 aloud. Trace the movement of the parable carefully: the first son changes his mind and goes, while the second son says the respectful thing but does not act. Then note Jesus’ explanation. He says tax collectors and prostitutes believed John, while others did not repent afterward so that they might believe him.
Matthew 21:28, Matthew 21:29, Matthew 21:30, Matthew 21:31, Matthew 21:32
Read and explain: The tenants and the fruit
10 minRead one account of the tenants, then compare a few details from Mark or Luke. The owner sends servants to receive fruit, but the farmers beat, wound, or kill them. At last he sends his son. Jesus then speaks about the rejected stone and says the kingdom will be given to a nation producing its fruit.
Matthew 21:34, Matthew 21:35, Matthew 21:37, Matthew 21:39, Matthew 21:42, Matthew 21:43, Mark 12:6, Luke 20:13
Discuss and respond: The wedding feast and readiness
8 minRead Matthew 22:1–14. List the different responses in the story: invited people will not come, some make light of it, some mistreat the servants, others are gathered from the highways, and one guest is confronted for lacking wedding clothing. Keep observations close to the text, especially Jesus’ final line about many being called and few chosen.
Matthew 22:3, Matthew 22:5, Matthew 22:6, Matthew 22:9, Matthew 22:10, Matthew 22:11, Matthew 22:14
Closing: Summarise the warning from each parable
8 minAsk students to give one sentence for each parable using Bible words where possible. For example: do the father’s will, give fruit in its season, come to the feast, and be found ready. Close by noting that the hearers in Matthew recognised that Jesus’ parables spoke about them, so these stories demand a serious response.
Matthew 21:31, Matthew 21:43, Matthew 21:45, Matthew 22:8, Matthew 22:11, Matthew 22:14
Questions to explore
What question does Jesus use to explain the parable of the two sons, and how does his explanation connect it to repentance and belief?
Start with Jesus’ question about which son did the father’s will, then notice that he speaks about believing John and repenting afterward.
Matthew 21:31, Matthew 21:32
In the tenants parable, what is the owner seeking, and what shows the seriousness of the tenants’ refusal?
Look for the repeated references to fruit and trace how the servants and then the son are treated.
Matthew 21:34, Matthew 21:35, Matthew 21:36, Matthew 21:37, Matthew 21:38, Matthew 21:43
What range of responses appears in the wedding feast parable, and which details show that entering the feast is not treated lightly?
Compare those who refuse, those gathered in, and the guest without wedding clothing, then include Jesus’ final statement.
Matthew 22:3, Matthew 22:5, Matthew 22:6, Matthew 22:10, Matthew 22:11, Matthew 22:13, Matthew 22:14
Make, think or respond
Response Comparison Chart
What you’ll need
- paper
- pens
- Bibles
- ruler
Try it together
- Divide a page into three columns labelled Two Sons, Tenants, and Wedding Feast.
- In each column, write three short lines: the call or request, the response, and the outcome.
- Add at least one exact verse reference in each column to support what you wrote.
- Circle one repeated idea across the parables, such as doing, fruit, invitation, repentance, or readiness, and share your evidence with a partner.
This activity helps students compare how each parable describes a call, a response, and an outcome in Matthew 21:28–32, Matthew 21:33–46 and Matthew 22:1–14.
Adapt for your group
- For students who need more structure, provide the three row headings in advance: call, response, outcome, and let them fill in brief phrases with verse references.
- For stronger readers, add a fourth row called key warning and ask them to include the stone saying or the line about many being called and few chosen with evidence.
An optional closing prayer
You may pray: ‘Lord, help us to repent and believe, to do your will, to give the fruit you seek, and to respond rightly to your call. Help us listen seriously to Jesus’ words. Amen.’
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Matthew 21
28 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.’
29 He answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind, and went.
30 He came to the second, and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I’m going, sir,’ but he didn’t go.
31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said to him, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Most certainly I tell you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering into God’s Kingdom before you.
32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you didn’t believe him; but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. When you saw it, you didn’t even repent afterward, that you might believe him.
33 “Hear another parable. There was a man who was a master of a household who planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, dug a wine press in it, built a tower, leased it out to farmers, and went into another country.
34 When the season for the fruit came near, he sent his servants to the farmers to receive his fruit.
35 The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned another.
36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first; and they treated them the same way.
37 But afterward he sent to them his son, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
38 But the farmers, when they saw the son, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and seize his inheritance.’
39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard, then killed him.
40 When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?”
41 They told him, “He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will lease out the vineyard to other farmers who will give him the fruit in its season.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected was made the head of the corner. This was from the Lord. It is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 “Therefore I tell you, God’s Kingdom will be taken away from you and will be given to a nation producing its fruit.
44 He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it will fall, it will scatter him as dust.”
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke about them.
46 When they sought to seize him, they feared the multitudes, because they considered him to be a prophet.
Mark 12
1 He began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a pit for the wine press, built a tower, rented it out to a farmer, and went into another country.
2 When it was time, he sent a servant to the farmer to get from the farmer his share of the fruit of the vineyard.
3 They took him, beat him, and sent him away empty.
4 Again, he sent another servant to them; and they threw stones at him, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated.
5 Again he sent another, and they killed him, and many others, beating some, and killing some.
6 Therefore still having one, his beloved son, he sent him last to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
7 But those farmers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’
8 They took him, killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.
9 What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the farmers, and will give the vineyard to others.
10 Haven’t you even read this Scripture: ‘The stone which the builders rejected was made the head of the corner.
11 This was from the Lord. It is marvelous in our eyes’?”
12 They tried to seize him, but they feared the multitude; for they perceived that he spoke the parable against them. They left him and went away.
Luke 20
9 He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to some farmers, and went into another country for a long time.
10 At the proper season, he sent a servant to the farmers to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard. But the farmers beat him and sent him away empty.
11 He sent yet another servant, and they also beat him and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty.
12 He sent yet a third, and they also wounded him and threw him out.
13 The lord of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. It may be that seeing him, they will respect him.’
14 “But when the farmers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.’
15 Then they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do to them?
16 He will come and destroy these farmers, and will give the vineyard to others.” When they heard that, they said, “May that never be!”
17 But he looked at them and said, “Then what is this that is written, ‘The stone which the builders rejected was made the chief cornerstone’?
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but it will crush whomever it falls on to dust.”
Matthew 22
1 Jesus answered and spoke to them again in parables, saying,
2 “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who made a wedding feast for his son,
3 and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.
4 Again he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner. My cattle and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding feast!” ’
5 But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise;
6 and the rest grabbed his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.
7 When the king heard that, he was angry, and sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited weren’t worthy.
9 Go therefore to the intersections of the highways, and as many as you may find, invite to the wedding feast.’
10 Those servants went out into the highways and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good. The wedding was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who didn’t have on wedding clothing,
12 and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here not wearing wedding clothing?’ He was speechless.
13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness. That is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.’
14 For many are called, but few chosen.”
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.
Source passages
Something to make together
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