Mark 12:1

Christ had formerly in parables showed how he designed to set up the gospel church; now he begins in parables to show how he would lay aside the Jewish church, which it might have been grafted into the stock of, but was built upon the ruins of. This parable we had just as we have it here, Mat 21:33. We may observe here,

I. They that enjoy the privileges of the visible church, have a vineyard let out to them, which is capable of great improvement, and from the occupiers of which rent is justly expected. When God showed his word unto Jacob, his statutes and judgments unto Israel (Psa 147:19), when he set up his temple among them, his priesthood, and his ordinances, then he let out to them the vineyard he had planted; which he hedged, and in which he built a tower, Mar 12:1. Members of the church are God's tenants, and they have both a good Landlord and a good bargain, and may live well upon it, if it be not their own fault.

II. Those whom God lets out his vineyard to, he sends his servants to, to put them in mind of his just expectations from them, Mar 12:2. He was not hasty in his demands, nor high, for he did not send for the rent till they could make it, at the season; nor did he put them to the trouble of making money of it, but was willing to take it in specie.

III. It is sad to think what base usage God's faithful ministers have met with, in all ages, from those that have enjoyed the privileges of the church, and have not brought forth fruit answerable. The Old Testament prophets were persecuted even by those that went under the name of the Old Testament church. They beat them, and sent them empty away (Mar 12:3); that was bad: they wounded them, and sent them away shamefully entreated (Mar 12:4); that was worse: nay, at length, they came to such a pitch of wickedness, that they killed them, Mar 12:5.

IV. It was no wonder if those who abused the prophets, abused Christ himself. God did at length send them his Son, his well-beloved; it was therefore so much the greater kindness in him to send him; as in Jacob to send Joseph to visit his brethren, Gen 37:14. And it might be expected that he whom their Master loved, they also should respect and love (Mar 12:6); "They will reverence my son, and, in reverence to him, will pay their rent." But, instead of reverencing him because he was the son and heir, they therefore hated him, Mar 12:7. Because Christ, in calling to repentance and reformation, made his demands with more authority than the prophets had done, they were the more enraged against him, and determined to put him to death, that they might engross all church power to themselves, and that all the respect and obedience of the people might be paid to them only; "The inheritance shall be ours, we will be lords paramount, and bear all the sway." There is an inheritance, which, if they had duly reverenced the Son, might have been theirs, a heavenly inheritance; but they slighted that, and would have their inheritance in the wealth, and pomp, and powers, of this world. So they took him, and killed him; they had not done it yet, but they would do it in a little time; and they cast him out of the vineyard, they refused to admit his gospel when he was gone; it would by no means agree with their scheme, and so they threw it out with disdain and detestation.

V. For such sinful and shameful doings nothing can be expected but a fearful doom (Mar 12:9); What shall therefore the Lord of the vineyard do? It is easy to say what, for nothing could be done more provoking.

1. He will come, and destroy the husbandmen, whom he would have saved. When they only denied the fruit, he did not distrain upon them for rent, nor disseize them and dispossess them for non-payment; but when they killed his servants, and his Son, he determined to destroy them; and this was fulfilled when Jerusalem was laid waste, and the Jewish nation extirpated and made a desolation.

2. He will give the vineyards to others. If he have not the rent from them, he will have it from another people, for God will be no loser by any. This was fulfilled in the taking in of the Gentiles, and the abundance of fruit which the gospel brought forth in all the world, Col 1:6. If some from whom we expected well, prove bad, it doth not follow but that others will be better. Christ encouraged himself with this in his undertaking; Though Israel be not gathered, not gathered to him, but gathered against him, yet shall I be glorious (Isa 49:5, Isa 49:6), as a Light to lighten the Gentiles.

3. Their opposition to Christ's exaltation shall be no obstruction to it (Mar 12:10, Mar 12:11); The stone which the builders rejected, notwithstanding that, is become the Head of the corner, is highly advanced as the Head-stone, and of necessary use and influence as the Corner-stone. God will set Christ as his King, upon his holy hill of Zion, in spite of their project, who would break his bands asunder. And all the world shall see and own this to be the Lord's doing, in justice to the Jews, and in compassion to the Gentiles. The exaltation of Christ was the Lord's doing, and it is his doing to exalt him in our hearts, and to set up his throne there; and if it be done, it cannot but be marvellous in our eyes.

Now what effect had this parable upon the chief priests and scribes, whose conviction was designed by it? They knew he spoke this parable against them, Mar 12:12. They could not but see their own faces in the glass of it; and one would think it showed them their sin so very heinous, and their ruin so certain and great, that it should have frightened them into a compliance with Christ and his gospel, should have prevailed to bring them to repentance, at least to make them desist from their malicious purpose against him: but, instead of that, (1.) They sought to lay hold on him, and make him their prisoner immediately, and so to fulfil what he had just now said they would do to him, Mar 12:8. (2.) Nothing restrained them from it but the awe they stood in of the people; they did not reverence Christ, nor had an fear of God before their eyes, but were afraid, if they should publicly lay hold on Christ, the mob would rise, and lay hold on them, and rescue them. (3.) They left him, and went their way; if they could not do hurt to him, they resolved he should not do good to them, and therefore they got out of the hearing of his powerful preaching, lest they should be converted and healed. Note, If men's prejudices be not conquered by the evidence of truth, they are but confirmed; and if the corruptions of the heart be not subdued by faithful reproofs, they are but enraged and exasperated. If the gospel be not a savour of life unto life, it will be a savour of death unto death.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Ch. Mar_12:1-12. Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen

1. by parables] Another Parable spoken at this time was that of “the Two Sons” (Mat_21:28-32), and “the Marriage of the King’s Son” (Mat_22:1-14). St Mark relates only the second of these three Parables.

A certain man planted a vineyard] Our Lord seems to take up the words of the prophet Isaiah (Mar_5:1-7) and to build His teaching the more willingly on the old foundations, as He was accused of destroying the Law. Comp. Deu_32:32; Psa_80:8-16; Eze_15:1-6; Hos_10:1. By the Vineyard we are to understand the Kingdom of God, as successively realized in its idea (1) by the Jew, and (2) by the Gentile. Trench’s Parables, p. 193.

planted] The householder not merely possessed, he “planted” the vineyard. So God planted His spiritual vineyard (a) under Moses (Deu_32:12-14; Exo_15:17), (b) under Joshua, when the Jews were established in the land of Canaan.

an hedge about it] Not a hedge of thorns, but a stone wall to keep out wild boars (Psa_80:13), jackals, and foxes (Num_22:24; Son_2:15; Neh_4:3). The word only occurs (a) here, (b) in the parallel Mat_21:33, (c) in Luk_14:23, “go ye into the highways and hedges,” and (d) Eph_2:14, “the middle wall of partition.” “Enclosures of loose stone, like the walls of fields in Derbyshire or Westmoreland, everywhere catch the eye on the bare slopes of Hebron, of Bethlehem, and of Olivet.” Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, p. 421.

a place for the winefat] “dalf a lake,” Wyclif; “digged a pit to receauve the lycour of the wynepresse,” Geneva; “digged a trough,” Rhemish Version. The original word only occurs here in the N.T., and = the Latin lacus. The winepress, = torcular (Mat_21:33), consisted of two parts; (1) the press (gath) or trough above, in which the grapes were placed, and there trodden by the feet of several persons amidst singing and other expressions of joy (Jdg_9:27; Isa_16:10; Jer_25:30); (2) a smaller trough (yekeb), into which the expressed juice flowed through a hole or spout (Neh_13:15; Isa_63:2; Lam_1:15). Here the smaller trough, which was often hollowed (“digged”) out of the earth or native rock and then lined with masonry, is put for the whole apparatus, and is called a wine-fat. This word occurs also in Isa_63:2; Hos_9:2, marg.; compare press-fat, Hag_2:16; and fat, Joe_2:24; Joe_3:13. Fat from A. S. fæt = a vessel, vat, according to the modern spelling. Comp. Shakespeare, Ant. and Cleop. ii. 7. 120:—

“Come thou monarch of the vine,

Plumpie Bacchus, with pinke eyne:

In thy fattes our cares be drown’d.”

and built a tower] i. e. a “tower of the watchman,” rendered “cottage” in Isa_1:8; Isa_24:20. Here the watchers and vinedressers lived (Isa_5:2), and frequently, with slings, scared away wild animals and robbers. At the corner of each enclosure “rises its square grey towers, at first sight hardly distinguishable from the ruins of ancient churches or fortresses, which lie equally scattered over the hills of Judæa.” Stanley, p. 421.

to husbandmen] By these the spiritual leaders and teachers of the Jewish nation (Mal_2:7; Eze_34:2) are intended. Their land, secluded and yet central, was hedged round on the east by the river Jordan, on the south by the desert of Idumæa, on the west by the sea, on the north by Libanus and Anti-Libanus, while they themselves were separated by the Law, “the middle wall of partition” (Eph_2:14), from the Gentiles and idolatrous nations around.

went into a far country] “for a long while,” adds St Luke, or “many times.” “At Sinai, when the theocratic constitution was founded, and in the miracles which accompanied the deliverance from Egypt, the Lord may be said to have openly manifested Himself to Israel; but then to have withdrawn Himself again for awhile, not speaking to the people again face to face (Deu_34:10-12), but waiting in patience to see what the Law would effect, and what manner of works the people, under the teaching of their spiritual guides, would bring forth.” Trench, Parables, p. 197.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar_12:1-12

A certain man planted a vineyard and set an hedge about it.

The vineyard, or the visible Church transferred to the Gentiles

I. The Church is Gods peculiar treasure.

II. The Jewish people were appointed its guardians.

III. The Jewish nation was unfaithful to its trust.

1. They rejected the moral government of Jehovah.

2. They rejected His political control as the head of their theocracy.

IV. The sacred trust was transferred to other peoples and nations.

V. They were fearfully punished as a nation.

1. We are now led to admire the sublime features of the scheme of Providence.

2. That there is a great responsibility on the nations, communities, and individuals, to which God commits His Church.

3. We are the husbandmen. (E. N. Kirk, D. D.)

God the Proprietor of all

The manufacturer in his office knows that through building after building filled with machinery, running out to the very first and rudest processes, every single act of every single operative, down to the last and lowest boy, has its direct commercial connection with him and his interest. There is not one of the wheels that revolve of the ten thousand; there is not a thread spun or woven; there is not a colour mixed nor employed; there is not a thing done by any of the hands working in his vast establishment of whom there may be hundreds or even thousands, that is not related directly to his interest. The whole economy of the globe is, as it were, but a small manufactory under the direction of God; and there is not a single act performed in it which has not some relation to the thought, the feelings, the purpose of God. And He declares Himself to be in a wonderful sense identified with everything that is going on in life, in one way or another. (H. W. Beecher.)

Obligation to God

Horace Bushnell tells us that a few years before his death, Daniel Webster, having a large party of friends dining with him at Marshfield, was called on by one of the party as they became seated at the table to specify what one thing he had met with in his life which had done most for him, or had contributed most to the success of his personal history. After a moment he replied: The most fruitful and elevating influence I have ever seemed to meet with has been my impression of obligation to God.

The worlds ingratitude

Socrates, one of the wisest and noblest men of his time, after a long career of service in denouncing the wrongs of his age, and trying to improve the morals of the people, was condemned to death and obliged to drink poison. Dante, when Italy was torn by political factions, each ambitious of power, and all entirely unscrupulous as to the means employed to attain it, laboured with untiring zeal to bring about Italian unity, and yet his patriotism met no other reward than exile. Florence for Italy, and Italy for the world, were his words when he heard his sentence of banishment. Columbus was sent home in irons from the country he had discovered. The last two years of his life present a picture of black ingratitude on the part of the Crown to this distinguished benefactor of the kingdom, which it is truly painful to contemplate. He died, perhaps, the poorest man in the whole kingdom he had spent his lifetime to enrich. Bruno, of Nola, for his advocacy of the Copernican system, was seized by the Inquisition and burned alive at Rome in 1600, in the presence of an immense concourse. Scioppus, the Latinist, who was present at the execution, with a sarcastic allusion to one of Brunos heresies, the infinity of worlds, wrote, The flames carried him to those worlds. (M. Denton.)

Gods forbearance

The Macedonian king, Alexander the Great, who, as in one triumphal march, conquered the world, observed a very singular custom in his method of carrying on war. Whenever he encamped with his army before a fortified city and laid siege to it, he caused to be set up a great lantern, which was kept lighted by day and night. This was a signal to the besieged, and what it meant was that as long as the lamp burned they had time to save themselves by surrender, but that when once the light should be extinguished, the city, and all that were in it, would be irrevocably given over to destruction. And the conqueror kept his word with terrible consistency. When the light was put out, and the city was not given up, all hope of mercy was over. The Macedonians stormed the place, and if it was taken all were cut to pieces who were capable of bearing arms, and there was no quarter or forgiveness possible. Now, it is the good pleasure of our God to have compassion and to show mercy. But a city or a people can arrive at such a pitch of moral corruption that the moral order of the world can only be saved by its destruction. It was so with the whole race of men at the time of the flood, with Sodom and Gomorrah at a later period, and with the Jewish people in our Saviours time. But before the impending stroke of judgment fell, God always, so to speak, set up the lamp of grace, which was not only a signal of mercy, but also a light to show men that they were in the way of death, and a power to turn them from it. (Otto Funcke.)

Pursued by Gods mercy

Saved at the bottom of the sea! So said one of our Sydney divers to a city missionary. In his house, in one of our suburbs, might be seen lately what would probably strike the visitor as a very strange chimney ornament; the shells of an oyster holding fast a piece of printed paper. But devoutly do I wish that every chimney ornament could tell such a tale of usefulness. The possessor of this ornament might well value it. He was diving amongst wrecks on our coast, when he observed at the bottom of the sea this oyster on a rock, with this piece of paper in his mouth, which he detached, and commenced to read through the goggles of his head dress. It was a tract, and, coming to him thus strangely and unexpectedly, so impressed his unconverted heart, that he said, I can hold out against Gods mercy in Christ no longer, since it pursues me thus. He tells us that he became, whilst in the oceans depth, a repentant, converted, and (as he was assured) sin-forgiven man-saved at the bottom of the sea! (Mothers Treasury.)

Gods longsuffering

The axe carried before the Roman consuls was always bound up in a bundle of rods. An old author tells us that the rods were tied up with knotted cords, and that when an offender was condemned to be punished the executioner would untie the knots, one by one, and meanwhile the magistrate would look the culprit in the face, to observe any signs of repentance and watch his words, to see if he could find a motive for mercy; and thus justice went to its work deliberately and without passion. The axe was enclosed in rods to show that the extreme penalty was never inflicted till milder means had failed; first the rod, and the axe only as a terrible necessity. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Gods love in sending His Son

What would tempt you to give the baby out of your cradle? Is there anyone you love on earth, mother, that would tempt you to give your baby for that? But what if the child had grown up and had come to mans estate? Say it had bloomed into fruition and all your hope was on it. What do you love in this world that would tempt you to give this child up as a sacrifice? You might for the country in hours of heroism. Many and many a mother has done a work that was divine when she consecrated her only son and sent him forth into the war, believing that she should never see him again. How many hearts are touched with the thought of this remembrance. But, oh, is there language that can expound such heroism, such zeal, such enthusiasm, as must inhere in the hearts of everyone that can do such work as that? And yet our hearts are small comparatively, and pulseless and shallow, and our human senses, as compared with God, are like a drop of water in comparison with the ocean. And what is the love of God, the Infinite, whose flowings are like the Gulf Stream? What are the depths, and the breadths, and the lengths of the love of God in Christ Jesus, when, looking upon a world that was so degraded and animal like, He gave His only begotten Son to die for it that there might be an interpretation of the love of God to the world. (H. W. Beecher.)

Christ ungratefully treated

Surely a servant of the government may risk himself in the very heart of a convict prison alone, if he is the bearer of a royal pardon for all the inmates. In such a ease it would not be necessary to look out for a man of rare courage who might dare to carry the proclamation to the convicts. Give him but the message of free pardon, and he may go in unarmed, with all safety, like Daniel in the den of lions. When Christ Himself came to the world-the great convict prison of the universe-came the Ambassador from God, bringing peace-they said: This is the heir; come, let us kill Him! He came unto His own, and His own received Him not; and the servant is not greater than his Lord. (A.)

Cruelty to Christ

Some time ago a father had a son who had broken his mothers heart. After her death he went on from bad to worse. One night he was going out to spend it in vice, and the old man went to the door as the young one was going out, and said, My son, I want to ask a favour of you tonight. You have not spent one night with me since your mother was buried, and I have been so lonesome without her and without you, and now I want to have you spend tonight with me; I want to have a talk with you about the future. The young man said, No, father, I do not want to stay; it is gloomy here at home. He said, Wont you stay for my sake? and the son said he would not. At last, the old man said, If I cannot persuade you to stay, if you are determined to go down to ruin, and to break my heart, as you have your mothers-for these grey hairs cannot stand it much longer-you shall not go without my making one more effort to save you; and the old man threw open the door, and laid himself upon the threshold, and said, If you go out tonight you must go over this old body of mine; and what did he do? Why, that young man leaped over the father, and on to ruin he went. Did you ever think that God has given His Son? Yes, He has laid Him, as it were, right across your path that you might not go down to hell; and if there is a soul in this assembly that goes to hell, you must go over the murdered body of Gods Son. (D. L. Moody.)

The stream of mercy directed into another course

In the channel through which a running stream is directed upon a mill wheel, the same turning of a valve that shuts the water out of one course throws it into another, Thus the Jews, by rejecting the counsel of God, shut themselves out, and at the same moment opened a way whereby mercy might flow to us who were afar off. (William Arnot.)

The parable of the vineyard.

One who was wont to illustrate His teaching by imagery drawn from the objects which surrounded Him, could hardly fail in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem to speak of vineyards. The hills and table-lands of Judah were the home of the vine. Five times our Lord availed Himself of this figure for His parables (St. Mat_20:1; Mat_21:28; Mat_21:33; St. Luk_13:6; St. Joh_15:1); and though it is doubtful in what locality He spoke that of the labourers in the vineyard, it is almost certain that the remaining four are intimately associated with Jerusalem. In many places in Southern Palestine the features of this parable may still be traced. The loose stone fences, like the walls so familiar to the eye in Wales or Derbyshire; the remains of the old watchtowers, generally in one corner of the enclosure; and the cisterns hewn in the solid rock in which the grapes were pressed-all remain to the present day. It was the custom in our Lords time for the owner in leasing a vineyard to tenants, to arrange for the rent to be paid, not in money but in kind-a certain portion of the produce being set apart as a first charge for the landlord. The system prevails in modem times in some parts of France, and more widely under the name of ryot-rent in India. (H. M. Luckock, D. D.)

Gods dealings with the Jews are signified in this parable

I. He did by His special providence protect and defend the Jewish Church, against all enemies and dangers both bodily and spiritual, which might annoy them and so hinder their fruitfulness.

II. He afforded them all necessary helps and means to further them in grace, and to make them spiritually fruitful.

1. The Ministry of the Word and Sacraments, together with the whole true worship of God prescribed in the moral and ceremonial Law.

2. Godly discipline.

3. Afflictions and chastisements.

4. Mercies and deliverances.

5. Miracles. (G. Petter.)

Gods care of His church

Where God plants a true church, He does not so leave it, but is further careful to furnish it with all things needful for a church; and not only for the being, but also for the well-being of it; that it may not only be a church, but a happy and prosperous church, growing and flourishing in grace, and bringing forth plentiful fruits of grace, such as God requires and are acceptable to Him by Jesus Christ. As a careful and wise householder, having planted a vineyard for his use, doth not so leave it, and do no more to it; but is at further care and cost to furnish it with such things as are necessary and commodious, to the end it may grow, flourish, and prosper, and that it may bring forth much fruit and profit to the owner of it. So here, the Lord having planted a church in any place or amongst any people, doth not so leave it, but is careful to use all further means for the good of His church; especially for the spiritual good and prosperity of it, that it may grow, and increase, and prosper spiritually, and bring forth much spiritual fruit to God who planted it. Thus He did to the church of the Jews: He did not only plant His vineyard amongst them, by adopting and calling them to be His people, but withal He hedged about that vineyard, and set up a winepress, and built a watchtower in it, i.e., He furnished the Jews with all things needful to make them happy and prosperous, truly growing, thriving, and prospering in grace, and bringing forth plentiful fruits thereof, to the glory of God, the good of others, and the furtherance of their own salvation. To this end, He compassed them about with His special providence, as with a strong and sure hedge, to defend and keep them safe from all enemies and dangers bodily and spiritual which might annoy them; He gave and continued to them all spiritual helps and means of grace, and a government of His own appointing; He corrected them with afflictions, bestowed on them great mercies and deliverances, and wrought miracles for their benefit, to further their spiritual good and prosperity. And this is but a sample of how He treats every true church that He plants. (G. Petter.)

The church divinely protected

Whether in the parable the hedge and winefat and tower had each a special application in the system of Gods providential care for His ancient people, we cannot say; but at least in one particular we may trace a peculiar fitness in the figure of the hedge. What was it that protected the land of Israel year by year during the three Great Festivals, when by the Divine Law the country was denuded of its male population; when every man from north, south, east, and west, from the most unguarded districts, leaving their flocks and herds, their wives and little ones, totally unprotected from their bitterest enemies, went up to Jerusalem, the centre of religious worship? What was it that held in check the Moabite and Ammonite, and the robber tribes of Arabia? It was the fence of Divine protection, which, like a wall of fire, God in His providence had built up, so that no one dared to pass it. (H. M. Luckock, D. D.)

The pleading of the last Messenger

The coming of the Son of God in human form, as Emmanuel, is loves great plea for reconciliation. Who can resist so powerful an argument?

I. The amazing mission.

1. He comes after many rejections of Divine love. None have been left without admonitions and expostulations from God. From childhood upwards He has called us by most earnest entreaties of faithful men and affectionate women; and, in spite of our obstinate resistance, He still sends to us His Son to plead with us and urge us to go to our Father.

2. He comes for no personal ends. It is for our own sake that He strives with us. Nothing but tender regard for our well-being makes Him warn us.

3. See who this Messenger is.

(1) He is One greatly beloved of His Father.

(2) In Himself He is of surpassing excellence.

(3) His graciousness is as conspicuous as His glory.

(4) His manner is most winning.

(5) He is Gods ultimatum.

Nothing remains when Christ is refused. Heaven contains no further Messenger. Rejecting Christ you reject all, and shut against yourself the only possible door of hope.

II. The astounding crime. There are many ways of killing the Son of God.

1. Denying His deity.

2. Denying His atonement.

3. Remaining indifferent to His claims.

4. Refusing to obey His gospel.

Thus you may virtually put Him away, and so be guilty of His blood, and crucify Him afresh.

III. The appropriate punishment. Our Lord leaves our own consciences to depict the overwhelming misery of those who carry their rebellion to its full length. He leaves our imagination to prescribe a doom sufficient for a crime so base, so daring, so cruel. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The son rejected

I. The owners claim. His right and authority are complete. God presses His right to our love and service. Blessings are privileges, and privileges are obligations. We owe Him more than Israel owed. The human will has a natural repugnance to submission to absolute authority. But God never presents His claim as grounded on this alone. He tells of His love before He declares His laws. Only a bad heart can resent the authority or refuse the service.

II. The owners loving patience. There never was an earthly employer who showed such persistent kindness towards such persistent rebellion. This is a faint picture of Gods forbearance towards Israel. Mercies, deliverances, revelations, gather around their history.

III. The rejection. Rejection of the prophets leads up to the rejection of Christ. Privilege and place do not lessen the danger.

IV. The judgment. It was just, necessary, complete, remediless.

V. The final exaltation of the son. The kingdom is not to perish, only the rebellious. (C. M. Southgate.)

The Head of the Corner

I. The picture suggested by the scene which Christ calls up into imagination would be likely to cause surprise, or be termed an exaggeration, if it were laid anywhere outside of Palestine. Down even to the present time customs remain very much the same as in Christs day in that oppressed country.

1. The insecurity of property and person is proverbial. The Scripture record might be incorporated into the ordinary guide books.

2. There has been in all ages a special confusion of iniquitous dealing in respect to real estate. Thievery and violence seem to be the rule in the east, peace and possession the exception. Something is to be charged to the government; the laws are indefinite, and bribery is rife; indeed, the government sets the example of systematized crime. In all history of the Holy Land, from Christs time to ours, the rulers have been organized for official robbery and outrage. No titles are secure, even when one has paid for his vineyard or his building plot.

3. Then, too, the custom of committing all oversight and control of farms and orchards to underlings makes the matter a great deal worse. Absenteeism is a fruitful reason for crime (Mar_12:1). Those men left in charge of the vineyard, to whom messenger after messenger had been sent, and who now were peremptorily addressed by the owner with a final demand in the august person of his son, are represented as communing with each other, and saying, as they laid the wiles of their conspiracy, what might be construed into an utterance of their belief that, if this one inheritor were only dead, all heirship would be extinguished (Mar_12:7).

4. Still, so far as we can learn, there was no ground for hope of success in this plot. No enactment has come down to us which would sustain such an entailment or division or heirship as those infamous creatures assumed. Lukes language (Luk_20:14) agrees with Marks; but Matthew (Mat_21:38) says, Let us seize on his inheritance. This suggests the true interpretation. The husbandmen had no countenance in the common law; they intended to say that they would make the vineyard theirs by violence, and hold it by any extremities of force. It was a singularly stupid plan; it could not have even a plausible look anywhere but in that wretched region. It assumed an absence of justice, an insecurity of possession, an immunity from the worst crime, positively oriental in its toleration of rapine and murder.

5. Add to this the fact that in those early days, when invention had not yet brought firearms into use, the measures taken for homicide were brutal and hard beyond description. Not even spears or daggers or knives are used there for assassination now any more than they used to be. The coarse, rude weapon for murder is a club or bludgeon of the roughest sort; the Bedawin will have a gun on their shoulders, but will knock their victim on the head with a knotted stick all the same. The description, left on record by the Psalmist, is true to this day: He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor. He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net. He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones. He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: He hideth His face; He will never see it.

