1AndG2532 whenG3753 they drew nearG1448 toG1519 JerusalemG2414, andG2532 had comeG2064 toG1519 BethphageG967, toG4314 the mountG3735 of OlivesG1636, thenG5119 JesusG2424 sentG649 twoG1417 disciplesG3101, 2SayingG3004 to themG846, GoG4198 intoG1519 the villageG2968 oppositeG561 youG5216, andG2532 immediatelyG2112 ye shall findG2147 a donkeyG3688 tiedG1210, andG2532 a coltG4454 withG3326 herG846: looseG3089 them, and bringG71 them to meG3427. 3AndG2532 ifG1437 any manG5100 shall sayG2036 any thingG5100 to youG5213, ye shall sayG2046 G3754, The LordG2962 hathG2192 needG5532 of themG846; andG1161 immediatelyG2112 he will sendG649 themG846. 4AllG1161 G3650 thisG5124 was doneG1096, thatG2443 it might be fulfilledG4137 whichG3588 was spokenG4483 byG1223 the prophetG4396, sayingG3004, 5Tell yeG2036 the daughterG2364 of ZionG4622, BeholdG2400, thyG4675 KingG935 comethG2064 to theeG4671, meekG4239, andG2532 sittingG1910 uponG1909 a donkeyG3688, andG2532 a coltG4454 the foalG5207 of a donkeyG5268. 6AndG1161 the disciplesG3101 wentG4198, andG2532 didG4160 asG2531 JesusG2424 commandedG4367 themG846, 7And broughtG71 the donkeyG3688, andG2532 the coltG4454, andG2532 putG2007 onG1883 themG846 theirG846 clothesG2440, andG2532 they setG1940 him onG1883 itG846. 8AndG1161 a very greatG4118 multitudeG3793 spreadG4766 theirG1438 garmentsG2440 inG1722 the wayG3598; othersG1161 G243 cut downG2875 branchesG2798 fromG575 the treesG1186, andG2532 spreadG4766 them inG1722 the wayG3598. 9AndG1161 the multitudesG3793 that went beforeG4254, andG2532 that followedG190, criedG2896, sayingG3004, HosannaG5614 to the SonG5207 of DavidG1138: BlessedG2127 is he that comethG2064 inG1722 the nameG3686 of the LordG2962; HosannaG5614 inG1722 the highestG5310. 10AndG2532 when heG846 had comeG1525 intoG1519 JerusalemG2414, allG3956 the cityG4172 was movedG4579, sayingG3004, WhoG5101 isG2076 thisG3778? 11AndG1161 the multitudeG3793 saidG3004, ThisG3778 isG2076 JesusG2424 the prophetG4396 ofG575 NazarethG3478 of GalileeG1056. 12AndG2532 JesusG2424 wentG1525 intoG1519 the templeG2411 of GodG2316, andG2532 cast outG1544 all themG3956 that soldG4453 andG2532 boughtG59 inG1722 the templeG2411, andG2532 overthrewG2690 the tablesG5132 of the moneychangersG2855, andG2532 the seatsG2515 of them that soldG4453 dovesG4058, 13AndG2532 saidG3004 to themG846, It is writtenG1125, MyG3450 houseG3624 shall be calledG2564 the houseG3624 of prayerG4335; butG1161 yeG5210 have madeG4160 itG846 a denG4693 of thievesG3027. 14AndG2532 the blindG5185 andG2532 the lameG5560 cameG4334 to himG846 inG1722 the templeG2411; andG2532 he healedG2323 themG846. 15AndG1161 when the chief priestsG749 andG2532 scribesG1122 sawG1492 the wonderful thingsG2297 thatG3739 he didG4160, andG2532 the childrenG3816 cryingG2896 inG1722 the templeG2411, andG2532 sayingG3004, HosannaG5614 to the SonG5207 of DavidG1138; they were greatly displeasedG23, 16AndG2532 saidG2036 to himG846, Hearest thouG191 whatG5101 theseG3778 sayG3004? AndG1161 JesusG2424 saithG3004 to themG846, YeaG3483; have ye neverG3763 readG314 G3754, Out ofG1537 the mouthG4750 of babesG3516 andG2532 sucklingsG2337 thou hast perfectedG2675 praiseG136? 17AndG2532 he leftG2641 themG846, and wentG1831 out ofG1854 the cityG4172 intoG1519 BethanyG963; andG2532 he lodgedG835 thereG1563. 