Matthew · Chapter 21

V. 1. Mark 11:1; Luke 19:29; John 12:12.

Verse 1. Bethphage] A place on the west declivity of Mount Olivet, from which it is thought the whole declivity and part of the valley took their name. It is supposed to have derived its name from the fig-trees which grew there; tyb beeth, signifying a region as well as a house, and gp phag, a green fig.

Verses 1-3. And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem — Namely, on the first day of the week, five days before his death, for the passover was kept on the fourteenth day of the month, and this was the tenth; on which day the law appointed that the paschal-lamb should be taken up, Exodus 12:3, and set apart for that service: on that day therefore Christ our passover, who was to be sacrificed for us, was publicly shown. So that this was the prologue to his passion. And were come to Bethphage — Mark says, and Bethany. Then sent Jesus two disciples, saying, Go into the village over against you — This, as the Arabian geographer informs us, was a little village two miles distant from the mount of Olives, toward the south. And straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her — As Mark and Luke say that the colt was tied, the words of Matthew contain an ellipsis, which must be supplied thus, and a colt bound with her. It must be observed, also, that the other evangelists make mention only of the colt, because our Lord sat on him only. See note on verse 7. Here we have “a wonderful instance of Christ’s prescience in very minute matters. He says, 1, You shall find a colt: 2, On which no man ever sat: 3, Bound with his mother: 4, In a place where two ways meet, Mark 11:4: 5, As you enter into the village: 6, The owners of which shall at first seem unwilling that you should unbind him: 7, But when they hear the Lord hath need of him, they will let him go.” — Whitby.

Verse 1. When they were come to Bethphage. The rabbins dispute about the etymon of this village, whether it mean the “house of the fountain,” as is the literal import; or the “house of grossities,” or of flatterers. It was distant from Jerusalem a sabbath-day’s journey, that is one thousand nine hundred paces, and situate at the foot of mount Olivet. Mark and Luke join the two villages of Bethphage and Bethany together, for the road lay in the valley between the towns. Here the Saviour mounted the ass, not so much because he was weary, but for the accomplishment of prophecy.

THE BARREN FIG TREE — THE TEMPLE CLEANSED, 1-17.

Our Lord had now spent nearly three years in his holy ministry, furnishing to the people the proofs of his Messiahship; he now proceeds by a public demonstration to make proclamation of his claim to the title. He makes entrance into David’s royal city as the Prince of peace, David’s son, and heir to all the fulfilments of prophecy in regard to the Messiah. Even at the present day there are some who, like Strauss and Hennell, maintain that our Lord really designed to head a military movement, and, by delivering the Jews from the Roman sway, become a temporal monarch. This triumphal entrance into Jerusalem is a main fact upon which they rely in supporting this absurd theory. But all the circumstances go to show that the whole performance was, on the contrary, a purposed demonstration of his character, as being, in contrast with worldly heroes, a prince of peace, a founder of a religious kingdom, and a conqueror with the weapons of truth.

1. He had previously announced his own approaching death. He had come to Jerusalem to lay down his life. Matthew 20:17-19; Mark 10:32-34; Luke 18:31-34; John 11:7-16.

1 Christ rideth into Jerusalem upon an ass, 12 driveth the buyers and sellers out of the temple, 17 curseth the fig tree, 23 putteth to silence the priests and elders, 28 and rebuketh them by the similitude of the two sons, 35 and the husbandmen, who slew such as were sent unto them.

CHAPTER 12. Verse 1. And were come to Bethphage. — St. Mark and St. Luke say, “Bethphage and Bethany;” the confines of these districts adjoining each other, Bethphage being between Bethany and Jerusalem, but near the latter, the village being within sight of the walls. Bethany was two miles distant from Jerusalem, and the mount of Olives one. This eminence was so called from the number of olive trees which grew upon it. A few trees of this kind still remain scattered through this district.

Verse 2. Ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt] Asses and mules were in common use in Palestine: horses were seldom to be met with. Our blessed Lord takes every opportunity to convince his disciples that nothing was hidden from him: he informs them of the most minute occurrence; and manifested his power over the heart in disposing the owner to permit the ass to be taken away.

Verses 1-3. And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem — Namely, on the first day of the week, five days before his death, for the passover was kept on the fourteenth day of the month, and this was the tenth; on which day the law appointed that the paschal-lamb should be taken up, Exodus 12:3, and set apart for that service: on that day therefore Christ our passover, who was to be sacrificed for us, was publicly shown. So that this was the prologue to his passion. And were come to Bethphage — Mark says, and Bethany. Then sent Jesus two disciples, saying, Go into the village over against you — This, as the Arabian geographer informs us, was a little village two miles distant from the mount of Olives, toward the south. And straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her — As Mark and Luke say that the colt was tied, the words of Matthew contain an ellipsis, which must be supplied thus, and a colt bound with her. It must be observed, also, that the other evangelists make mention only of the colt, because our Lord sat on him only. See note on verse 7. Here we have “a wonderful instance of Christ’s prescience in very minute matters. He says, 1, You shall find a colt: 2, On which no man ever sat: 3, Bound with his mother: 4, In a place where two ways meet, Mark 11:4: 5, As you enter into the village: 6, The owners of which shall at first seem unwilling that you should unbind him: 7, But when they hear the Lord hath need of him, they will let him go.” — Whitby.

Ver. 2. Go into the village over against you. The ass was no doubt tied in the fields between Bethany and Bethphage, which has occasioned the mention of both these villages. — See the map of Jerusalem.

2. His followers are wholly unarmed, and without military plan or equipments. They have not spears, but palm branches; they have not trumpets, but simply the voice of psalms. Their leader is not mounted upon the proud horse, (an animal forbidden to Israel on account of its warlike character,) but upon the ass, a symbol of peace and humility.

Verse 2. The village over against you. — This village is supposed by some to be Nob, distant, about two miles.

An ass tied, and a colt with her. — The ancient judges and kings of Israel rode upon asses; horses, as well as chariots of war, being forbidden; so that when Solomon and his successors multiplied horses, they were rebuked for it by the prophets. The leading reasons of this prohibition appear to have been,

1. That they should not be tempted by a cavalry force to invade other nations, either for predatory purposes, or for conquest, but be content with their own land assigned by God; and,

2. That they might trust in God to give them the victory against all invaders by means of their own peasant infantry alone; and so the prohibition reminded them always of God’s promises, and of their dependence. Solomon and succeeding kings violated this rule, and were often sharply reproved for it by the prophets. They affected horses both for war and for state and show, the horse being a nobler animal than the ass or mule; and our Lord’s making his royal entry into Jerusalem on an ass is therefore noted by the Prophet Zechariah as a mark of his lowliness; for though in ancient times the princes of Israel made use of asses, that custom had long ceased.

The ass and the colt were both brought to our Lord; but he rode only on the latter. The other evangelists add, “On which never man had sat.” It had never been used for common purposes, and was appropriated to a sacred one. As the colt only was needed, though the ass followed by natural instinct, St. Mark and St. Luke mention the colt only.

Verse 3. The Lord (the proprietor of all things) hath need of them] Jesus is continually humbling himself, to show us how odious pride is in the sight of God: but in his humility he is ever giving proofs of his almighty power, that the belief of his divinity may be established.

