The wicked and unjust husbandmen. A. M. 4033. A. D. 9. A. D. 29. 37 But last of all he sent unto them his vineyard unto other husbandmen, A.M. 53. which shall render him the fruits in An. Olymp. Olymp. his son, saying, They will reverence my son. a 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. their seasons. 42 Jesus saith 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 39 And they caught him, and cast him out of marvellous in our eyes? the vineyard, and slew him. 43 Therefore say I unto you, "The kingdom 40 When the lord therefore of the vineyard of God shall be taken from you, and given to a cometh, what will he do unto those husband-nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. 44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. Ps. 118. 22. Isai. 28. 16. Mark 12. 10. Luke 20. 17. Acts 4. 11. Eph 2.20. 1 Pet. 2. 6, 7.- ch. 8. 12.- - Isai. 8. 14, 15. Zech. 12. 3. Luke 20. 13. Rom. 9. 33. 1 Pet. 2. 8. * Isai. 60. 12. Dan. 2. 44. Verse 37. Last of all he sent his son] This requires no comment. Our Lord plainly means himself. They will reverence] Eviganσоvrai, they will reflect upon their conduct, and blush for shame, because of it, when they see my son. So the Syriac and Persic. Verse 38. Said among themselves] Alluding to the conspiracies which were then forming against the life of our blessed Lord, in the councils of the Jewish elders and chief priests. See chap. xxvii. 1. Verse 39. Cast him out of the vineyard] Utterly rejected the counsel of God against themselves; and would neither acknowledge the authority of Christ, nor submit to his teaching. What a strange and unaccountable case is this; a sinner, to enjoy a little longer his false peace, and the gratification of his sinful appetites, rejects Jesus, and persecutes that gospel which troubles his sinful repose. Verse 41. He will miserably destroy those wicked men] So, according to this Evangelist, our Lord caused them to pass that sentence of destruction upon themselves, which was literally executed about forty years after. But Luke relates it differently according to him, they said, un ywVOITO, God forbid. The Codex Leicestrensis omits of youσly, they say; to that the following words appear to be spoken by our Lord. Michaelis supposes, that in the Hebrew original the word was 28" waiomer, he said; for which the Greek translator might have read 1728" waiomeru, they said. Verse 42. The stone] R. Solom. Jarchi, on Micah v. says this stone means the Messiah, 18: Abarbanel is of the same opinion. This seems to have been originally spoken of David, who was at first rejected by the Jewish rulers, but was afterwards chosen by the Lord to be the great ruler || of his people Israel. The quotation is taken from Psal. cxviii. 22. As the church is represented in Scripture under the name of the temple and house of God, in allusion to the temple of Jerusalem, which was a type of it, 1 Cor. iii. 16. Heb. iii. 6. 1 Pet. ii. 5. so Jesus Christ is represented as the foundation on which this edifice is laid, 1 Cor. iii. 11. Eph. ii, 20, 21. The builders] The chief priests and elders of the people, with the doctors of the law. Rejected] An expression borrowed from masons, who, finding a stone, which being tried in a particular place, and appearing improper for it, is thrown aside, and another taken; however, at last, it may happen that the very stone which had been before rejected, may be found the most suitable as the head stone of the corner. This passage, as applied by our Lord to himself, contains an abridgment of the whole doctrine of the gospel. 1. The Lord's peculiar work is astonishingly manifested in the mission of Jesus Christ. 2. He, being rejected and crucified by the Jews, became au atonement for the sin of the world. 3. He was raised again from the dead, a proof of his conquest over death and sin, and a pledge of immortality to his followers. 4. He was constituted the foundation on which the salvation of mankind rests, and the corner stone which unites Jews and Gentiles, beautifies, strengthens, and completes the whole building, as the head stone, or uppermost stone in the corner, does the whole edifice. 5. He is hereby rendered the object of the joy and admira CC The chief priests and Pharisees A. D. 29. A.M. 4033. 45 And when the chief priests and 46 But when they sought to lay hands An. Olymp. Pharisees had heard his parables, they on him, they feared the multitude, beperceived that he spake of them. cause they took him for a prophet. CCII. 1. b a Luke 20. 19. John 7. 26. Rom. 2. 15. tion of all his followers, and the glory of man. This was done by the Lord, and is marvellous in our eyes. Verse 44.