Jesus tells a story of a man who leaves his vineyard to caretakers. The caretakers show no respect for the owner and even kill his son. This is another way Jesus points out Israel’s failure. The owner is God, and the caretakers are the religious leaders. Jesus is predicting that his death in a few days will make Israel worthy of destruction. The religious leaders then try to get Jesus in trouble by asking trick questions. They are designed to make him unpopular. Jesus doesn’t care about his popularity and responds to each with indisputable truth.
Jesus also makes an important observation about giving. It is not the size of the gift that matters, but the size of the sacrifice. A big sacrifice requires more faith that God will provide. A big gift from a wealthy person that does not impact the wealthy person’s life doesn’t take much faith. Even a small gift from a poor person takes faith.