The parable of the wicked husbandmen

The parable of the wicked husbandmen, the parable of the winepress, or the parable of the tenants, is a stinging condemnation of the Pharisees and the ruling Establishment, as originally told by Mark 12:1-12 and then retold by Matthew 21:33-46 and Luke 20:9-20 .

The parable predicts that God will destroy those who were given custody over his kingdom, but then mistreated and rejected Jesus. As told initially and bluntly by Mark, it reinforces Mark's position as a genuinely outside observer who had neither any allegiance to the Pharisees nor any fear of them.