6. Hence, this frightful picture was a tremendous invective as well as a vivid illustration when employed by our Lord. He used it for a similitude in one of His most direct and forcible arraignments of the Jewish nation for their blind, dull, coarse, criminal rejection of Gods only-begotten Son, despatched then from high heaven to secure His Fathers rights from those who had grasped after heirship by murder.

II. We turn now to the second branch of the story. Our Lord suddenly drops His figure, and leaves the parable altogether, finishing His application with a quotation from one of the most familiar of the psalms (Psa_118:22).

1. Thus He illustrates His position. He claims a Messianic psalm for Himself. Matthew (Mat_21:43) tells us He said to those hearers of His in plain words that He was speaking this parable concerning them. And He chooses to show them that, for Himself, there was no fear of the future. The son of the story, who got murder instead of reverence, is heard of no more. But the Son of God, though rejected now, should one day come to His place of honour. They understood Him very well, for in an alarmed sort of murmur they said, God forbid! (Luk_20:16).

2. Thus He predicts His eventual triumph. There is a tradition of the Jewish Rabbis which relates the history of a wonderful stone, prepared, as they say, for use in the building of Solomons temple. Each block for that matchless edifice was shaped and fitted for its particular place, and came away from the distant quarry marked for the masons. But this one was so different from any other that no one knew what to do with it. Beautiful indeed it was; carved with figures of exquisite loveliness and grace; but it had no fellow; it fitted nowhere; and at last the impatient and perplexed workmen flung it aside as only a splendid piece of folly. Years passed, while the proud structure was going up without the sound of axe or hammer. During all the time this despised fragment of rock was lying in the valley of Jehoshaphat covered with dirt and moss. Then came the day of dedication; the vast throng arrived to see what the Israelites were wont to call the noblest fabric under the sun. There it stood crowning the mountains ridge, and shining with whiteness of silver and yellowness of gold. The wondering multitudes gazed admiringly upon its magnificent proportions, grand in their splendour of marble. But when one said that the east tower was unfinished, or at least looked so, the chief architect grew impatient again, and replied that Solomon was wise, but a builder must admit there was a gap in his plans. By and by the king drew near in person; with his retinue he rode directly to the incomplete spot, as if he there expected most to be pleased. Why is this neglect? he asked in tones of indignant surprise: where is the piece I sent for the head of this corner? Then suddenly the frightened workmen bethought themselves of that rejected stone which they had been spurning as worthless. They sought it again, cleared it from its defilement, swung it fairly up into its place, and found it was indeed the top stone fitted so as to give the last grace to the whole.

3. Thus Jesus also clinches His argument. He made His audience see that He was fulfilling every necessity of the Messiahs office, and answering to every prediction made of Him, even down to the receiving of the rejection at their hands as they were now giving it to Him. They were educated in the ancient oracles of God, and were wont to admit the bearing of every sentence and verse of prophecy. And when this strange, intrepid Galilean asked them, Did ye never read in the Scripture? they saw that He knew His vantage with the people, and would be strong enough to hold it against their violence or treachery. There was force in argument when one brought up a text inspired.

4. Thus, likewise, our Lord enlightened their consciences. There is something more than logical defeat in their manner after this conversation: there is spiritual dismay and consternation. They know that He had spoken the parable against them. It was necessary to silence this terrible voice of denunciation. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)

They will reverence My Son

A father may be sure that his son will be counted as standing for himself in a peculiar sense; and that all there is of gratitude or affection or reverence toward himself will indicate itself in the reception and treatment of that son, wherever the son goes as the fathers representative. When the Grand Duke Alexis visited America after our civil war, he was greeted with the liveliest expressions of interest by young and old throughout the North, because of his fathers sympathy with our government in the hour of its need. The Prince of Wales, on his visit to this country, was honoured as the representative of his royal mother; and the admiration for her character as a woman was commingled with the respect for her as a sovereign, in all the honours that were tendered to him wherever he moved. Any father or any mother may always be sure that a real friend will be true to the interests of a child of that parent, keenly alive to that childs welfare, and tenderly sensitive to its comfort and good name, because it is that parents child. God recognized this truth when He sent His only Son into this world as His representative. Whatever of real love for the Father there was among the sons of men, would be cure to show itself wherever the Son was recognized. (H. Clay Trumbull.)

Rejection of Christ a common, but most unreasonable iniquity

There is no sin more common or more pernicious in the Christian world than an unsuitable reception of Jesus Christ and the gospel. A soul that has the offer of Christ and the gospel, and yet neglects Him, is certainly in a perishing condition, whatever good works, whatever amiable qualities or appearances of virtue it may be adorned with. This was the sin of the Jews in Christs time, and this brought temporal and eternal ruin upon them. To represent this sin in a convictive light is the primary design of this parable. But it will admit of a more extensive application. It reaches us in these ends of the earth. However likely it be from appearances that the Son of God will universally meet with an affectionate reception from creatures that stand in such absolute need of Him, yet it is a melancholy, notorious fact that Jesus Christ has but little of the reverence and love of mankind. The prophetical character given of Him long ago by Isaiah still holds true. This is a most melancholy and astonishing thing; it may spread amazement and horror through the whole universe, but, alas! it is a plain fact.

I. To show you what kind of reception we may reasonable be expected to give to the Son of God.

1. We should give Him a reception agreeable to the character which He sustains.

(1) A Saviour in a desperate case, a relief for the remediless, a helper for the helpless.

(2) A great high priest making atonement for sin.

(3) A mediatorial king, invested with all the power in heaven and earth, and demanding universal homage.

(4) The publisher and the brightest demonstration of the Fathers love. And has He not discovered His own love by the many labours of His life, and by the agonies and tortures of His cross?

(5) As able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God through Him, and as willing as able, as gracious as powerful.

(6) A great prophet sent to publish His Fathers will, to reveal the deep things of God, and to show the way in which guilty sinners may be reconciled to God. A way which all the philosophers and sages of antiquity, after all their perplexing searches, could never discover.

(7) The august character of supreme Judge of the quick and dead. Do not imagine that none are concerned to give Him a proper reception but those with whom Be conversed in the days of His flesh. He is an ever-present Saviour, and He left His gospel on earth in His stead, when He went to heaven. It is with the motion of the mind and not of the body that sinners must come to Him; and in this sense we may come to Him as properly as those that conversed with Him.

II. The seasonableness of the expectation that we should give the Son of God a welcome reception. Here full evidence must strike the mind at first sight. Is there not infinite reason that infinite beauty and excellence should be esteemed and loved? that supreme authority should be obeyed, and the highest character revered? Is it not reasonable that the most amazing display of love and mercy should meet with the most affectionate returns of gratitude from the party obliged, etc.? In short, no man can deny the reasonableness of this expectation without denying himself to be a creature.

III. To show how different a reception the Son of God generally meets with in our world, from what might reasonable be expected.

1. Let me put you all upon a serious search, what kind of reception you have given to Jesus Christ. It is high time for you to inquire into your behaviour.

2. Is it not evident that Jesus Christ has had but little share in your thoughts and affections?

3. Is Jesus Christ the favourite subject of your conversation?

4. Are not your hearts destitute of His love? If you deny the charge and profess that you love Him, where are the inseparable fruits and effects of His love?

5. Have you learned to entrust your souls in His hands, to be saved by Him entirely in His own way? Or, do you not depend, in part at least, upon your own imaginary goodness? etc.

Conclusion:-

1. Do you not think that by thus neglecting the Lord Jesus, you contract the most aggravated guilt?

2. Must not your punishment be peculiarly aggravated, since it will be proportioned to your guilt?

3. How do you expect to escape this signal vengeance, if you still continue to neglect the Lord Jesus (Heb_2:8)?

4. If your guilt and danger be so great, and if in your present condition you are ready every moment to be engulfed in everlasting destruction, does it become you to be so easy and careless, so merry and gay? (President Davies.)

Reverence claimed for Christ

The Saviour here applies an ancient prediction to Himself (verse 10), And have ye not read, etc. Our present design is the consideration of the words of our text as they will properly apply to us.

I. The dignified character of Christ. Gods well-beloved Son. This representation presents Jesus to us.

1. In His divine nature.

2. As the object of the Fathers delight (Isa_13:1; Joh_17:24).

II. The mission of Christ. He sent Him also. God had sent His prophets and ministering servants to teach, to warn, and reveal His will to His people; but, last of all, He sent His Son.

1. From whence? From His own bosom (Joh_1:18).

2. To whom was He sent? To a world of sinners.

3. For what was He sent? To be the Saviour of the world; to restore men to the favour, image, and enjoyment of God.

(1) He came to destroy the works of the devil and set up the kingdom of heaven on earth.

(2) He was sent to illumine a dark world by the doctrines of the gospel.

(3) To recover an alienated world by His power and grace.

(4) To redeem an accursed world by His death upon the cross.

(5) To purify a polluted world by His spirit and blood.

III. The reverence God demands on behalf of His Son. Let us ascertain-

1. The manner in which this reverence should be evinced.

(1) By adoring love of His person.

(2) By cheerful obedience to His authority.

(3) By studious imitation of His example.

(4) By ardent zeal for His glory; making Christs interest our own; living to spread His name.

2. The grounds of this reverence.

(1) Think of the glory of His person.

(2) The purity of His character.

(3) The riches of His grace.

(4) The preciousness of His benefits.

(5) The terribleness of His wrath.

Application:

1. Address sinners. Rejection of Christ will involve you in endless wrath and ruin.

2. Saints. Aver your reverence for Christ. Not only cherish it, but exhibit it. Fearlessly profess Him before men, and ever live to the glory of His name. (J. Burns, D. D.)

The reverence due to the Son of God

I. It is reasonable He should be reverenced on account of-

1. The dignity and authority of His Father.

2. His inherent excellencies.

3. His actual achievements.

II. The reception which He met with.

III. The doom of those who disregard the Son. The ancient Jews who persisted in their rebellion did not escape punishment. So all those who now reject the offers of mercy and disregard the Son of God, will not escape punishment.

IV. Christ shall be reverenced. (G. Phillips.)

The builders overruled by the great Architect

This is a striking though homely image applied to the most wonderful of events.

I. The blindness of the builders. The position which the Jewish leaders occupied was a very honourable one. They were appointed to build-to build up the Church. They have to deliberate and devise regarding all that greatly pertained to the ecclesiastical life of the nation. But there also lay their great responsibility. They might do a great service, putting Christ into the place intended for Him; or they might do a great disservice, setting Him aside, and putting Him in a false light before the nation. It unhappily turned out in the latter way. And their crime is represented as a refusing of Him whom God meant to be a chief cornerstone. And what made their conduct so criminal was that they acted against the light.

II. The builders as overruled by the Great Architect. It has always been matter for surprise how bad men get into power. Never was human liberty brought into such antagonism to the Divine sovereignty. It would have been a sad thing if their conduct had prevented the building up of a Church. That, we know, could never be. This may be put on the ground of the Divine purpose. Christ was the living stone, chosen of God, But deeper than the purpose itself is the ground of the purpose in the character of God, and the fitness of the stone for the place. He was a stone refused, disallowed. But God was independent of them, and got others more humble than they, but more in sympathy with the purpose. Ay, even they are taken up into the purpose as unconscious, involuntary instruments. For it was in the very refusing of Him in His death that He became chief cornerstone. They were thus doing what they did not intend to do. And He rose triumphant out of their hands when they thought they had effectually secured Him in the tomb.

III. Let us draw some lessons from the theme.

1. Let us beware of self-deception, of blinding ourselves. These rulers thought they were doing God service in what they did to Christ. If they could so far deceive themselves who occupied so prominent a position in the Church, have we not reason to be on our guard?

2. Let us beware of leaving out Christ.

3. Let us admire the placing of Christ as chief cornerstone.

4. Let us remember the way and glory of becoming living stones in the spiritual temple.

5. Let us consider the loss of not being living stones in this building. Our Lord has a comment on these words, than which there is nothing more fearful: Whosoever shall fall, etc. (R. Finlayson, B. A.)

Rejected and chosen

I. The principle here asserted. The quotation is from Psa_118:22-23.

1. The intrinsic excellence of a thing is not at all affected by its non-recognition.

2. The intrinsic excellence of true principles enables them to become, in spite of human contempt, true rulers of the world and of life.

3. In their opposition to the true and the good, men know not what they do.

4. We see now how God must make use of what seem the unlikeliest instruments for the realization of His gracious purposes.

5. The processes of spiritual regeneration and new life are carried on by means of rejected powers.

II. The reaction of this principle upon the men of Christs time. They knew that He had spoken the parable against them. They lost the Christ they rejected. To him that hath shall be given, etc.

III. There are special lessons here for the men of the present age.

1. The possession of great privileges and advantages is not to be regarded as excluding moral abuses and dangers.

2. Faithfulness to spiritual truth is the true life giving and conservative force in individual and national life. What is morally wrong can never be safe.

3. Personal relations to the Christ determine destiny. Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall it will grind him to powder. (The Preachers Monthly.)

The rejected stone

Gods truth overcoming human opposition:-There is a legend which I have seen somewhere, which describes the origin of the figure in this way: That at the building of the temple a stone was cut and shaped in the quarries, of which the builders could make no use. It lay about daring the period of the building, held by all to be a hindrance (a stone of stumbling), but at the very last its place was found to be at the head of the corner, binding the two sides together. And so the Father explains Christ the cornerstone, as binding Jew and Gentile in one Church of God. It is very remarkable how often this has been repeated in the history of the Church-how great religious movements have been frowned down, if not actively opposed, by those in high places, which have afterwards subdued all opposition. In our own times, in this very century, this has occurred twice. First, the great evangelical movement in our Church was set at naught by the builders, though it was the assertion of the primary truth of personal religion-that each soul must have a personal apprehension of Christ, and look to Him with the eye of a living faith; and then the great Church movement was almost unanimously rejected by the bishops between 1810 and 1850, though it was the assertion of the truths patent through all the New Testament, that the Church, though a visible organization, is the mystical body of Christ-that it is a supernatural system of grace, and that its sacraments are the signs of grace actually given in and with the outward sign. In neither of these cases did the builders discern the strength of the principles asserted, and foresee that they must win their way; though the formularies of the Church, of which these builders were the exponents and guardians, assert very unmistakably both these truths in conjunction, viz., spiritual apprehension of Christ, and sacramental union in His body. (M. F. Sadler, M. A.)

The headstone of the corner

The Lord Jesus is-

I. A stone: No firmness but in Him.

II. A fundamental stone: No building but on Him.

III. A corner stone: No piecing, or reconciliation, but in Him. (Anon.)

They knew that He had spoken.-

A guilty conscience

During the Protectorate, a certain knight in the county of Surrey had a lawsuit with the minister of his parish; and, whilst the dispute was pending, Sir John imagined that the sermons which were delivered in church were preached at him. He, therefore, complained against the minister to Oliver Cromwell, who inquired of the preacher concerning it; and, having found that he merely reproved common sins, he dismissed the complaining knight, saying, Go home, Sir John, and hereafter live in good friendship with your minister; the Word of the Lord is a searching word, and it seems as if it had found you out!

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 12:1-11. He began to speak unto them by parables — “Christ having showed the rulers, chief priests, and scribes, the heinousness of their sin, in rejecting John the Baptist, (Mat 21:28-32,) judged it proper, likewise, publicly to represent the crime of the nation, in rejecting all the messengers of God from first to last, and among the rest his only-begotten Son; and in mis-improving the Mosaic dispensation, under which they lived. At the same time, he warned them plainly of their danger, by reason of the punishment which they had incurred, on account of such a continued course of disobedience and rebellion. The outward economy of religion, in which they gloried, was to be taken from them; their relation to God as his people cancelled; and their national constitution destroyed. But because these were topics extremely disagreeable, he couched them under the veil of a parable, which he formed upon one made use of long before, by the Prophet Isa 5:1.” — Macknight. A certain man planted a vineyard, &c. — See this parable explained at large in the notes on Mat 21:33-46.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES

Mar_12:1. A place for the winefat.—Simply a winepress; or (more exactly) winevat, i.e. the receptacle under the winepress proper. Probably ὑπολήνιον is here used to denote the whole apparatus, which was often hollowed out of a sloping rock. A tower.—A stone building some twenty feet high, with a flat roof, where a sentinel was posted to protect the vineyard from depredators. It would also serve as a residence during the vintage season. Into a far country.—Too strong: ἀπεδήμησε is just went from home.

Mar_12:4. See R. V.

Mar_12:6. Most pathetically put in the original: There was yet one he possessed, a son beloved; he sent him last to visit them, saying. They will feel ashamed of themselves in presence of my son.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Mar_12:1-12

(PARALLELS: Mat_21:33-41; Luk_20:9-18.)

The husbandmen and the vineyard.—In this parable our Lord seeks to convince the Jews of the sinful state of the nation, and to warn them of the terrible judgments they were bringing on themselves. These features will be dwelt on more fully in the next Outline; the following more general lessons may be enforced here.

I. This parable condemns injustice between man and man.—It assumes that a man has a right in that which belongs to him, and exposes the wickedness of those who attempt to take the law into their own hands. It goes dead against such teaching as has led to bloodshed and misery in Ireland, and can only result in ruin wherever it is put in practice.

II. This parable enforces solemn spiritual lessons.—

1. We are not our own (1Co_6:10; 1Co_6:20). The soul is a vineyard, and we have no right to neglect or misuse it. Every talent entrusted to us must be employed for the glory of God, and in obedience to His commands.

2. The Lord of the vineyard has afforded us every opportunity for right cultivation, and He expects us to render a due return. “No man is elected to any advantage over his fellows for his own sake or enjoyment. He is rather in the position of one to whom finer and more powerful instruments are given, that by their possession he may be the servant of all the rest.”

3. Obedience must be the voluntary submission of our free choice; and God will not be satisfied without this.

The Stone which the builders rejected.—Those whom our Lord addressed had not only “read this scripture,” but had been accustomed to apply it to the proper person—not David himself, but David’s Son and Lord, the Messiah. So that here, as elsewhere, Christ covertly takes to Himself that office and dignity which, out of consideration for their prejudices, He forbore openly to assume. After His ascension, when there was no longer any reason for reserve, His apostles affirmed the same truth in the plainest terms (Act_4:10; Acts 11; 1Pe_2:7).

I. The rejection of Jesus Christ by the Jewish nation.—They were “the builders,” a people specially set apart to preserve the knowledge of God in the world. This they had done—carried up the structure to a certain height above the ground, as far as their materials would go. But now, on there being presented to them a Stone, a chief Corner-stone, just what they required to complete the edifice, they cast it aside with derision and contempt. And in so doing they unwittingly fulfilled prophecy (Act_13:27).

II. The exaltation of Jesus Christ, notwithstanding their rejection.—We cannot, like Stephen, see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. But we may behold the visible kingdom and Church of Christ, as it was instituted at Jerusalem immediately after His ascension, and continues to this day. We may trace the marvellous progress of this institution in the pages of the inspired narrative, so far as that narrative extends. Proceeding onwards, we may view “the kingdoms of this world,” one after another, “becoming the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ,” and the religion of the Crucified firmly established and consolidated in the world.

III. The Divine agency to which this is to be ascribed.—From whom, if not from God, could a work so truly Divine, so far surpassing all human powers and conceptions, proceed?

1. Consider it as a gift (Jas_1:17; Rom_6:23; Joh_3:16).

2. Consider it as a signal defeat and disconcerting of the counsels of men (Psa_33:10; Job_5:13; Psa_76:10).

3. Consider it as still proceeding, and recognise “the Lord’s doing” both in the rejection and the reception of Jesus Christ, and of the doctrine which He brought down from heaven, and sealed with His blood.—F. Field, LL.D.

OUTLINES AND COMMENTS ON THE VERSES

Mar_12:1. God’s care for Israel.—Canaan was a vineyard enclosed (Exo_15:17; Psa_44:2; Neh_9:23-25; Psa_80:8-11). Lines of demarcation were laid down between the people of Israel and the surrounding nations, partly because the idolatries practised by those nations were so defiling and infectious that even the chosen nation could not be trusted to mingle with them on free terms. They were forbidden to intermarry with other people. Moreover they were isolated by their geographical position: the desert of Paran bounded their southern states; the Mediterranean Sea, the west; the rugged mountains of Lebanon, the north; and their eastern frontier was a water boundary. A vineyard required unceasing care and attention; so every facility was furnished the children of Israel to become a nation of saints.—J. H. Morgan.

The soul, God’s vineyard.—The soul, according to one figurative sense of this parable, is the vineyard of God. When He created it, He planted it; He set a hedge about it, which is that of His commandments. The winepress is the representative sacrifice which causes the blood of Christ to flow into it. The tower is the Church, the house of prayer, in which the soul, being raised from the earth, is secure from its enemies, and finds in the Word of God arms strong enough to overcome them. Our soul is not our own: God, who is the creator, is likewise the proprietor of it. We hold it of Him, as it were, by lease, only that we may cultivate it, and render to Him the fruits which it is capable of producing by His grace. Let us take great care that we be not found, either not having any at all, or claiming the property of them to ourselves.—P. Quesnel.

Mar_12:3-9. The wicked husbandmen.—

1. Injustice to men results from unfaithfulness to God.

2. The wicked expect to profit by the removal of the righteous.

3. What is good passes from those who will not use it to those who will.

4. Those most honoured by God have not been most honoured by men.—J. H. Godwin.

The form of this parable.—At most this parable is but an old theme worked up with new variations. Every one who heard it knew what the vineyard with its hedge, winepress, and tower signified, and who the vinedressers were, and who the servants sent for the fruits. These phrases belonged to the established religious dialect of Israel as much as the words pastor, flock, lambs of the flock, Zion, etc., do to ours, used by us all without consciousness that we are speaking in figures. In adopting this form of presentation, therefore, Jesus was not so much speaking in parables as using the recognised authority of written prophecy against His opponents, a most appropriate procedure when the question at issue respecied His personal authority.—A. B. Bruce, D.D.

The design of this parable.—The design is to signalise the contrast between the spirit of the owner and that of the men to whom the vineyard was entrusted. The owner has an eye to fruit; the details depicting the construction of the vineyard all point towards fruit as the chief end, and they are enumerated for no other reason There is a hedge, that the vines may not be spoiled by wild beasts; a press and vat, that the grapes may be squeezed and the juice preserved; a tower, that the ripe fruit may not be stolen. The didactic significance of these particulars is not, as in the original form of the allegory in Isaiah, that all has been done that could be done for the vineyard, so as to make the owner free from blame, but that all has been done with one object in view, viz. the production of fruit. In keeping with this emphasising of fruitfulness as the reason of the existence of the vineyard fully equipped for the purpose, is the reiterated persistent demand for the fruit when the season came round, as also the intimation of the owner’s purpose, on conclusively ascertaining that no fruit was to be forthcoming, to entrust his vineyard to others. On the other hand, what was the temper of the vinedressers? Was it that of men who wished to keep the fruit to themselves instead of giving it to the owner? No; but rather that of men who never thought of fruit, but only of the honour and privilege of being entrusted with the keeping of the vineyard. They were triflers, men utterly devoid of earnestness, and the practical purpose of the property committed to their charge they habitually forgot. The hedge and the press and the tower might as well not have been there. When the servants came for the fruit they were simply surprised. “Fruit, did you say? we have occupied the position of vinedressers, and duly drawn our wages: what more do you want?” Such was the actual fact in regard to the spiritual heads of Israel. They had been entrusted with a valuable institution—an elect nation furnished with good laws, and meant to be a holy nation, a people to God’s praise. And speaking generally, they had lost sight of the end of Israel’s calling, and had made no use of the means provided for its attainment. They had occupied their position for their own glory; taken pay and done no work. They had committed the sin to which privileged classes have ever been prone—that of thinking only of privilege, and forgetting duty.—Ibid.

Application of this parable to Christians.—A rich vineyard, planted and fenced, is let out to us by the Divine Owner. The Bible, the Church, and the ministry have been provided and preserved for us. These blessings are not ours by right; we are tenants at will. We cannot truly enjoy the produce of the vineyard unless we reserve a portion for the owner. Those fruits enrich us most when returned to the Giver. They cannot be presented directly to Him, but they are made payable to the poor and His ministers. His Son has come to claim them, and is now waiting for our supreme reverence, trust, and love. “See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh.”—J. H. Morgan.

Mar_12:6. The treatment due to Christ from sinners.—It might have been presumed that sinners would treat Christ kindly, from—

1. The Divinity and glory of His nature.

2. The perfect excellence of His character.

3. The reasonableness of His claims.

4. The goodness of His intentions.

5. His known ability to save.

6. His power to destroy.

7. Their own necessities. One might sooner expect a beggar to spurn a palace, or a dying man to refuse the touch that would bring him life and health.

The Mission of the Son.—As He reached this point of the parable we may well believe that a thrill of blended joy and horror shot through the heart of Him who spake as never man spake, and loved as never man loved. For now He has to speak of Himself, and of His Father’s grace as shewn in and through Him. There was yet one, a well-beloved Son; and He last of all was sent by the all-enduring Lord of all. Must not His whole being have thrilled with deep and sacred joy at the thought that His Father loved Him, loved Him well and much, loved Him most of all for the love which prompted Him to lay down His life for the sinful race which hated and rejected Him? Amid all the sorrow and darkness which confronted Him, must He not have been consoled and upheld by the conviction that the God who had spoken to men in sundry fragments and divers ways by the prophets in times gone by, was now speaking to them by the Son whom He had “appointed heir of all things,” and was about to reveal to them the very fulness of His grace, His kindness and philanthropy—that even the death of the Cross was ordained by His Father, and was part of the plan by which He would yet draw all men unto Himself? And yet, as He turned from God to men, as the thought of His rejection, of all He had suffered and was still to suffer at the hands of these lawless upholders of law, must He not have been profoundly appalled by the sense of that guilt which He came to take away? He had long and often spoken of His death to His disciples, striving to prepare them for it; but now, for the first time, He predicts His rejection and death to the people at large, and in especial charges the rulers and priests, who had already in secret council conspired to put Him to death, with the guilt, with “the deep damnation of His taking-off.” If they could He could not, face that guilt unmoved; and as He put into the mouths of those wicked husbandmen the words, “This is the heir; come, and let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours”—if the priestly rulers (who, to keep their “place,” had determined to murder Him)—if they started as at the voice of an accusing and impersonated conscience, to which all their guilty secrets were known, how must He, who loved even them, have been grieved and appalled at a wickedness so stiff-necked and stupendous as theirs!—S. Cox, D.D.