Verses 1-3. And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem — Namely, on the first day of the week, five days before his death, for the passover was kept on the fourteenth day of the month, and this was the tenth; on which day the law appointed that the paschal-lamb should be taken up, Exodus 12:3, and set apart for that service: on that day therefore Christ our passover, who was to be sacrificed for us, was publicly shown. So that this was the prologue to his passion. And were come to Bethphage — Mark says, and Bethany. Then sent Jesus two disciples, saying, Go into the village over against you — This, as the Arabian geographer informs us, was a little village two miles distant from the mount of Olives, toward the south. And straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her — As Mark and Luke say that the colt was tied, the words of Matthew contain an ellipsis, which must be supplied thus, and a colt bound with her. It must be observed, also, that the other evangelists make mention only of the colt, because our Lord sat on him only. See note on verse 7. Here we have “a wonderful instance of Christ’s prescience in very minute matters. He says, 1, You shall find a colt: 2, On which no man ever sat: 3, Bound with his mother: 4, In a place where two ways meet, Mark 11:4: 5, As you enter into the village: 6, The owners of which shall at first seem unwilling that you should unbind him: 7, But when they hear the Lord hath need of him, they will let him go.” — Whitby.

Ver. 3. If any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, the Lord hath need of them. As Lord of all, Christ here exercises the claims of sovereignty. The owners must have understood whom the disciples meant by d Kuriov, the Lord.

3. The Roman government is not in the least disturbed. The jealous Pilate does not even hear of the joyous procession. When Jesus is subsequently brought before him they are utter strangers. It was the time of the passover; great multitudes were crowding the city, and the tumult of the Saviour’s entrance would not be distinguished by the Romans from many other festal excitements.

Verse 3. The Lord hath need of them. — Probably nothing more is here intended by “the Lord,” than our Master, answering to the Hebrew br. Christ, who knew that an ass and colt would be found by his disciples in such a place, doubtless knew also that the owner of them was so well acquainted with his character, and was so well affected toward him, that he would grant the loan of his beasts as soon as the disciples should declare for whose use they were intended.

Verse 4. All this was done] The word all, in this clause, is omitted by some MSS., versions, and fathers.

Which was spoken] The Spirit of God, which predicted those things that concerned the Messiah, took care to have them literally fulfilled: 1. To show the truth of prophecy in general; and, 2. To designate Christ as the person intended by that prophecy. See the note on Matthew 2:23.

Verses 4, 5. All this was done, &c. — Ina plhrwqh to rhqen dia tou profhtou, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that is, not only hereby the words of the prophet were fulfilled, but our Lord directed this to be done, that they might be fulfilled. As the prophets looked forward to him, and all bore witness to him; so he looked back upon them, that all things which were written of the Messiah might be punctually accomplished in him. Tell ye the daughter of Zion — That is, Jerusalem, so called from mount Zion, which was in the city, and on which was erected a fortress for its defence. This poetical manner of personifying the cities and countries, to which they addressed themselves, was familiar to the prophets. The first words of the passage are cited from Isaiah 62:11, the rest from Zechariah 9:9. The ancient Jewish doctors were wont to apply these prophecies to the Messiah. On an ass — The Prince of peace did not take a horse, a warlike animal: but he will ride on that by and by, Revelation 19:11. In the patriarchal ages, illustrious persons thought it no disgrace to make use of this animal: but it by no means appears that this opinion prevailed, or this custom continued, till the reign of Tiberius. Was it a mean attitude wherein our Lord then appeared? mean even to contempt? We grant it: we glory in it: it is for the comfort of our souls, for the honour of his humility, and for the utter confusion of all worldly pomp and grandeur. Upon an ass, and a colt, &c. — “From the other evangelists it would appear that our Lord rode only on the colt; from this passage we should be apt to think that both had been used. But it is not unusual with the sacred authors, when either the nature of the thing spoken of, or the attendant circumstances are sufficient for precluding mistakes, to employ the plural number for the singular.” — Campbell.

4. Our Saviour, after the next symbolic act, the cleansing of the temple, proceeds into the sacred places, and commences teaching the people. But as, on the one hand, his enemies dare not touch him before their time, so, on the other, he avoids their treachery by spending his nights at Bethany among his friends. He keeps his foes at bay until he has had full time to make an impression that is never to be effaced upon the public mind, and has laid the indestructible foundations of his religious kingdom. He then, in due time, submits to the death he came to meet. He passes through scenes of suffering which are necessary to the fulfilment of prophecy, and in their very worst rage his enemies are but executing his own expectations.

Palm Sunday.

1. And when they drew nigh — This was as we suppose on Sunday, the first day of the PASSION WEEK. It was not the Jewish Sabbath, but the day after, like our Monday. The next Sunday, the day of the resurrection, was the first Sunday-sabbath.

Drew nigh unto Jerusalem — On his route from Jericho. Come to Bethphage — Mark and Luke say, “nigh to Bethphage and Bethany.” This implies that the two places were very near each other; but there is much difference of opinion as to which was the nearest to Jerusalem. The order of the names would suggest that coming from Jericho Bethphage occurred first. But the evangelists may have used the order habitual with the inhabitants of Jerusalem. No reliable traces exist of Bethphage. Bethany (signifying the place of dates) was the residence of Lazarus and Mary. It stood near the foot of the eastern side of the Mount of Olives, and was a half hour’s walk, or nearly two miles, from the limits of Jerusalem. Bethphage signifies the place of figs, and was so called because those fruits were either cultivated or sold at that place.

The mount of Olives — A mountainous ridge on the east of Jerusalem, separated from that city by the Valley of Jehoshaphat. It has three peaks or shoulders, the highest of which is 175 Paris feet above the summit of Mount Zion; so that the mountain commands a complete view of Jerusalem. It received its name from its abundance of olive trees.

2. The village over against you — The Greek preposition rendered over against, simply signifies before or in front of you. Our Lord had spent the previous night at Bethany. If Bethphage was the village before them, as their faces were towards Jerusalem, that village must have been west of Bethany. Such was probably the fact. Matthew mentions Bethphage only, and says they came to it; that is, it was now before them. An ass tied, and a colt with her — The horse was an animal of pride and war; the ass, of humility and peace. Yet there was nothing mean in the humble state which our Lord now assumed. Even Solomon, the Jewish prince of peace, rode on a mule in state. 1 Kings 1:38.

3. If any man say aught — Whether owner or not. The Lord — This may imply that the owner was a follower of Jesus, and would recognize the fact that the taking of the ass was for his use. But the phrase any man seems to imply that such would be the power of that name, that the mind of any questioner would be supernaturally silenced by this answer.

4. All this… might be fulfilled — Our Saviour’s purpose in this entire performance was, as above said, to identify himself before the world as the Messiah predicted by Zechariah as a meek king.

Verse 4. All this was done that it might be fulfilled, &c. — The end of the action was not merely or chiefly to fulfil the prophecy, but the prophecy was uttered with reference to it, and was fulfilled by it, while the action itself rested upon other reasons. These appear to have been,

1. To assert his majesty, as in truth the King Messiah, and yet still to show that his kingdom was not a civil one, by his taking no step to avail himself of the popular excitement to seize the reins of government; for after the events of this triumphal day he retired into the secrecy and solitude of the mount of Olives.

2. To give an opportunity to the people publicly to declare their belief that he was the Messias, the Son of David, of which they were now generally persuaded, although their views of the true character of the Messiah were confused and erring.

3. To profess more publicly than heretofore, and in the very metropolis of Judea, that he was that “King” of Zion of whom the Prophet Zecharias had spoken, as coming “riding upon the foal of an ass;” and thus to apply to himself a prophecy which both ancient and modern Jewish commentators have referred to their Messiah, as Bochart has shown by several extracts.

4. To allow his followers to acknowledge him, by their acclamations, as the Messiah, in order to restrain the chief priests and Pharisees, by fear of the popular feeling in his favour, from an immediate attempt upon his life, and to gain time for the delivery of those important discourses, consisting of prophecies and rebukes, which for five successive days before his crucifixion he pronounced in the temple, while at night he retired to the mount of Olives.