--The 44th verse should certainly come before ver. 43, otherwise the narration is not consecutive. Verse 42. The stone which the builders rejected, is become head of the corner, &c. Ver. 44. Whosoever shall fall on this stone, shall be broken, &c. This is an allusion to the punishment of stoning among the Jews. The place of stoning was twice as high as a man ; while standing on this, one of the witnesses struck the culprit on the loins, so that he fell over this scaffold; if he died by the stroke and fall, well; if not, the other witness threw a stone upon his heart, and dispatched him. The stone thrown on the culprit was, in some cases, as much as two men could lift up. Tract Sanhed. and Bab. Gemara, and Lightfoot. See also the note on John viii. 7. Ver. 11. Mark 11. 18. & 12. 12. Luke 7. 16. John 7. 40. Verse 46. They sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude] Restraining and preventing grace is an excellent blessing, particularly where it leads to repentance and salvation; but he who abstains from certain evils only through fear of scandal or punishment, has already committed them in his heart, and is guilty before God. The intrepidity of our Lord is worthy of admiration and imitation; in the very face of his most inveterate enemies, he bears a noble testimony to the truth, reproves their iniquities, denounces the divine judgments, and, in the very teeth of destruction, braves danger and death! A true minister of Christ fears nothing but God, when his glory is concerned: a hireling fears every thing, except Him, whom he ought to fear. This last journey of our Lord to Jerusalem, is a subject of great importance; it is mentioned by all the four Evangelists, and has been a subject of criticism and cavil to some un He, whether Jew or Gentile, who shall not believe in the Son of God, shall suffer grievously in consequence; but on whomsoever the stone (Jesus Christ) falls in the way of judg-sanctified minds. He has been accused of "attempting by ment, he shall be ground to powder, Xixo auto-it shall make him so small, as to render him capable of being dispersed as chaff by the wind. This seems to allude, not only to the dreadful crushing of the Jewish state by the Romans, but also to that general dispersion of the Jews through all the nations of the world, which continues to the present day. This whole verse is wanting in the Codex Bezæ, one other, five copies of the Itala, and Origen; but it is found in the parallel place, Luke xx. 18. and seems to have been quoted from Isai. viii. 14, 15. He shall be for a STONE of STUMBLING, and for a ROCK OF OFFENCE to both the houses of Israel-and many among them shall STUMBLE and FALL, and be BROKEN. Verse 43. Therefore say I] Thus shewing them, that to them alone the parable belonged-The kingdom of God shall be taken from you-the Gospel shall be taken from you, and given to the Gentiles, who will receive it, and bring forth fruit to the glory of God. Bringing forth the fruits] As in verse 34 an allusion is made to paying the landlord in kind, so here the Gentiles are|| represented as paying God thus. The returns which He expects for his grace, are, the fruits of grace; nothing can ever be acceptable in the sight of God, that does not spring from himself. Verse 45. The chief priests-perceived that he spake of them.] The most wholesome advice passes for an affront with those who have shut their hearts against the truth. When that which should lead to repentance, only kindles the flame of malice and revenge, there is but little hope of the salvation of such persons. this method, to feel how far the populace were disposed to favour his pretensions in establishing himself as a king in the land, or at least, by his conduct in this business, he gave much cause for popular seditions." Every circumstance in the case, refutes this calumny. 1. His whole conduct had proved that his kingdom was not of this world, and that he sought not the honour that cometh from man. 2. He had in a very explicit manner foretold his own premature death, and particularly at this time. 3. It is evident from what he had said to his disciples, that he went up to Jerusalem at this time, for the express purpose of being sacrificed, and not of erecting a secular kingdom. 