Jesus’s parable is based, in part, on the “The Song of the Vineyard” in Isaiah 5:1–7. What follows is the present writer’s brief interpretation of this parable, purely an individual exegesis, not an official
Baha’i interpretation:
The “certain man” in verse 1 refers to “the lord of the vineyard” in verse 9. Here, this is generally taken by Biblical scholars to mean God, the Creator of the vineyard, which symbolizes the world at large. Although many Christian interpreters have identified Israel as the vineyard, there are other possible interpretations, such as the kingdom of God, the people of God, or the covenantal relationship between God and His people.
The “husbandmen”—the cultivators of the vineyard—are those who are in charge of the vineyard, i.e. the religious leaders of each prophetic day and age.
In verse 2, the Lord of the vineyard sends a “servant” to “receive” the “fruit of the vineyard.” Here, “fruit” is a common Biblical metaphor for good works and righteous deeds.
The “servant,” being sent by God, is widely understood to be a prophet of God. Having been caught, beaten, and sent away (verse 3), God then sends “another” servant, who is stoned, “wounded” and sent away, “shamefully handled” (verse 4). But then God sends another prophet, who is also “killed,” followed by “many others,” by prophets who suffer similar fates, after the people or their religious leaders end up “beating some, and killing some.”
As a last resort, God then sends his “well beloved . . . son,” who was the “last” prophet to be “sent” to the world (verse 6), but God’s son, understood by most Christian interpreters to be Jesus Christ, is “killed” and “cast … out of the vineyard” (verse 8).
Thereupon, the “Lord of the vineyard” will himself appear and “will give the vineyard unto others” (verse 9). Interpreted literally, this would, of course, mean that God would somehow come to the vineyard in person. Baha’is reject this literal interpretation, however, since God is not a “person” (even though we experience God personally) and, in any case, is infinite and therefore cannot appear in a finite place, bound by time and space. Instead, God will appear by proxy—by sending another representative. This time, Baha’is believe, God’s representative is
Baha’u’llah.
This interpretation, in its general contours, appears to be confirmed by the great Baha’i scholar Mirza Abu’l-Fadl:
That is, the Sovereign of the universe and Creator of the peoples brought the world into existence, adorning it with the most perfect form, and set the human race over it as a tenant. In every age He appointed one of His servants as a messenger to inquire into the welfare of the creation. But the people, ignorant wrongdoers, refused to recognize or accept him, greeting him with derision and haughtiness. Finally, He sent the perfect, divine Word in the name of Sonship, and they slew him as well. Naturally, the Lord of all horizons on the Day of Encounter will manifest Himself [as Baha’u’llah], and deliver the world, the divine vineyard, over to the just and trustworthy. – Mirza Abu’l-Faḍl Gulpaygani, “Why Moses Could Not See God,” Letters & Essays, 1886–1913, pp. 24–25.
As “Lord of the Vineyard,” Baha’u’llah proclaimed that Mt. Carmel in Israel—the site of the
Baha’i World Center—would become God’s Vineyard:
Carmel, in the Book of God, hath been designated as the Hill of God, and His Vineyard. It is here that, by the grace of the Lord of Revelation, the Tabernacle of Glory hath been raised. Happy are they that attain thereunto; happy they that set their faces towards it. –
Baha’u’llah,
Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 145.
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