The prophecy cited is from Zechariah 9:9: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass,” or rather, “EVEN upon a colt, the foal of an ass,” the last clause being an explanatory parallelism. The first clause mentions the species of beast, the second its age; and this greater particularity in the prophecy rendered the fulfilment the more striking. The evangelist has quoted rather the substance than the exact words of the prophecy; which, as writing for the Jews, was sufficient to refer them to their own Scriptures. Both St. Matthew and the Septuagint seem to have read wn[, meek, instead of yn[, abased, or afflicted; which is supported by the Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi, who all explain it by ˆhwn[, humble, or meek. This prophecy is incapable of being applied to any other than Christ, even in a lower sense. Those who would refer it to Zerubbabel forget that it was written subsequent to his residence in Jerusalem; beside that, in no sense could he be called king who was but the deputy of a foreign power. Nehemiah was also appointed by Artaxerxes to be “governor,” the viceroy, but not a king; and certainly, of neither of these, nor of Judas Maccabeus and his successors, could it be said that “he should speak peace to the heathen, and have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth.” On these grounds a few of the rabbins, who, to avoid the application of this prophecy to Jesus of Nazareth, pretended that it related not to the Messiah, but to one or other of the above persons, are stoutly opposed by others, who generally allow that to Messiah alone it can be consistently applied. Thus, Rabbi Solomon, upon Zechariah 9:9: “This place cannot be interpreted of any other, because it is said of him, ‘And his dominion shall be from sea to sea.’” It looks directly to Christ, without the intervention of any other; and it may be asked of the Jews, what king of theirs ever came to Zion in the manner described by the prophet, save Jesus of Nazareth? Sion is put for Jerusalem; and both are personified, according to oriental custom, as a virgin, or “daughter.”

This prophecy is quoted both by St. Matthew and St. John in brief, to direct attention to the whole section in which it stands, and which will be found richly charged with the most important views of the character of the Messiah, and the great results of his reign. There he is represented, amid all his lowliness, as “a King,” “righteous,” “having salvation,” and so answering to Melchizedec, as “King of righteousness,” and “King of peace,” Hebrews 7:2. And as the prophecy proceeds it gives an important and most interesting reason why our Lord rode into his metropolis upon an ass; it was to declare that his kingdom was to be one of PEACE, not of WAR: “And I will cut off the CHARIOT from Ephraim, and the HORSE from Jerusalem;” both which the Jews were forbidden by the law to use, in order to take away the temptation to offensive wars, as above stated. “And the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak PEACE unto the heathen, and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth;” and yet these extensive conquests were to be made without “chariots” of war, without battle “horses,” or the “battle bow.” So that the spiritual nature, of Christ’s reign could not be more strongly expressed; and that the prophecy was not so interpreted by the Jews is in proof that their earthly mindedness and ambition wholly blinded them to the meaning of their own Scriptures. Yet it is curious to observe that some of their more modern commentators come so much nearer to the truth. Rabbi Saadias Gaon, on Daniel 7:13, says, “Is it not written in Zechariah, of Messiah, ‘lowly and riding on an ass?’ Shall he not rather come with humility, than with equipage and grandeur?” And David Kimchi, “He shall ride upon an ass, not through any want, because the whole world shall be under his dominion, but through his humility, and to acquaint the Jews that there was no farther need of horses and chariots; for the prophet adds, ‘I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem.’” Here again the light of the Gospel could not be wholly excluded from these rabbins, who, in the controversy which had been excited with the Christians, were compelled, by the force of the prophecies brought against them, to admit an humbled as well as an exalted Messiah; only they either feigned two Messiahs, or took refuge in the figment of the Messiah being for a long time hidden before he would manifest himself: These were not, however, the views of the Jewish doctors in the time of our Lord, who looked only for a sudden advent of Messiah in all his glory to set up his dominion among them. Nor does the prophecy terminate here. “Captives” are to be delivered; another work, would the Jews say, of a conquering Messiah; but they are to be delivered “by the blood of the covenant,” not by arms. “As for thee, also, by the BLOOD OF THY COVENANT I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water;” and then, as “prisoners of hope,” they are exhorted to turn to the “stronghold,” the Zion, the city of God, and there to receive “the double,” the abundance of all blessings. To show then to the Jews that he was the King Messiah, he made a triumphal entry into Jerusalem; but to show that he was that meek and peaceful king spoken of by Zechariah, he rode upon the foal of an ass, and thus turned their attention to a prophecy which, if they had closely examined it, would have dissipated all their carnal conceptions as to an earthly kingdom and a warlike Messiah.

V. 5. The daughter of Sion-That is, the inhabitants of Jerusalem: the first words of the passage are cited from Isaiah 62:11; the rest from Zechariah 9:9. The ancient Jewish doctors were wont to apply these prophecies to the Messiah.

On an ass-The Prince of Peace did not take a horse, a warlike animal. But he will ride on that by and by, Revelation 19:11. In the patriarchal ages, illustrious persons thought it no disgrace to make use of this animal: but it by no means appears, that this opinion prevailed, or this custom continued, till the reign of Tiberias. Was it a mean attitude wherein our Lord then appeared? Mean even to contempt! I grant it: I glory in it: it is for the comfort of my soul for the honour of his humility, and for the utter confusion of all worldly pomp and grandeur.

Verse 5. Tell ye the daughter of Sion] The quotation is taken from Zechariah 9:9, but not in the precise words of the prophet. This entry into Jerusalem has been termed the triumph of Christ. It was indeed the triumph of humility over pride and worldly grandeur; of poverty over affluence; and of meekness and gentleness over rage and malice. He is coming now meek, full of kindness and compassion to those who were plotting his destruction! He comes to deliver up himself into their hands; their king comes to be murdered by his subjects, and to make his death a ransom price for their souls!

Verses 4, 5. All this was done, &c. — Ina plhrwqh to rhqen dia tou profhtou, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that is, not only hereby the words of the prophet were fulfilled, but our Lord directed this to be done, that they might be fulfilled. As the prophets looked forward to him, and all bore witness to him; so he looked back upon them, that all things which were written of the Messiah might be punctually accomplished in him. Tell ye the daughter of Zion — That is, Jerusalem, so called from mount Zion, which was in the city, and on which was erected a fortress for its defence. This poetical manner of personifying the cities and countries, to which they addressed themselves, was familiar to the prophets. The first words of the passage are cited from Isaiah 62:11, the rest from Zechariah 9:9. The ancient Jewish doctors were wont to apply these prophecies to the Messiah. On an ass — The Prince of peace did not take a horse, a warlike animal: but he will ride on that by and by, Revelation 19:11. In the patriarchal ages, illustrious persons thought it no disgrace to make use of this animal: but it by no means appears that this opinion prevailed, or this custom continued, till the reign of Tiberius. Was it a mean attitude wherein our Lord then appeared? mean even to contempt? We grant it: we glory in it: it is for the comfort of our souls, for the honour of his humility, and for the utter confusion of all worldly pomp and grandeur. Upon an ass, and a colt, &c. — “From the other evangelists it would appear that our Lord rode only on the colt; from this passage we should be apt to think that both had been used. But it is not unusual with the sacred authors, when either the nature of the thing spoken of, or the attendant circumstances are sufficient for precluding mistakes, to employ the plural number for the singular.” — Campbell.

Ver. 5. Tell ye the daughter of Sion, behold, thy King cometh unto thee. It is objected that the evangelist does not quote the Hebrew text verbatim, which reads, “Exult greatly, oh daughter of Zion; rejoice, oh daughter of Jerusalem. Behold thy King comes to thee, the Just, the Saviour, riding on an ass, the foal of an ass.” Answer: the evangelist having felt the true sense of the prophecy, was so full of consolation that he preferred the beautiful and striking enunciation, “Tell ye the daughter of Zion, behold thy king cometh unto thee;” thy long-expected king, who shall ultimately put down all thy foes. He speaks like himself. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, the war-horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow. Thy king, oh Zion, shall speak peace to the heathen, and sway his sceptre from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. These were Zion’s hopes, in the joyful advent of her Messiah.

