Matthew 21:45 indeed clears it up because it tells to whom Jesus was speaking those words...
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them.
The nation to whom they belong. Not just about them as individuals.
If I spoke somewhat cryptically about black folks, and there were some black folks in the audience who understood that I was speaking about them, this wouldn't mean that they understood only that I was speaking about them as individuals.
The parable speaks of giving the kingdom to another nation, i.e., a nation other than the one to which those chief priests and Pharisees belonged.
If you read your New Testament, you'd know that the other nation referred to is that made up of those who, regardless of race or ethnicity, accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, and who believe that he died for their sins and who rose again bodily from the dead, and you'd understand that the nation the kingdom was taken from was that of the Jews.
