i 34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might Cant. viii. 11, receive the fruits of it. 34. "The fruits of it," or "bis fruits." 1 false priests, and last, though by far the worst of all, false prophets, ["The prophet that speaketh lies, he is the tail."] So it was in Ezekiel's time. After the captivity the prophets disappear, and their place is taken by the expounders of the law, i.e., Scribes, and later still the Pharisees appear along with the Scribes. It is necessary to take this difference into account, because, in our Lord's parable, the householder lets the vineyard out to husbandmen, and the chief priests and Pharisees evidently understood that this was the sting, as it were, for it is said that "they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them." (Luke xx. 19.) The hedge, of course, in both parables, may be taken to be the separating ordinances of the Jewish Church, which, however mischievous when prolonged beyond their day, were absolutely necessary at the first if the Church and nation were to retain even the semblance of purity. The wine-press has been interpreted to be the Temple services, the tower the civil authority, and so on. All these details must be understood as simply meaning that everything necessary for the advancement and protection of religion was provided. With respect to the servants who were sent at the first and the "other servants more than the first," they are evidently the true servants of God as distinguished from the false, whether kings, as Hezekiah; or governors, as Nehemiah; or priests, as Jehoiada, or Joshua, son of Josedech; or particular prophets as Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Haggai and Zechariah. I say particular prophets, because from all that we can gather from Jeremiah and Ezekiel, the so-called "order" of prophets had in their days hopelessly apostatized, and were the ehief instigators of the people to evil: in these great prophets (Jeremiae and Ezekiel) not one good thing is said of the so-called "Prophetical order," which some commentators now exalt with a view to disparage the priests: the prophets seem to have become wholly profane. When it is said that the servants sent the second time were more than the first, it seems to intimate that the special servants of God who called the people to repentance were more numerous in the latter days than in the former, as indeed is evident. k 2 Chron. And the husbandmen took his servants and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. xxiv. 21. & 36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. 37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, Heb. xi. 36, 37. saying, They will reverence my son. 1 Ps. ii. 8. Heb. i. 2. m Ps. ii. 2. ch. xxvi. 3. & xxvii. 1. John xi. 53. iv. 27. Acts m 38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. n 39 And they caught him, and cast him out of n ch. xxvi. 50, the vineyard, and slew him. &c. Mark xiv. 46, &c. Luke xxii. 54, &c. 40 When the lord therefore of the vineyard John xviii. 12, cometh, what will he do unto those husband &c. Acts ii. 23. men? 38. "Let us seize on ;" perhaps, "let us have ;" Vulg., "We shall have;" habebimus. "Beat one, killed another, stoned another." So it appears from the persecutions to which Jeremiah and Ezekiel (and according to tradition, Isaiah) were exposed. St. Stephens asks, “Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted ?" 37. "Last of all He sent unto them His Son." This place can only be explained by the Catholic doctrine of the Trinity and Incarnation. The prophets whom God sent were sons of God in the highest sense that mere human beings can be. They were filled with the Spirit and led by the Spirit (Rom. viii. 14), whereas Jesus Christ was God's " own Son," His only Begotten." 60 "They will reverence my Son." Here God speaks after the manner of men. By a bold but very natural figure He is made to put aside His foreknowledge, and to speak of what would naturally take place if it was not hindered by the wickedness of man. Similar modes of thought and speech are ascribed to God in Isaiah lxiii. 8, Jeremiah v. 5. 39. "Cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him." Most probably there is a reference here to our Lord's suffering "without the gate." (Hebrews xiii. 12.) 41 They say unto him, ' He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. 16. ⚫ See Lake xx. p Luke xxi. 24. Heb. ii. 3. q Acts xiii. 46. & xv. 7. & xviii. Rom. ix. & x. 6. & xxviii. 28. & xi. 42 Jesus said unto them, "Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvel- Mark xii. 10. lous in our eyes? 8 r Ps. cxviii. 22. Is. xxviii. 16. Luke xx. 17. ■ ch. viii. 12. 43 Therefore I unto say you, The kingdom of 1 Pet. ii. 6, 7. God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. 