5. Tell ye the daughter of Zion — This is a memorable prophecy of the Messiah in his humble and peaceful character. It is thus translated from the Hebrew by Hengstenberg: “Rejoice greatly, thou daughter of Zion! shout for joy, thou daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, thy king comes to thee; he is just and protected of God, afflicted and riding upon a foal the son of an ass.” The prophecy of the entire preceding part of the ninth chapter of Zechariah, Hengstenberg holds to be a clear prediction of the conquests of Alexander the Great. But with these words at the ninth verse commences, in contrast, the descriptive picture of Jesus the Prince of peace. It was applied by the ancient Jews to the Messiah.

Daughter of Zion — The pious part of the Jewish people. And a colt the foal of an ass — Strauss and ether objectors have maintained that this is simply a Hebrew parallelism, in which the last clause is but an echo of the former, both possessing the same meaning. Thereby the colt foal in the last clause would be the same as the ass in the first clause, both being terms for one and the same animal. But Hengstenberg justly denies that by the laws of Hebrew parallelism the two would necessarily mean the same individual animal. In the passage Genesis 49:11: “Binding his foal unto the vine, his ass’s colt unto the choice vine,” no one would claim that the foal and the colt were necessarily the same individual. In the present case it was our Lord’s purpose to make his procession with both animals into Jerusalem a sort of visible embodiment of the prophet’s words. Nor must this voluntary act upon the part of our Lord be looked upon as being a literal and final fulfilment of the prophecy. The prophet does not by these words intend to describe this or any particular scene. He only takes the riding upon the ass as the image to illustrate the meekness of the Messianic King. And our Lord, in thus acting the image of the prophet in visible form, does call the attention of the Jewish nation to his claim to be the King predicted by this prophetic image. This our Saviour performed at the passover, when the Jewish nation was, by representatives, present to behold; when perhaps millions of the nation were actually present to bear the news to all parts of the land.

Verses 6-8. The disciples went, &c. — (and found even as he had said unto them, Luke,) found his prediction exactly true. And how convincing must this have been of the divine mission of Jesus, not only to the two disciples that were sent, but to every unprejudiced person in that great multitude who were witnesses to his uttering the prediction, and saw the disciples bring the ass and the colt, and heard their testimony, that they had found every thing as Christ had foretold. This was another remarkable instance, like that recorded Matthew 17:27; where see the note. And brought the ass, &c., and put on them their clothes — Ta imatia, their mantles. — Campbell. And set him thereon — That is, on the clothes, which were spread upon the colt instead of a saddle. For though the creature had never been used in riding before, it was perfectly tame on this occasion. A very great multitude spread their garments, &c. — The multitude which attended him on this journey had increased prodigiously as he advanced toward Jerusalem, and he did not now shun them, as he had always done on former occasions. “The people were to honour him with the title of Messiah publicly, that he might have an opportunity of accepting that august name in the most avowed manner, before he ascended into heaven. Moreover, the priests, who had issued out a proclamation against him, (John 11:57,) were to be awed, at least, for a while, and restrained from offering him violence. For as he had doctrines to teach, rebukes to give, and other things to do, that would not fail to incense those proud rulers, without doubt they would have put him to death prematurely, had not the people appeared on his side.” Now, it seems, when this great multitude saw him mounted, they immediately bethought themselves of showing him the honours which kings were wont to receive at their creation; (see 2 Kings 9:15;) and in their triumphal entries into their capital cities. For as they all firmly believed that he would take the reins of government into his own hands at this passover, they had a mind to make his entry into Jerusalem have the air of a triumph. Accordingly some spread their garments in the way: others cut down branches of the trees, and strewed them in the way — Carrying the larger sort on high in procession before the Messiah, as demonstrations of their joy.

THE BARREN FIG TREE — THE TEMPLE CLEANSED, 1-17.

Our Lord had now spent nearly three years in his holy ministry, furnishing to the people the proofs of his Messiahship; he now proceeds by a public demonstration to make proclamation of his claim to the title. He makes entrance into David’s royal city as the Prince of peace, David’s son, and heir to all the fulfilments of prophecy in regard to the Messiah. Even at the present day there are some who, like Strauss and Hennell, maintain that our Lord really designed to head a military movement, and, by delivering the Jews from the Roman sway, become a temporal monarch. This triumphal entrance into Jerusalem is a main fact upon which they rely in supporting this absurd theory. But all the circumstances go to show that the whole performance was, on the contrary, a purposed demonstration of his character, as being, in contrast with worldly heroes, a prince of peace, a founder of a religious kingdom, and a conqueror with the weapons of truth.

1. He had previously announced his own approaching death. He had come to Jerusalem to lay down his life. Matthew 20:17-19; Mark 10:32-34; Luke 18:31-34; John 11:7-16.

V. 7. They set him thereon-That is, on the clothes.

Verse 7. And put on them their clothes] Thus acknowledging him to be their king, for this was a custom observed by the people when they found that God had appointed a man to the kingdom. When Jehu sat with the captains of the army, and Elisha the prophet came, by the order of God, to anoint him king over Israel, as soon as he came out of the inner chamber into which the prophet had taken him to anoint him, and they knew what was done, every man took his garment, and spread it under him on the top of the steps, and blew the trumpets, saying, “Jehu is king.” 2 Kings 9:13.

And they set him thereon.] kai epekaqisen epanw autwn, and he sat upon them; but instead of epanw autwn, upon THEM, the Codex Bezæ, seven copies of the Itala, some copies of the Vulgate, and some others, read ep~ auton, upon him, i.e. the colt. This is most likely to be the true reading; for we can scarcely suppose that he rode upon both by turns,-this would appear childish; or that he rode upon both at once, for this would be absurd. Some say he sat on both; for “the ass that was tied up was an emblem of the Jews bound under the yoke of the law; and the colt that had not been tied represented the Gentiles who were not under the law; and that Jesus Christ’s sitting on both represented his subjecting the Jews and the Gentiles to the sway of his evangelical sceptre.” He who can receive this saying, let him receive it.

Verses 6-8. The disciples went, &c. — (and found even as he had said unto them, Luke,) found his prediction exactly true. And how convincing must this have been of the divine mission of Jesus, not only to the two disciples that were sent, but to every unprejudiced person in that great multitude who were witnesses to his uttering the prediction, and saw the disciples bring the ass and the colt, and heard their testimony, that they had found every thing as Christ had foretold. This was another remarkable instance, like that recorded Matthew 17:27; where see the note. And brought the ass, &c., and put on them their clothes — Ta imatia, their mantles. — Campbell. And set him thereon — That is, on the clothes, which were spread upon the colt instead of a saddle. For though the creature had never been used in riding before, it was perfectly tame on this occasion. A very great multitude spread their garments, &c. — The multitude which attended him on this journey had increased prodigiously as he advanced toward Jerusalem, and he did not now shun them, as he had always done on former occasions. “The people were to honour him with the title of Messiah publicly, that he might have an opportunity of accepting that august name in the most avowed manner, before he ascended into heaven. Moreover, the priests, who had issued out a proclamation against him, (John 11:57,) were to be awed, at least, for a while, and restrained from offering him violence. For as he had doctrines to teach, rebukes to give, and other things to do, that would not fail to incense those proud rulers, without doubt they would have put him to death prematurely, had not the people appeared on his side.” Now, it seems, when this great multitude saw him mounted, they immediately bethought themselves of showing him the honours which kings were wont to receive at their creation; (see 2 Kings 9:15;) and in their triumphal entries into their capital cities. For as they all firmly believed that he would take the reins of government into his own hands at this passover, they had a mind to make his entry into Jerusalem have the air of a triumph. Accordingly some spread their garments in the way: others cut down branches of the trees, and strewed them in the way — Carrying the larger sort on high in procession before the Messiah, as demonstrations of their joy.