Mar_12:7. The Son known and rejected.—

1. Jesus claims to be the Heir of God. In acting for God He acts for Himself. It is nature and relationship, not mere official dignity, that underlies this title and that is implied in the parable.

2. Jesus implies that this was known by these Jewish leaders. Their condemnation was, that, knowing Him to be the Son of God, they slew Him. They had a conviction that Jesus was the Christ, but they would not let their mind dwell upon it. There are thousands who have a haunting suspicion that Jesus deserves a very different kind of recognition from that which they give Him.—M. Dods, D. D.

Denial in spite of conviction.—Beneath many an obstinate denial of Him lies a secret confession or misgiving, which is more truly the man than the loud negation. And such strange contradictions are men, that the secret conviction is often the very thing which gives bitterness and eagerness to the hostility.—A. Maclaren, D. D.

“The inheritance shall be ours.”—Fatal mistake! The inheritance was theirs, and in slaying the Heir they cast themselves out of it.—Prof. F. J. A. Hort.

Mar_12:10-11. The rejected Stone.—The psalmist, in these two verses, is held to have referred to an incident in the building or in the rebuilding of the Temple. A stone which after examination the builders had rejected and cast aside as unworthy of a place in the foundation, had proved, when re-examined, to be of such noble quality that it was used as a corner-stone in the cornice, at an angle where two walls met, and was thus exalted to a conspicuous place of honour. Such a reversal of skilled human judgment was held to be the Lord’s doing, a marvel which called for admiration and praise. As it was with the rejected stone, Jesus implies, so will it be with the rejected Son. “You priests and rulers have rejected Me; you are about, as you think, to cover Me with shame and dishonour; but God is laughing at you, and at the shallow cunning you mistake for policy and wisdom: He will have you in derision; He will lift His despised and rejected Son into a place so lofty and honourable as that all the world may see Him, and praise the God who has exalted Him.”—S. Cox, D.D.

God’s truth overcoming human opposition.—It is very remarkable how often this has been repeated in the history of the Church—how great religious movements have been frowned down, if not actively opposed, by those in high places, which have afterwards subdued all opposition. In our own times, in this very century, this has occurred twice. First, the great evangelical movement in the Church of England was set at naught by the builders, though it was the assertion of the primary truth of personal religion—that each soul must have a personal apprehension of Christ, and look to Him with the eye of a living faith; and then the great Church movement was almost unanimously rejected by the bishops between 1840 and 1850, though it was the assertion of the truths patent through all the New Testament, that the Church, though a visible organisation, is the mystical body of Christ—that it is a supernatural system of grace, and that its sacraments are the signs of grace actually given in and with the outward sign. In neither of these cases did “the builders” discern the strength of the principles asserted, and foresee that they must win their way, though the formularies of the Church, of which these builders were the exponents and guardians, assert very unmistakably both these truths in conjunction, viz. spiritual apprehension of Christ, and sacramental union in His body.—M. F. Sadler.

Christ is to His Church a stone, which is solid by His immortality, white by His purity,—a principal one, as being her Head; a foundation-stone, as Author and Finisher of the faith; and a corner-stone, as being the band and union of all His members. They whose business it is to build the spiritual edifice are sometimes so unhappy as to reject the most lively and excellent stones. But God will certainly take care to reserve them their proper place, and to put them into the building.—P. Quesnel.

Mar_12:12. Reproof should be welcomed.—Men almost instinctively resent reproof; they do not like plain truths about themselves. Light hurts weak eyes; honey burns sore throats. Lais, the Corinthian beauty, broke her mirror because it shewed her wrinkles. This is foolish. I ought to be grateful to any who help me to know myself. When I remember how I shrink from reproving another, I ought to feel deeply indebted to the man who has brought himself to the point of reproving me. Some one has said that no man can be perfect without either a watchful enemy or a faithful friend. Let us value the faithful friend. He may not tickle our vanity, as does the honey-tongued flatterer, who, like Vitellius, worshipped Jehovah at Jerusalem and Caligula at Rome; but he will make us stronger and purer.

ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 12

Mar_12:2. “At the season.”—That was when the clusters were ripe, or perhaps it means the usually arranged period when the tenants, having gathered their grapes, and pressed their clusters, and sold their casks of wine, were able to pay the agreed amount of the profits. The plan seems to resemble the system called metayer in France, where the landowner supplies the land and seed, etc., according to an agreement, and the labourer supplies the culture, and at harvest-time receives for himself two-thirds of the crop, and pays over the other third to the landowner.

Mar_12:3-9. Insecurity of life in unsettled times.—The insecurity of life is reflected by the fierce lawlessness of the peasants who had possession of the vineyard; for that must have been a wild time of which it could be said that they beat, stabbed, or stoned both bands of slaves, ending by killing even the householder’s son. Nor is it a less vivid indication of general social demoralisation to find the injured owner represented as coming and destroying the criminals, without any reference of the matter to a court of law. The parable must be true to possibilities, else it would have failed to impress, and hence may be accepted as implying a very unsettled state of society in Palestine in those days, at least in districts away from Roman posts. The hideous misery entailed on the whole land by the long civil wars of local pretenders, and, still more, by the awful struggles of the rival claimants to the throne of the world, had brought over wide regions, not in Palestine alone, but in every province of the all-embracing Roman Empire, a dissolution of society, and the destruction of once flourishing communities, which made it the great task of the peaceful age of Augustus to rebuild ruined cities, to bring back to cultivation provinces once filled with a thriving population and rich in all rural industries, to repress and extirpate the lawlessness following in the train of such prolonged social convulsions, and to restore order and the sanctities of a secure public and private life. Over Palestine and Western Asia, including Asia Minor, there was, in fact, a state of things to redress which in a measure anticipated that of the civilised world at large in the fifth century, when the safest retreat of robbers, or the most lonely haunt of the solitary monk fleeing from the evils of the world, was in the ruins of what had not long before been a rich and populous city. Or, if we seek a parallel in modern history, there was such a state of things as remained over Central Europe after the close of the Thirty Years’ War, the scars and ruin of which are not even yet effaced, after nearly two hundred and fifty years.—C. Geikie, D.D.

Ingratitude.—At the battle of the Alma, in September 1854, a wounded Russian was calling piteously for water. Captain Eddington, whose heart was kind and charitable, ran to him, and, stooping, gave him a drink. The wounded man revived. The captain ran forward to rejoin his regiment, when the wretch fired and shot him who had befriended him in time of need.

Mar_12:6-7. God’s longsuffering.—The axe carried before the Roman consuls was always bound up in a bundle of rods. An old author tells us that “the rods were tied up with knotted cords, and that when an offender was condemned to be punished the executioner would untie the knots one by one, and meanwhile the magistrate would look the culprit in the face, to observe any signs of repentance and watch his words, to see if he could find a motive for mercy; and thus justice went to its work deliberately and without passion.” The axe was enclosed in rods to shew that the extreme penalty was never inflicted till milder means had failed; first the rod, and the axe only as a terrible necessity.

Divine forbearance.—The Macedonian king, Alexander the Great, who, as in one triumphal march, conquered the world, observed a very singular custom in his method of carrying on war. Whenever he encamped with his army before a fortified city and laid siege to it, he caused to be set up a great lantern, which was kept lighted by day and night. This was a signal to the besieged, and what it meant was that as long as the lamp burned they had time to save themselves by surrender, but that when once the light should be extinguished, the city, and all that were in it, would be irrevocably given over to destruction. And the conqueror kept his word with terrible consistency. When the light was put out, and the city was not given up, all hope of mercy was over. The Macedonians stormed the place, and if it was taken all were cut to pieces who were capable of bearing arms, and there was no quarter or forgiveness possible. Now it is the good pleasure of our God to have compassion and to shew mercy. But a city or a people can arrive at such a pitch of moral corruption that the moral order of the world can only be saved by its destruction. It was so with the whole race of men at the time of the Flood, with Sodom and Gomorrah at a later period, and with the Jewish people in our Saviour’s time. But before the impending stroke of judgment fell God always, so to speak, set up the lamp of grace, which was not only a signal of mercy, but also a light to shew men that they were in the way of death, and a power to turn them from it.

God’s final effort.—I remember one of the poets hath an ingenious fancy to express the Passion, wherewith he found himself overcome after a long resistance—that “the God of love had shot all His golden arrows at him, but could never pierce his heart, till at length he put Himself into the bow, and darted Himself straight into his breast.” Methinks this doth some way adumbrate God’s method of dealing with men. He had long contended with a stubborn world, and thrown down many a blessing upon them; and when all His other gifts could not prevail, He at last made a gift of Himself, to testify His affections and to engage theirs (Isa_5:4; Rom_8:32; Heb_1:3; Tit_2:14).—H. Scougal.

Christ’s reception from men.—Surely a servant of the government may risk himself in the very heart of a convict prison alone, if he is the bearer of a royal pardon for all the inmates. In such a case it would not be necessary to look out for a man of rare courage who might dare to carry the proclamation to the convicts. Give him but the message of free pardon, and he may go in unarmed with all safety, like Daniel in the den of lions. When Christ Himself came to the world—the great convict prison of the universe—came the Ambassador from God, bringing peace—they said: “This is the heir; come, let us kill Him!” He came unto His own, and His own received Him not; and the servant is not greater than his Lord.

Mar_12:9. Responsibility.—Daniel Webster was once called upon at a dinner-party in his own house to specify what one thing he had met with in life which had done most for him or had contributed most to his success. After a moment he replied, “The most fruitful and elevating influence I have ever seemed to meet with has been my impression of responsibility to God.”

Mar_12:10. “The headstone of the corner” is a keystone. A keystone is the wedge-shaped stone which keys or binds together the sides of an arch at its top. There is an ancient story that the Temple-builders, in absence of the architect, threw away a keystone because of its peculiar shape. It would not fit anywhere in the walls. Finally its proper place was found, and it was raised to the top of the arch. “The stone which the builders rejected became the head of the corner,” the keystone of the arch. A beautiful illustration, frequently used, of the rejection and exaltation of Christ. The rejection adds lustre to the glory. Every rejection of Christ turns out the same way: whether rejected by Caiaphas, or Nero, or Voltaire or Paris Commune, He is ever found, ever raised, ever placed higher in the fabric, the headstone of the arch. He has no other place. He fits nowhere else. He is not one fine stone along with the rest, Confucius, Buddha, and Mahomet. He is the keystone, different in kind from the rest. This or nothing. His place is at the top. The whole fabric of history holds Him up to view. He binds together the arch. Without Him the arch must fall in. Without Him the arch is an unsolved problem. He is the keystone; He solves the problem and locks the arch. He is the keystone of history. Previous history comes up to Him on one side, and subsequent history on the other side, and He unites them. He is the centre of history. He is the keystone of religion. Religion is the arch which bridges the chasm between heaven and earth. The God-man touches each side: His Divinity touches the heaven side, His humanity touches the earth side, and the arch is completed, the bridge is effected.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. The Parable concerning the Counsel of the Sanhedrim against the Messiah. Mar_12:1-12.

(Parallels: Mat_21:33-46; Luk_20:9-17.)

1     And he began to speak1 unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the wine-fat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. 2And at the season he sent tothe husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of 3 the vineyard. And2 they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. 4And again he sent unto them another servant: and at him they cast stones, 3 and 5 wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled. And again4 he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some. 6Having yet therefore one son, his well-beloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my Song of Solomon 7 But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. 8And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. 9What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. 10And have ye not read this scripture: The stone which the builders re jected is become the head of the corner: 11This was the Lord’s doing [from the Lord], and it is marvellous in our eyes? 12And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people; for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

See the parallel passages in Matthew and Luke.—Mark relates only the second of the three parables, which Christ, according to Matthew, connected with His rejection of the commission of the Sanhedrim, for the purpose of indicating to them what He awaited at their hands, and how they, as the murderers of the Messiah, should be subjected to the punishment of losing the Messianic kingdom. It is the very parable in which they are made to appear as the murderers of the Messiah in connection with the persecutors of the prophets. In the first verse, we obtain a hint from Mark that Jesus delivered several parables (ἐν παραβολαῖς λέγειν) before His opponents. Mark is, further, more exact than Matthew in the climax of the messages sent by the lord of the vineyard. According to him, the first servant is beaten upon the back, and sent empty away; the second is wounded in the head, insulted, and sent away covered with disgrace; the third is killed. This triple fate is then met by many others. In consequence of this conduct the lord of the vineyard despatches his son; and of him Mark observes that he was the only son. From Matthew we learn that servants were twice sent,—on the first occasion in smaller, on the second, in greater numbers; and their fate is to be beaten, killed, stoned. Luke records only an increased abuse of the several servants despatched. The actual ground-thought is in each case the same: repeated messages, increased injuries, and, as a consequence, augmented hardening of heart and rebellion. Then we have the opposition between the sending of the servants and the sending of the son,—between the generous hope of the lord, that pious fear and remorse would be manifested, and the flagitious design respecting the inheritance on the part of the vinedressers. Christ, according to Matthew, makes His enemies pronounce judgment, and declare what would be the dealing of that lord with his servants; according to Mark, the condemnation is expressed by Christ Himself. The passage from the Psalms, Mark quotes in conclusion, as does Luke; the citation from Isaiah, introduced by Matthew, is not here given. And further, the μὴ γένοιτο, spoken by the opponents in Luk_20:16, is wanting. Graphic narrative and a freshness of delineation are the characteristics of Mark in this passage, as in others.

Mar_12:2. Of the fruit.—The stipulated portion of the product. For the agreement of Matthew with Mark in this passage, consult Note on Matthew.

Mar_12:4. And again he sent.—We admit, there is undoubtedly a kind of periodic succession in the missions hinted at; but this is not to be settled in an external, petty way, of which an example is presented in Meyer.—At him they cast stones.—’Εκεφελαίωσαν is to be explained in accordance with the difference between it and the simple ἔδειραν. Beating with sticks upon the back, casting stones at the head, marked the first gradation, to which the second pair corresponded,—being sent away empty, shamefully disfigured. As this word, in other collocations, means simply to recapitulate, to relate summarily, we must interpret here according to the context. Meyer says, Mark has confounded κεφαλαιόω with κεφαλίζω. But the latter would have been too strong; and it is possible that the verb before us might have recommended itself to him as capable of bearing two senses, and this double-force we have endeavored to indicate. Wakefield’s interpretation, “They made short work of him,” is too one-sided.

Mar_12:9. Killed him and cast him out.—The order is reversed in Matthew and Luke. Grotius and De Wette make it a hysteron-proteron. Meyer says, it is only another description.

He will come and will.—Kuinoel, following Vatablus, makes this the reply of the Pharisees in Mat_21:24. It is plain that Mark gives a more brief account of the matter. The Lord spoke the judgment which His parable forced from the lips of His enemies. See Note on Matthew.

Mar_12:12. For they knew that He had spoken against them.—Meyer would make these words, as well as in Luke, apply to the people and not to the members of the Sanhedrim. He intends this explanation to account for the apparent want of the proper succession in words. According to some commentators, these words should follow κρατῆσαι. But the order presents no difficulty at all. They would have seized Christ at once very willingly, and yet they ventured not, etc. This is only a reflection; and our words present the key, the concluding explanation. Their common purpose, to put the Messiah to death upon the first favorable occasion, rose in these and similar moments of exasperation to such a pitch, that they would have gladly seized Him on the spot, and killed Him, if they had only dared to do so.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1 Upon the import of the parable, see the remarks upon the passage in Matthew. The planting of the vineyard is to be looked upon as the promise and the law, or generally as the covenant-word in its identity with believing hearts. The hedge is not the law in itself, but is to be interpreted as being that external institution by which Israel was separated from the other nations (Eph_2:14); the wine-press, or tank, considered in connection with the altar of sacrifice and the martyrdom of the prophets, indicates the inner side of the congregation; and hence we are led to consider the tower, typifying civil order, law, and protection, as the opposite of the wine-press. The wine-fat is sunk into the earth and hidden; the tower rises on high, apparent to every eye, the sign of the vineyard.

2. We must remark, further, that we have here pictured the gradual augmentation of selfishness, of hostility to, and revolt from, the Lord, on the part of the theocratic servants and vassals of God. This representation presents at the same time a type of the climax of injuries inflicted upon the prophets, and above all, of the climax of the Lord’s magnanimity, as opposed to the disgraceful conduct of the servants. The struggle of divine grace with the obdurate unbelief of the administrators of His plan of mercy divides into two periods: 1. The period of long-suffering; and 2. the period of judgment. The first era has two chief periods: a. The Establishment, b. the Missions; which we may divide into, 1. The missions of servants, rising by a threefold climax; 2. the mission of the Son, in which, again, three points present themselves: A. The wicked proposal; B. the murder of the Son; and C. the casting of his corpse forth out of the vineyard. But, in the same manner, are three points to be observed in the Judgment: 1. The destruction of the evil-doers; 2. the entrusting of the vineyard to others; and 3. a donation of the vineyard to others, instead of a relation of vassalage.

3. The nature of the theocracy.—On the one side, it had a political, national end; on the other, a religious: and therefore the lord demands not all the fruit, but only a portion. The transformation of the theocracy into hierarchy: 1. The servants of God begin by converting His vineyard, which, under the condition of feudal service, He had let out to them, into a private possession. 2. They treat the prophets and reformers, who desire to call their condition of pependence back to their recollection, as enemies, and so treat mediately the Lord as an enemy. 3. They killed the son and heir, not in ignorance, but knowing him to be the heir, and actually because he was the heir: so evil-disposed were they.

4. The prospect, which the Lord presented, of the vineyard being handed over to strangers, to the Gentiles, must have exasperated the Sanhedrim almost more than the proclamation of their own downfall.

5. The parable before us is illustrated and expanded by the parables which Matthew makes precede and follow. If we examine the idea of this parable, we shall find that the germs of the two other parables are contained in the one before us.

6. Christ the beloved, the only Son, that is, the only-begotten Son of God; Christ, the last sent, is a mark of the revelation being perfected; Christ, the corner-stone, indicates the perfected Redeemer and Head of the Church.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

See the foregoing Reflections, and the Commentary on Matthew.—The mournful, historical fact, that the administrators of the sacred things of God fail so often to attain salvation; or, the night side of the priesthood.—The history of the priestly office under the old economy, a perpetual symbol of warning to the priestly (ministerial) office under the new.—The contest which the Lord, from the remotest ages, has been engaged in with the unfaithful servants of His word and His grace.—The immemorial contrast between unfaithful officers of God and faithful messengers from God.—How the gracious generosity of God strives with the obdurate unbelief of men up to the moment of final decision.—The final purpose of God (They will reverence My Son), and the last purpose of the rebellious servants (This is the heir; come, let us kill him, etc.).—The Lord in heaven is willing rather to have the appearance of folly in sending His Son, than that His grace should not be revealed to the uttermost.—Grace in highest glory appearing alone, to the apparent neglect of wisdom, justice, and omnipotence, and yet, at that very moment, uniting in itself all the attributes of wisdom, justice, and omnipotence.—How all the perfections of God are comprehended in the glory of His grace: 1. By seeming to vanish in it; 2. by again appearing, glorified in it.—The last point by which God’s grace seeks to obtain a hold, is pious fear in men.—Finally: Christ the last mission of God’s grace to mankind, Joh_3:16; Heb_10:26-27; Heb_12:18.—The contradiction in the words, This is the heir, let us kill him; or, the remnant of faith in unbelief, making unbelief damning.—To the exercise of long-suffering succeeds that of judgment.—The heir and the inheritance cannot be separated.—The murder of the heir converted into the glorification of the inheritance.—The parabolical statement of Christ’s glorification, a supplement to the parable of His rejection.—The determination of God as to the wicked counsel of the opponents of Christ: 1. Their counsel allowed; 2. defeated; 3. turned to the service of God’s design.—The theocracy as a building of God: 1. A completed building; 2. a preparation for a second building.—Christ, the great miracle of God.—The enmity manifested towards the Lord’s word, enmity shown to the dazzling brightness with which the picture of His enemies was drawn.—The wicked shudder before the picture of their own life.—The impotency of Jesus’ foes.—Jesus’ address before the people; or, the fault of the priests, and the fault of the laity: 1. Difference; 2. connection.

Hedinger:—God spares neither labor nor expense in sustaining and extending His Church.—Be fruitful in good works.—The fate of the servants sent into God’s vineyard.—Osiander:—The more frequently the obdurate are called to repent, the more insane and senseless is the position assumed by them.—The riches of the goodness and long-suffering of God in sending faithful servants, who are zealous to the very death for His house.—The witnesses of the truth.—O that the pious would stir one another up to goodness with the same industry that the godless excite one another to wickedness!—Canstein:—Sin is very frightful: it ceases not where it has begun; one sin springs from another.—Quesnel:—So many deadly sins, so many murderous acts against Jesus Christ.—Canstein:—The enemies of the truth can, no doubt, in some manner say such in itself is truth; yet their answer proceeds not from truth, because their hearts are not temples of truth.—Nova Bibl. Tub.:—God and His grace are bound to no people.—What the proud generation of Satan rejects, laughs to scorn, tramples under foot, that God raises in defiance of it, to the glory of Himself.—The world, despite its efforts, cannot execute its malice and wickedness sooner than God, from hidden reasons, permits.

Lisco:—That the only Son is sent, and sent the last, magnifies both the love of the Lord and the offence of the servants.—Braune:—Official sins: The wine-press is the ministerial office, which should express the letters, the peel covering the divine word, which should expound the divine word, the fruit of the vine, and make wine from it to refresh the heart. (Let it be remarked that this interpretation is not sufficient; comp. Doctrinal Reflection, 1.) Isa_5:1-2. Fates of prophets: Micaiah was scourged (1Ki_22:24), and also Jeremiah (Jer_37:15); Isaiah, Amos, and others were killed (1Ki_18:13); Zechariah was stoned (2Ch_24:21); and we find in Nehemiah (Mar_9:26) that the prophets of God had been slain: Act_7:52; Heb_11:36-38.—The judgment of Jesus in the Pharisees’ mouths (The Lord will come, etc.), the first note of the fearful cry, His blood be on us, and on our children (Mat_27:25).—The world’s salvation is, never theless, triumphant. From the Jews it passed to the Gentiles, from the benighted east to the clear west, from the enervated south to mighty north; and when yet farther?—Still God’s kingdom remains.—They raged, but a hook had been put into their nose, and a bridle into their lips (Isa_37:29).

Schleiermacher:—Truth we owe to men, yet we are ourselves bound by it according to our ability.—In every circumstance we must let love point out how we can render the best service to the truth in dealing with each individual.—Brieger:—Let us go forth, therefore, unto Him, etc.: Heb_13:13 (referring to the heir being cast out of the vineyard); Isa_28:16.

Footnotes:

[1]Mar_12:1.—Lachmann, Tischendorf, [Meyer] read λαλεῖν instead of λέγειν, following B., G., L., Δ., [Syriac, Vulgate].

[2]Mar_12:3.—Lachmann, Tischendorf read καί, after B., D., L., Δ. Meyer: from Mat_21:35.

[3]Mar_12:4.—The reading of B., D., L., Δ., Lachmann, Tischendorf, Meyer,] κἀκεινον ἐκεφαλαίωσαν καὶ ἠτίμησαν, does not seem thorough enough, as opposed to the climax supported by Cod. A. and others, viz., beating and sending empty—wounding in the head and sending home shamefully handled.

[4]Mar_12:5.—Codd. B., C., D., L., Δ. omit πάλιν.

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mark

DISHONEST TENANTS

Mar 12:1 - Mar 12:12.

The ecclesiastical rulers had just been questioning Jesus as to the authority by which He acted. His answer, a counter-question as to John’s authority, was not an evasion. If they decided whence John came, they would not be at any loss as to whence Jesus came. If they steeled themselves against acknowledging the Forerunner, they would not be receptive of Christ’s message. That keen-edged retort plainly indicates Christ’s conviction of the rulers’ insincerity, and in this parable He charges home on these solemn hypocrites their share in the hereditary rejection of messengers whose authority was unquestionable. Much they cared for even divine authority, as they and their predecessors had shown through centuries! The veil of parable is transparent here. Jesus increased in severity and bold attack as the end drew near.

I. The parable begins with a tender description of the preparation and allotment of the vineyard.

The picture is based upon Isaiah’s lovely apologue {Isa 5:1}, which was, no doubt, familiar to the learned officials. But there is a slight difference in the application of the metaphor which in Isaiah means the nation, and in the parable is rather the theocracy as an institution, or, as we may put it roughly, the aggregate of divine revelations and appointments which constituted the religious prerogatives of Israel.

Our Lord follows the original passage in the description of the preparation of the vineyard, but it would probably be going too far to press special meanings on the wall, the wine-press, and the watchman’s tower. The fence was to keep off marauders, whether passers-by or ‘the boar out of the wood’ {Psa 80:12 - Psa 80:13}; the wine-press, for which Mark uses the word which means rather the vat into which the juice from the press proper flowed, was to extract and collect the precious liquid; the tower was for the watchman.

A vineyard with all these fittings was ready for profitable occupation. Thus abundantly had God furnished Israel with all that was needed for fruitful, happy service. What was true of the ancient Church is still more true of us who have received every requisite for holy living. Isaiah’s solemn appeal has a still sharper edge for Christians: ‘Judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard that I have not done in it?’