18NowG1161 in the morningG4405 as he returnedG1877 intoG1519 the cityG4172, he was hungryG3983. 19AndG2532 when he sawG1492 aG3391 fig treeG4808 inG1909 the wayG3598, he cameG2064 toG1909 itG846, andG2532 foundG2147 nothingG3762 onG1722 itG846, butG1508 leavesG5444 onlyG3440, andG2532 saidG3004 to itG846, Let noG1096 fruitG2590 growG1096 onG1537 theeG4675 henceforthG3371 forG1519 everG165. AndG2532 immediatelyG3916 the fig treeG4808 withered awayG3583. 20AndG2532 when the disciplesG3101 sawG1492 it, they marvelledG2296, sayingG3004, HowG4459 soonG3916 is the fig treeG4808 withered awayG3583! 21JesusG2424 answeredG611 andG1161 saidG2036 to themG846, VerilyG281 I sayG3004 to youG5213, IfG1437 ye haveG2192 faithG4102, andG2532 doubtG1252 notG3361, ye shallG4160 notG3756 onlyG3440 doG4160 thisG3440 which is done to the fig treeG4808, butG235 also ifG2579 ye shall sayG2036 to thisG5129 mountainG3735, Be thou removedG142, andG2532 be thou castG906 intoG1519 the seaG2281; it shall be doneG1096. 22AndG2532 all thingsG3956, whateverG302 G3745 ye shall askG154 inG1722 prayerG4335, believingG4100, ye shall receiveG2983. 23AndG2532 when heG846 had comeG2064 intoG1519 the templeG2411, the chief priestsG749 andG2532 the eldersG4245 of the peopleG2992 cameG4334 to himG846 as he was teachingG1321, and saidG3004, ByG1722 whatG4169 authorityG1849 doest thouG4160 these thingsG5023? andG2532 whoG5101 gaveG1325 theeG4671 thisG5026 authorityG1849? 24AndG1161 JesusG2424 answeredG611 and saidG2036 to themG846, I alsoG2504 will askG2065 youG5209 oneG1520 thingG3056, whichG3739 ifG1437 ye tellG2036 meG3427, I alsoG2504 will tellG2046 youG5213 byG1722 whatG4169 authorityG1849 I doG4160 these thingsG5023. 25The baptismG908 of JohnG2491, whereG4159 was itG2258 from? fromG1537 heavenG3772, orG2228 fromG1537 menG444? AndG1161 they reasonedG1260 withG3844 themselvesG1438, sayingG3004, IfG1437 we shall sayG2036, FromG1537 heavenG3772; he will sayG2046 to usG2254, WhyG1302 thenG3767 did yeG4100 notG3756 believeG4100 himG846? 26ButG1161 ifG1437 we shall sayG2036, FromG1537 menG444; we fearG5399 the peopleG3793; forG1063 allG3956 holdG2192 JohnG2491 asG5613 a prophetG4396. 27AndG2532 they answeredG611 JesusG2424, and saidG2036, We cannotG3756 tellG1492. AndG2532 heG846 saidG5346 to themG846, NeitherG3761 do IG1473 tellG3004 youG5213 byG1722 whatG4169 authorityG1849 I doG4160 these thingsG5023. 28ButG1161 whatG5101 thinkG1380 yeG5213? A certain manG444 hadG2192 twoG1417 sonsG5043; andG2532 he cameG4334 to the firstG4413, and saidG2036, SonG5043, goG5217 workG2038 to dayG4594 inG1722 myG3450 vineyardG290. 29He answeredG1161 G611 and saidG2036, I willG2309 notG3756: butG1161 afterwardG5305 he repentedG3338, and wentG565. 30AndG2532 he cameG4334 to the secondG1208, and saidG2036 likewiseG5615. AndG1161 he answeredG611 and saidG2036, IG1473 go, sirG2962: andG2532 wentG565 notG3756. 31WhichG5101 ofG1537 the twoG1417 didG4160 the willG2307 of his fatherG3962? They sayG3004 to himG846, The firstG4413. JesusG2424 saithG3004 to themG846, VerilyG281 I sayG3004 to youG5213, ThatG3754 the tax collectorsG5057 andG2532 the harlotsG4204 goG4254 intoG1519 the kingdomG932 of GodG2316 beforeG4254 youG5209. 