7. Put on them their clothes — The clothes were put by the disciples on the beasts by way of a saddle. Both beasts were brought, not because our Lord was expected literally to ride both in the course of a journey of two miles’ length, but to exhibit the appearance of a regal relay. Set him thereon — From which cavillers have objected that the language makes him seated on both animals at once. To obviate this, some have made the word them refer to the clothes. But this is an unnatural evasion of an imaginary difficulty. He was literally seated on one at a time, but virtually mounted upon both, as they were both his riding equipment. They were a common conveyance upon which he was borne.

Mark describes the colt as one whereon never man sat. This was not, we think, as Hengstenberg maintains, to indicate humility, but sacredness. So Luke 23:53. Our Lord was “laid in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man was laid before.” And so our Lord was born of a pure virgin. His birth, his triumph, his tomb, were thus alike. His appearance, his history, and his departure are thus indicated to be above the level of ordinary humanity.

Verse 7. And put on them their clothes. — Much unnecessary discussion has taken place among critics whether our Lord rode by turns both on the ass and the colt, which is most improbable; or how the clothes being laid as a saddle upon both, as stated by St. Matthew, is to be reconciled with the other evangelists, who say, “They cast their garments on the colt.” It is easy to conceive that they at first put their garments upon each, as not knowing which of the animals he might choose to ride; or whether, if he continued a long time in the procession, both might not be wanted. This reconciles the accounts; for as he used the colt only, St. Mark and St. Luke are less minute than St. Matthew, who was an eye witness. And they set him thereon. — Kai epekaqisan epanw autwn: “not,” as Euthymius and Theophylact observe, “upon the two asses, but upon the garments.”

V. 8. A great multitude spread their garments in the way-A custom which was usual at the creation of a king, 2 Kings 9:13.

Verse 8. Cut down branches from the trees] Carrying palm and other branches was emblematical of victory and success. See 1 Mac. xiii. 51; 2 Mac. x. 7; and Revelation 7:9.

The rabbins acknowledge that the prophecy in Zechariah refers to the Messiah; so Rab. Tancum, and Yalcut Rubeni has a strange story about the ass. “This ass is the colt of that ass which was created in the twilight of the sixth day. This is the ass which Abraham found when he went to sacrifice his son. This is the ass on which Moses rode when he went to Egypt; and this is the ass on which the Messiah shall ride.” Some of the Jews seem to think that the zebra is intended; for according to Bab. Sanhedr. fol. 98, when Shapoor, king of Persia, said to Rabbi Samuel: “You say your Messiah will come upon an ass; I will send him a noble horse.” To which the rabbi replied, “You have not a horse with a hundred spots (query, streaks) like his ass.” See Lightfoot and Schoettgen.

Verses 6-8. The disciples went, &c. — (and found even as he had said unto them, Luke,) found his prediction exactly true. And how convincing must this have been of the divine mission of Jesus, not only to the two disciples that were sent, but to every unprejudiced person in that great multitude who were witnesses to his uttering the prediction, and saw the disciples bring the ass and the colt, and heard their testimony, that they had found every thing as Christ had foretold. This was another remarkable instance, like that recorded Matthew 17:27; where see the note. And brought the ass, &c., and put on them their clothes — Ta imatia, their mantles. — Campbell. And set him thereon — That is, on the clothes, which were spread upon the colt instead of a saddle. For though the creature had never been used in riding before, it was perfectly tame on this occasion. A very great multitude spread their garments, &c. — The multitude which attended him on this journey had increased prodigiously as he advanced toward Jerusalem, and he did not now shun them, as he had always done on former occasions. “The people were to honour him with the title of Messiah publicly, that he might have an opportunity of accepting that august name in the most avowed manner, before he ascended into heaven. Moreover, the priests, who had issued out a proclamation against him, (John 11:57,) were to be awed, at least, for a while, and restrained from offering him violence. For as he had doctrines to teach, rebukes to give, and other things to do, that would not fail to incense those proud rulers, without doubt they would have put him to death prematurely, had not the people appeared on his side.” Now, it seems, when this great multitude saw him mounted, they immediately bethought themselves of showing him the honours which kings were wont to receive at their creation; (see 2 Kings 9:15;) and in their triumphal entries into their capital cities. For as they all firmly believed that he would take the reins of government into his own hands at this passover, they had a mind to make his entry into Jerusalem have the air of a triumph. Accordingly some spread their garments in the way: others cut down branches of the trees, and strewed them in the way — Carrying the larger sort on high in procession before the Messiah, as demonstrations of their joy.

Ver. 8. A very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees. Herodotus reports that when Xerxes set out on his most calamitous expedition against Greece, the people made the same demonstrations of joy. Such were the manners of the east on similar occasions.

8. A very great multitude — No intimation is given that this scene was prepared. Everything seems supernaturally spontaneous; every man performs his part, and is in his place as exactly as the ass and colt. It seems like a drama managed by a sacred and divine power, in which everything moves of itself. Spread their garments in the way — These garments were the abba, or hyke, being the loose blanket or cloak worn over the tunic or shirt. See note on Matthew 5:40. To celebrate the arrival of some great hero by spreading carpets, or still more their garments, was a Greek and Roman custom, and is so natural as to be in use in modern times even in Christian countries. Garlands were strewed in Washington’s path by his admiring countrymen. Robinson mentions a striking instance which took place in Bethlehem under his own eye, when the people threw their garments under the feet of the English consul, whose aid they were imploring. In 2 Kings 9:13, it was used as a royal honour to a new-made sovereign. Others cut down branches from the trees — Stanley calls attention to the change of the tense in the verb rendered cut, by which it is to be rendered were cutting. That is, while one part were strewing their garments in token of humble affection, the others were cutting the branches of the palm, the emblem of victory, to strew his path. Others still, according to Mark 11:8, cut and strewed mattings or twisted weavings of the palm twigs.

The palm is the most queenly of trees. The ancient coins which bore the inscription Judea Capta, represented Judea as a maiden sitting under a palm. See note on Matthew 2:18. Judea was anciently pre-eminently the land of palms. Jericho and Palmyra were both cities of the palm. The palm rises with a tall, straight shaft, and spreads its leaves like rays from a centre; so that the tree itself has been held an emblem of life. The leaves of the mature tree are six or eight feet long, and when spread out are very broad. In Revelation 7:9, palms of victory are borne in the hands of the saints.

The way —

“Three pathways lead, and probably always led from Bethany to Jerusalem; one a steep footpath over the summit of Mount Olivet; another by a long circuit over its northern shoulder, down the valley which parts it from Scopus; the third the natural continuation of the road by which mountain travellers always approach the city of Jericho, over the southern shoulder, between the summit which contains the tombs of the prophets, and that called the ‘Mount of Offence.’ There can be no doubt that this last is the road of the entry of Christ, not only because, as just stated, it is and must always have been the usual approach for horsemen and for large caravans, such as then were concerned, but also because this is the only one of the three approaches which meets the requirements of the narrative which follows.” — Stanley.

Verse 8. Spread their garments in the way, &c. — When Jehu was proclaimed king, “they hasted and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king,” 2 Kings 9:13. The practice of strewing the way with garments, branches, and flowers, to do honour to great men, and especially princes, was common among many ancient nations. Plutarch mentions it as a circumstance of respect shown by the soldiers to Cato the younger, that they laid down their garments for him to tread upon. Herodian mentions the strewing of garlands and flowers when Commodus was joyfully received by the Romans; and Herodotus relates that the way was strewed with myrtle branches before Xerxes. The garments mentioned in the text were the upper or flowing robes worn by the Jews.