4. All the time he spent now in Jerusalem, which was about five days, he spent in teaching, precisely in the same way he had done for three years past; nor do we find that he uttered one maxim dissimilar to what he formerly taught, or said a word calculated to produce any sensation on the hearts of the populace, but that of piety towards God: and in the parable of the man and his two sons, the husbandmen and the vineyard, he spoke in such a way to the rulers of the people, as to shew that he knew they were plotting his destruction; and that far from fleeing from the face of danger, or strengthening his party against his enemies, he was come to wait at the foot of the altar till his blood should be poured out for the sin of the world! 5. Had he affected any thing of a secular kind, he had now the fairest opportunity to accomplish bis designs. The people had already received him as Jesus the prophet; now they acknowledge him as the Christ or MESSIAH, and sing the hosannah to him, as immediately appointed by heaven to be their deliverer. 6 Though with the character of the Messiah, the Jews had connected that of secular royalty, and they now by spreading their clothes in the way, strewing branches, &c. treat him as a royal person, and one appointed to govern the kingdom; yet of this he appears to take no notice, farther than to shew that an important prophecy was thus fulfilled: he went as usual into the temple, taught the people pure and spiritual truths, withdrew at night from the city, lodged in private at mount Olivet, and thus most studiously and unequivocally shewed, that his sole aim was to call the people back to purity and holiness, and prepare them for that kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy, in the Holy Ghost, which he was about, by his passion, death, resurrection, asceusion, and the mission of the Holy Spirit to set up in the earth. 7. Could a person who worked such miracles as he was in the daily habit of working; miracles, which proved he possessed unlimited power and unerring wisdom, need subterfuges, or a colouring for any design he wished to accomplish? He had only to put forth that power essentially resident in himself, and all resistance to his will must be annihilated. In short, every circumstance of the case shews at once the calumny and absurdity of the charge. But, instead of lessening, or rendering suspicious this or any other part of our Lord's conduct, it shews the whole in a more luminous and glorious entering Jerusalem, vindicated. point of view; and thus the wrath of man praises him. 8. That he was a king, that he was born of a woman, and came into the world for this very purpose, he took every occasion to declare; but all these declarations shewed that his kingdom was spiritual: he would not even interfere with the duty of the civil magistrate to induce an avaricious brother to do justice to the rest of the family, Luke xii. 13. when, probably, a few words from such an authority, would have been sufficient to have settled the business; yet, to prevent all suspicion, and to remove every cause for offence, he absolutely refused to interfere, and took occasion from the very circumstance to declaim against secular views, covetousness, and worldly ambition! O how groundless does every part of his conduct prove this charge of secular ambition to be! Such was the spirit of the Master, such must be the spirit of the disciple. He that will reign with Christ, must be humbled and suffer with him. This is the royal road. The love of the world, in its power and honours, is as inconsistent with the spirit of the gospel, as the love of the grossest vice. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Reader, take occasion from this refuted calumny, to imitate thy Lord in the spirituality of his life, to pass through things temporal so as not to lose those that are eternal, that thou mayest reign with him in the glory of his kingdom. Amen. CHAPTER XXII. The parable of the marriage of a king's son, 1-14. king's son, 1-14. The Pharisees and Herodians question him concerning the lawfulness of paying tribute to Cæsar, 15-22. The Sadducees question him concerning the resurrection, 23-33. A lawyer questions him concerning the greatest commandment in the Law, 34-40. He asks them their opinion of the Christ, and confounds them, 41—46. NOTES ON CHAP. XXII. Verse 2. The kingdom of heaven] In Bereshith Rabba, sect. 62. fol. 60. there is a parable very similar to this, and another still more so in Sohar. Levit. fol. 40. But these Rabbinical parables are vastly ennobled by passing through the hands of our Lord. It appears from Luke, chap. xiv. 15, &c. that it was at an entertainment that this parable was originally spoken. It was a constant practice of our Lord to take the subjects of his discourses from the persons present, or from the circumstances of times, persons, and places. See chap. xvi. 6. John iv. 7-10. vi. 26, 27. vii. 37. A preacher that can do so, can never be at a loss for text or sermon. A marriage for his son] A marriage feast, so the word γαμους properly means. Or a feast of inauguration, when his son was put in possession of the government, and thus he and his new subjects became married together. See 1 Kings i. 5—9, 19, 25, &c. where such a feast is mentioned. From this parable it appears plain, 1. That the KING, means the great God. 2. His Son, the Lord Jesus. 