1For this cause I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles, 2if it is so that you have heard of the administration of that grace of God which was given me toward you, 3how that by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I wrote before in few words, 4by which, when you read, you can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ, 5which in other generations was not made known to the children of men, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit, 6that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of his promise in Christ Jesus through the Good News, 7of which I was made a servant according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me according to the working of his power. 8To me, the very least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9and to make all men see what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ, 10to the intent that now through the assembly the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places, 11according to the eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12In him we have boldness and access in confidence through our faith in him. 13Therefore I ask that you may not lose heart at my troubles for you, which are your glory.
14For this cause, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, 17that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth, 19and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21to him be the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
When Jesus said, "'...the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it'" (Matt 21:43 NAU), "the chief priests and Pharisees...understood that He was speaking about them" (v. 45). But exactly what was taken from them, and to whom was it given?
In the Parable of the Landowner (vv. 33-41), the vine-growers correspond to the people of Israel and their leaders up to that point in history. Instead of producing fruit for God, the owner of the vineyard, they shamefully mistreated the prophets God sent to them. Finally, they killed his son (vv. 38-39). In doing so, they fulfilled Psalms 118:22-23 which speak of Jesus as "The stone which the builders rejected," which "became the chief corner stone" (v. 42; Mark 12:10-22; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11; Eph 2:20; 1 Pet 2:7).
Jesus asked His audience what the owner of the vineyard would do to those vine-growers. The leaders of Israel answered correctly, "...'He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons'" (v. 41). What is taken away from Israel, then, is not the vineyard (kingdom), unconditionally promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David (Gen 12:2; 2 Sam 7:12-17), but the current privilege and responsibility of producing its fruit (v. 43). Until the day that Israel is restored (Matt 19:28; Rom 11:26-27), the people that are accountable to produce the fruit of God's kingdom comprise the church (1 Pet 2:9-10), which includes Jews and Gentiles in one body (Eph 3:4-7).