32ForG1063 JohnG2491 cameG2064 toG4314 youG5209 inG1722 the wayG3598 of righteousnessG1343, andG2532 ye believedG4100 himG846 notG3756: butG1161 the tax collectorsG5057 andG2532 the harlotsG4204 believedG4100 himG846: andG1161 yeG5210, when ye had seenG1492 it, repentedG3338 notG3756 afterwardG5305, that ye might believeG4100 himG846. 33HearG191 anotherG243 parableG3850: There wasG2258 a certainG444 G5100 householderG3617, whoG3748 plantedG5452 a vineyardG290, andG2532 hedgedG5418 aroundG4060 itG846, andG2532 dugG3736 a winepressG3025 inG1722 itG846, andG2532 builtG3618 a towerG4444, andG2532 letG1554 itG846 outG1554 to vinedressersG1092, andG2532 went into a far countryG589: 34AndG1161 whenG3753 the timeG2540 of the fruitG2590 drew nearG1448, he sentG649 hisG846 servantsG1401 toG4314 the vinedressersG1092, that they might receiveG2983 itsG846 fruitsG2590. 35AndG2532 the vinedressersG1092 tookG2983 hisG846 servantsG1401, and beatG1194 oneG3303 G3739, andG1161 killedG615 anotherG3739, andG1161 stonedG3036 anotherG3739. 36AgainG3825, he sentG649 otherG243 servantsG1401 moreG4119 than the firstG4413: andG2532 they didG4160 to themG846 in like mannerG5615. 37ButG1161 last of allG5305 he sentG649 toG4314 themG846 hisG846 sonG5207, sayingG3004, They will reverenceG1788 myG3450 sonG5207. 38ButG1161 when the vinedressersG1092 sawG1492 the sonG5207, they saidG2036 amongG1722 themselvesG1438, ThisG3778 isG2076 the heirG2818; comeG1205, let us killG615 himG846, andG2532 let us seizeG2722 on hisG846 inheritanceG2817. 39AndG2532 they caughtG2983 himG846, and castG1544 him out ofG1854 the vineyardG290, andG2532 slewG615 him. 40WhenG3752 thereforeG3767 the lordG2962 of the vineyardG290 comethG2064, whatG5101 will he doG4160 to thoseG1565 vinedressersG1092? 41They sayG3004 to himG846, He will miserablyG2560 destroyG622 thoseG846 wicked menG2556, andG2532 will let outG1554 his vineyardG290 to otherG243 vinedressersG1092, whoG3748 shall renderG591 himG846 the fruitsG2590 inG1722 theirG846 seasonsG2540. 42JesusG2424 saithG3004 to themG846, Did yeG314 neverG3763 readG314 inG1722 the scripturesG1124, The stoneG3037 whichG3739 the buildersG3618 rejectedG593, the sameG3778 is becomeG1096 G1519 the headG2776 of the cornerG1137: thisG3778 isG3844 the Lord’sG2962 doingG1096, andG2532 it isG2076 marvellousG2298 inG1722 ourG2257 eyesG3788? 43ThereforeG1223 G5124 I sayG3004 to youG3754 G5213, The kingdomG932 of GodG2316 shall be takenG142 fromG575 youG5216, andG2532 givenG1325 to a nationG1484 bringing forthG4160 the fruitsG2590 of itG846. 44AndG2532 whoever shall fallG4098 onG1909 thisG5126 stoneG3037 shall be brokenG4917: butG1161 onG1909 whomeverG3739 G302 it shall fallG4098, it will grindG3039 himG846 to powderG3039. 45AndG2532 when the chief priestsG749 andG2532 PhariseesG5330 had heardG191 hisG846 parablesG3850, they perceivedG1097 thatG3754 he spokeG3004 ofG4012 themG846. 46ButG2532 when they soughtG2212 to lay handsG2902 on himG846, they fearedG5399 the multitudeG3793, becauseG1894 they regardedG2192 himG846 asG5613 a prophetG4396.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 23 THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS QUESTIONED AND THE REPLY--THE PARABLES OF THE TWO SONS, AND OF THE WICKED HUSBANDMAN. ( = Mark 11:27-12:12; Luke 20:1-19). (Mat. 21:23-46)
By what authority doest thou these things!--referring particularly to the expulsion of the buyers and sellers from the temple, and who gave thee this authority?