The ‘letting of the vineyard to husbandmen’ means the committal to Israel and its rulers of these divine institutions, and the holding them responsible for their fruitfulness. It may be a question whether the tenants are to be understood as only the official persons, or whether, while these are primarily addressed, they represent the whole people. The usual interpretation limits the meaning to the rulers, but, if so, it is difficult to carry out the application, as the vineyard would then have to be regarded as being the nation, which confuses all. The language of Matthew {which threatens the taking of the vineyard and giving it to another nation} obliges us to regard the nation as included in the husbandmen, though primarily the expression is addressed to the rulers.

But more important is it to note the strong expressions for man’s quasi-independence and responsibility. The Jew was invested with full possession of the vineyard. We all, in like manner, have intrusted to us, to do as we will with, the various gifts and powers of Christ’s gospel. God, as it were, draws somewhat apart from man, that he may have free play for his choice, and bear the burden of responsibility. The divine action was conspicuous at the time of founding the polity of Judaism, and then came long years in which there were no miracles, but all things continued as they were. God was as near as before, but He seemed far off. Thus Jesus has, in like manner, gone ‘into a far country to receive a kingdom and to return’; and we, the tenants of a richer vineyard than Israel’s, have to administer what He has intrusted to us, and to bring near by faith Him who is to sense far off.

II. The next scenes paint the conduct of the dishonest vine-dressers.

We mark the stern, dark picture drawn of the continued and brutal violence, as well as the flagrant unfaithfulness, of the tenants. Matthew’s version gives emphasis to the increasing harshness of treatment of the owner’s messengers, as does Mark’s. First comes beating, then wounding, then murder. The interpretation is self-evident. The ‘servants’ are the prophets, mostly men inferior in rank to the hierarchy, shepherds, fig-gatherers, and the like. They came to rouse Israel to a sense of the purpose for which they had received their distinguishing prerogatives, and their reward had been contempt and maltreatment. They ‘had trial of mockings and scourgings, of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were slain with the sword.’

The indictment is the same as that by which Stephen wrought the Sanhedrim into a paroxysm of fury. To make such a charge as Jesus did, in the very Temple courts, and with the already hostile priests glaring at Him while He spoke, was a deliberate assault on them and their predecessors, whose true successors they showed themselves to be. They had just been solemnly questioning Him as to His authority. He answers by thus passing in review the uniform treatment meted by them and their like to those who came with God’s manifest authority.

If a mere man had spoken this parable, we might admire the magnificent audacity of such an accusation. But the Speaker is more than man, and we have to recognise the judicial calmness and severity of His tone. Israel’s history, as it shaped itself before His ‘pure eyes and perfect judgment,’ was one long series of divine favours and of human ingratitude, of ample preparations for righteous living and of no result, of messengers sent and their contumelious rejection. We wonder at the sad monotony of such requital. Are we doing otherwise?

III. Then comes the last effort of the Owner, the last arrow in the quiver of Almighty Love.

Two things are to be pondered in this part of the parable. First, that wonderful glimpse into the depths of God’s heart, in the hope expressed by the Owner of the vineyard, brings out very clearly Christ’s claim, made there before all these hostile, keen critics, to stand in an altogether singular relation to God. He asserts His Sonship as separating Him from the class of prophets who are servants only, and as constituting a relationship with the Father prior to His coming to earth. His Sonship is no mere synonym for His Messiahship, but was a fact long before Bethlehem; and its assertion lifts for us a corner of the veil of cloud and darkness round the throne of God. Not less striking is the expression of a frustrated hope in ‘they will reverence My Son.’ Men can thwart God’s purpose. His divine charity ‘hopeth all things.’ The mystery thus sharply put here is but that which is presented everywhere in the co-existence of God’s purposes and man’s freedom.

The other noteworthy point is the corresponding casting of the vine-dressers’ thoughts into words. Both representations are due to the graphic character of parable; both crystallise into speech motives which were not actually spoken. It is unnecessary to suppose that even the rulers of Israel had gone the awful length of clear recognition of Christ’s Messiahship, and of looking each other in the face and whispering such a fiendish resolve. Jesus is here dragging to light unconscious motives. The masses did wish to have their national privileges and to avoid their national duties. The rulers did wish to have their sway over minds and consciences undisturbed. They did resent Jesus’ interference, chiefly because they instinctively felt that it threatened their position. They wanted to get Him out of the way, that they might lord it at will. They could have known that He was the Son, and they suppressed dawning suspicions that He was. Alas! they have descendants still in many of us who put away His claims, even while we secretly recognise them, in order that we may do as we like without His meddling with us! The rulers’ calculation was a blunder. As Augustine says, ‘They slew Him that they might possess, and, because they slew, they lost.’ So is it always. Whoever tries to secure any desired end by putting away his responsibility to render to God the fruit of his thankful service, loses the good which he would fain clutch at for his own. All sin is a mistake.

The parable passes from thinly veiled history to equally transparent prediction. How sadly and how unshrinkingly does the meek yet mighty Victim disclose to the conspirators His perfect knowledge of the murder which they were even now hatching in their minds! He foresees all, and will not lift a finger to prevent it. Mark puts the ‘killing’ before the ‘casting out of the vineyard,’ while Matthew and Luke invert the order of the two things. The slaughtered corpse was, as a further indignity, thrown over the wall, by which is symbolically expressed His exclusion from Israel, and the vine-dressers’ delusion that they now had secured undisturbed possession.

IV. The last point is the authoritative sentence on the evil-doers.

Mark’s condensed account makes Christ Himself answer His own question. Probably we are to suppose that, with hypocritical readiness, some of the rulers replied, as the other Evangelists represent, and that Jesus then solemnly took up their words. If anything could have enraged the rulers more than the parable itself, the distinct declaration of the transference of Israel’s prerogatives to more worthy tenants would do so. The words are heavy with doom. They carry a lesson for us. Stewardship implies responsibility, and faithlessness, sooner or later, involves deprivation. The only way to keep God’s gifts is to use them for His glory. ‘The grace of God,’ says Luther somewhere, ‘is like a flying summer shower.’ Where are Ephesus and the other apocalyptic churches? Let us ‘take heed lest, if God spared not the natural branches, He also spare not us.’

Jesus leaves the hearers with the old psalm ringing in their ears, which proclaimed that ‘the stone which the builders rejected becomes the head stone of the corner.’ Other words of the same psalm had been chanted by the crowd in the procession on entering the city. Their fervour was cooling, but the prophecy would still be fulfilled. The builders are the same as the vine-dressers; their rejection of the stone is parallel with slaying the Son.

But though Jesus foretells His death, He also foretells His triumph after death. How could He have spoken, almost in one breath, the prophecy of His being slain and ‘cast out of the vineyard,’ and that of His being exalted to be the very apex and shining summit of the true Temple, unless He had been conscious that His death was indeed not the end, but the centre, of His work, and His elevation to universal and unchanging dominion?

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Chapter 12

1. The Parable of the Vineyard. (Mar 12:1-12. Mat 21:33-46; Luk 20:9-19)

2. The Question concerning the Tribute Money. (Mar 12:13-17. Mat 22:15-22; Luk 20:20-26)

3. The Sadducees Questioning concerning Resurrection. (Mar 12:18-27. Mat 22:23-33; Luk 20:27-38)

4. The Question of the Scribe. (Mar 12:28-34. Mat 22:34-40)

5. His Question. (Mar 12:35-37. Mat 22:41-46; Luk 20:41-44)

6. Beware of the Scribes. (Mar 12:38-40. Mat 23:1-39; Luk 20:45-47)

7. The Servant’s loving sympathy and praise. (Mar 12:41-44. Luk 21:1-4.)

1. The Parable of the Vineyard. (Mar 12:1-12

The parable is a review of the history of Israel and its culmination in the rejection of the Son. With what calmness the perfect One relates it all. He is ready to have all done unto Him of which He speaks. A comparison with the Gospel of Matthew will show that Mark is brief and passes on rapidly, omitting utterances of the Lord which are not needed in his description of the Servant.

2. The Question concerning the Tribute Money. Mar 12:13-17

With this paragraph we have the different classes of Jews approaching the Lord to tempt Him. Pharisees and Herodians, Sadducees and a Scribe. The Lord manifests His wisdom and they are defeated. Then He turns questioner and warns against the scribes. His authority they could no longer question and now they tried to catch Him in His words. Pharisees and Herodians, so opposed to each other, could make a common cause in hating God’s Servant. If He had answered “yes” the Pharisees would have condemned Him for favoring the Gentile yoke. If He had said “no,” the Herodians would have accused Him as an enemy of Caesar. How wonderful His answer! They even had to marvel and yet it only intensified their hate. Caesar’s image told out the story of their sin.

3. The Sadducees Questioning concerning Resurrection. Mar 12:18-27

The Sadducees were rationalists and denied the existence of angels and the resurrection. They only believed in the giving of the law and accepted the Pentateuch. It was a fine spun argument. The Lord silences them from the portion of the Scriptures they endorsed.

4. The Question of the Scribe. Mar 12:28-34

A scribe now makes the last attempt. But he was indeed “not far from the Kingdom of God.” The one step was the acceptance of Christ, whose wisdom he had owned.

5. His Question. Mar 12:35-37

Then the Lord turned questioner. His wisdom had closed their mouths. In Matthew’s Gospel this significant question is more fully given. He refers to Psa 110:1-7. In connection with Matthew four great facts are stated by the Lord. 1) This Psalm was written by David. 2) It was written by inspiration. 3) It is a Messianic Psa 4:1-8) Christ is David’s Lord and David’s Son. While it silenced the scribes it also silences the present day Sadducees, the higher critics with their inventions. They claim that Psa 110:1-7 was not written by David and Christ is not foretold in it.

6. Beware of the Scribes. Mar 12:38-40

In Matthew the Holy Spirit reports the full discourse against the scribes and Pharisees (chapter 23) ending with the solemn statement, “Behold your house is left unto you desolate.” In Mark, where the divine design is to give us the picture of the Servant, only a few sentences are given. Yet they contain the chief characteristics of the corrupt leaders of the nation. Love of being seen, love of applause, love of preeminence, assumed religiousness and the devouring of the poor are all mentioned. These hireling servants shall have greater damnation.

7. The Servant’s loving sympathy and praise. Mar 12:41-44

He had rendered such perfect service free from seeking applause or preeminence and now He shows His loving sympathy to one of the poor widows who were being spoiled by the greed of the Pharisees. That poor, yet rich, widow had two mites. It was her all and she gave it. She might have given one mite and retained the other. She cast in all she had. And He saw it and His sympathy was towards her for she reminded Him of His own service in giving all. How it must have refreshed His heart. May we remember that nothing escapes His eye.

Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

THE WICKED HUSBANDMAN

Mat 21:33-46; Mar 12:1-12; Luk 20:9-19. Matthew: “Hear another parable: A man who is a landlord planted a vineyard, and placed a hedge round it, and dug a wine-trough in it, and built a tower.” The dense thorn-hedge was to protect it from the intrusion of animals as well as thieves. The wine-trough was located deep down beneath the press, in order to catch the sweet juice of the delicious grapes expressed and running into it. The tower was for rest and recreation, and especially for vigilance against thieves, who might stealthily intrude into the vineyard and spoliate the fruit. It is difficult for Occidentals to conceive the paradoxical abundance of grapes produced by a Palestinian vineyard. I have seen the whole earth burdened with the great clusters of grapes, almost sweet as honey. I could not forbear making myself sick eating them. American grapes, with the exception of California, have no such flavor and sweetness. Truly, the land abounds in corn and wine.

“He gave it out to husbandmen, and went away. But when the time of the fruits drew nigh, he sent his servants to the husbandman to receive his fruits; and the husbandmen, taking his servants, beat one, slew one, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did unto them likewise.” These servants were the prophets. Isaiah was cut in two with a cruel saw; Jeremiah, imprisoned in a deep well to starve to death; King Ahab ordered the imprisonment and starvation of the prophet Micaiah; John the Baptist, the greatest of the prophets, was beheaded by King Herod.

“And afterward he sent unto them his own son, saying, They will reverence my son. But those farmers, seeing the son, said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and take possession of his inheritance.” This is precisely what they did. The leading preachers and official laymen regarded him as a competitor, who, if successful, would deprive them of their fat offices. Consequently they conspired against him, and slew him, thus taking possession of the Church, to conduct it in their own way, and receive the emoluments of office. “Having taken him, they cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.” They actually arrested Him at midnight of the ensuing day, and on the following morning cast Him out of the city, and nailed Him to the cross on Calvary.

“Then, when the lord of the vineyard may come, what will he do to those farmers? They say to Him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and give out the vineyard to other farmers, who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.” This was literally done very quickly. God the Father has no incarnation, and is consequently invisible to mortal eyes. He actually came in those vast and formidable Roman armies, who slew a million of Jews with sword, pestilence, and famine, doubtless every one who had been guilty of the above crimes falling in the awful death-harvest that rolled over the city. Then, you see, the Church was turned over to the Gentiles — the new people becoming the cultivators of the vineyard during the time of their fidelity to the Proprietor. Otherwise, the same awful calamity awaits them. Here you see clearly that the gospel Church is not a de novo institution, but substantially identical with the Church organized in the house of Abraham, and perpetuated nearly two thousand years under the prophetical and Mosaic economy. You see that the vineyard was not destroyed, but, surviving, was given into the hands of other husbandmen; showing clearly and demonstratively that the identical Church of the patriarchs and prophets, in which Jesus lived and died, was perpetuated and given to the Gentiles. Precisely as those wicked farmers, who met the awful fate, were not the vineyard, so the carnal, self-righteous priests, elders, and Pharisees who killed the prophets and Jesus were not the Church. God has had a holy people in all ages, who have eaten the delicious grapes and drunk the sweet wine of His spiritual kingdom.

“Jesus says unto them, Have you not read in the Scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner: this was wonderful with the Lord, and was marvelous in our eves? Therefore I say unto you, that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given unto a nation bringing forth the fruit of the same. The one falling on this rock shall be dashed to pieces; and on whomsoever it may fall, it will grind him to powder. [Psa 118:22; Isa 8:14; Zec 12:3; Dan 2:34-44] And the chief priests and Pharisees hearing His parables, knew that He was speaking concerning them. And seeking to arrest Him, they were afraid of the multitudes, since they had Him as a prophet.” The impression that the Jewish people killed Jesus is a slander on them which they do not deserve. You see here, the leading preachers and Church officers were anxious to arrest Him, and were only restrained through fear of the people. Jesus was an exceedingly popular preacher with the common people, but awfully unpopular with the higher clergy and ruling elders, because they looked upon Him as an official rival, feeling satisfied that if He succeeded, deposing all of them, He would promote His friends to office. You see in the above Scriptures that Jesus is that Chief Corner-stone rejected by the builders — i.e., the Jewish officials rebut by the power of the Holy Ghost becoming the Head of the corner. All houses in that country are stone. At the corner a great, solid, and elegantly-dressed stone is laid, with both walls built on it, and thus held together: as they both rest on this one corner-stone, and consolidate the house, since the wonderfully tenacious calcareous cement of that country actually unifies the different stones of the wall into one grand conglomeration. Thus Jesus, the Chief Corner-stone of the gospel Church, not only unites Jews and Gentiles, but all sects, races, and nationalities. How momentous the awful responsibility of dealing with this Stone, since if you fall on it, you are dashed to pieces; and if it falls on you, you are ground to powder! People may be saved, if sincere and true, despite multitudes of heresies. Meanwhile heresy on the Christhood of Jesus, as here you see, is necessarily fatal. O the infinite importance of preaching Christ, as all are necessarily lost who have the misfortune, through Satanic intrigue, to assume position either antagonistical to Him or depreciative of Him. Let us take the alarm. Unitarianism is rapidly, though occultly, everywhere stealing into the Protestant Churches. It bears blight and desolation in its wake.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12:1-12 (Mar_12:1-12)

THE HUSBANDMEN

"And He began to speak unto them in parables. A man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and digged a pit for the wine-press, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into another country. And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruits of the vineyard. And they took him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent unto them another servant: and him they wounded in the head, and handled shamefully. And he sent another; and him they killed: and many others; beating some, and killing some. He had yet one, a beloved son: he sent him last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. And they took him, and killed him, and cast him forth out of the vineyard. What, therefore, will the Lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. Have ye not read even this Scripture:

The stone which the builders rejected

The same was made the head of the corner:

This was from the Lord,

And it is marvelous in our eyes?

And they sought to lay hold on Him; and they feared the multitude; for they perceived that He spake the parable against them: and they left Him, and went away." Mar_11:1-12 (R.V.)

THE rulers of His people have failed to make Jesus responsible to their inquisition. He has exposed the hollowness of their claim to investigate His commission, and formally refused to tell them by what authority He did these things. But what He would not say for an unjust cross-examination, He proclaimed to all docile hearts; and the skill which disarmed His enemies is not more wonderful than that which in their hearing answered their question, yet left them no room for accusation. This was achieved by speaking to them in parables. The indifferent might hear and not perceive: the keenness of malice would surely understand but could not easily impeach a simple story; but to His own followers it would be given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God.

His first words would be enough to arouse attention. The psalmist had told how God brought a vine out of Egypt, and cast out the heathen and planted it. Isaiah had carried the image farther, and sung of a vineyard in a very fruitful hill. The Well-beloved, Whose it was, cleared the ground for it, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower, and hewed out a wine-press, and looked that it should bring forth grapes, but it had brought forth wild grapes. Therefore He would lay it waste. This well-known and recognized type the Lord now adopted, but modified it to suit His purpose. As in a former parable the sower slept and rose, and left the earth to bring forth fruit of itself, so in this, the Lord of the vineyard let it out to husbandmen and went into a far country. This is our Lord's own explanation of that silent time in which no special interpositions asserted that God was nigh, no prophecies were heard, no miracles startled the careless. It was the time when grace already granted should have been peacefully ripening. Now we live in such a period. Unbelievers desire a sign. Impatient believers argue that if our Master is as near us as ever, the same portents must attest His presence; and, therefore, they recognize the gift of tongues in hysterical clamor, and stake the honor of religion upon faith-healing, and those various obscure phenomena which the annals of every fanaticism can rival. But the sober Christian understands that, even as the Lord of the vineyard went into another country, so Christ His Son (Who in spiritual communion is ever with His people) in another sense has gone into a far country to receive a kingdom and to return. In the interval, marvels would be simply an anachronism. The best present evidence of the faith lies in the superior fruitfulness of the vineyard He has planted, in the steady advance to rich maturity of the vine He has imported from another clime.

At this point Jesus begins to add a new significance to the ancient metaphor. The husbandmen are mentioned. Men there were in the ancient Church, who were specially responsible for the culture of the vineyard. As He spoke, the symbol explained itself. The imposing array of chief priests and scribes and elders stood by, who had just claimed as their prerogative that He should make good His commission to their scrutiny; and none would be less likely to mistake His meaning than these self-conscious lovers of chief seats in the synagogues. The structure of the parable, therefore, admits their official rank, as frankly as when Jesus bade His disciples submit to their ordinances because they sit in Moses' seat. But He passes on, easily and as if unconsciously, to record that special messengers from heaven had, at times, interrupted the self-indulgent quietude of the husbandmen. Because the fruit of the vineyard had not been freely rendered, a bondservant was sent to demand it. The epithet implies that the messenger was lower in rank, although his direct mission gave him authority even over the keepers of the vineyard. It expresses exactly the position of the prophets, few of them of priestly rank, some of them very humble in extraction, and very rustic in expression, but all sent in evil days to faithless husbandmen, to remind them that the vineyard was not their own, and to receive the fruits of righteousness. Again and again the demand is heard, for He sent "many others;" and always it is rejected with violence, which sometimes rises to murder. As they listened, they must have felt that all this was true, that while prophet after prophet had come to a violent end, not one had seen the official hierarchy making common cause with him. Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on Him? was their scornful question. But the answer was plain, As long as they built the sepulchers of the prophets, and garnished the tombs of the righteous, and said, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets, they confessed that men could not blindly follow a hierarchy merely as such, since they were not the official successors of the prophets but of those who slew them. The worst charge brought against them was only that they acted according to analogy, and filled up the deeds of their fathers. It had always been the same.

The last argument of Stephen, which filled his judges with madness, was but the echo of this great impeachment. Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? and they killed them which showed before of the coming of the Righteous One, of Whom ye have now become the betrayers and murderers.

That last defiance of heaven, which Stephen thus denounced, his Master distinctly foretold, And He added the appalling circumstance, that however they might deceive themselves and sophisticate their conscience, they really knew Him Who He was. They felt, at the very least, that into His hands should pass all the authority and power they had so long monopolized: "This is the Heir; come let us kill Him and the inheritance shall be ours." If there were no more, the utterance of these words put forth an extraordinary claim.

All that should have been rendered up to heaven and was withheld, all that previous messengers had demanded on behalf of God without avail, all "the inheritance" which these wicked husbandmen were intercepting, all this Jesus announces to be His own, while reprehending the dishonesty of any other claim upon it. And as a matter of fact, if Jesus be not Divine, He has intercepted more of the worship due to the Eternal, has attracted to Himself more of the homages of the loftiest and profoundest minds, than any false teacher within the pale of monotheism has ever done. It is the bounden duty of all who revere Jesus even as a teacher, of all who have eyes to see that His coming was the greatest upward step in the progress of humanity, to consider well what was implied, when, in the act of blaming the usurpers of the heritage of God, Jesus declared that inheritance to be His own. But this is not all, though it is what He declares that the husbandmen were conscious of. The parable states, not only that He is heir, but heir by virtue of His special relationship to the Supreme. Others are bondservants or husbandmen, but He is the Son. He does not inherit as the worthiest and most obedient, but by right of birth; and His Father, in the act of sending Him, expects even these bloodstained outlaws to reverence His Son. In such a phrase, applied to such criminals, we are made to feel the lofty rank alike of the Father and His Son, which ought to have overawed even them. And when we read that "He had yet one, a beloved Son," it seems as if the veil of eternity were uplifted, to reveal a secret and awful intimacy, of which, nevertheless, some glimmering consciousness would have controlled the most desperate heart.

But they only reckoned that if they killed the Heir, the inheritance would become their own. It seems the wildest madness, that men should know and feel Who He was, and yet expect to profit by desecrating His rights. And yet so it was from the beginning. If Herod were not fearful that the predicted King of the Jews was indeed born, the massacre of the Innocents was idle. If the rulers were not fearful that this counsel and work was of God, they would not, at Gamaliel's bidding, have refrained from the Apostles. And it comes still closer to the point to observe that, if they had attached no importance, even in their moment of triumph, to the prediction of His rising from the dead, they would not have required a guard, nor betrayed the secret recognition which Jesus here exposes. The same blind miscalculation is in every attempt to obtain profit or pleasure by means which are known to transgress the laws of the all-beholding Judge of all. It is committed every day, under the pressure of strong temptation, by men who know clearly that nothing but misery can result. So true is it that action is decided, not by a course of logic in the brain, but by the temperament and bias of our nature as a whole. We need not suppose that the rulers roundly spoke such words as these, even to themselves. The infamous motive lurked in ambush, too far in the background of the mind perhaps even for consciousness. But it was there, and it affected their decision, as lurking passions and self-interests always will, as surely as iron deflects the compass. "They caught Him and killed Him," said the unfaltering lips of their victim. And He added a circumstance of pain which we often overlook, but to which the great Minister of the circumcision was keenly sensitive, and often reverted, the giving Him up to the Gentiles, to a death accursed among the Jews; "they cast Him forth out of the vineyard."

All evil acts are based upon an overestimate of the tolerance of God. He had seemed to remain passive while messenger after messenger was beaten, stoned, or slain. But now that they had filled up the iniquity of their fathers, the Lord of the vineyard would come in person to destroy them, and give the vineyard to others. This last phrase is strangely at variance with the notion that the days of a commissioned ministry are over, as, on the other hand, the whole parable is at variance with the notion that a priesthood can be trusted to sit in exclusive judgment upon doctrine for the Church.

At this point St. Mark omits an incident so striking, although small, that its absence is significant. The bystanders said, "God forbid!" and when the horrified exclamation betrayed their consciousness of the position, Jesus was content, without a word, to mark their self-conviction by His searching gaze. "He looked upon them." The omission would be unaccountable if St. Mark were simply a powerful narrator of graphic incidents; but it is explained when we think that for him the manifestation of a mighty Personage was all in all, and the most characteristic and damaging admissions of the hierarchy were as nothing compared with a word of his Lord. Therefore he goes straight on to record that, besides refuting their claim by the history of the past, and asserting His own supremacy in a phrase at once guarded in form and decisive in import, Jesus also appealed to Scripture. It was written that by special and marvelous interposition of the Lord a stone which the recognized builders had rejected should crown the building. And the quotation was not only decisive as showing that their rejection could not close the controversy; it also compensated, with a promise of final victory, the ominous words in which their malice had seemed to do its worst. Jesus often predicted His death, but He never despaired of His kingdom.

No wonder that the rulers sought to arrest Him, and perceived that He penetrated and despised their schemes. And their next device is a natural outcome from the fact that they feared the people, but did not discontinue their intrigues; for this was a crafty and dangerous attempt to estrange from Him the admiring multitude.

William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.

12:1-12 The events of 11:27–12:44 all take place in the Temple (see 11:27; 13:1). This story (literally parable) is intimately tied to the previous question about Jesus’ authority (11:27-33) by the introductory words, Then Jesus began teaching them. This parable is an extended reply by Jesus to the religious leaders. • Jesus intended his audience to interpret this parable in light of Isa 5:1-7, a similar story of someone planting a vineyard, building a lookout tower, putting a fence around the vineyard, and digging a pit for a wine vat. A similar question is asked: What do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do? (Mark 12:9; cp. Isa 5:4). Isaiah specifically identifies the vineyard as the people of Israel (Isa 5:7); Jesus’ hearers and Mark’s readers would similarly have understood the present story as an allegory about the Israelites. Other details in the story are also clearly meant to be interpreted allegorically: The tenants represent the leaders of Israel; the owner represents God; the servants represent the Old Testament prophets; the beloved son represents Jesus, the Son of God; the murder of the son represents Jesus’ crucifixion; and the giving of the vineyard to others represents the judgment coming upon Israel (Mark 11:15-17; 13:1-37). The interpretation would have been more clear to Mark’s readers than to Jesus’ original audience, but the religious leaders who were Jesus’ contemporaries understood it clearly enough that they sought to kill him (12:12).