V. 9. The multitudes cried, saying-Probably from a Divine impulse; for certainly most of them understood not the words they uttered. Hosanna-(Lord save us) was a solemn word in frequent use among the Jews. The meaning is, "We sing hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is he, the Messiah, of the Lord. Save. Thou that art in the highest heavens." Our Lord restrained all public tokens of honour from the people till now, lest the envy of his enemies should interrupt his preaching before the time. But this reason now ceasing, he suffered their acclamations, that they might be a public testimony against their wickedness, who in four or five days after cried out, Crucify him, crucify him. The expressions recorded by the other evangelists are somewhat different from these: but all of them were undoubtedly used by some or others of the multitude.

Verse 9. Hosanna to the son of David] When persons applied to the king for help, or for a redress of grievances, they used the word hosanna, or rather from the Hebrew an הושיעה HOSHIAH NA! Save now! or, Save, we beseech thee!-redress our grievances, and give us help from oppression! Thus both the words and actions of the people prove that they acknowledged Christ as their king, and looked to him for deliverance. How easily might he have assumed the sovereignty at this time, had he been so disposed! For instances of the use of this form of speech, see 2 Samuel 14:4; 2 Kings 6:26; Psalm 118:25. Son of David] A well-known epithet of the Messiah. He who cometh in the name, &c. He who comes in the name and authority of the Most High. Hosanna in the highest] Either meaning, Let the heavenly hosts join with us in magnifying this august Being!-or, Let the utmost degrees of hosanna, of salvation, and deliverance, be communicated to thy people! Probably there is an allusion here to the custom of the Jews in the feast of tabernacles. During the first seven days of that feast, they went once round the altar, each day, with palm and other branches in their hands, singing HOSANNA: but on the eighth day of that feast they walked seven times round the altar, singing the hosanna; and this was termed the hosanna rabba, the GREAT hosanna: i.e. Assist with the greatest succour. Probably answering to the toiv uyistoiv of the evangelist, for on this day they beg the most speedy and powerful help against their enemies, and likewise pray for a prosperous and fruitful year. See STEHLIN’S Jewish Traditions, vol. ii. p. 322.

Verses 9-11. And the multitude that went before, and that followed — In this triumphal procession, cried, saying — Probably from a divine impulse; for certainly most of them understood not the words they uttered, Hosanna — (Lord, save us,) which was a solemn word in frequent use among the Jews. The meaning is, “We sing Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he, the Messiah, of the Lord. Save, thou that art in the highest heavens.” Our Lord restrained all public tokens of honour from the people till now, lest the envy of his enemies should interrupt his preaching before the time. But this reason now ceasing, he suffered their acclamations, that they might be a public testimony against their wickedness, who, in four or five days after, cried out, Crucify him, crucify him. The expressions recorded by the other evangelists are somewhat different from these: but all of them were undoubtedly used by some or others of the multitude. And all the city was moved — Was in a great commotion at so uncommon an appearance, saying, Who is this? — That comes in all this pomp, and is attended with these high congratulations And the multitude — Namely, that came along with him, said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth — What a stumbling-block was this! If he was of Nazareth? he could not be the Messiah. But they who earnestly desired to know the truth would not stumble thereat: for, upon inquiry, (which such would not fail to make,) they would find, he was not of Nazareth, but Bethlehem. Thus Sion’s king comes to Sion; and the daughter of Sion had notice of his coming long before; and yet he is not attended by the great ones of the country, nor met by the magistrates of the city in their formalities, as might have been expected. The keys of the city are not presented to him, nor is he conducted, as he ought to have been, with all possible ceremony, to the thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David, Psalm 122:5. Here is nothing of all this: yet he has his attendants; and those a very great multitude. But alas! they are only the common people (the rabble, we should have been apt to call them) that grace the solemnity of Christ’s triumph. The chief priests and elders are not among them. We find them afterward, indeed, intermixed with the multitude that reviled him when he hung on the cross, but none of them are here joining with the multitude that did him honour! Ye see, here, your calling, brethren; not many mighty, or noble, attend on Christ; but the foolish things of the world, and base things, and things that are despised. Such is what has been termed the triumph of Christ! But what sort of a triumph is it? Not like the triumphs of the potentates and conquerors of the world: but the triumph of humility, self-denial, meekness, and love, over the pride, vain glory, ambition, and selfishness of carnal and worldly-minded men.

Ver. 9. Hosanna to the son of David. These words are repeated from Psalm 118:25, immediately after the stone was rejected by the builders, to show that the people ascribed to the Messiah the supreme worship of Jehovah, as was sung in all their feasts; — a full confession that he was the Christ, the long-expected king, sent to redeem and save his people from their sins. The multitude set no bounds to their joy, and feared the face of no opposer. They well knew that he who had raised Lazarus from the dead, could redeem and save his saints. It was this illustrious miracle which excited the people to go out to meet him, and with every display of loyalty in their power. John 12:18.

9. Multitudes that went before, and that followed — The procession formed in two separate parts. The foremost led the way as an advance guard; then Jesus, riding; and last, the rear band. Stanley assumes that the front band came from the city, and the rear from Bethany, and thus describes the scene:

“Two vast streams of people met that day. The one poured out from the city, and as they came through the gardens, whose clusters of palms rose on the southeastern corner of Olivet, they cut down the long branches, as was their wont at the feast of tabernacles, and moved upward toward Bethany with loud shouts of welcome. From Bethany streamed forth the crowds who had assembled there on the previous night, and who name testifying to the great event at the sepulchre of Lazarus. The road soon loses sight of Bethany. It is now a rough, but still broad and well-defined mountain track, winding over rock and loose stones; a steep declivity below on the left; the stooping shoulder of Olivet above it on the right; fig-trees, below and above, here and there growing out of the rocky soil. “The two streams met midway. Half of the vast mass turning round preceded, the other half followed. Gradually the long procession swept up and over the ridge, where first begins ‘the descent of the Mount of Olives’ toward Jerusalem. At this point the first view is caught of the southeastern corner of the city. The temple and the more northern portions are hid by the slope of Olivet on the right; what is seen is only Mount Zion, then covered with houses to its base, surmounted by the castle of Herod, on the supposed site of the palace of David, from which that portion of Jerusalem, emphatically called the ‘city of David,’ derived its name. It was at this precise point, as He drew near at the descent of the Mount of Olives, (may it not have been from the site thus opening upon them?) that the shout of triumph burst forth from the multitude: ‘Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.’” — Stanley.

Hosanna — This is the Hebrew word for save now, being the original of the first two words of Psalm 118:25. It was a supplicatory phrase for the person in respect to whom it was uttered, expressive of congratulation and triumphal acclamation. It was customarily used at the feast of tabernacles and other festivals, all of which were commemorative of the Messiah to come. Now they performed the celebration as for the Messiah, truly come. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord — That is, as his ambassador. In the highest — In the highest degree, or the highest strains. Or, as most commentators think, in the highest heavens. John informs us that it was the people that were with him when he raised Lazarus, whose testimony excited an enthusiasm in his favour. For this cause it was that the people met him. John 12:17, 18. Luke adds that the Pharisees requested Jesus to rebuke the applause. When Jesus drew nigh to the city he wept over it. Luke 19:41. Stanley thus traces the event:

“Again the procession advanced. The road descends a slight declivity, and the glimpse of the city is again withdrawn behind the intervening ridge of Olivet. A few moments, and the path mounts again; it climbs a rugged ascent, it reaches a ridge of smooth rocks, and in an instant the whole city bursts into view. Then must have risen before the traveller the Temple tower; then must have spread the Temple courts, then the magnificent city, with its background — long since vanished away — of gardens and suburbs, or the western plateau behind. Immediately below is the Valley of the Kedron, here seen in its greatest depth, as it joins the Valley of Hinnom, and thus giving full effect to the great peculiarity of Jerusalem, seen only on its eastern side, its situation as of a city rising out of a deep abyss. It is hardly possible to doubt that this rise and turn of the road, this rocky ledge, was the exact point where the multitude paused again, and ‘He, when he beheld the city, wept over it.’”