24 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, &c.
25 The baptism of John--meaning his whole mission and ministry, of which baptism was the proper character.
whence was it? from heaven, or of men?--What wisdom there was in this way of meeting their question will best appear by their reply.
If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him?--"Why did ye not believe the testimony which he bore to Me, as the promised and expected Messiah?" for that was the burden of John's whole testimony.
26 But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people--rather, "the multitude." In Luke (
Luke 20:6) it is, "all the people will stone us."
for all hold John as a prophet--Crooked, cringing hypocrites! No wonder Jesus gave you no answer.
27 And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell--Evidently their difficulty was, how to answer, so as neither to shake their determination to reject the claims of Christ nor damage their reputation with the people. For the truth itself they cared nothing whatever.
Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things--What composure and dignity of wisdom does our Lord here display, as He turns their question upon themselves, and, while revealing His knowledge of their hypocrisy, closes their mouths! Taking advantage of the surprise, silence, and awe produced by this reply, our Lord followed it up immediately by the two following parables.
Parable of the Two Sons (
Matt 21:28-
Matt 21:32).
28 But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first and said, Son, go work to-day in my vineyard--for true religion is a practical thing, a "bringing forth fruit unto God."
29 He answered and said, I will not--TRENCH notices the rudeness of this answer, and the total absence of any attempt to excuse such disobedience, both characteristic; representing careless, reckless sinners resisting God to His face.
30 And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir--"I, sir." The emphatic "I," here, denotes the self-righteous complacency which says, "God, I thank thee that I am not as other men" (
Luke 18:11).
and went not--He did not "afterward repent" and refuse to go; for there was here no intention to go. It is the class that "say and do not" (
Matt 23:3) --a falseness more abominable to God, says STIER, than any "I will not."
31 Whether of them twain did the will of his Father? They say unto him, The first--Now comes the application.
Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go--or, "are going"; even now entering, while ye hold back.
into the kingdom of God before you--The publicans and the harlots were the first son, who, when told to work in the Lord's vineyard, said, I will not; but afterwards repented and went. Their early life was a flat and flagrant refusal to do what they were commanded; it was one continued rebellion against the authority of God. The chief priests and the elders of the people, with whom our Lord was now speaking, were the second son, who said, I go, sir, but went not. They were early called, and all their life long professed obedience to God, but never rendered it; their life was one of continued disobedience.
32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness--that is, calling you to repentance; as Noah is styled "a preacher of righteousness" (
2Pet 2:5), when like the Baptist he warned the old world to "flee from the wrath to come."
and ye believed him not--They did not reject him; nay, they "were willing for a season to rejoice in his light" (
John 5:35); but they would not receive his testimony to Jesus.
but the publicans and the harlots believed him--Of the publicans this is twice expressly recorded,
Luke 3:12;
Luke 7:29. Of the harlots, then, the same may be taken for granted, though the fact is not expressly recorded. These outcasts gladly believed the testimony of John to the coming Saviour, and so hastened to Jesus when He came. See
Luke 7:37;
Luke 15:1, &c.
and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him--Instead of being "provoked to jealousy" by their example, ye have seen them flocking to the Saviour and getting to heaven, unmoved.
Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen (
Matt 21:33-
Matt 21:46).
33 Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard--(See on
Luke 13:6).
and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower--These details are taken, as is the basis of the parable itself, from that beautiful parable of
Isa 5:1-
Isa 5:7, in order to fix down the application and sustain it by Old Testament authority.
and let it out to husbandmen--These are just the ordinary spiritual guides of the people, under whose care and culture the fruits of righteousness are expected to spring up.
and went into a far country--"for a long time" (
Luke 20:9), leaving the vineyard to the laws of the spiritual husbandry during the whole time of the Jewish economy. On this phraseology, see on
Mark 4:26.
34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen--By these "servants" are meant the prophets and other extraordinary messengers, raised up from time to time. See on
Matt 23:37.
that they might receive the fruits of it--Again see on
Luke 13:6.