12:1 The antecedent to them is the religious leaders of 11:27 (also in 12:12). • The beginning description of the story comes from Isa 5:1-7. Jesus’ audience knew the book of Isaiah well and would have immediately recalled this allegory of the vineyard.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mar_12:1-12. See on Mat_21:33-46. Comp. Luk_20:9-19. Matthew makes another kindred parable precede, which was undoubtedly likewise original, and to be found in the collection of Logia (Mar_12:28-32), and he enriches the application of the parable before us in an equally original manner; while, we may add, the presentation in Mark is simpler and more fresh, not related to that of Matthew in the way of heightened and artificial effect (Weiss).

ἤρξατο] after that dismissal of the chief priests, etc.

αὐτοῖς] therefore not as Luke has it: πρὸς τὸν λαόν, to which also Matthew is opposed.

ἐν παραβολαῖς] parabolically. The plural expression is generic; comp. Mar_3:22, Mar_4:2. Hence it is not surprising (Hilgenfeld). Comp. also Joh_16:24.

Mar_12:2. According to Mark and Luke, the lord receives a part of the fruits; the rest is the reward of the vine-dressers. It is otherwise in Matthew.

Mar_12:4. Observe how compendiously Matthew sums up the contents of Mar_12:4-5.[146]

κἀκεῖνον] The conception of maltreatment lies at the foundation of the comparative also, just as at Mar_12:5. Comp. on Mat_15:3.

ἐκεφαλαίωσαν] they beat him on the head. The word is not further preserved in this signification (Vulg.: in capite vulnerarunt), but only in the meaning: to gather up as regards the main substance, to set forth summarily (Thuc. iii. 67. 5, viii. 53. 1; Herod. iii. 159; Sir_35:8); but this is wholly inappropriate in this place, since it is not, with Wakefield, Silv. crit. II. p. 76 f., to be changed into the meaning: they made short work with him.[147] We have here a veritable solecism; Mark confounded κεφαλαιόω with ΚΕΦΑΛΊΖΩ, perhaps after the analogy of ΓΝΑΘΌΩ and ΓΥΙΌΩ (Lobeck, ad Phryn. p. 9 5).

ἠτίμησαν (see the critical remarks): they dishonoured him, treated him disgracefully, the general statement after the special ἐκεφαλ. The word is poetical, especially epic (Hom. Il. i. 11, ix. 111; Od. xvi. 274, al.; Pind. Pyth. ix. 138; Soph. Aj. 1108; Ellendt, Lex. Soph. I. p. 251), as also in this sense the later form ἀτιμόω, of frequent use in the LXX. (Eur. Hel. 462, al.), which in the prose writers is used in the sense of inflicting dishonour by depriving of the rights of citizenship (also in Xen. Ath. i. 14, where ἀτιμοῦσι is to be read).

Mar_12:5. Κ. ΠΟΛΛΟῪς ἌΛΛΟΥς] Here we have to supply: they maltreatedthe dominant idea in what is previously narrated (comp. κἀκεῖνον, Mar_12:4-5, where this conception lay at the root of the ΚΑΊ), and to which the subsequent elements ΔΈΡΟΝΤΕς and ἈΠΟΚΤΕΝΝΌΝΤΕς are subordinated. Comp. Buttmann, neut. Gr. p. 252 [E. T. 293]. But Mark does not write in a disorderly and slipshod manner, as de Wette supposes, but just like the best classical writers, who leave the finite verb to be supplied from the context in the case of participles and other instances. See Bornemann, ad Xen. Sympos. iv. 53; Hermann, ad Viger. p. 770; Nägelsbach, Anm. z. Ilias, ed. 3, p. 179.

Mar_12:6. The ἔτι ἕνα εἶχεν υἱὸν ἀγ. (see the critical remarks), which is peculiar to the graphic Mark, has in it something touching, to which the bringing of ἝΝΑ into prominence by the unusual position assigned to it contributes. Then, in vivid connection therewith stands the contrast of Mar_12:7-8; and the trait of the parable contained in Mar_12:7 f. certainly does not owe its introduction to Mark (Weiss).

Mar_12:8. Not a hysteron proteron (Grotius, Heumann, de Wette), a mistake, which is with the greatest injustice imputed to the vividly graphic Mark; but a different representation from that of Matthew and Luke: they killed him, and threw him (the slain) out of the vineyard. In the latter there is the tragic element of outrage even against the corpse, which is not, however, intended to be applied by way of special interpretation to Jesus.

Mar_12:9. ἐλεύσεται κ.τ.λ.] not an answer of the Pharisees (Vatablus, Kuinoel, following Mat_21:41); but Jesus Himself is represented by Mark as replying to His own question.[148]

Mar_12:10. οὐδέ] What Jesus has set before them in the way of parable concerning the rejection of the Messiah and His divine justification, is also prophesied in the Scripture, Psa_118:22; hence He continues: have ye not also read this Scripture, etc.? On γραφή, that which is drawn up in writing, used of individual passages of Scripture, comp. Luk_4:21; Joh_19:37; Act_1:16; Act_8:35.

Mar_12:12. καὶ ἐφοβ. τ. ὄχλ.] καί connects adversative clauses without changing its signification, Hartung, Partikell. I. p. 147 f.; Winer, p. 388 [E. T. 545]. It is an emphatic and in the sense of: and yet. Especially frequent in John.

The words ἔγνωσαν γὰρ … εἶπε, which are not to be put in a parenthesis, are regarded as illogically placed (see Beza, Heupel, Fritzsche, Baur, Hilgenfeld, and others), and are held to have their proper place after κρατῆσαι. But wrongly. Only let ἔγνωσαν be referred not, with these interpreters, to the chief priests, scribes, and elders, but to the ὄχλος, which was witness of the transaction in the temple-court. If the people had not observed that Jesus was speaking the parable in reference to (πρός) them (the chief priests, etc., as the γεωργούς), these might have ventured to lay hold on Him; but, as it was, they might not venture on this, but had to stand in awe of the people, who would have seen at once in the arrest of Jesus the fulfilment of the parable, and would have interested themselves on His behalf. The chief priests, etc., were cunning enough to avoid this association, and left Him and went their way. In this manner also Luk_20:19 is to be understood; he follows Mark.

[146] All the less ought the several δοῦλοι to be specifically defined; as, for instance, according to Victor Antiochenus, by the first servant is held to be meant Elias and the contemporary prophets; by the second, Isaiah, Hosea, and Amos; by the third, Ezekiel and Daniel. That the expression in vv. 24 is in the singular, notwithstanding the plurality of prophets, cannot in a figurative discourse be surprising, and cannot justify the conjecture that here another parableof the three years of Christs ministryhas been interwoven (Weizsäcker).

[147] This explanation is set aside by αὐτόν, which, moreover, is opposed to the view of Theophylact: συνετέλεσαν καὶ ἐκορύφωσαν τὴν υβριν. The middle is used in Greek with an accusative of the person (τινά), but in the sense: briefly to describe any one. See Plat. Pol. ix. p. 576 B.

[148] That the opponents themselves are compelled to pronounce judgment (Matthew), appears an original trait. But the form of their answer in Matthew (κακοὺς κακῶς κ.τ.λ.) betrays, as compared with Mark, a later artificial manipulation.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 12:1-12 . Parable of the wicked vinedressers (Mat 21:33-46 , Luk 20:9-19 ).

Mar 12:1 . ἐν παραβολαῖς : the plural may be used simply because there are more parables than one even in Mk., the main one and that of the Rejected Stone (Mar 12:10-11 ), but it is more probably generic = in parabolic style (Meyer, Schanz, Holtz., H. C.). Jesus resumed ( ἤρξατο ) this style because the circumstances called forth the parabolic mood, that of one “whose heart is chilled, and whose spirit is saddened by a sense of loneliness, and who, retiring within himself, by a process of reflection, frames for his thoughts forms which half conceal, half reveal them” The Parabolic Teaching of Christ , p. 20. ἀμπελῶνα : a vineyard, the theme suitably named first. ἄμπελος is the usual word in Greek authors, but Kypke cites some instances of ἀμπελὼν in late authors. ὑπολήνιον (here only), the under vat of a wine press, into which the juices trampled out in the ληνὸς flowed. ἐξέδετο (W.H [109] ), a defective form, as if from δίδω . Cf. ἀπέδετο , Heb 12:16 .

[109] Westcott and Hort.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Chap. 12:1-12.] Parable of the vineyard let out to husbandmen. This parable is, for the most part, identical with that in Mat 21:33-46, and Luk 20:9-19. The number, and treatment of the servants sent, is enlarged on here;—and in ver. 4 there occurs the singular word κεφαλαιόω, which appears to be used by a solœcism for κεφαλίζω, ‘to wound in the head.’ Some have rendered it, ‘they made short work with him,’ which is the more usual sense of the word, but not probable here; for they did not kill him, but disgracefully used him.

I must not allow any opportunity to pass of directing attention to the sort of difference, in similarity, between these three reports,—and observing that no origin of that difference is imaginable, except the gradual deflection of accounts from a common, or a parallel, source.

See notes on Matt. throughout.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

PARABLE OF THE VINEYARD

12:1-12. Jesus, having denied the authority of the rulers, proceeds to show them in a parable the unfaithfulness to their trust which has lost for them their authority. The story is that of a vineyard let out on shares to cultivators, who maltreat the servants sent by the owner to collect his share, and finally kill his son, and whom the owner destroys, and turns over the vineyard to others. He also cites the proverb of the stone rejected by the builders which becomes the corner stone. The rulers see that the parable is aimed at them, but fear of the multitude holds them in check for the present.

1. Καὶ ἤρξατο αὐτοῖς ἐν παραβολαῖς λαλεῖν—And he began to say to them in parables.

λαλεῖν, instead of λέγειν, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. א BGL Δ 1, 13, 69, 118, 124, 346, mss. Lat. Vet. Egyptt. Pesh. Harcl. marg.

αὐτοῖς evidently refers to the representatives of the Sanhedrim, the parable being a continuation of Jesus’ conversation with them.1 Mt. says that the chief priests and the Pharisees knew that the parable was directed at them; but he also represents Jesus as saying that the kingdom is to be taken from them, and given to a nation producing its fruits.2 But this confusion of rulers and people must not obscure the plain fact that in Mt. the parable is against the rulers. Lk. says that the parable was spoken to the people, but that the rulers knew that it was spoken against them, two things that are not at all inconsistent.3 ἐν παραβολαῖς—in parables. This use of the plural indicates that Mk. had other parables in mind, though he gives only one. Mt. gives three, all bearing on the same general subject. Mk. states the general fact of teaching in parables, and selects one from the rest. This is one of the facts which seem to indicate that Mk. had the same collection of the teachings of Jesus as Mt. and Lk. to draw upon, viz. the Logia. Ἀμπελῶνα ἄνθρωπος ἐφύτευσεν—A man planted a vineyard. This figure of the vineyard is taken from Isa 5:1, Isa 5:2. Even the details are reproduced. In the LXX. we find φραγμὸν περιέθηκα … ᾠκοδόμησα πύργον … προλήνιον ὤρυξα.

φραγμόν—is any kind of fence, or wall, that separates lands from each other. ὑπολήνιον—is the receptacle for the juice of the grapes, placed under the ληνός, or winepress, in which the grapes were trodden.4 πύργον—is the tower from which the watchman overlooked the vineyard. It was also used as a lodge for the keeper of the vineyard. γεωργοῖς—means tillers or cultivators. ἐξέδετο5—ἀπεδήμησε—went abroad. Far country, AV. is an exaggeration.

ἐξέδετο, instead of -δοτο, Tisch. WH. א AB* CKL.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The calling of God is not tied either to place, person, or time, without exception.

This word Parable, which the Evangelists use, doth not only signify a comparing of things together, but also dark speeches and allegories.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

CHAPTER XII.

The parable of the vineyard let out to wicked husbandmen, 1-12.

The Pharisees and Herodians question him about paying tribute

to Caesar, 13-17.

The Sadducees question him about the resurrection, 18-27.

A scribe questions him concerning the chief commandment of the

law, 28-34.

Christ asks the scribes why the Messiah is called David's son,

35-37.

He warns his disciples against the scribes, 38-40.

Of the widow that cast two mites into the treasury, 41-44.

NOTES ON CHAP. XII.

Verse 1. A certain man planted a vineyard] See this parable explained, Mt 21:33-41.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

XII.

(1-12) And he began to speak unto them by parables.—See Notes on Mat_21:33-36. The parable which, like that of the Sower, and like that only, is related in all the first three Gospels, was one which had obviously impressed itself strongly, as that had done, on the minds of those who heard it, and was reproduced by independent reporters with an almost textual exactness.

A place for the winefat.—Better, simply, a vine vat.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1 And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.

Ver. 1. A certain man planted, &c.] {See Trapp on "Mat 21:33"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See this parable explained in the notes at Mat 21:33-46.

See this parable explained in the notes at Mat 21:33-46.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Under these figurative modes of speech, or parables, Jesus Christ began to trace out for their reflection a true portraiture of their ingratitude, and of the divine vengeance. By this man we are to understand God the Father, whose vineyard was the house of Israel, which he guarded by angels; the place dug for the wine-vat is the law; the tower, the temple; and Moses, the prophets and the priests, whom the Jews afflicted and persecuted are the husbandmen or servants. (St. Jerome) --- This same parable was employed by Isaias, (v. 1.) where speaking of Christ, he says: My beloved had a vineyard, and he fenced it in. (Tirinus) --- He went into a far country, not by change of place, for he is every where, but by leaving the workmen the power of free-will, either to work or not to work; in the same manner as a man in a far country cannot oversee his husbandmen at home, but leaves them to themselves. (Ven. Bede) -- This parable is thus morally explained: Jesus planted a Church with his own blood, surrounded it with evangelical doctrine, as with a hedge; dug a place for the wine-vat, by the abundance of spiritual graces which he has prepared for his Church; built a tower, by appointing his angels to guard each individual Christian, who are the husbandmen to whom he has let it out. (Nicholas of Lyra)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

This parable is related by Matthew, and by Luke also: See Poole on "Mat 21:33", and following verses to Mat 21:46. Mat 21:12 tells us, that the rulers of the Jewish church knew that he had spoken this parable against them, and they needs must know it, considering what Matthew adds to this parable, (which Mark and Luke have not), that he also told them, Mat 21:43, Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. By the man planting a vineyard, is to be understood God, who, Psa 80:8-11, brought a vine out of Egypt, and cast out the heathen, and planted it in the land of Canaan, and prepared room for it, and caused it to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river. It was a noble vine, a right seed, Jer 2:21. God planted it in a fruitful hill; he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, Isa 5:1,2. The church of the Jews then was this vineyard, which God hedged by his providence, and gave them all means necessary for the production of fruit. The servants sent to receive the fruit, so abused by the husbandmen, (as Mar 12:2-5,) were the prophets. 2Ch 36:16 is a compendious exposition of these verses.

They mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words and misused his prophets. The son mentioned as sent at last was Christ, and the latter part of the parable is prophetical, foretelling what they should do unto him, and also of the ruin of the Jewish nation and church, and the passing of the gospel to the Gentiles, who should more freely believe in Christ, and embrace and receive the gospel: so as they should not obtain their end; but Christ, though rejected by them, should yet be the Head of a far larger and more glorious church, according to a prophecy owned by themselves as a piece of holy writ, Psa 118:22. See Poole on "Mat 21:33", &c.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Various Incidents and Discourses in the Temple

1-12. The wicked husbandmen (Mat_21:33; Luk_20:9). See on Mt.

13-17. The tribute money (Mat_22:15; Luk_20:20). See on Mt.

18-27. The Sadducees and the Resurrection (Mat_22:23; Luk_20:27). See on Mt.

26. In the bush] RV 'in the place' (i.e. passage) 'concerning the bush.'

28-34. The great commandment (Mat_22:34). See on Mt.

35-37. Is Christ the son of David (Mat_22:41; Luk_20:41). See on Mt.

38-40. Warning against the scribes (Luk_20:45). Mt inserts at this point a long and severe discourse against the scribes and Pharisees (Mat_23:1).

38. Cp. Mat_23:6; (Mat_23:14). Long clothing] (lit. 'stoles'). The word is used in LXX for priestly and royal robes, and in NT. for dress worn on festive occasions. Not the use, but the ostentatious use, of dignified costume is condemned by Christ. Salutations] see on Mat_23:7.

39. Uppermost rooms, etc.] RV 'chief places at feasts.' If there were three on a couch, the chief guest lay in the middle. If there were two on a couch, he lay on the right side.

40. Devour widows' houses] Devout women were accustomed to contribute to the support of famous rabbis (Mar_15:41; Luk_8:2), and our Lord probably here refers to the abuse of such generosity. But inasmuch as the scribes and Pharisees were the rulers and judges of the nation, He may refer to their corruption and rapacity in the administration of justice, whereby they oppressed the poor.

41-44. The widows' mite (Luk_21:1).

41. The treasury] According to the Talmud there were in the Court of the Women thirteen chests for offerings called 'Trumpets,' from which three times in the year, before the three chief feasts, the money was transferred to the treasury called Corbanas. Each was marked with the object to which the offerings it received were to be devoted, e.g. temple expenses, sacrifices, oil, wine, incense, sacred vessels, etc. Cp. Joh_8:20. Money] bit. 'brass.' Perhaps small copper coins, such as the as and quadrans, are meant (Mat_5:26; Mat_10:29).

42. A (lit. 'one') poor widow] cp. Mat_21:18 : 'one fig tree.'

42. Two mites] lit. 'two lepta, which make a quadrans.' The lepton was a Greek coin, the smallest in circulation, equivalent to of a denarius, or ⅓ of a farthing. The widow offered two, because the rabbis forbade a single lepton to be placed in the almschest.

43. Hath cast more in] i.e. more in proportion to her means, and so has pleased God more. 'A certain woman offered a handful of wheat meal, and the high priest despised her, saying, How worthless this is to eat, how worthless to offer. But in a dream it was revealed to him. Despise her not, for it is the same as if she had offered her soul (or, life)' (The Talmud). 'Liberality is estimated according to a man's substance' (Aristotle).

J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he began to speak unto them in parables. This particular parable which follows was specially directed against the scribes and Pharisees; but it was uttered in the presence of a multitude of the people. "He began to speak... in parables." He had not used this form of instruction till now in Jerusalem. A man planted a vineyard. The imagery of the parable would be familiar to them from Isaiah. (Isa_5:1) But Palestine was eminently a land of "vineyards," as well as of "oil olives." The man who planted the vineyard is no other than God himself. "Thou hast brought a vine" out of Egypt; thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it." The imagery is specially appropriate. No property was considered to yield so rich a return as the vineyard, and none required such unceasing care and attention. The vine represents the kingdom of God in its idea and conception; not the Jewish Church in particular. The owner of this vineyard had himself made it. (He had "planted it." This planting took place in the establishment of the Jewish polity in the land of Canaan, when the heathen were cast out. He set a hedge about it. This and the following descriptions are not mere ornaments of the parable. The "hedge" was an important protection to the vineyard. It might be a wall or a "quick hedge," a living fence. The vineyards in the East may now be seen often with a strong hedge planted round them. Such hedges, made of the prickly cactus, are to be seen at this day in the neighborhood of Joppa. Figuratively, this hedge would represent the middle wall of partition which then existed between the Jew and the Gentile; and in this, their separation from the idolatrous nations around them, lay the security of the Jews that they should enjoy the continued protection of God. It is well remarked by Archbishop Trench that the geographical position of Judaea was figurative of this, the spiritual separation of the people guarded as Judaea was eastward by the river Jordan and its chain of lakes, northward by Antilibanus, southward by the desert and Idumaea, and westward by the Mediterranean Sea. Digged a place for the winepress (lhnov torcular); the words are literally, digged a pit for the winepress (wruxen upolhnion); the digging could only apply to the pit, a place hollowed out and then fitted with masonry. Sometimes these pits were formed out of the solid rock. Examples of these are frequent in Palestine. There were usually two pits hollowed out of the rock, one sloping to the other, and with openings between them. The grapes were placed in the upper pit; and the juice, crushed out by the feet of men, flowed into the lower pit, from whence it was taken out and put into wine-skins. "I have trodden the winepress alone." And built a tower. The tower (purgon) was probably the watch-tower, where a watchman was placed to guard the vineyard from plunderers. Particular directions are given in the rabbinical writings (see Lightfoot) for the dimensions both of the winepress and of the tower. The tower was to be ten cubits high and four cubits square. It is described as "a high place, where the vine-dresser stands to overlook the vineyard." Such towers are still to be seen in Palestine, especially in the neighborhood of Bethlehem, of Hebron, and in the vine-growing districts of Lebanon. And let it out to husbandmen. The husbandmen would be the ordinary stated teachers of the people, though not excluding the people themselves. The Jewish nation in fact, both the teachers and the taught, represented the husbandmen, each member of the Church, then as now, being required to seek the welfare of the whole, body. And went into a far country (kai apedhmhde); literally, and went into another country. St. Luke (Luk_20:9) adds (cronouv ikanouv), "for a long time.

Vers. 1-12. Rebel vine-dressers.

By this time there was no further prospect or possibility that the fate of Jesus might be averted. His entry into Jerusalem in state, and his cleansing of the temple, were acts that the priests, scribes, and Pharisees could not pardon, for they were a claim to authority altogether incompatible with their own. And the words of Jesus were as bold as his acts; their justice and severity enraged the rulers beyond all degree. The enemies of truth and righteousness were by this time fully resolved to strike down him whose character and ministry were the living embodiment of what they most hated. It was only a question of time and manner and instrumentalities. All this Jesus knew, and he knew that "his hour was come." There was no occasion now for reticence, and there was no longer any end to be subserved by it. His speech was always plain and faithful, but now his denunciations were unsparing, and his warnings terrible. On this Tuesday morning of his last week, our Lord summed up in this parable of "the wicked husbandmen," "the rebel vine-dressers," the rebellious history of Israel in the past, and the approaching doom of Israel in the future. It was in the temple precincts, and in the presence both of the people and of the chief priests, that the great Teacher so boldly asserted his own special mission and authority, and so emphatically foretold his own fate and the judgment which should overtake the guilty nation. The immediate application of the parable is clear enough. Israel was the vineyard planted in the election of Abraham, and hedged about and provided with all things needful, in the giving of the Law by Moses and in the settlement in Canaan under Joshua. The Eternal, who had so favored the chosen people, had sent prophets in three periods that of Samuel, that of Elijah and Elisha, and that of Isaiah and Jeremiah to summon Israel to a life of spirituality and obedience corresponding with their privileges. The Jews had not fulfilled the Law of God, or rendered to Heaven the fruits meet for repentance. And now he, the Son of God, was among them, the final Embassy from the throne of the great King. It was but too plain to all eyes that the unfruitfulness and rebellion of Israel reached the most awful height just when their advantages were the greatest, and the mercy of the Eternal was most conspicuous. They, who had rejected and slain the prophets, were now plotting against the very Son of God. They were about to put him to death, because he told them the truth and urged the rightful claims and demands of his Father. They might think, and did think, that this would be the end; but such an expectation was delusive: it was incompatible with the righteous government of God. And the Lord plainly foretold them that, as surely as God reigned in heaven and on earth, so surely should the rebellion of Israel be awfully and signally chastised, their special privileges come to a perpetual end, and the blessings which they were rejecting be conferred by God"s sovereign favor upon others, who should render the fruits in their seasons. Forty years afterwards Jerusalem was destroyed, the Jews were scattered, and their national life came to an end; and the kingdom of God was established among the Gentiles. The parable has lessons, not only for Israel, but for us; it embodies truth spiritual, practical, and impressive.

I OUR EARTHLY OCCUPATION: TO TILL THE VINEYARD OF GOD. The figure sets forth our vocation and responsibility. It represents our life as one of privilege. It is not a wilderness, but a vineyard, which we are called to cultivate. God has done much for us, in appointing for us the circumstances and opportunities of our existence. Our life is one of work. The most favorable situation and the most fruitful soil avail little if the plot be neglected; only faithful and diligent labor on our part can secure that the purposes of the Divine Lord shall be fulfilled. It is for us to "give diligence to make our calling and election sure." The greater our privileges, the more need that we should be diligent, laborious, and prayerful. Opportunities must be used, and not neglected or abused.

II GOD"S RIGHTEOUS EXPECTATION: THAT WE SHALL YIELD HIM FRUIT. What is the crop, the produce, he desires to see? Holiness and obedience, love and praise, as far as he is concerned; and, as far as regards our fellow-men, justice and gentleness, benevolence and helpfulness. He looks for repentance from the sinner, for faith from the hearer of the gospel, for improvement in character and for usefulness in service from the Christian. Why he does this is obvious enough. He has given us the means of knowledge and the opportunities of devotion, and looks for a return. "What more," he says, "could I have done than I have done?" And this expectation is for our sake as well as for his own. Our fruitfulness is our welfare and our happiness; it brings its own reward.

III GOD"S REQUIREMENT AND DEMAND UPON MEN, BY HIS MESSENGERS AND BY HIS SON. Our Lord appeals to us both by the Law and by the gospel. The teaching of his Word brings before us his rightful claims, and shows us how much it is for our highest advantage that we should not be unmindful of them. He summons us by the lessons of his providence, and by the counsels of our Christian friends, to a religious life. Yet there is no appeal so powerful, so persuasive, as that which God makes to us by his own "dear Son." Christ comes to us with authority; he comes to us with grace. He comes from the Father, and he comes with the deepest interest in our condition, anxious to overcome our rebelliousness, and to lead us to a holy and grateful obedience. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the one great, Divine appeal to the hearts of men. It is the method which infinite Wisdom and Mercy have devised of winning our confidence and love, and securing our ready obedience and loyal service. Those who have rejected other messengers of Heaven may justly be enjoined to receive with reverence the Son of God.

