Jesus is still addressing the religious leaders here. Earlier on they had asked Him by what authority He was doing and the saying the things He said and did. The truth is that they needed to remind themselves of the authority that they had.
The parable is well known. A landowner rents his land out to some farmers. When the time came to collect his share of the profits he sent a series of servants, but the tenants beat and killed the servants. Finally he sent his son. The tenants, instead if seeing sense, reasoned that if they killed the son they would be able to keep the land.
The religious leaders knew full well what the landowner would do. Then they realised that Jesus was talking about them. They had been given charge of the temple not to further their own ends, but to serve the Lord and the people. Even knowing the truth, the leaders, instead of repenting, plotted to arrest Jesus, thinking that this would solve the "problem".
All of us need to take heed of this parable. We are all stewards of the things that we have. They are given to us to use to serve the Lord and help others. As I have said before, the authority we have is the authority to serve. We see this clearly in politics, where politicians so often use their power just to keep power, or to feather their own nests. The same pattern happens in all spheres of life, and at all levels.
We are here to serve others.
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