35 And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one--see
Jer 37:15;
Jer 38:6.
and killed another--see
Jer 26:20-
Jer 26:23.
and stoned another--see
2Chr 24:21. Compare with this whole verse
Matt 23:37, where our Lord reiterates these charges in the most melting strain.
36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first; and they did unto them likewise--see
2Kgs 17:13;
2Chr 36:16,
2Chr 36:18;
Neh 9:26.
37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son--In Mark (
Mark 12:6) this is most touchingly expressed: "Having yet therefore one son, His well-beloved, He sent Him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence My Son." Luke's version of it too (
Luke 20:13) is striking: "Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send My beloved Son: it may be they will reverence Him when they see Him." Who does not see that our Lord here severs Himself, by the sharpest line of demarcation, from all merely human messengers, and claims for Himself Sonship in its loftiest sense? (Compare
Heb 3:3-
Heb 3:6). The expression, "It may be they will reverence My Son," is designed to teach the almost unimaginable guilt of not reverentially welcoming God's Son.
38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves--Compare
Gen 37:18-
Gen 37:20;
John 11:47-
John 11:53.
This is the heir--Sublime expression this of the great truth, that God's inheritance was destined for, and in due time is to come into the possession of, His own Son in our nature (
Heb 1:2).
come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance--that so, from mere servants, we may become lords. This is the deep aim of the depraved heart; this is emphatically "the root of all evil."
39 And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard--compare
Heb 13:11-
Heb 13:13 ("without the gate--without the camp");
1Kgs 21:13;
John 19:17.
and slew him.
40 When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh--This represents "the settling time," which, in the case of the Jewish ecclesiastics, was that judicial trial of the nation and its leaders which issued in the destruction of their whole state.
what will he do unto those husbandmen?
41 They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men--an emphatic alliteration not easily conveyed in English: "He will badly destroy those bad men," or "miserably destroy those miserable men," is something like it.
and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons--If this answer was given by the Pharisees, to whom our Lord addressed the parable, they thus unwittingly pronounced their own condemnation: as did David to Nathan the prophet (
2Sam 12:5-7), and Simon the Pharisee to our Lord (
Luke 7:43, &c.). But if it was given, as the two other Evangelists agree in representing it, by our Lord Himself, and the explicitness of the answer would seem to favor that supposition, then we can better explain the exclamation of the Pharisees which followed it, in Luke's report (
Luke 20:16) --"And when they heard it, they said, God forbid"--His whole meaning now bursting upon them.
42 Jesus saith unto them. Did ye never read in the scriptures-- (
Ps 118:22-
Ps 118:23).
The stone which the builders rejected, &c.--A bright Messianic prophecy, which reappears in various forms (
Isa 28:16, &c.), and was made glorious use of by Peter before the Sanhedrim (
Acts 4:11). He recurs to it in his first epistle (
1Pet 2:4-6).
43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God--God's visible Kingdom, or Church, upon earth, which up to this time stood in the seed of Abraham.
shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof--that is, the great evangelical community of the faithful, which, after the extrusion of the Jewish nation, would consist chiefly of Gentiles, until "all Israel should be saved" (
Rom 11:25-
Rom 11:26). This vastly important statement is given by Matthew only.
44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder--The Kingdom of God is here a Temple, in the erection of which a certain stone, rejected as unsuitable by the spiritual builders, is, by the great Lord of the House, made the keystone of the whole. On that Stone the builders were now "falling" and being "broken" (
Isa 8:15). They were sustaining great spiritual hurt; but soon that Stone should "fall upon them" and "grind them to powder" (
Dan 2:34-
Dan 2:35;
Zech 12:2) --in their corporate capacity, in the tremendous destruction of Jerusalem, but personally, as unbelievers, in a more awful sense still.
45 And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables--referring to that of the Two Sons and this one of the Wicked Husbandmen.
they perceived that he spake of them.
46 But when they sought to lay hands on him--which Luke (
Luke 20:19) says they did "the same hour," hardly able to restrain their rage.
they feared the multitude--rather, "the multitudes."
because they took him for a prophet--just as they feared to say John's baptism was of men, because the masses took him for a prophet (
Matt 21:26). Miserable creatures! So, for this time, "they left Him and went their way" (
Mark 12:12).