IV THE PENALTIES OF FRUITLESSNESS AND REBELLION. These are described in this passage in the most affecting terms. Privileges are removed from the unfaithful. The negligent and rebellious are punished and cast out. The advantages which they have spurned are transferred to others.

V THE REWARD OF FRUITFULNESS AND LOYALTY.

1. Christ is glorified, even though there may be those who reject and contemn him. Christ himself quotes a passage of Scripture, in which this great truth is set forth, though by a change of figure. "The stone which the builders rejected is become the Head of the corner." The purposes of God are accomplished, and cannot be frustrated by the guilt of man.

2. Other husbandmen are found who will deal more faithfully with the sacred trust. These shall offer the fruits of obedience, which shall be acceptable to the Lord of the vineyard. They shall be confirmed in their occupation, shall be blessed in their work, shall enjoy the Master"s favor, and shall live in the light of their Master"s glory.

HOMILIES BY A.F. MUIR Vers. 1-12. The parable of the vineyard.

The imagery adopted would at once address itself to the understanding of the hearers. Palestine pre-eminently a land of the grape. The prophetic writings are full of symbols and figures from the vine. This was spoken in continuation of his dispute with the Sanhedrim, and in the presence of all the people in the temple. The historical allusions to the prophets and the personal one to himself must have been only too clear. It was a detailed and crescent indictment of the most solemn and awful character.

I GOD"S LOVING PROVISION FOR THE SPIRITUAL INTERESTS OF HIS PEOPLE INVOLVED CORRESPONDING OBLIGATION.

II INSTEAD OF SERVING GOD, THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS OF ISRAEL SOUGHT THEIR OWN ADVANTAGE.

III SELFISHNESS AND UNBELIEF LED TO THE REJECTION OF THE PROPHETS, AND EVEN OF THE SON OF GOD HIMSELF.

IV SUCH CONDUCT ENTAILS A JUDGMENT, WHICH, ALTHOUGH DELAYED, IS NEVERTHELESS SURE AND TERRIBLE.

V THE LOVING PURPOSE OF GOD, ALTHOUGH HINDERED BY SUCH MEANS, WILL HE ULTIMATELY AND GLORIOUSLY FULFILLED. M.

HOMILIES BY R. GREEN Vers. 1-12. The parable of the vineyard; or, unfaithfulness and its reward.

A rude demand upon Jesus for his authority led him to ask in reply "one question" which awakened the consciences of his interrogators and threw them into confusion and difficulty. They were hurrying him on to his final hour, and he must needs take advantage of every opportunity of finishing the work given him to do. Therefore "in parables" he spake both "unto them" and "against them," which but roused their ire, and sent them away to plot and plan for his destruction. No word was needed to" declare who was represented by the vineyard. "For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel." And the details of the parable were minutely historic. How often had "a servant" been sent "that he might receive of the fruits of the vineyard"! How often had he been "handled shamefully"! Now a last chance is offered. "He had yet one, a beloved son: he sent him last unto them." The rest is prophecy ready to be fulfilled, and so soon to become history also. But the appeal, "What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do?" he does not leave them to answer, but supplies it in simple words and in such manner as to make the reply an admonitory warning. Alas! our eyes behold the precise fulfillment. And the rejected stone is now the Foundation-stone, "the Head of the corner." The parable reveals

I A GRACIOUS EXAMPLE OF THE DIVINE GOODNESS AND PATIENCE. It was a direct dealing with Israel, but it was an indirect dealing with all men. The comment is found in the historic development of the history of Israel.

II A PAINFUL INSTANCE OF HUMAN UNFAITHFULNESS. This, as in all instances of a want of fidelity to important trusts, was sadly disastrous. But not only to them to whom the trust was committed, for all men expiate the sins of every unfaithful one. The condition of society is lowered; good fruits are blighted and cannot be gathered; pains and penalties are incurred which fall heavily upon all. Had every man been faithful to his trust, what a paradise this hard earth would have presented! But the world walks on a lower plane for every unholy life passed upon it. Had that vineyard brought forth its due fruits, all nations would have been made partakers. Of the few small patches which bore, the world has the fruit in those holy records which are as the salt of the earth. But how much of the corn and the oil and the wine is wanting! On this account is presented

III A SAD ILLUSTRATION OF THE DIVINE JUDGMENT. Israel is deposed. The sacred trust is withdrawn. The vineyard is in other hands. The unfaithful husbandmen, as such, are destroyed. Alas for Israel! Her crown is in the dust, her harps upon the willows. She does not with her voice sing the pleasant songs of Zion. She is not the great spiritual power in the earth for which she was designed. Her calling and election she did not make sure. True, for the fathers" sakes she remains a testimony in the earth. But it is as a broken-off branch. The world gains nothing by Israel"s rejection. The Gentiles are wise to weep and mourn on her behalf; and, knowing that "God is able to graft them in again, they are wise to pray earnestly for their recovery. "The receiving of them" would be "life from the dead." So let every Gentile believer pitifully behold the nation sitting in the dust, having become the uncircumcision in the spirit: and at this time, alas! "separate from Christ" and really "alienated from the commonwealth of" the true "Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope." Nor can it be otherwise till they who now are "far off are made nigh in the blood of Christ. G.

HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON Vers. 1-12. The evil husbandmen.

I FAITHLESS TO GOD; UNJUST TO MEN. If men do not know God, neither can they know those who are sent of him. The Pharisees were set against Jesus because he was the only living presentment of their own neglected duties to God.

II VIOLENCE FALLACIOUS TO THOSE WHO EMPLOY IT. The wicked husbandmen Blindly slay the emissary. It is of no avail. The Erinys, the fury, the avenging spirit of the dead man, will come back. The violence against Jesus brought about the removal of his murderers from their place.

III ABUSE OF GOOD MEANS ITS LOSS. "The vineyard given to others." So do great inheritances melt away from their possessors; and the industrious servant comes to the seat of the dissipated lord. The very intelligence that is misused decays; and the loss of influence means loss of moral life.

IV THE SCALES OF DIVINE AND OF HUMAN ESTIMATION OFTEN DIFFER. A lesson often suggested by Christ. "Men are not what they seem." In science, in literature, in politics, the greatest men often rise up, untrained in the schools, to confute the conventional judgment of the time about education. So in religion. It is difficult to realize that the Savior was once scoffed at as a rustic, illiterate teacher from Nazareth. Yet so it was. There is a profound wonder in the turns of human life; and so long as we have eyes for the hand and working of God, miracles in the truest sense will never cease. J.

HOMILIES BY J.J. GIVEN Vers. 1-12. Parallel passages: Mat_21:33-46 Luk_20:9-19. Parable of the vineyard.

I THE LORD"S VINEYARD. A vineyard is often used in Scripture as an object of comparison. The heart is probably represented under this pleasing and beautiful image in the Song of Solomon, where it is written, "My mother"s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept." God"s ancient people are set forth under the same figure in the eightieth psalm, to denote his care for and kindness to them. "Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it." And a few verses afterward we have the touching prayer, "Return, we beseech thee, O God of Hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine, and the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch which thou madest strong for thyself." In the fifth chapter of Isaiah we have the parable of a vineyard and its explanation, where we are expressly told that the house of Israel is God"s vineyard; the men of Judah his pleasant plants; the grapes which he looked for, judgment and righteousness; the wild grapes produced, wickedness and oppression; so that instead of honesty in the dealings of the people there was the cruelty of the oppressor, and instead of the strict administration of justice on the part of the magistrates there was the cry of the oppressed. Every reader of the New Testament is familiar with our Lord"s representation of himself as the true Vine, of disciples as the branches, of his Father as the Husbandman, and union with himself as the secret of fruitfulness. The parable in the passage before us is recorded, with slight variation, by St. Matthew and St. Luke. This threefold occurrence of the same parable proves its importance, shows its instructiveness, claims our attention to it, and commands our interest in it.

II GOD"S CARE OF HIS CHURCH.

1. The culture of the vitae laborious. The care necessary for the proper culture of a vineyard is surprising, and to those unacquainted with it almost incredible. It is so in the vineyards of the Rhine, for example, at the present day. As you pass along the "wide and winding" river, many a vine-clad hill presents itself to view. Vineyard rises above vineyard, and terrace above terrace, from the bottom to the top of the hill, in some instances to the height of a thousand feet. How beautiful they look! How pleasant to work among them and keep them! you are apt to suppose. If, however, you visit them and talk with the vine-dressers, you will find your supposition a grave mistake. The duty of the vine-dresser is no sinecure. His work is never over. It is continued throughout the year. Every season brings something for him to do. Planting, propping, pruning, plucking the useless leaves, weeding, hoeing, and gathering the vintage occupy all his time. From year in till year out he knows little or no relaxation; his care ceases not all the year round. How beautifully this illustrates God"s care of and attention to his people! It was so also in ancient times. There is a fine didactic poem on husbandry by an old poet who flourished nearly two thousand years ago, and whose works are read at school and college still. He has left us a glowing and life-like description of the continuous toil and laborious industry of the Italian vine-dressers in his day. He there tells us that it was indispensable to plough the soil three or four times a year, to break the clods daily, to unload the branches, and thin the leaves. Even in winter the vine, after being bared of its leaves and fruit, has to be subjected to the pruning-knife, the ground to be dug, the lopped branches burnt, and the props brought into the house. Besides, twice in the year the luxuriant leaves, and twice the weeds and brambles, were to be removed. Further, it remained to cut the reeds and willows that grew on the river"s bank, and prickly shrubs in the woods, to bind the vines withal and fence them. In addition to all this, the ripening grapes must needs be protected from hail, and rain, and rust, and accidents of the weather. No wonder, then, he adds, that the husbandman"s care ran in a- circle, nor ending with the closing year, extended to the coming season. So great is the attention in general needed by vineyards, whether in ancient or modern times; such and so great God"s care for the vineyard of the Church. But particular instances are here enumerated.

2. The panting. He planted it. The vineyard soil needed to be the choicest and the best. Soil that would do very well for pasturage, or soil that might be quite suitable for tillage, would not answer for a vineyard. Nothing but soil of rich and generous mould would suit the planting of the vine. The situation required to be carefully selected. A good deal depended on the aspect, and it needed to be sheltered from the wintry wind, screened from the ungenial cold, and exposed as far as possible to the bright beams of a warm Southern sun, like the sunny slopes of Zion, the sides of Lebanon, or the vale of Eshcol Hence the prophet says "My well-beloved hath a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. It naturally followed that vineyards were the most valuable of all property, at least in land. So the Church of God is very precious in his sight. It is very costly, too, for he bought it with his blood; and hence the injunction "to feed the Church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood" It is a place distinguished for fruitfulness and enriched with blessings; a place of precious privilege of numerous ordinances, of heavenly light, where the Sun of Righteousness sheds his brightest beams, and spiritual life is cherished; a place where the Word of truth is possessed, perused, and faithfully preached; where the gospel of his grace is proclaimed: where his Spirit is poured down; where gracious influences are at work and Divine power felt; where the Divine presence is promised and enjoyed, and where every promised blessing is sure to be bestowed and fully realized. The plants, moreover, are the most precious even the best of their kind. Man, in his original state, was made but a little lower than the angels. God made man upright, and thus, when he proceeded from his hands, he was stamped with the Creator"s image, possessed of uprightness, and invested with dominion. And man, even in his fallen state, possesses noble endowments and distinguished faculties. He has understanding capable of studying the works and ways of God, affections to love and prize him, a will that can be moved by motives, tender emotions, and far-reaching sympathies high powers of head and heart. These powers, it is true, are all weakened and misdirected in consequence of sin. But oh! when they are quickened by the Spirit of God and influenced by his grace; in other words, when the sinner is united to the Savior, when by faith he is engrafted into him and become a living branch of the living Vine, a fruitful branch of the true Vine, he is then a plant of the choicest kind, qualified for yielding spiritual fruit, and capable of showing forth the praises of the Creator. Then does he correspond and come up in some measure to his original condition as God himself describes it: "Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?

3. The fencing. He set a hedge about it. The people of Israel were hedged in, both politically and physically. The position of Palestine contributed to this separation of its inhabitants. On the north were the slopes of Lebanon, on the south the Idumman desert, on the west the Great Sea, on the east the Jordan with its lakes, and Peraea beyond. But God"s spiritual vineyard was his Church, as existing first among the Jewish people and then in Gentile lands. The direct reference is to the Jewish Church as established under Moses, Joshua, the judges, and the theocracy; the great fence that hedged it in was the Law. But we may go back yet further; for God set a hedge about his Church in Old Testament times, from the call of Abraham, by the covenant of circumcision made with that patriarch, and by the whole written Law, moral as well as ceremonial, given to his descendants. In this way he separated the vineyard of the Church from the wide and wild common of the world. The Law was "the middle wall of partition" between Jew and Gentile. But in Christian times, and among Gentile peoples also, the Church is fenced around. There is still a hedge between the communion of saints and the world of the ungodly. Profession of the doctrines which Christ and his apostles taught, and the practice of the duties they enjoined, compose that hedge. Faith in his promises and obedience to his precepts draw the line of demarcation broad and wide between them. The exercise of wholesome discipline keeps the hedge in order. And a Church that does not or cannot exercise this salutary check on its members, saying who are and who are not worthy of its membership, is so far forth powerless for good, or like salt that has lost its savor. The vineyard of which the Prophet Isaiah (Isa_5:5) speaks had a double fence both a hedge and a wall as it is written, "I will take away the hedge thereof, .... and break down the wall thereof." We have frequently seen two hedges round a garden the outer one of thorn, the inner one of beech. Thus it is with the vineyard of the Lord. A visible profession of Church membership is the outer hedge; an interest in Christ is the inner one and, it must be added, the essential one. All who have embraced the mercy of God in Christ Jesus are within the enclosure of the Church in the true sense; all who have not are aliens to the commonwealth of Israel. "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believed on his name." These are safe within the hedge. "He that believeth not shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." All such are outside the hedge.

4. Important practical question. Inside this hedge or outside it? This is the question the great question. What, then, is our position individually? Out of Christ, we are without God, for "no man cometh to the Father but by him;" and without hope, for the hope of the hypocrite will perish; and without bumpiness, the secret and source of which is to "delight one"s self in God, and he gives thee thy heart"s desire;" Without life, for "this is life eternal, to know trice the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent;" and without heaven, for Christ is the way thither, as well as the door of entrance. In Christ we are sheltered from the storm of coming wrath. The sunshine of the Divine favor rests on us; the fruit of the Spirit is borne by us. We can then say, "There is now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." There is the hedge of Divine providence about the Church, as we read, "In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine. I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day." We are invited to walk about Zion and consider her strong fortifications, counting her towers, contemplating her bulwarks, and considering her palaces, so as to convince ourselves that those defences, unscathed by the assaults of enemies in the past, will remain as impregnable for the future. "On the Rock of Ages founded, What can shake thy sure repose? With salvation"s walls surrounded, Thou may"st smile at all thy foes.

5. Gospel ordinances. The wine-fat, or vat, was a large stone trough deposited in the ground, to receive the juice of the grape squeezed out in the winepress placed over it. The winepress thus consisted of two parts a receiver for the grapes, and beneath that a receptacle for the expressed juice. The press above, or upper trough, in which the grapes were placed to be trodden out by human feet, amid songs and shouts of joy, was called by the Latins torcular ; by the Greeks lhnov the word used by St. Matthew; and by the Hebrews gath. Through a hole in the bottom of this the expressed juice flowed into the vat beneath, or lower trough, which the Romans called lacus ; the Greeks upolhnion , the word used by St. Mark in the passage before us; and the Hebrews yekev, from a root meaning "to hollow out" or "deepen;" while both words occur together in the Prophet Joel, (Joe_3:13) "The press (garb) is full, the vats (yekavim) overflow." The winepress and wine-vat were sometimes made out of one block, and communicated by an aperture; sometimes they were distinct stones connected by a tube. If, then, we are to follow out the allegory explaining its particular parts, we may understand by the winepress the ordinances of the gospel, namely, prayer, praise, the Word, and sacraments; though others understand thereby gospel fruits or graces, as charity, thanksgiving, and devotion flowing like wine through it. If, then, we understand by the winepress gospel ordinances, by the wine-vat we may understand the place where the grace conveyed through these ordinances is received and enjoyed. God has appointed certain means for the communication of wisdom, strength, consolation, and every needful gift and grace. These means are the winepress; and the place where these spiritual supplies are obtained and preserved is the wine-vat. Let us take as an example, and in order to illustrate our meaning, the sacrament of the Supper. The Savior, when he made himself a sacrifice for sin, trod the winepress of God"s wrath alone, while "of the people there was none with him." The sacrament of the Supper is a feast after and upon that sacrifice; the place where this feast is dispensed, and its benefits to our spiritual nourishment and growth in grace partaken of, is the wine-vat. The bread is a lively emblem of Christ"s body, and a striking symbol of the hidden manna; the wine is a true token of his blood, and a sweet foretaste of that wine which we shall drink new in the kingdom of our Father; the table of the Lord, round which the faithful meet and share the feast, is symbolized by the wine-vat. In any case, even if we may not attach a specific meaning to each particular detail, these details imply generally God"s care of and provision for his Church.

6. Practical remarks. Mark, then, the connection of the press and vat; they go together. So is it with the ordinances, and the place of their administration; the ordinances, and the benefits they convey; the ordinances, and the blessings God gives us to enjoy through them. If we would glorify God, it must be in the manner he has appointed; if we would enjoy him, it must be in the use of the means he has provided; if we would enjoy not only the communion of saints, but also the communications of Divine grace, we must not forsake the assembling of ourselves with the people of God; if we would promote at once the glory of God and the growth of grace in our own hearts, we must "remember the sabbath day to keep it holy," and the sanctuary to frequent it duly and devoutly. In a word, if we would be truly wise for both worlds, we shall ask wisdom of God, who "giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not," waiting at the posts of wisdom"s doors to hear what God the Lord will say to our souls.

7. The tower. This was a place of safety and strength for the watching and guarding of the vineyard, and for the protection of its fruits. The temple in the old economy was the tower, and the priests that lodged around might be regarded as acting the part of the watchmen. More usually, however, the prophets are spoken of as the watchmen. "I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved." The faithful preachers of the gospel and pastors of the Christian Church are watchmen now, who watch as those who must give account; while to both teachers and taught, pastors and people, preachers and hearers, the words of the Lord, as addressed to the Prophet Ezekiel, while he sat by the river of Chebar, are applicable still. In that instructive passage we read, "Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul." In consideration of all these careful arrangements, surely God might well say, as he did by the Prophet Isaiah, "What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?

III GOD"S EXPECTATIONS FROM THE VINEYARD OF THE CHURCH.

1. He sends his servants to claim a portion of the fruit. The parable shows in its immediate application the privileges of the Jews, their perversion and abuse of those privileges, and the consequent punishment. If, then, by the husbandmen we understand the ordinary ministers of the Jews" religion, as the priests and Levites; the servants sent were the extraordinary messengers, the prophets raised up on special occasions and for special purposes, and other eminent preachers of righteousness. The householder or owner claimed a portion of the produce. The rent was thus paid in part of the fruit; it was to be in kind, on the well-known metayer principle, long so prevalent and still practiced in parts of Europe; it was to consist of grapes, not gold. The occupiers acknowledged the claim, but failed, or rather refused, to meet it, and were ruined in consequence. God expects fruit; why should he not? Who ever planted a vineyard that did not expect to eat of the fruit of it? Who, then, will venture to gainsay the justness of God"s claims? He is no hard Master; he is no rack-rent Proprietor; he does not "reap where he has not sown, nor gather where he has not strawn;" he never requires impossibilities.

2. Correspondence between the fruit of the vineyard and the own expectations. The fruit of the spiritual vineyard should correspond with the expectations of the great proprietor in three respects.

(1) In quality this correspondence should exist. He looks for grapes-good grapes off every vine which he has planted in his spiritual vineyard. There is heart-fruit, consisting of faith, hope, charity, purity, the thoughts being purified by the inspiration of the Spirit; there is the lip-fruit of prayer, praise, holy conversation, edifying discourse, and speech seasoned with salt; life-fruit follows, and is manifested in works of faith, labors of love, patience of hope, devotion of spirit, all holy living, and the necessary sequel in holy dying at the last. In a word, God looks for holiness in all his people. He looks for those blessed and beautiful fruits of which St. Paul. writes to the Philippians, when, summing up the Christian graces, he says, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on or take account of these things." He looks for those excellences of character, conduct, and conversation which St. Peter recommends to the strangers scattered abroad, saying, "Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." God the Father had these fruits in view when he planted the vineyard, for he "predestinated us to be conformed to the image of his Son;" God the Son prepared for them when he gave up the ghost, for it was to "redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works;" God the Holy Spirit provided for them when he renewed us in the spirit of our minds, making us new creatures in Christ Jesus, and so commenced our sanctification. He is waiting and willing to produce them; for "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." The gospel calls us to holiness, and when embraced in sincerity and truth, produces it in increasing measure from day to day, leading us to the higher Christian life; for "the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.

(2) But the quantity of the fruit borne must be directly proportionate to the grace bestowed. It must be in exact correspondence with the talents God has given us, and the time those talents have been lent us; with the mercies great and manifold which he has conferred upon us; with the privileges with which we have been favored, and the period of their possession; in a word, with all the opportunities of whatever kind and advantages of whatever sort, which we have been permitted to enjoy. With every talent God is pleased to give us he says, "Occupy till I come." Every one of the blessings bestowed and oh, how great the number! lays us under an additional obligation; every mercy imposes increased responsibility. Is it health or wealth? is it influence or example? or any other means of receiving good for ourselves, or imparting it to others? Whatever it is, it adds to our accountability, and, if abused, it will be sure to augment our guilt, and in the end aggravate our condemnation.

3. We are reminded, further, that the fruit must be in season; for "at the season," that is, when the season for the fruit arrived, the proprietor sent his servants for the stipulated portion. "When the time of the fruit drew near," says St. Matthew; when sufficient time for growth and for reaching maturity has been allowed, the time of fruit draws nigh. After opportunities of usefulness have been enjoyed, God comes to see how we have employed them. The righteous man yieldeth the right fruit in right quantity, and at the right time. This is his characteristic, as stated in the words of Scripture: "He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season." In the natural world, every season of the year has fruit peculiar to itself. Spring has its flowers, in addition to its buds and blossoms; summer has its plants, and tubers, and waving fields of corn; autumn has its own abundant fruitfulness in golden grain, matured fruits, and ripened grapes. So in the spiritual world and in the vineyard of the Church; in a season of prosperity God expects gratitude as well as gladness; in a season of adversity he expects patient resignation to his will; in a season of depression and consequent privation, he expects dependence on his providence; in provocation he expects meekness; in temptation, resistance by the help of God; in wintry days of darkness, contentment with the Divine allotments; in seasons of sunshine, humility; and in all seasons diligent seeking and faithful serving of God.

IV GOD"S PUNISHMENT OF UNFAITHFULNESS.

1. Shameful treatment of Gods servants. These wicked husbandmen went from bad to worse. They were determined that God should get no fruit from his vineyard; and accordingly they maltreated, in the most scandalous and barbarous manner, the servants sent by the proprietor to demand his due portion of the produce. Their conduct shows a gradation of wickedness they beat, they wound, they kill. The word ekefalaiwsan , rendered "wounded in the head," is peculiar, and for this, which appears to be its primary sense, there is no classical parallel. Where it occurs, it is generally used in the secondary sense of bringing under one head or sum: hence it has been variously rendered in accordance with this signification, some explaining it to reckon with one in a summary manner, paying with blows instead of fruit; others to deal with one summarily; and others, again, to complete and bring to a head their maltreatment; but the ordinary rendering of "wounding in the head" is confirmed by the Syriac and Vulgate, and is commonly accepted. More important for us is the historical evidence which the Scriptures of the Old Testament afford of this shameful treatment of God"s servants. They were threatened with death, thrown into dungeons, actually slain, stoned, fawn asunder, as passages that readily suggest themselves to any careful reader of God"s Word abundantly prove. The special honor reserved for the Son marks his superior rank, and distinguishes him from all others, whether designated servants or dignified with the name of sons of God. He is the one Son the well-beloved claiming and entitled to peculiar reverence; the rightful Heir, too, of the inheritance. Thus, as we read in the beginning of the Epistle to the Hebrews, "God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son, whom he appointed Heir of all things." The Son took upon him "the form of a servant" while sojourning in our world.

2. A supplementary parable. The parable of the vineyard and the wicked husbandmen, with all its fullness of details, omitted necessarily omitted one or rather two points, which are supplemented by a parabolic statement from the hundred and eighteenth psalm. Whereas the son and heir is left dead outside the vineyard, as Christ suffered, "without the gate," while the lord of the vineyard himself avenges his death, and punishes the husbandmen for their diabolical conduct; it was necessary to complete the picture by his revival and return to the place of dignity and power, as the Foundation and chief Corner-stone, upbearing and binding together the two walls of the sacred edifice. And not only so; it behoved to represent him as revenging in person his wrongs on those who slew him, according to the one parable, or who rejected him according to the other; while this feature is more fully exhibited by the first and third evangelists, who tell us that "whosoever shall fall on this stone that is, stumble and fall over this stumbling-stone of his humiliation be broken sorely bruised (sunylasyhsetai) and so receive great hurt and grief: "but on whomsoever it shall fall in wrath, because of their final impenitence shall grind him to powder;" literally, winnow (likmhsei) him, just as the stone cut out of the mountains without hands was seen in prophetic vision to smite and shatter the great world-image, and scatter its fragments like chaff before the winds of the winter.

3. Improvement of the subject. The primary reference is to the Jews as a Church and people. Their own conscience made application of it to themselves; hence their indignation, but not their improvement. The transference of the vineyard was not exactly from the Jews to the Gentiles, but to the faithful who should be collected together out of both, and connected by the chief Corner-stone into one.

