But when the tenant farmers saw him, they began reasoning with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir [to the vineyard]; let us kill him so the inheritance will be ours.’
Where did the immersion of John come from? From heaven or from men?” And they discussed this among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘from heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe his message?’
And when the season for harvesting the grapes approached, the owner of the farm sent his slaves to the tenant farmers to arrange for delivery of his crop.
And Jesus was teaching in the Temple every day. But the leading priests and the experts in the Law of Moses and the leading men of the people were looking [for a way] to kill Him,
Then the experts in the Law of Moses and the leading priests attempted to arrest Jesus right away, [but hesitated] because they feared [what] the people [might do], since they perceived that He had spoken this parable against them.
And they discussed this among themselves, saying, “If we say ‘from heaven,’ He will say ‘Why [then] did you not believe him [i.e., believe his message]?’
And the leading priests and experts in the Law of Moses were looking for a way to kill Jesus because they were afraid of the people [i.e., that people would riot if it were done during the Festival. See Matt. 26:5].
Yet, He was handed over to you so that, by lawless men [i.e., the Romans], He was put to death by crucifixion. Now this was all done in harmony with God's full pre-knowledge and [divine] purpose.
[Then, at the hands of the Roman authorities] you killed the Prince of [never ending] life, but God raised Him from the dead, and we [apostles] were [reliable] witnesses of it.
And if we are [His] children, then we have an inheritance from God [i.e., blessings here and hereafter] and are fellow-sharers with Christ [of such blessings], providing we [are willing to] suffer with Him, so we can also be honored with Him [i.e., in the future life. See verses 18-25].
[but] during these final days He has spoken to us through His Son [Note: This period refers to the Christian age (See Acts 2:14-36)], whom He appointed to be heir of all things [and] through whom He created the universe. [See John 1:3; Col. 1:16].