Matthew 21:43

This verse continues to explain the parable of the wicked tenant farmers. Because Israel’s leaders had failed to produce the fruit God desired and had slain His Son, He would remove responsibility and privilege from them and give that to another "nation" or "people" (Gr. ethnei). What God did was transfer responsibility for preparing for the kingdom from Israel and give it to a different group, namely, the church (cf. Acts 13:46; Acts 18:5-6; Romans 10:19; 1 Peter 2:9). David Turner argued that those who received the responsibility were the faithful Jewish remnant represented by Jesus’ apostles. [Note: David L. Turner, "Matthew 21:43 and the Future of Israel," Bibliotheca Sacra 159:633 (January-March 2002):46-61.] This is a very similar view since Jesus’ apostles became the core of the church.

"Matthew 21:43 could be the key verse in the entire argument of Matthew." [Note: Bailey, in The New . . ., p. 45.]

The unusual term "kingdom of God" rather than Matthew’s customary "kingdom of heaven" probably stresses the fact that the kingdom belongs to God, not the leaders of Israel.

Jesus did not mean that God would remove the kingdom from Israel forever (cf. Romans 11:26-27). When Jesus returns to the earth and establishes His kingdom, Israel will have the most prominent place in it (Genesis 12; Genesis 15; 2 Samuel 7; Jeremiah 31).

"For the first time the King speaks openly and clearly to someone outside of the circle of the disciples about a new age. This is full proof that the kingdom was no longer near at hand." [Note: Toussaint, Behold the . . ., p. 252. See also idem, "The Contingency . . ., pp. 234-35; and idem and Quine, p. 140.]