(1) The first lesson taught us here is of a national character. The Jews had great privileges, but their misuse or abuse of those privileges subjected them at last to fearful retribution. God had shown much forbearance, sending servant after servant to call them to repentance and reformation, and last of all and greatest of all, his own Son; but in vain. They refused to return and repent, crowning their wickedness by crucifying the Son of God. At length the cup of their iniquity was full and overflowing; and, forty years after this climax of their enormities, Jerusalem was laid in ruins, the beautiful house in which their fathers worshipped reduced to ashes, and themselves scattered throughout the world.

(2) We learn God"s mode of dealing with Churches or nations that, like the Jews, are highly privileged, and have long enjoyed instructions and ordinances and spiritual benefits. As he continues blessing after blessing, so he sends call after call, and by his servants summons them to the improvement of those blessings. If they refuse compliance if they neglect to use those blessings in his service and to his glory ruin, and that without remedy, shall be, must be, the sad but sure result. The destiny of the Jewish Church was repeated to some extent in that of the Oriental Churches, and in that of the African Churches; and by all these cases the Churches of our own land and of every Christian people are solemnly warned against the misuse of mercies, and the abuse of privileges, and the just judgments of God with which apostate Churches and sinful nations are visited.

(3) Individual units make up the aggregate of a nation or the membership of a Church, so in our individual capacity we add our quota to the general guilt on the one hand, or to the purity of a Church and the righteousness of a nation on the other. Therefore are we bound individually to serve God "in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life," and to intercede for the practice and prevalence of that righteousness in all others, which exalts a nation or a people, so that the mercies of God may be improved and his judgments averted.

4. A practical and personal question. Are those fruits which God, as we have seen, expects from us, ours? Are we duly meeting his claims upon us? Are we responding to them gratefully and faithfully? Have we, by the constraining mercies of God, and by the constraining love of Christ, and for the love of the Spirit, presented ourselves, body, soul, and spirit, "a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service"? Do we appreciate as we ought all God"s care and kindness, our privileges and means of instruction and improvement? Or, like certain vines in the land of Palestine, which, as we read in Scripture, produced poisonous berries, are we bearing fruit of similar poisonous quality? It may be that, instead of grapes, good grapes and proper fruit, we may be bearing grapes wild grapes, not only inferior in quality, but poisonous in their nature. Our lips, instead of being instruments of righteousness, may be polluted and polluting with falsehood and deceit and evil-speaking; with corrupt communication, levity, and profanity. Our life, instead of a living epistle, seen and legible to all, may be an exhibition of bitterness and wrath and anger; of envy, pride, injustice, and uncharitableness; of sensuality and sinfulness. Our heart, which is the fountain-head and source of all, may, by remaining unrenewed and unpurified, continue the wellspring of evil thoughts, vile affections, and corrupt desires. If this be the case with any of us which may Heaven forbid! how great must be the disappointment of the Lord of the vineyard! how base our ingratitude! how awful the doom! how swiftly and suddenly destruction may come!

5. Fatal error. Delay is not deliverance. Many flatter themselves, as Agag, that the bitterness of death is past, at the very moment that vengeance is on the road and ready to overtake them. Some regard warnings as words of course, and consequently worthless. Others, like the Jews of old, treat shamefully the messengers of Divine mercy; and neglect, or despise and make light of, or speak evil of, the ministers of religion, forgetting the fact that whoso despiseth the messenger despiseth the Master that sent him. Thank God but few reach this bad eminence in their enmity to God, and the things of God, and the servants of God! We may neglect ordinances and abuse privileges, but, in doing so, we treasure up for ourselves "wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;" we may despise the terrors of the Lord, and turn a deaf ear to the voice of warning; we may disappoint the reasonable expectations of ministers and members of the Church; we may defraud the great Proprietor of the fruits which his grace was calculated to produce, and which he had every reason to expect; and God may not take vengeance on our evil works speedily; yet that vengeance will be aggravated by delay, and more fearful when it comes. Those guilty of such sinful neglect and abuse of privileges shall in the day of Divine vengeance be swept as with the besom of destruction, or thrown as into a furnace seven times heated, and that for ever and ever. Let us beware of the progressive nature of sin; for if we forget instruction, that forgetfulness will cause us to neglect it; that neglect, again, will lead us to despise it; that contempt for instruction will beget dislike of our spiritual teachers who impart it; and this dislike will engender hatred of the truth in general; and the end, the fearful end, will be destruction irremediable and terrible from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power. "And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell. J.J.G.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Matt. xxi, 43; Luke xx, 9.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

vineyard

Israel. Isa 5:1-7. Israel was not fruitless, but brought forth only wild grapes. Cf.; Joh 3:6; Hos 10:1 contra, Hos 14:8.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Parable of the Vineyard.

The vineyard:

v. 1. And He began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the wine fat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.

For some time now Jesus had not used the parabolic style of teaching, mainly because He had been teaching His disciples alone. But now He began, He resumed this form of presenting the truth which He wanted to impress, principally upon His enemies that had been challenging His authority. Of the parables which Jesus spoke on that Tuesday, Mark relates only one, that one in which the wickedness of the contemplated murder is shown in the proper light. A vineyard a certain man planted. It was a man of wealth, and incidentally a good business man, as the details of the plan show. Having put in his vines, he drew or set a hedge around the plat to keep out the wild animals. He not only built a wine-press for the treading out of the grapes, but he also constructed under it the vat for receiving the juices that flowed from the wine-press. Finally he built a tower, to serve both for storing the fruit and for watching against thieves and birds. Having thus done all that could be expected of an owner, he let it out, he rented it to certain husbandmen, gardeners, and went on a far journey. The parallelism between this story and that of Isa 5:1-7 must have been evident to the scribes at once. This made the effect of the parable all the more damaging.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 12:17

I. The questioners here, we are told, were the Pharisees and the Herodians. With the Pharisees we are well acquainted. Of the Herodians we know nothing, except what this incident reveals. Whether they were a religious sect or a political party, we are not informed. Their name only shows that they were favourable to the ascendancy of Herod, and Herod’s family. The Pharisees and the Herodians alike must have had a genuine interest in the question which they asked, "Is it lawful to give tribute to Cæsar, or not." It was not a mere speculative question; it was a direct, pressing, personal, practical matter. It was a question which a perfectly sincere but somewhat bigoted Pharisee might have asked. But these men were not sincere. The evangelist speaks of their craftiness—their hypocrisy. Our Lord addresses them as hypocrites. Their object was not to solve their own difficulties, but to involve Christ in difficulties.

II. Our Lord’s reply is not direct, not "Yes," nor "No." He asks for a penny, a denarius, the common silver coin of the day. What do they see there? The broad brow, the laurel crown, the stern, cruel, impenetrable visage of Tiberius, the reigning emperor, or perhaps the singularly handsome regular features of his predecessor, the now deified Augustus. And this portraiture, this name thus stamped on the coin, is, in some sense, a mark of ownership. It comes from Cæsar’s mint and must be restored to Cæsar’s exchequer. Our Lord declares, not, indeed, the divine right of Augustus or Tiberius, not the divine right of kings or emperors, nor yet the divine right of democracies, but the divine right of established governments, the divine right of law and order. The argument would have been just as valid, if, instead of Augustus or Tiberius, the head of the Roman republic had been stamped upon that coin.

III. When, having first asked, "Whose image is this?" Our Lord closes with the injunction, "Render to God the things that are God’s," is it too much to infer that the connecting link between the symbol and the application was the familiar text at the beginning of Genesis, "In the image of God created He him." In the second creation the same image was restamped upon us. The blessed lines were resharpened as we passed once again through the mint of God. The obverse is still the face of God, while the reverse is the cross of Christ! "Render to God the things that are God’s."

Bishop Lightfoot, Penny Pulpit (New Series), No. 971.

References: Mar 12:17.—J. G. Rogers, Christian World Pulpit, vol. vi., pp. 392, 402; vol. vii., pp. 24, 36; G. W. Shalders, Ibid., vol. xiii., p. 199. Mar 12:18-27.—H. M. Luckock, Footprints of the Son of Man, p. 269; W. Hanna, Our Lord’s Life on Earth, p. 394. Mar 12:24, Mar 12:25.—W. Gresley, Parochial Sermons, p. 381. Mar 12:24-27.—J. J. Murphy, Expositor, 2nd series, vol. iv., p. 102. Mar 12:26, Mar 12:27.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 116.

Mar 12:27

I. Man the worker, who knows all the labour, all the skill of work, thinks much of work. Man the seer, who gathers in all his knowledge by sight, thinks much of sight. Man the speaker, who carries on all his projects by speech, thinks much of speech. And deeds done, and things seen, and powers of speech, so possess the world, so fill up its space, that few ever stop to examine what more there may be, and whether works and sight and speech are indeed the grand realities they claim to be; the all in all, which their size and pretensions make them seem to be. Men deal with themselves in the same way. They take the things done and seen, the words and actions, and call them their lives. And a great man is a man who has made a great noise in the world by the rush of his thoughts, or his words, or his deeds, and his life is written, strange contradiction of terms, his life is written, a catalogue that is of the most important sayings of the man, with the writer’s reflections of them; I do not say that more can be done in writing; neither do I say that it is not sometimes good to do this; but to call it a man’s life, that is indeed a curious trick of language, a strange untruth.

II. What is a man’s life? The life, I mean, which really is himself; the life which, for good or evil, moves in the world; that life of which it is said, "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap." Let me draw your attention to all having it. All in God’s kingdom have God’s life. This was what stirred the heathen world so when the first message of life came. Philosophy, if true, only touched a few learned, favoured men, whilst the whole world lay in emptiness and misery and hunger of soul. They knew what it was to have life offered to all. What then is life in its practical human sense? I answer, practically, life is not doing, but bearing; life is the inward patience which every minute is content to bear what that minute brings to be borne, whether it bring movement or non-movement, work to be done or the waiting without work. The readiness to bear and obey is life. Life lives, is always living, always quietly waiting on its day, gently bearing each little annoyance, and so learning to bear; firmly meeting each little task, and so learning to work; and so at length the hero is made God’s hero, the man who bears and does all things gently, easily, lovingly; and men marvel, as time passes, how silently he has taken his place in the hearts of men; and when he is gone, even like his Lord, he becomes known in the parting, in the evening, and hearts burn within them as they think of him.

E. Thring, Church of England Pulpit, vol. ix., p. 209.

Reference: Mar 12:28-34.—R. Lee, Sermons, p. 156.

Mar 12:29-30

The Ideal of Christian Consecration.

Notice:—

I. The character of the love of God. It is not necessary that we should accurately determine the philosophical signification of the words—heart, soul, mind, and strength or might, in the Hebrew of Deuteronomy, or the Greek of Mark. Briefly, Christ is saying that the whole man must be enlisted in our love of God. (1) God claims from us a warm personal affection. Nothing will make up to God for the want of affection. The highest appreciation, the noblest worship, is that of love. (2) God must be loved for His moral excellence. Not only must our conscience approve our affection; it will be ever supplying us with new material for exalted worship. The sense of His righteousness will kindle gratitude into adoration; passionate desire after God will become enthusiasm for God as our moral sensibilities are disciplined to the perception of His holiness. (3) God claims from us, moreover, an intelligent affection. We must know whom we worship and wherefore we worship Him. Truth is a prime element of reverence, and reason and understanding have as their function to guide us in the knowledge of the truth. (4) God claims from us that we love Him with all our strength. The whole force of our character is to be in our affection for Him.

II. The unity of spiritual life in this love. The command of the text is introduced by a solemn proclamation, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord." Consider the infinite worthiness of God. He is the source and object of all our powers. There is not a faculty which has not come from Him, which is not purified and exalted by consecration to Him. As all our powers make up one man—reason and conscience, emotion and will uniting in a complete human life—so for spiritual harmony and religious satisfaction there must be full consecration and discipline of all our powers.

III. The grounds and impulses of this love. In reality it was but one reason—God is worthy of it; and the impulse to render it comes directly from our perception of His worthiness and the knowledge that He desires it from us. The claim for love, like all the Divine claims, is grounded in the character of God Himself, and it takes the form of commandment here because the Jews were "under the law."

A. Mackennal, The Life of Christian Consecration, p. 1, (see also Christian World Pulpit, vol. viii., p. 200).

References: Mar 12:29.—R. Lee, Sermons. p. 169. Mar 12:29, Mar 12:30.—R. Molyneux, Church of England Pulpit, vol. xiv., p. 279. Mar 12:29, Mar 12:31.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. xix., p. 93; R. Lee, Sermons, p. 197. Mar 12:30.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iii., No. 162; R. Lee, Sermons, p. 183.

Mar 12:30-31

The True Application of Christian Doctrines.

I. Jesus came, first, to teach men of God. Without this knowledge man can never understand himself, either as to his nature, his duties, or his possibilities. Jesus taught men, (1) that God is Spirit, (2) that man is spirit also, (3) that between us and God is the relationship of child to parent, for He revealed unto human kind the Fatherhood of Deity.

II. Jesus gave great instruction touching the destiny of man. The doctrine of immortality had many disciples before He came. But it is none the less true that Jesus brought life and immortality to light. He brought life to light because He put a proper definition on it. And by Himself living rightly, the first man that had ever done it, he showed all men what life was and what it meant. He brought immortality to light in His resurrection from the grave. His descent to, and His ascent from, the place of the dead, demonstrated that the living die not at all; demonstrated that the body is one thing and the life within another; demonstrated that the flesh alone is corruptible, but that the spirit is beyond touch or taint of mortality.

III. There is very little speculation among people touching the teachings of Jesus, and the reason is, because His teachings are too plain to leave anything in doubt; and where there is no doubt there can be no speculation. What Paul meant you can speculate about; for Paul saw things as through a glass, darkly. But what Jesus meant you cannot speculate about, for He saw the truth face to face, and His statements are transparent. All, therefore, that remains for us to do, touching the teachings of Jesus, is to apply them to the government of our lives. The teachings of the Master are, therefore, practical; and they are of actual service to you and me, provided that we have a desire to live rightly; and this living rightly includes both our treatment of ourselves and our treatment of others. If you read the sayings of Jesus, you will find that He had an exalted opinion of man. Other men in His name have spoken meanly of man. Jesus never spoke meanly of him. He always graded men up, never down. He could see in man not only something worth saving, but something that was so valuable that it justified Him in dying to save it. Contemplate Calvary in the light which it throws upon yourself. If you are what it reveals you to be, how nobly you should live.

W. H. Murray, The Fruits of the Spirit, p. 246.

References: Mar 12:31,—R. Duckworth, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xviii., p. 193; R. Lee, Sermons, p. 228; J. H. Thom, Laws of Life after the Mind of Christ, 2nd series, p. 300.

Mar 12:32

The Divine Echo in the Human Heart.

God’s word may be received controversially, speculatively, or lovingly; men may argue about it, or let it argue with them to their conviction and redemption. Take for example the doctrine, Man is a sinner. You may make it a matter of controversy, and by all the poor devices of self-conceit may endeavour to escape its consequences; it may be met with flat denial, or received with many modifications. But take it into the heart, when the heart is in its best mood, ponder it when far from the influence of the world’s excitement and flattery, and say whether there be not a voice which responds affirmatively to the tremendous charge. Take again the doctrine, Man needs a Saviour. It is possible to meet such a doctrine in a captious and resentful spirit; it denies the possibility of self-redemption; it dismisses all the fancies which the soul has been treasuring, and shows man his poverty and weakness. But take it also into the heart under circumstances which allow it to be carefully considered, and say whether there be not a voice answering God’s appeal, with "Well, Master, Thou hast said the truth." We do not ask for the acceptance of doctrines which ignore or override the instincts and experience of the world; on the contrary, Christianity addresses itself to the intuitions of every man. What are the practical consequences of our having this responsive faculty?

I. Man is made a co-worker with God; not a machine, but a co-operating agent. This gives confidence to personal hope and authority to personal teaching.

II. Man enjoys the restraints of conscience. Upon practical morals man is his own Bible; he carries an unwritten law which warns him from forbidden ground. The conscience is God’s witness to our apostasy. The Bible appeals to it, and works with its full consent.

III. God bases His judgment upon the responsive faculty. The judgment day will be short, because every man will be his own witness.

Parker, Pulpit Analyst, vol. v., p. 603.

Mar 12:34

It was one of the many instances in which Jesus took a very kind view—and saw, and was not afraid to say that He saw—the good that was in everyone. Many perhaps see it, who do not think it well to say that they see it. You need not be afraid. True praise never does any harm. On the contrary, it softens and humbles.

I. But there is a much higher lesson than this, contained in the kindliness of our Saviour’s conduct. If any of you are ever inclined to think of God as a faultfinder—as One who is quick to see what is wrong and who does not see and appreciate what is good in us—read the accounts of Christ’s intercourse with those among whom He was thrown; and you will unlearn your false estimate of that kind, loving, hopeful heart.

II. The text shows clearly that there is a kingdom of God in this world, and that it has distinct boundary lines. These boundary lines do not shade off, so that either it should be impossible to say whether you are in it or not in it, or that you can be partly in it and partly not in it. The words evidently convey the contrary: you may be "near" it, or you may be far from it, but either you are in it, or you are out of it. And now the question necessarily forces itself upon us, What was there in this man which made Christ speak of him as "Near to the kingdom" of His grace. (1) This scribe spoke practically and sensibly and without prejudice—as Christ expresses it, "discreetly." And the evangelist gives this as the very reason for our Saviour’s judgment about him. (2) It is plain that he saw before his age and generation, the true, relative value of the types and ceremonies of the Jewish Church. He recognised them as entirely inferior to the great principles of truth and love. (3) His mind had travelled so far as to see that the sum and substance of all religion is love, first to God, and then, growing out of it, to man. (4) And perhaps, still more than all, that enlightened Jew had been attracted and drawn near to the person of Christ. Consequently he consulted Him as a teacher, "Which is the first commandment of all?" and when Christ had solved the question, he gave his ready assent, and hailed Him as the great exponent of the mind of God. "Well, Master, Thou hast said the truth"—his intellect following where his faith had led the way, to one centre, and that centre—Christ.

J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 4th series, p. 293.

Mar 12:34

Nearness to the Kingdom of God.

Consider:—

I. In what this nearness consists. The current idea is that we are not far from the kingdom of God if we stand in any kind of touch or connection with it. But nearness to the kingdom of God implies more than this; it implies an inward connection, a motion of the heart, a drawing of the soul towards it. When indifference to Christ, the Sovereign of this kingdom, or to God Himself, still rules in any human heart, it were indeed unfitting to speak of nearness. We enter the kingdom of heaven through conversion. We are not far from the kingdom of God when we are awakened by God, but still unconverted. Conversion is in its essential nature a new birth, and to be not far from the kingdom of God is to be on the way to the new birth, but not yet born again.

II. What is the worth of the nearness to the kingdom of God which we have described. It is a great thing to be near the kingdom; but is an unsatisfactory, we might rather say, a dangerous, condition. (1) Of what use is it to stand on the frontiers of God’s kingdom? Of what use to see the promised land from afar, and to know that for us it is lost for ever? Of what use was it to Agrippa to have said to Paul: "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian? (2) But not only for the individual, for the kingdom itself, this state of being not far off is less advantageous than we might have supposed. We might fancy that it would greatly further the advancement of that kingdom that there should be many standing, not indeed within, but at the doors. But the result has been that the kingdom of God has been despised. Men have thought that it was leaving the world as it was, that it had brought a shadowy kingdom of heaven upon earth, but never a true one. And they have said: Let us keep to the path on which we travelled before. Open scorners and mockers have not done nearly so much to injure Christianity in the opinion of men as those who stop halfway, and do not let their light shine before men.

III. But even amongst those who are not far from the kingdom there are different classes. A wide distinction may be drawn between those who feel an impulse drawing them to enter the kingdom, and those who are contented where they are. The noblest natures and the most honest minds have often to struggle long, and to wait for the seal of their adoption. Happy are they. At last the door will open to them; and it may be they shall be placed far above those who found the entrance quickly and with little toil.

R. Rothe, Predigten, p. 60.

We are led to form a favourable opinion of the man to whom these words were addressed. He seems to have been thoughtful and reverent, to have been attracted by the teaching and character of Christ, and to have detected the nothingness of all religion not based upon the love of God and man. He. was an earnest, true-hearted man, and his earnestness made him clearsighted. It was a comfort to him to be told that holiness of heart was the one great thing required by God.

I. It was his declaration in Mar 12:33 which drew from our Lord the remarkable judgment, "Thou art not far from the kingdom of God." To enter the kingdom of God is to become a true Christian; first to understand, and then to obey habitually, the laws by which God endeavours to govern our hearts. A man is qualified to be a member of any earthly kingdom by acknowledging its government and yielding a willing obedience to its laws. And so with the kingdom of God. There is a certain state of mind which fits a man to be a loyal subject of that kingdom. To be Christlike, to acknowledge Christ’s person, to love Him, to try to find out what He wishes and do it numbly in dependence on Him—this is to have entered the kingdom of God, and to be an active citizen in support of its government. And the words of our text remind us that there are approaches leading up to this holy city. There is a state of mind in which we are nearly Christians, but not quite. We have not actually entered the kingdom of God, but we are not far from it.

II. Now it is plain that there are vast differences among those who are "not far from the kingdom of God,"—campers, as it were, on the frontiers of Christendom. There are some who deserve praise for having advanced so far; others—doubtless infinitely more—who deserve blame for having pushed no farther. The scribe to whom our Lord spoke belonged plainly to the first of these classes. He had done what so few of us, living in the full blaze of Christian light, are able to do—he had come to see that religion was essentially an inward spiritual thing, a thing of the heart; and that, however correct a man’s acts or beliefs might be, he was not a religious man unless with every power of his body, his intellect and his soul he loved God and his fellow-men. Those to whom the words of Christ can be addressed in a tone of approval are, in our day, those who have not had great advantages, but have made the most of these. God has all along been preparing their hearts though they knew it not. When at last His call speaks to them in some vehement tone—perhaps by a terrible sorrow, or an outburst of wickedness in some one for whom they care—we feel sure that they will embrace the call.

H. M. Butler, Harrow Sermons, 2nd series, p. 63.

The deepest interest must ever attach to those utterances of Christ in which He has pronounced upon the moral and spiritual state of those who came before Him. He knew what was in man: he knew, that is, the human heart in all its tendencies and capacities; and, besides, he could infallibly read individual hearts with clear decision and perfect equity.

Notice:—

I. That our Lord speaks of His kingdom as a definite reality. It is a distinct sphere or region with a frontier line marking it off from all else. Between the Law which the scribe professed and the Gospel which Christ was offering, there was a sharp, intelligible, boundary, which he must cross if he would pass from the one to the other.

II. But while this is made abundantly clear, while it is certain that Christ has created a sharply-defined barrier between the kingdom of God, and all that lies outside it, it is equally clear that he recognises, welcomes and rewards every approach towards that kingdom. He does not look upon all as equally distant from God until they have obeyed His call, and enrolled themselves as His disciples. Wherever conscience is awake, wherever a man is cherishing the light, is fearful lest by his unfaithfulness he should turn it into darkness, he is assuredly near, and is coming nearer, steadily nearer, to the kingdom of God. There is nothing more touching or more admirable in the ministry of Jesus Christ than His untiring outlook for what is hopeful in human nature.

III. Nevertheless, there was a higher state for this man to reach; he was on the verge of the kingdom; he was still outside it, and why? Because, though he understood the necessity of love, he had not yet learned to love; because, though he knew how he ought to walk and to please God, he did not know himself; he had as yet no sense of his own weakness, no real perception of the evil which taints all men’s service, no consciousness of that hopeless insufficiency which can be met only from without and by a Divine Deliverer. And more than this, he had no idea as yet of his own relation to Christ. He knows not what He is, and what He is capable of becoming to him. The critical, redeeming step to which Christ invites us all is impossible until a man awakes to see the gulf which lies between what he is and what he ought to be, and to feel and know that never can he bridge that gulf by any mere effort of his own. When a man comes to realize what sin is; when he sees that if he is to be saved from himself, his weakness must be reinforced by a supernatural strength, and casts himself upon the Deliverer who is mighty to save, then the passage takes place from the natural and earthly to the Divine and heavenly, the boundary line is crossed; he who was nigh is no longer outside, he is within the kingdom, a fellow-citizen with the saints of the kingdom of God.

R. Duckworth, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xviii., p. 193.

Obedience to God the Way to Faith in Christ.

In the words of the text we are taught, first, that the Christian’s faith and obedience are not the same religion as that of natural conscience, as being some way beyond it; secondly, that this way is "not far," not far in the case of those who try to act up to their conscience; in other words, that obedience to conscience leads to obedience to the Gospel, which, instead of being something different altogether, is but the completion and perfection of that religion which natural conscience teaches.

I. We are plainly taught in Scripture that perfect obedience is the standard of Gospel holiness. A multitude of texts show that the Gospel leaves us just where it found us, as regards the necessity of our obedience to God; that Christ has not obeyed instead of us, but that obedience is quite as imperative as if Christ had never come; nay, is pressed upon us with additional sanctions; the difference being, not that He relaxes the strict rule of keeping His commandments, but that He gives us spiritual aids, which we have not except through Him, to enable us to keep them. And if we look to the history of the first propagation of the Gospel, we find this view confirmed. As far as we can trace the history, we find the early Christian Church was principally composed of those who had long been in the habit of obeying their consciences carefully, and so preparing themselves for Christ’s religion, that kingdom of God from which the text says they were not far.

II. Now let us see the consequences which follow from this great Scripture truth. We see the hopelessness of waiting for any sudden change of heart, if we are at present living in sin. "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." This is the exhortation. God acknowledges no man as a believer in His Son who does not anxiously struggle to obey His commandments to the utmost; to none of those who seek without striving, and who consider themselves safe, to none of these does He give "power to become the sons of God." To obey God is to be near Christ, and to disobey is to be far from Him.

J. H. Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, vol. viii., p. 201.

I. Look at some of those things which bring a man near the kingdom of God. (1) It may be said that those are not far from it whose life brings them into connexion with some of its members and privileges. (2) A man is not far from the kingdom of God when he shows a spirit of reverence and candour towards Christ. (3) Another feature which brings a man closer to the Gospel is kindliness and amiability of nature. (4) The last hopeful feature we mention is an interest in the spiritual side of things.

