The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce fruit. Thus was Jesus’ ending remark as he concluded the parable of the wicked tenants. It was a remark that might not have been kindly received by those to whom it was directed (or those who might have had a feeling that the parable was directed at them). While the parable had itself contained some veiled references that might have made some hearers uncomfortable, it was generally harmless. But all this changed when Jesus made it plainly clear that he was speaking about the chief priests and the elders of the people (as well as the larger Jewish audience). Whereas the parable might have come across as offensive to Jesus’ immediate audience, Jesus intended it as an invitation to both the religious leaders and the people to reflect on who they were as a community (their identity as God’s favorite) and how they were carrying out the role that they had been given by God (the purpose for their special election).
The parable of the wicked tenants, as are the two parables that sandwich it – the parable of the two sons that precede it (cf. Matthew 21: 28-32, Last Sunday’s Gospel Reading) and the parable of the wedding feast that follows it (cf. Matthew 22:1-14, Next Sunday’s Gospel Reading), is told in the backdrop of Jesus’ authority being questioned by the chief priests and the elders of the people (cf. Matthew 21:23-27). Jesus had established himself as both a wonder worker and teacher of the law. While the ordinary masses were full of praise and were appreciative of Jesus’ ministry, the same could not be said of the religious leaders. Jesus’ emergence on the scene had upset the status quo and his popularity among the masses was seen as a threat to the religious establishment. The questioning of Jesus’ authority appears, therefore, as an attempt by the religious leaders to discredit Jesus. But rather than falling into their traps, Jesus used the opportunity to remind them that their rejection of him only serves to strengthen his mission as the anointed of God. At any rate, if these religious leaders had kept abreast with the Scriptures, they would come to realize that Jesus’ ministry was indeed a fulfillment of the ministry of the prophets of old. For just a the prophets of old were rejected on account of their mission, so were they now rejecting Jesus. 
As the anointed of God, Jesus was a sign of contradiction (cf. Luke 2:34). Because those who were expected to warmly receive him turned against him and refused to listen to him, Jesus’ mission ended up being of benefit to an unlikely lot: the pagans. The rejection of Jesus by his community, while a loss for them, becomes a gain for the people of the nations. Due to their openness to the teachings of Jesus, the words of Jesus found a home in a people who had hitherto been considered un-redeemable. And this is how the Good News of our salvation was able to reach the ends of the earth. In fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, Jesus, rejected by the chosen people, built out of those who were considered unworthy of God a formidable kingdom for God.
The rejection of Jesus as a messenger of God by his own community, while in itself regrettable, was nonetheless turned into a  wonderful thing by the Lord. Jesus’ rejection did not lessen the central role his own community had played in the coming to knowledge of the Lord by the people of the nations. However, the rejection served as an opening for the people of the nations to become recipients of God’s revelation. The dissemination of God’s salvific message outside the elected community was successful because of the nature of the Lord’s Word: it never returns to the Lord empty/without attaining its goal (cf. Isaiah 55:11). In the parable of the Wicked Tenants, the owner of the vineyard did not give up even after his own son was manhandled and killed by the wretched tenants. He was determined to see his vineyard give him returns even if that meant leasing the vineyard to other tenants. 
The Good News that was preached by Jesus Christ and disseminated by the apostles is that no one is a “rejected stone” in the eyes of God. There is no corner of the world that is out of reach of the salvific plan of God. But for that plan of God to be felt and seen, it must be received by those to whom it is meant. God’s Word in the person of Jesus Christ must be ‘earthed’ for it to bear fruit (=salvation of the world). This is exactly what happened when the people of the nations opened themselves to God’s message.