Verse 9. Hosanna to the Son of David, &c. — It was customary with the Jews, at the feast of tabernacles, to carry, about branches of palm and other trees in their hands, and to sing, “Hosanna, save now, I beseech, thee,” Psalm 118:25. This custom they now adopted in honour of our Lord, as proclaiming him to be the great personage for whom they looked, the Messiah. Hosanna is an abbreviated form of the two words הושיעה, save, and an, now; and, as here used, was equivalent to “God preserve the Son of David.” Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, is taken from Psalm 118:26. Hosanna in the highest, en toiv uyistoiv, in the highest places, or heavens, is an address to God in favour of Messiah. Some, however, understand it, in the highest degree. The whole formed a scene of tumultuous joy, expressing the strongly excited feelings of the people, who poured out blessings upon the head of the long expected Messiah, and offered their most fervent wishes to God for his success, now they imagined he was about to claim the throne of his father David. The multitudes who on this occasion attended him had chiefly come up from the country, and do not appear to have been composed of the inhabitants of Jerusalem in any great numbers; for it is added, “all the city,” the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “were moved, saying, Who is this?” as surprised by this unlooked-for triumphal procession, and not knowing for whose honour it was intended; and accordingly the multitude, those who attended Christ, answered, This is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth, of Galilee. Yet many went out from Jerusalem with palm branches in their hands, to join in the acclamations of those who had gone up with him from Jericho and other parts. These were doubtless those who believed on him in consequence of the discourses they had heard from him in Jerusalem on his former visit, and the miracles he had wrought, especially the raising of Lazarus at Bethany, the impression of which upon many of the inhabitants of Jerusalem must have been very great.

Verse 10. All the city was moved] Or, the whole city was in motion. eseisqh, was in a tumult-they saw and heard plainly that the multitude had proclaimed Christ king, and Messiah. Who is this? Who is accounted worthy of this honour?

Verses 9-11. And the multitude that went before, and that followed — In this triumphal procession, cried, saying — Probably from a divine impulse; for certainly most of them understood not the words they uttered, Hosanna — (Lord, save us,) which was a solemn word in frequent use among the Jews. The meaning is, “We sing Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he, the Messiah, of the Lord. Save, thou that art in the highest heavens.” Our Lord restrained all public tokens of honour from the people till now, lest the envy of his enemies should interrupt his preaching before the time. But this reason now ceasing, he suffered their acclamations, that they might be a public testimony against their wickedness, who, in four or five days after, cried out, Crucify him, crucify him. The expressions recorded by the other evangelists are somewhat different from these: but all of them were undoubtedly used by some or others of the multitude. And all the city was moved — Was in a great commotion at so uncommon an appearance, saying, Who is this? — That comes in all this pomp, and is attended with these high congratulations And the multitude — Namely, that came along with him, said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth — What a stumbling-block was this! If he was of Nazareth? he could not be the Messiah. But they who earnestly desired to know the truth would not stumble thereat: for, upon inquiry, (which such would not fail to make,) they would find, he was not of Nazareth, but Bethlehem. Thus Sion’s king comes to Sion; and the daughter of Sion had notice of his coming long before; and yet he is not attended by the great ones of the country, nor met by the magistrates of the city in their formalities, as might have been expected. The keys of the city are not presented to him, nor is he conducted, as he ought to have been, with all possible ceremony, to the thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David, Psalm 122:5. Here is nothing of all this: yet he has his attendants; and those a very great multitude. But alas! they are only the common people (the rabble, we should have been apt to call them) that grace the solemnity of Christ’s triumph. The chief priests and elders are not among them. We find them afterward, indeed, intermixed with the multitude that reviled him when he hung on the cross, but none of them are here joining with the multitude that did him honour! Ye see, here, your calling, brethren; not many mighty, or noble, attend on Christ; but the foolish things of the world, and base things, and things that are despised. Such is what has been termed the triumph of Christ! But what sort of a triumph is it? Not like the triumphs of the potentates and conquerors of the world: but the triumph of humility, self-denial, meekness, and love, over the pride, vain glory, ambition, and selfishness of carnal and worldly-minded men.

10. All the city was moved — The masses and the common people from Galilee, brought by the passover, who were upon his side, were moved with joy and gratulation. The Jewish rulers, especially of the party of the Pharisees, were moved with bitter opposition, but were held in check by the popular influences. John 12:19. The Romans saw nothing sufficiently alarming in the excitement to give it their attention. Who is this? — This question was perhaps put by the home population of Jerusalem, and was answered by the new comers from Galilee and other places where our Lord had taught and wrought miracles.

V. 11. This is Jesus from Nazareth-What a stumbling block was this! if he was of Nazareth, he could not be the Messiah. But they who earnestly desired to know the truth would not stumble thereat: for upon inquiry (which such would not fail to make) they would find, he was not of Nazareth, but Bethlehem.

Verse 11. This is Jesus THE PROPHET] o profhthv THAT prophet whom Moses spoke of, Deuteronomy 18:18. I will raise them up a prophet-like unto thee, &c. Every expression of the multitude plainly intimated that they fully received our blessed Lord as the promised Messiah.-How strange is it that these same people (if the creatures of the high priest be not only intended) should, about five days after, change their hosannas for, Away with him! crucify him! crucify him! How fickle is the multitude! Even when they get right, there is but little hope that they will continue so long.

Verses 9-11. And the multitude that went before, and that followed — In this triumphal procession, cried, saying — Probably from a divine impulse; for certainly most of them understood not the words they uttered, Hosanna — (Lord, save us,) which was a solemn word in frequent use among the Jews. The meaning is, “We sing Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he, the Messiah, of the Lord. Save, thou that art in the highest heavens.” Our Lord restrained all public tokens of honour from the people till now, lest the envy of his enemies should interrupt his preaching before the time. But this reason now ceasing, he suffered their acclamations, that they might be a public testimony against their wickedness, who, in four or five days after, cried out, Crucify him, crucify him. The expressions recorded by the other evangelists are somewhat different from these: but all of them were undoubtedly used by some or others of the multitude. And all the city was moved — Was in a great commotion at so uncommon an appearance, saying, Who is this? — That comes in all this pomp, and is attended with these high congratulations And the multitude — Namely, that came along with him, said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth — What a stumbling-block was this! If he was of Nazareth? he could not be the Messiah. But they who earnestly desired to know the truth would not stumble thereat: for, upon inquiry, (which such would not fail to make,) they would find, he was not of Nazareth, but Bethlehem. Thus Sion’s king comes to Sion; and the daughter of Sion had notice of his coming long before; and yet he is not attended by the great ones of the country, nor met by the magistrates of the city in their formalities, as might have been expected. The keys of the city are not presented to him, nor is he conducted, as he ought to have been, with all possible ceremony, to the thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David, Psalm 122:5. Here is nothing of all this: yet he has his attendants; and those a very great multitude. But alas! they are only the common people (the rabble, we should have been apt to call them) that grace the solemnity of Christ’s triumph. The chief priests and elders are not among them. We find them afterward, indeed, intermixed with the multitude that reviled him when he hung on the cross, but none of them are here joining with the multitude that did him honour! Ye see, here, your calling, brethren; not many mighty, or noble, attend on Christ; but the foolish things of the world, and base things, and things that are despised. Such is what has been termed the triumph of Christ! But what sort of a triumph is it? Not like the triumphs of the potentates and conquerors of the world: but the triumph of humility, self-denial, meekness, and love, over the pride, vain glory, ambition, and selfishness of carnal and worldly-minded men.