41. "He will miserably destroy those wicked men." The Pharisees, or it may be some of the bystanders, give this answer, apparently unconsciously pronouncing their own doom. In St. Mark and St. Luke our Lord utters it as from Himself. The words lose in English the force which they have in the Greek, from the word “miserably ” being the adverb of the word rendered "wicked;" and also put in juxtaposition with it. Alford suggests, "He will destroy wretchedly those wretches, and let out His vineyard to other husbandmen," who are, of course, the various nations of the Gentiles. The parable, though it no doubt refers mainly to the rejection of the Jews and the reception of the Gentiles, is applicable to every branch of the Christian Church. Churches which were once flourishing are now fallen; lands which were once Christian are now Mahometan. The North of Africa was once crowded with a Christian population, under more than a thousand bishops, of whom Augustine was one; now its state can most fully be described in the words of the parable, "I will lay it waste, it shall not be pruned nor digged, but there shall come up briars and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it." "Unto other husbandmen," i.e. (following up the figure), not the Gentiles, but the Christian ministry. The former husbandmen were the priests and scribes, the latter must be those who occupy their places in the Church of God. 42. "The stone which the builders rejected," &c. He had but a Y 44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: Is. viii. 14, 15. but on whomsoever it shall fall, "it will grind him Zech. xii. 3. Luke xx. 18. to powder. Rom. ix. 33. 1 Pet. ii. 8. u Is. lx. 12. Dan, ii. 44. 45 And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. 46 But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet. x ver. 11. Luke vii. 16. 44. "This verse omitted in D., Cursive 33, and some old Latin (a, b, e, ff), but retained in N, B., C., all later Uncials, almost all Cursives, most old Latin, Vulg., Syriacs, &c. moment before prophesied that the Son would be cast out of the vineyard, and slain. The Stone would be rejected with every possible sign of contempt; but in spite of all, it would become "the head of the corner." The Son of God would be exalted, the Pentecostal sign would follow quickly after; the few short years of grace allowed to the ancient people would rapidly draw to a close; and then the Stone which they had rejected, loosened, as it were, from its place, would fall on them, and "grind them to powder." 44. "Shall be broken,"" shall grind him to powder." One would, perhaps, have thought that the first of these the falling on the stone-might indicate repentance or conversion; but when viewed in the light of all other places in which the same figure of stumbling is used, it seems impossible to assign to it such a meaning. In the words of Archbishop Trench, "They fall on the stone who are offended at Christ in His low estate: of this sin His hearers were already guilty. There was yet a worse sin which they were on the point of committing, which He warns them would be followed with a more tremendous punishment; they on whom the stone falls are they who set themselves distinctly against Christ, who to the end oppose themselves to Him and His kingdom. They shall not merely fall and be broken, for one might recover himself from suck a fall; but on them the stone shall fall, and grind them to powder, destroying them with a doom from which there should be no recovery." A CHAP. XXII. a ND Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, 2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, a Luke xiv. 16. Rev. xix. 7, 9. 3 And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. 2. "A marriage," i. e., "a marriage feast." We now come to the parable called-to distinguish it from one in St. Luke xiv. 16, which in some respects resembles it-the "Marriage of the King's Son." This new parable follows up the teaching of that of "the wicked husbandmen," but it is more gracious and inviting in its tone. In the former, "He had set forth their relation to God as a relation of duty. . . . which they incurred the greatest guilt and danger in neglecting to fulfil, so in this He sets it forth in a yet more inviting light as a relation of privilege.... as a grace and boon freely imparted to them, which yet they incurred an equal danger in counting light of or despising." (Trench.) 2. "A certain king (i.e., God the Father), Who made a marriage for His Son." The Son is to be to the spiritual Israel of God what Jehovah is set forth in the Prophets as being-the Bridegroom or Husband of His Church. The marriage may be considered the New Dispensation in its entire scope and fulness from the first proclamation at Pentecost, that "all things were ready," to the time of the consummation when the final separation is to be made. 3. "Sent forth his servants." These are not the servants of the former parable, who were the true servants of God in the former times, but the Baptist and the Apostles and first preachers of the truth. "To call them that were bidden." The first invited guests were the Jews, to whom belonged "the adoption, the glory, the cove. nants, the promises." |