Parable of the Tenants

Today's Verses -- Luke 20:9-19

Context:
Continuation from yesterday -- the Pharisees had questioned Jesus' authority and he asked them a question in return that they chose not to answer.

Text:
9He went on to tell the people this parable: "A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. 10At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. 12He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.
13"Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.'
14"But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. 'This is the heir,' they said. 'Let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' 15So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
"What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others." When the people heard this, they said, "May this never be!"
17Jesus looked directly at them and asked, "Then what is the meaning of that which is written: " 'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone[a]'[b]?
18Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed."
19The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people. (NIV)
Footnotes:
Luke 20:17 Or cornerstone
Luke 20:17 Psalm 118:22
I've heard this parable several times, but I guess I never paid attention to the context before. Jesus just finished telling the chief priests and teachers of the law that he would not tell them by whose authority he was teaching and performing miracles. The parable is a very slightly camouflaged story of himself, his authority, and the sins of the Pharisees!

Based on the response of the people (see the blue writing, above), it seems like the meaning of this parable was pretty clear to them. They seemed to feel fearful for themselves that the parable was to become truth!

Were they, like us, indicating that they would never make the choices that the tenants made in the story? How many times have we scoffed at the Jews because of their regular pattern of disobedience despite the miracles they had personally witnessed? Or were they, like the teachers of the law and the chief priests, realizing that Jesus had spoken this parable against them?

This would probably be a good text to study using Mark Moore's methodology. Just reading it over brought lots of questions to my mind. I wanted to understand what the people who were listening actually heard and thought about the parable. Were the different servants who were sent to collect fruit from the farm treated with increasing violence? Why was the second one shamed, and in what way? Why is the response of the people to the parable interpreted so differently in the NIV and King James versions (in King James the people responded with "God forbid", which seems so much stronger to me)?

I don't really understand Jesus' use of Psalm 118 here, either. I can guess at it's meaning, but obviously the teachers of the law and the chief priests took this very personally. What was it about the culture of the time that made them so sure it was directed at them?

Sorry -- more questions than thoughts today, but I think Steve's overview of the methodology is really helping it to sink in!