3. The MARRIAGE, his incarnation, or espousing human nature, by taking it into union with himself. 4. The MARRIAGE FEAST, the economy of the gospel, during which men are invited to partake of the blessings purchased by, and consequent on the incarnation and death of our blessed Lord. 5. By those who HAD BEEN bidden, or invited, ver. 3. are meant the Jews in general, who had this union of Christ with human nature, and his sacrifice for sin pointed out by various rites, ceremonies, and sacrifices under the law; and who, by all the prophets had been constantly invited to believe in, and receive the promised Messiah. 6. By the SERVANTS, we are to understand the first preachers of the gospel, proclaiming salvation to the Jews. JOHN the Baptist, and the seventy disciples, (Luke x. 1.) may be here particularly intended. 7. By the OTHER SERVANTS, ver. 4. the apostles seem to be meant, who, though they were to preach the gospel to the whole world, yet were to begin at JERUSALEM, (Luke xxiv. 47.) with the first offers of inercy. 8. By their making light of it, &c. ver. 5. is pointed out their neglect of this salvation, and their preferring secular enjoy-¦ aments, &c. to the kingdom of Christ. 9. By injuriously using some, and slaying others of his servants, ver. 6. is pointed out the persecution raised against the apostles by the Jews, in which some of them were martyred. 10. By sending forth his troops, ver. 7. is meant the commission given to the Romans against Judea; and burning up their city, the total destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, the son of Vespasian, which happened about forty-one years after. On this parable it is necessary to remark, 1. That man was made at first in union with God. 2. That sin entered in, 3. That as there can and separated between God and man. be no holiness but in union with God, and no heaven without holiness, therefore he provided a way to reconcile and reunite man to himself. 4. This was effected by Christ's uniting himself to human nature, and giving his Spirit to those who believe. 5. That as the marriage union is the closest, the most intimate, solemn, and excellent, of all the connections formed among mortals, and that they who are thus united in the Lord are one flesh; so, that mystical union which is formed between God and the soul through Jesus Christ, by the Eternal Spirit, is the closest, most intimate, solemn, and excellent, that can be conceived; for he who is thus joined unto the Lord is one spirit. 6. This contract is made freely : no man can be forced to it, for it is a union of will to will, heart to heart; and it is by willing and consenting, that we come unto God through his Son. 7. That if this marriage do not take place here, an eternal separation from God, and from the glory of his power shall be the fearful consequence. 8. That there are three states in which men run the risk of liv ing without God, and losing their souls. Ist. That of a soft, idle, voluptuous life, wherein a man thinks of nothing but quietly to enjoy life, conveniences, riches, private pleasures, and public diversions. They made light of it. 2dly. That of a man wholly taken up with agricultural or commercial employments, in which the love of riches, and application to the means of acquiring them, generally stifle all thoughts of salvation. One went to his own field, and another to his traffic. 3dly. That of a man who is openly unjust, violent, and outrageously wicked, who is a sinner by profession, and not only neglects his salvation, but injuriously treats all those who bring him the gospel of reconciliation. Seizing his servants, they treated them injuriously, &c. Verse 4. Fatlings] Ta ciri2 properly, futted rams or wethers, 2 Sam. vi. 13. 