II. Consider what is needed to make a man decidedly belong to the kingdom of God: (1) The first requisite is the new birth. (2) The other is the new life.

J. Ker, Sermons, p. 121.

You may be very near the kingdom, and yet never enter it, and of all cases of spiritual ruin there are none so melancholy, none so sad, as of those who were almost saved, and yet were lost. No doubt there is a sense in which, until we are born again, we are all equally far from the kingdom. The difference between the dead and the living, between the darkness of midnight and the radiance of noon, is one not of degree, but of kind. There is some truth here, but it is truth that requires to be wisely and guardedly stated. There is a hard and extravagant way of stating it that is repugnant to thoughtful and cultured minds, and sometimes brings the Gospel into ridicule. There cannot be a question that, of persons yet unsaved, some are nearer to salvation than others. There are circumstances in life, there are elements of character, there are conditions of mind, which make this man’s case more hopeful than that, and his conversion a thing less to be wondered at. Note four features in this young scribe’s case, which probably brought to our Lord’s lips the words of my text.

I. He was "not far from the kingdom," because he had begun to think seriously on religion. You observe that in his manner and language there is not a trace of frivolity or captious-ness. The spirit of earnest, reverential inquiry is one to be commended and encouraged, and rarely leads a man into the entanglement of error. Because this lawyer was devoutly feeling his way, and seeking further light, our Lord looked him kindly in the face, and said "Thou art not far from the kingdom of God."

II. He was not far from the kingdom, because he had already begun to attach greater importance to the spirit than to the letter. "To love the Lord with all one’s heart, and to love one’s neighbour as oneself, was more," he said, "than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." As a German theologian profoundly observes on this passage, "He who recognises the worth of love is near the kingdom of God; he who has himself felt it is in that kingdom."

III. This young man was pronounced "not far from the kingdom of God," because he was sincerely desirous of acting up to the measure of light which he possessed.

IV. He was declared to be "not far from the kingdom of God," because he was amiable and virtuous. He was strictly moral, circumspect and pure. He was a gentleman, a man of sound principle, and good breeding. His high-toned principle and character were in his favour, and made his salvation more probable than had they been otherwise.

J. Thain Davidson, The City Youth, p. 267.

References: Mar 12:34.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvi., No. 1517; Ibid., My Sermon Notes: Gospels and Acts, p. 77; F. W. Farrar, In the Days of thy Youth, p. 265; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ix., p. 170; Homiletic Magazine, vol. xi., p. 139; H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxiv., p. 120; Plain Sermons by Contributors to "Tracts for the Times," vol. v., p. 297. Mar 12:35-44.—H. M. Luckock, Footprints of the Son of Man, p. 274. Mar 12:37.—S. A. Brooke, Christ in Modern Life, p. 31; Christian World Pulpit, vol. xii., p. 19; A. Mursell, Ibid., vol. xxiii., p. 388; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. i., p. 36. Mar 12:38-40.—W. Hanna, Our Lord’s Life on Earth, p. 401.

Mar 12:41-44

The Widow’s Gift.

I. Look first at the giver; a widow and a poor widow. Sorrow often makes people selfish, but the benevolent donor in the case before us was a widow.

II. Look next at the gift. Two mites. Wealth called the offering small, commerce accounted it small, religious custom reckoned it small; but, in relation to the means of the donor and the heart of the donor, and in the judgment of God, the gift was exceedingly great.

III. The interest attaching to it is greatly increased by the place or scene of the gift. It was bestowed in the temple of God, it was deposited in one of thirteen boxes in the women’s court. It is meet and right that we give where we receive. And what a place of blessing is a true house of the Lord; it is Bethel and holy ground; it is beautiful Zion and Bethesda, a house of light and love, of healing and salvation and redemption.

IV. And what, fourthly, was the object of this gift? These two mites were given as a freewill offering to the support of the temple, its institutions and its services, and the offering them, with this intent, constituted this poor widow a contributor to all that the temple yielded, to all it offered to heaven, and to all it gave to the children of men.

V. Note the spirit of the offering. The spirit of the offering was the spirit of true piety and of real godliness. It may be that in her worship she had been saying, "I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength," and that love, increased by worship, carried these two mites from her scrip to her hand, and from her hand to the treasury of the Lord.

VI. Notice the Divine recognition of the gift. Jesus Christ saw the gift, estimated it, approved it, and commended the giver.

VII. There is something to be learned from the fact that Jesus Christ calls attention to this gift. Such lessons as these: (1) That the greatness of a gift depends upon the possessions of the individual. After the gift has been made: (2) that grief need not hinder giving; (3) that we may learn well-doing from each other; (4) to act as under our great Master’s eye.

S. Martin, Rain upon the Mown Grass, p. 380.

References: Mar 12:41.—Christian World Pulpit, vol. iv., p. 277. Mar 12:41-44.—H. W. Beecher, Ibid., vol. i., p. 83; vol. xxviii., p. 140; W. Hanna, Our Lord’s Life on Earth, p. 401; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 152; Homiletic Magazine, vol. viii., p. 314. Mar 12:42.—Ibid., vol. vii., p. 150.

Mar 12:43-44

The Widow’s Offering and the Stones of the Temple.

The spirit that led the disciples to admire the stones of the temple, while Christ pointed them to the widow’s offering, is a spirit natural to us all; and by considering it in the passage before us we shall reach certain facts which will guide and help us in our daily Christian life. The truths suggested by this contrast are twofold.

I. The true measure of sacrifice. Not the greatness of the outward act, but the perfectness of the inward motive. We judge men’s acts by their outward forms, rather than by the spirit which impelled them—we are so apt to regard only the great temple stones. In the light of the judgment day many of the world’s notions will be altered. There are unknown heroes and silent martyrs now, whom the world passes by. It is not the great outward act, but the perfect yielding of the soul, which constitutes the sacrifice which God will not despise.

II. The true idea of a temple. The disciples saw God’s dwelling-place in the house of stone, with its Holy of Holies and altars of sacrifice; Christ saw it in the broken heart of the widow. This idea characterised all His teachings. It is the inner motive and heart, as He constantly proclaimed, that God regards, and in the spirit that He must be served.

III. From the foregoing arise three practical lessons. (1) A lesson of duty. Every man may be spiritually heroic. Believe that the work you are appointed to do is God’s work, and you will always find scope for the heavenly spirit, and for living out the principle which Christ indicated when He pointed to the widow’s mite. (2) A lesson of encouragement. Love God in all things—consider no sacrifice too great or too small—do your best in everything as in His sight, and you will find Him everywhere. (3) A lesson of warning. The Jews had come to see God only in the temple at Jerusalem. As a consequence they became formalists—the surrender of their souls was forgotten. And the splendid temple fell. So now and ever. Forget the divinity of all life, and the temple of your soul will become desolate.

E. L. Hull, Sermons, 3rd series, p. 213.

References: Mar 13:1.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. v., p. 177. Mar 13:1-13.—H. M. Luckock, Footprints of the Son of Man, p. 279. Mar 13:8.—Ibid., vol. iv., p. 160. Mar 13:24-36.—C. Stanford, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xx., p. 277; H. M. Luckock, Footprints of the Son of Man, p. 290.

The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In this parable, the Jewish church is compared to a vineyard;

Almighty God to an householder;

his planting, pruning, and fencing his vineyard, denotes his care to furnish his church with all needful helps and means to make it spiritually fruitful;

His letting it out to husbandmen, signifies his committing the care of his church to the priests and Levites; the public pastors and governors of the church:

His servants are the prophets and apostles, whom he sent time after time to admonish thm to bring forth fruit answerable to the cost which God had expended on them;

His Son is Jesus Christ, whom the rulers of the Jewish Church slew and murdered.

The design and scope of the parable is to discover to the Jews, particularly to the Pharisees, their obstinate impenitency under all means of grace, their bloody cruelty towards the prophets of God, their tremendous guilt in crucifying the Son of God: for all which God would unchurch them finally, ruin their nation, and set up a church among the Gentiles, that should bring forth better fruit than the Jewish church ever did.

From the whole, note, 1. That the church is God’s vineyard. A vineyard is a place inclosed, a place well planted, well fruited, and exceeding dear and precious to the planter and the owner of it.

2. As dear as God’s vineyard is unto him, in case of barrenness, and unfruitfulness, it is in great danger of being destroyed and laid waste by him.

3. That the only way and course to engage God’s care over his vineyard and to prevent its being given to other husbandmen, is to give him the fruit of it; that is but a vineyard that God lets out; it is no inheritance.

No people ever had so many promises of God’s favour as the Jews had, nor ever enjoyed so many privileges, whilst they continued in his favour, as they did; yet though they were the first and the natural branches, they are broken off, and we Gentiles stand by faith; let us not be high-minded, but fear, Rom 11:20.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [CVIII. C. The Wicked Husbandmen].

CVIII. IN REPLY TO THE QUESTIONS AS TO HIS AUTHORITY, JESUS GIVES THE THIRD GREAT GROUP OF PARABLES. (In the Court of the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, A. D. 30.) Subdivision C. PARABLE OF THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN. aMATT. XXI. 33-46; bMARK XII. 1-12; cLUKE XX. 9-19.

b1 And he began to speak unto them cthe people [not the rulers] bin parables. cthis parable: a33 Hear another parable: There was a man that was a householder [this party represents God], who planted a vineyard [this represents the Hebrew nationality], and set a hedge about it, and digged a bpit for the awinepress in it [The winepress consisted of two tub-shaped cavities dug in the rock at different levels, the upper being connected with the lower by an orifice cut through from its bottom. Grapes were placed in the upper cavity, or trough, and were trodden by foot. The juice thus squeezed from them ran through the orifice to the trough below, from which it was taken and stored in leather bottles until it fermented and formed wine], and built a tower [a place where watchmen could be stationed to protect the vineyard from thieves as the grapes ripened for the vintage], and let it out to husbandmen [the rulers are here [590] represented; and the rental was, as usual, a part of the fruits], and went into another country. cfor a long time. [Jesus frequently refers to this withdrawal of the visible presence of God from the world, always bringing out the point that the withdrawal tests faithfulness. God had come down upon Mt. Sinai, given the law and established the Hebrew nation, after which he had withdrawn. That had indeed been a long time ago; and for four hundred years before the appearance of John the Baptist, God had not even sent a messenger to demand fruit. Some think the hedge refers to the manner in which Palestine was protected by sea and desert and mountain, but the hedge and the winepress and the tower are mere parabolic drapery, for every man who planted a vineyard did all three.] a34 And when cat the season aof the fruits drew near, che sent unto the husbandmen a servant, ahis servants i. e., the prophets] cthat they should give him bthat he might receive ato receive from the husbandmen of the ahis bfruits of the vineyard. [ Luk_3:8--He expected the children of Israel to bring forth joy, love, peace, and all the other goodly fruit of a godly life. And he looked to those in authority to bring forth such results, and the prophets were sent to the rulers to encourage them to do this.] 3 And { cbut the husbandmen btook him, and beat him, and sent him away empty, 4 And again he sent unto them cyet another servant: him also they beat, bwounded in his head, and handled shamefully. cand sent him away empty. b5 And he sent cyet banother; ca third: and him also they wounded, band him they killed: cand cast him forth. band many others; beating some, and killing some. a35 And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them in like manner. [For the treatment of the prophets, see such passages as 1Ki_18:13, 1Ki_22:24-27, 2Ki_6:31, 2Ch_24:19-22, 2Ch_36:15, 2Ch_36:16. For a summary of the treatment of the prophets or messengers of God, [591] see Heb_11:35-38.] 37 But b6 He had yet one, a beloved son: aafterward bhe sent him last unto them, c13 And the lord of the vineyard said, bsaying, cWhat shall I do? [ Isa_5:4.] I will send my beloved son; it may be they will reverence him. bThey will reverence my son. [The lord of the vineyard was thoroughly perplexed. The conduct of his husbandmen was outrageous beyond all expectation. He had no better servants to send them unless his only son should take upon him the form of a servant and visit them ( Phi_2:5-8). Being tender and forgiving, and unwilling to resort to extreme measures, the lord of the vineyard resolved to thus send his son, feeling sure that the son would represent the person, authority and rights of the father so much better than any other messenger ( Heb_1:1-5, Heb_2:1-3), that it would be well-nigh impossible for the husbandmen to fail of reverence towards him. In striking contrast, however, with this expectation of the Father, the rulers, or the husbandmen, had just now harshly demanded of the Son that he tell by what authority he did anything in the vineyard.] a38 But the bthose ahusbandmen, when they saw chim athe son, cthey reasoned one with another, asaid among themselves, csaying, aThis is the heir; come, let us kill him, and take his inheritance. cthat the inheritance may be ours. band the inheritance shall be ours. [In thus bringing the story down to the immediate present, and stating a counsel which his enemies had just spoken privately in each other's ears, Jesus must have startled them greatly. He showed them, too, that those things which made them deem it necessary to kill him were the very things which proved his heirship. They regarded the Jewish nation as their property, and they were plotting to kill Jesus that they might withhold it from him ( Joh_12:19, Joh_11:47-50). That men might hope by such high-handed lawlessness to obtain a title to a vineyard seems incredible to us who have always been familiar with the even-balanced justice of constitutional government; but in the East the looseness of governments, the selfish apathy and lack [592] of public spirit among the people, and the corrupt bribe-receiving habits of the judges makes our Lord's picture even to this day, though rather exceptional, still true to life. At this point Jesus turns from history to prophecy.] 8 And they took him, c15 And they cast him forth out of the vineyard, and killed him. [After two intervening days the Jews would fulfill this detail by thrusting Jesus outside the walls of Jerusalem and crucifying him there.] a40 When therefore the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do unto those husbandmen? 41 They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will let out the vineyard unto other husbandmen, who shall render him the fruits in their seasons. c16 [Jesus said] He will come and destroy these { bthe husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. cAnd when they heard it, they said, God forbid. [Part of the multitude, hearing only the story, pronounced unhesitatingly the judgment which ought to be inflicted upon such evil-doers, and Jesus confirmed their judgment. But others, perceiving the meaning underlying the parable, shrank from accepting what would otherwise have been to them a very proper ending, and said, Mee genoito, which means literally, Be it not so, and which might properly be paraphrased by our emphatic "Never!" but which the revisers in translating have, with small warrant, seen fit to paraphrase by using the semi-profane expression, "God forbid." There are fourteen such mistranslations in the epistles of Paul according to the King James version and only one of them ( Gal_6:14) is corrected in the Revised version. In defense of these translations it is asserted that the phrase is an idiomatic invocation of the Deity, but the case can not be made out, since the Deity is not addressed.] 17 But he looked upon them [Thus emphasizing the fact that they had repudiated a most just decree. His look, doubtless, resembled that of a parent surprised at the outspoken rebellion of his children], and a42 Jesus saith csaid, aunto them, cWhat then is this that is written, b10 Have ye not read even this scripture: aDid ye never [593] read in the scriptures, cThe stone which the builders rejected, The same was made the head of the corner? aThis was from the Lord, And it is marvellous in our eyes? [The quotation is from Psa_118:22, Psa_118:23, which is here by Jesus applied as a prophecy to the Pharisees, who, in their treatment of him, were like unskilled builders who reject the very corner-stone of the building which they seek to erect. The Pharisees were eager enough in their desire to set up a Messianic kingdom, but were so blindly foolish that they did not see that this kingdom could not be set up unless it rested upon Christ Jesus, its corner-stone. They blundered in constructing their theory of the coming kingdom, and could find no room for one such as Jesus in it.] 43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. 44 And he { c18 Every one athat falleth on this cthat astone shall be broken to pieces: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will scatter him as dust. [The stone, of course, represents Jesus, and the two fallings set forth his passive and active state. In the day when he passively submitted to be judged, those who condemned him were broken ( Mat_27:3-5, Luk_23:48, Act_2:37); but in the great day when he himself becomes the acting party and calls his enemies to judgment, they shall prefer, and pray, that a mountain fall upon them-- Rev_6:15-17.] 45 And when the chief priests and Pharisees, c19 And the scribes aheard his parables, they csought to lay hands on him in that very hour, bfor they perceived that he aspake of them. bspake the cthis parable against them. a46 And when they sought to lay hands on him, cthey feared the people: bmultitude; amultitudes, because they took him for a prophet. band they left him, and went away. [Despite the warning which Jesus gave them that they were killing the Son and would reap the consequences, and despite the fact that he showed that the Psalm which the people had used so recently with regard to him foretold a great rejection which would prove to be a [594] mistake, yet the rulers persisted in their evil intention to take his life, and were only restrained by fear of the people, many of whom were Galilæans, men of rugged courage, ready to draw swords on Jesus' behalf. Since they could neither arrest nor answer him, they withdrew as a committee, but returned again in the person of their spies.]

[FFG 590-595]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Mark Chapter 12

The Lord afterwards gives the substance of the whole law, as the principle of blessing between the creature and God, and that which formed the touchstone for the heart in the rejection of Christ. I say for the heart, because the trial was really there, although it was in the understanding that it appeared. Even when there were really orthodox principles (Christ being rejected), the heart that was not attached to His Person could not follow Him in the path to which His rejection led. The system of God’s counsels which depended on that rejection was a difficulty. Those who were attached to His Person followed Him, and found themselves in it, without having well understood it beforehand. Thus the Lord gives the pith of the law-the whole law as essentially divine instruction-and the point at which the counsels of God are transplanted into the new scene, where they will be fulfilled apart from the wickedness or ill will of man. So that in these few verses (Mar 12:28-37) the law and the Son of David are presented, and the latter taking His place as Son of man-the Lord-at the right hand of God. This was the secret of all that was going on. The union of His body, the assembly, with Himself was all that remained behind. Only in Mark the Prophet recognises the moral condition, under the law, that tends towards entrance into the kingdom (Mar 12:34). This scribe had the spirit of understanding.

The picture of the condition that would bring in judgment, which we find in Mat 23:1-39, is not given here (see Synopsis about Mat 23:1-39). It was not His subject. Jesus, still as the Prophet; warns His disciples morally; but the judgment of Israel, for rejecting the Son of David, is not here before His eyes in the same manner (that is to say, it is not the subject of which the Holy Ghost is here speaking). The real character of the scribes’ devoutness is pointed out, and the disciples are warned against them. The Lord makes them feel also what it is that, in the eyes of God, gives true value to the offerings that were brought to the temple.

Footnotes on Mark Chapter 12

15: That is man under the old covenant, flesh under divine requirement, and no fruit to grow on it for ever.

John Nelson Darby — Synopsis of the Books of the Bible: the New Testament (c. 1857–1862) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1–12. He began to speak unto them in parables. A series of parables, given more fully by Matthew, outlining the sins and fate of the stubborn Jewish nation. A man planted a vineyard. For notes on this parable, see Matt. 21:33–46. Compare Luke 20:9–19.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

Jesus speaks this parable against the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. (See: Parables)

Then Jesus began to teach them

The word "them" here refers to the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders to whom Jesus had been talking in the previous chapter.

put a hedge around it

He put a barrier around the vineyard. It could have been a row of shrubs, a fence, or a stone wall.

dug a pit for a winepress

This means that he carved a pit on the rock, which would be the bottom part of the winepress used for collecting the squeezed grape juice. AT: "carved a pit into rock for the winepress" or "he made a vat to collect the juice from the winepress" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

leased the vineyard to vine growers

The owner still owned the vineyard, but he allowed the vine growers to take care of it. When the grapes became ripe, they were to give some of them to the owner and keep the rest.

At the right time

This refers to the time of harvest. This can be made clear. AT: "When the time came to harvest the grapes" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

But they took him

"But the vine growers took the servant"

with nothing

This means that they did not give him any of the fruit. AT: "without any grapes" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

translationWords

Jesus

parable

vineyard

winepress

watchtower

vine

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

1–12. THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN

Mat 21:33-46. Luk 20:9-19

1. ἐν παραβολαῖς. Cf. Mar 3:23, Mar 4:2. Mk gives only one parable, but Mt. gives three. This and the Sower and the Mustard Seed are the three parables which are in all three Synoptics, and Mt. places this parable between the Two Sons, which treats of work in the vineyard, and the Marriage of the King’s Son. During the special training of the Twelve there had been few, if any, parables. In these last days of public teaching Christ began to use them again. But, although there probably were several, ἐν παραβολαῖς does not necessarily mean more than one. It is an O.T. phrase, and may be used of a single parable or dark saying, like our “You are speaking in parables.” The αὐτοῖς evidently means the deputation from the Sanhedrin; so also Mt. But Lk. says that He began πρὸς τὸν λαὸν λέγειν. If He spoke to the people, He spoke at the hierarchy, who were still present. The parable contains an indirect answer to the question which they raised. His authority is that of the Father who sent Him, as He sent the Prophets through many generations; and he warns them of the judgment which awaits them, when they have slain Him as they slew the previous messengers. This story, therefore, might be called an allegory rather than a parable, for it sets forth in a figure past, present, and future events, rather than truths for the permanent guidance of believers. As Mar 12:9 shows, the tenants of the vineyard are not the hierarchy but the nation whom they mislead, and the vineyard is not the nation, but the nation’s spiritual privileges. It is not intimated that the Jews will be handed over to other leaders, but that their privileges will be handed over to the Gentiles. The whole nation followed the lead of the hierarchy in putting the Messiah to death and shared in the guilt of that act; and it was the whole nation that was dispossessed. Christ is recalling the well-known parable in Isa 5:1-7, and there also the whole nation is condemned. Cf. Jer 2:21; Eze 15:1-6; Eze 19:10-14; Hos 10:1; Deu 32:32. The audience would understand the imagery of the parable. It is somewhat captious criticism when Loisy says that a man who plants his own vineyard is not likely to be a lord who takes a long journey, and that an owner who lives a long way off would not want to be paid in kind with fruit. It is not said that he planted the vineyard himself, or that he went a long way off, or that the messengers could not sell the fruit and bring money for it. Moreover, reasonable hearers do not expect everything in a parable to be prosaically probable: it suffices that there are no glaring impossibilities. Lk. makes the story more symmetrical; a single slave is sent thrice, and the treatment of the messengers becomes steadily worse, until it culminates in the death of the son. From Lk. comes the reading λέγειν in this verse; [2853][2854][2855][2856][2857], Latt. Syrr. have λαλεῖν.

[2853] Codex Sinaiticus. 4th cent. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the Monastery of St Katharine on Mount Sinai. Now at St Petersburg. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1911.

[2854] Codex Vaticanus. 4th cent., but perhaps a little later than א. In the Vatican Library almost since its foundation by Pope Nicolas V., and one of its greatest treasures. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1889.

[2855] Codex Seidelianus I. 9th or 10th cent. Contains Mar 1:13 to Mar 14:18; Mar 14:25 to Mar 16:20.

[2856] Codex Regius. 8th cent. An important witness. At Paris. Contains Mar 1:1 to Mar 10:15; Mar 10:30 to Mar 15:1; Mar 15:20 to Mar 16:20, but the shorter ending is inserted between Mar 16:8 and Mar 16:9, showing that the scribe preferred it to the longer one.

[2857] Codex Sangallensis. 9th or 10th cent. Contains the Gospels nearly complete, with an interlinear Latin translation. The text of Mark is specially good, agreeing often with CL. At St Gall.

Ἀμπελῶνα ἄνθρ. ἐφύτευσεν. Cf. Gen 9:20; Deu 20:6; Deu 28:30; Deu 28:39, etc. The termination -ων is similar to -etum in Latin. Cf. ἐλαιών (Mar 11:1), δενδρών (Aq. Gen 21:33; 1Sa 31:13), ῥοδών, etc.

φραγμόν. In Palestine, fences are commonly of stone, which is abundant (Num 22:24; Pro 24:31; Isa 5:5). Stanley, Sin. and Pal. p. 421.

ὑπολήνιον. The ληνός (Mt.) was the trough, cut in the solid rock or lined with masonry, in which the grapes were trodden, and out of which the juice flowed into the ὑπολήνιον. These details have no separate meaning. They show that the tenants were well treated by the owner. The vineyard was protected from wild animals (Num 22:24; Psa 80:13; Son 2:15), and there was a complete outfit for wine-making. Tristram, Eastern Customs in Bible Lands, p. 138.

πύργον. A residence for the wine-dressers and a watch-tower against robbers (Isa 1:8, Mar 5:2).

γεωργοῖς. A generic term including ἀμπελουργοί (Luk 13:7). In Jer 52:16 the two are distinguished. As in the parable of the Unrighteous Steward, these tenants had a long lease and paid in kind. All three Gospels have ἐξέδετο (WH. App. p. 168; Blass § 23. 3), which occurs nowhere else in N.T. The verb is used in the same sense in Plato (Laws, vii. 806 D), but in LXX. of giving a daughter in marriage (Exo 2:21; Sir 7:25; 1Ma 10:58).

ἀπεδήμησεν. Went into another country (R.V.); “far country” is more than the word means, and the parable implies that the owner was not far off. Lk. adds χρόνους ἱκανούς. Origen interprets the absence as meaning the withdrawal of the Shechinah. The cessation of the theocracy is more probable. In any case, the tenants are not forgotten. Jehovah frequently reminds them of their duty to Him. It is like the act of a father who gives his children the opportunity of right action without constant supervision.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Wine fat [υποληνιον] . Rev., wine - press. Only here in New Testament. The wine - press was constructed in the side of a sloping rock, in which a trough was excavated, which was the wine press proper. Underneath this was dug another trough, with openings communicating with the trough above, into which the juice ran from the press. This was called by the Rom. lacus, or the lake. The word here used for the whole structure strictly means this trough underneath [υπο] the press [ληνος] . This is the explanation of Wyc. 's translation, dalf [δελςεδ] , a lake.

Went into a far country [απεδημησεν] . But this is too strong. The word means simply went abroad. So Wyc., went forth in pilgrimage; and Tynd., into a strange country. Rev., another country. See on Mt 25:14. Of the fruits. Or, literally, from [απο] the fruits, showing that the rent was to be paid in kind.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.