1 Chron. xv. 26. Verse 7. But when the king] HIMSELF: or, this very king. I have added xuvos on the authority of nine of the most ancient MSS. and nearly one hundred others; the later Syriac, sir copies of the Itala, and some of the Fathers. Several printed editions have it, and Griesbach has received it into the text. Verse 8. Were not worthy.] Because they made light of it, and would not come; preferring earthly things to heavenly blessings. Among the Mohammedans, refusal to come to a marriage feast, when invited, is considered a breach of the law of God. HEDAYAH, vol. iv. p. 91. It was probably considered in this light among all the oriental nations. This observation is necessary, in order to point out more forcibly, the iniquity of the refusal mentioned in the text. A man may be said to be worthy of, or fit for, this marriage feast, when feeling his wretchedness and misery, he comes to God in the way appointed, to get an entrance into the holiest, by the blood of Jesus, Verse 9. Go ye therefore into the highways] Ausžodous TWY od, cross or by-paths; the places where two or more roads met in one, leading into the city, where people were coming together from various quarters of the country. St. Luke adds hedges, to point out the people to whom the Apostles were sent, as either miserable vagabonds, or the most indigent poor, who were wandering about the country, or sitting by the sides of the ways and hedges, imploring relief. This verse points out the final rejection of the Jews, and the calling of the Gentiles. It was a custom among the Jews, when a rich man made a feast, to go out and invite in all destitute travellers. See in Rab. Beracoth, fol. 43. As many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.] God sends his salvation to every soul, that all may believe and be saved. Verse 10. Gathered together all--both bad and good] By the preaching of the gospel, multitudes of souls are gathered into what is generally termed the visible church of Christ. This church is the FLOOR, where the wheat and the chaff are often mingled, chap. iii. 12. The FIELD, where the bastard wheat and the true grain grow together, chap. xiii. 26, 27. The NET, which collects of all kinds both good and bad, chap. xiii. 48. The HOUSE, in which the wise and foolish are found, chap. xxv. 1, &c. And the FOLD, in which there are both sheep and goats, chap. xxv. 33, &c. Verse 11. When the king came] When God shall come to Judge the world. Wedding garment] Among the Orientals, long white robes were worn at public festivals; and those who appeared on such occasions with any other garments, were esteemed not only highly culpable, but worthy of punishment. Our Lord seems here to allude to Zeph. i. 7, 8. The Lord hath prepared a SACRIFICE, he hath BIDDEN his guests. End it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord's sacrifice, that I will PUNISH the princes, and the KING'S CHILDREN, and ALL SUCH as are clothed with STRANGE APPAREL. The person who invited the guests, prepared such a garment for each, for the time being; and with which he was furnished on his application to the ruler of the feast. It was this which made the conduct of the person mentioned in the text inexcusable; he might have had a proper marriage garment, if he had applied for it. To afford accidental guests clothing suitable to a marriage had not a wedding garment. A. M. 4033. A. D. 29. 11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which An. Olymp. had not on a wedding garment: CCII. 1. 12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither, not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. 2 Cor. 5. 3. Eph. 4. 24. Col. 3. 10, 12. Rev. 3. 4. & 16 15. & 19. 8. This marriage feast or dinner (the communication of the graces of the gospel in this life) prepares for the marriage supper of the Lamb, Rev. xix. 7, 8, 9. the enjoyment of eternal blessedness in the kingdom of glory. Now, as without holiness no man can see the Lord, we may at once perceive what our Lord means by the marriage garment—it is HOLINESS of heart and life: the text last quoted asserts, that the fine white and clean linen (alluding to the marriage garment above mentioned) was an emblem of the RIGHTEOUSNESS of the SAINTS. Mark this expression: the righteousness, the whole external conduct, regulated according to the will.and word of God. Of the SAINTS, the holy persons, whose souls were purified by the blood of the Lamb. Verse 12. He saith unto him, Friend] Rather, companion: SO ETags should be translated. As this man represents the state of a person in the visible church, who neglects to come unto the master of the feast for a marriage garment, for the salvation which Christ has procured; he cannot be with any propriety called a friend, but may be well terined a companion, as being a member of the visible church, and present at all those ordinances where Christ's presence and blessing are found, by all those who sincerely wait upon him for sal vation. How camest thou in hither] Why profess to be called |