11. Prophet of Nazareth of Galilee — They do not style him Messiah, or king, or conqueror. He is simply a prophet.

Our Lord’s deeds of public authority are not terminated with his symbolical royal entry. He must perform a symbolical act of supreme priesthood. For he is both king and priest; Lord of the kingdom of God and the priest of the new ritual. And as in the former transaction he had fulfilled the memorable prophecy of Zechariah, so now he fulfils the promise in Malachi 3:1-3. He should come, as Lord, suddenly, into his temple, and purify the sons of Levi. And the same remark may be made as in regard to the triumphal entry. Our Lord performed the act which is pictured in the image of the prophet.

A somewhat similar cleansing was performed by our Lord at the opening of his ministry, as now at its close. John 2:13-18. Doubtless Alford states the true reason why the first three Gospels omit any mention of that first cleansing, namely, that those three are nearly exclusively Galilean Gospels, until this entrance of our Lord into Jerusalem.

V. 12. He cast out all that sold and bought-Doves and oxen for sacrifice. He had cast them out three years before, John 2:14; bidding them not make that house a house of merchandise. Upon the repetition of the offence, he used sharper words.

In the temple-That is, in the outer court of it, where the Gentiles used to worship.

The money changers-The exchangers of foreign money into current coin, which those who came from distant parts might want to offer for the service of the temple. Mark 11:11, 15; Luke 19:45.

Verse 12. Jesus went into the temple of God, &c.] “Avarice,” says one, “covered with the veil of religion, is one of those things on which Christ looks with the greatest indignation in his Church. Merchandize of holy things, simoniacal presentations, fraudulent exchanges, a mercenary spirit in sacred functions; ecclesiastical employments obtained by flattery, service, or attendance, or by any thing which is instead of money; collations, nominations, and elections made through any other motive than the glory of God; these are all fatal and damnable profanations, of which those in the temple were only a shadow.” QUESNEL.

Money-changers] Persons who furnished the Jews and proselytes who came from other countries, with the current coin of Judea, in exchange for their own.

Verses 12-14. And Jesus went into the temple — He did not go up to the court, or to the palace, though he came in as a king; but to the temple; for his kingdom is spiritual, and not of this world. It is in holy things that he rules, and in the temple of God that he exercises authority. And cast out them that sold and bought — Namely, doves and oxen for sacrifice. He had cast them out three years before, (John 2:14,) bidding them not make that house a house of merchandise: upon the repetition of the offence, he uses sharper words; In the temple — That is, in the outer court of it, where the Gentiles used to worship. The money-changers — The exchangers of foreign money into current coin, which those who came from distant parts might want to offer for the service of the temple. And said unto them — As he turned them out, It is written — Namely, Isaiah 56:7, My house shall be called a house of prayer — To all nations, Mark 11:17. That is, a place to which they shall resort for the performance of religious worship: but ye have made it a den of thieves — A harbour of wicked men; a place where traffic is carried on by persons of the most infamous character, who live by deceit and oppression, and practise the vilest extortion, even in the house of the most righteous and blessed God. “Let it be observed, that the word rendered temple here, is ieron, not naov. By the latter word was meant properly the house, including only the vestibule, the holy place or sanctuary, and the most holy. Whereas the former comprehended all the courts. It was in the outermost court that this sort of traffic was exercised. For want of a name, in European languages, peculiar to each, these two are confounded in most modern translations. To the naov, or temple, strictly so called, none of those people had access, not even our Lord himself, because not of the posterity of Aaron.” — Campbell. And the blind and lame — Having heard of his arrival in the city, and requested their friends to lead them to the place where he was; came to him in the temple, and he healed them — In the presence of all the people. “Many such afflicted persons would, no doubt, be waiting in the several avenues of the temple to ask alms, at a time when there would be such a vast concourse of people: and there seems a peculiar propriety in our Lord’s multiplying these astonishing miracles, both to vindicate the extraordinary act of authority he had just been performing, and to make this his last visit to Jerusalem as convincing as possible, that those who would not submit to him might be left so much the more inexcusable.” — Doddridge.

Ver. 12. Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought. Good kings of Judah had done the same, both in the temple and in the destruction of idolatry. Here the Redeemer acted in his proper character as Prince of Israel, and the Priest of his Father’s house. It is very remarkable that the first and the last time our Saviour attended the temple, after entering on his ministry, he purged it of avaricious traffickers, who changing the gold of strangers, greatly imposed upon them. This may be classed among the first and greatest of his miracles. He had just been saluted as the Son of David, and consequently the king of Israel; hence acting under the divine authority of his mission, he scorned to give account to the profaners of his zeal and holy conduct. This fully shows that Christ was both Lord and heir of his Father’s house. Phinehas also cleansed the camp of Israel, by a civil and ecclesiastical power. Elijah did the same on Carmel. So did Judas the general, after Antiochus had profaned the temple. Hence ministers and magistrates should learn of Christ to remove corruptions from the house of God.

12. Jesus went into the temple of God — Historically, there was a FIRST TEMPLE and a SECOND.

The First, or Solomon’s Temple, was the proper successor of the tabernacle built by Moses in the wilderness, (see note on 17:4,) being to it as a palace compared with a most humble cot, but upon the same model. It was indeed intended to be the house of God, the palace of Jehovah, God and King of the Jews. The temple or house proper was an oblong in form, and divided into two rooms; the interior one being the holy of holies, the exterior or front one the holy place. In the former was the ark containing the law, the lid of which was the mercy-seat, upon which rested the Shekinah, or cloud of the visible Divine Presence. Over this mercy-seat two cherubim bent face to face; whence God dwelt between the cherubim. As Jehovah here dwelt, so the forward room contained his furniture, namely, the golden candlestick, the table of presence-bread, (show-bread,) the altar of incense or perfumery. The priests and Levites were his royal servants. Before the door of the temple stood the great brazen altar, upon which were sacrificed (as the royal food) the offered beasts. Around the temple building were the temple courts or enclosures. The first was the court of the priests, into which none but the priestly order might enter. Enclosing this was the court of Israel, into which all male Jews might enter; and fronting these the court of women. Gentiles were admitted only to the outermost court, enclosing the whole. Each inner court rose, as in terraces, higher than the outer; so that the temple building mounted conspicuous above the whole.

The Second Temple, built upon the same site and model, after the captivity, and rebuilt by Herod the Great, was that in which our Saviour now entered. The entire temple area was a square, with an eighth of a mile to each side. It was entered by nine magnificent gates. The inside of the outermost wall was lined with covered promenades, called porches or porticoes, with cedar roofs, supported by marble columns and with floors of smooth solid variegated marble. These porches were thirty cubits wide, and the south-side one was thrice as wide. There was a synagogue room, in the south porch, which was the place where religious services were performed. In this synagogue it was that the doctors discoursed, that Christ taught, and the disciples daily assembled with one accord. (Acts 2:6.) Hither resorted for recreation or converse Jew or Gentile. From the summit of the wall the perpendicular descent was unbroken to the bottom of the Kedron. At the southwest corner was the lofty pinnacle where the Saviour was tempted of Satan to leap into the awful chasm below.

1 Stone for censer. 2 Show bread bakery. 3 Guard room. 4 Treasure room. 5 Single cloister. 6 Golden table. 7 Golden incense. 8 Golden Candelabrum. 9 Stone steps. 10 Ascent to altar. 11 Gate of Nicanor. 12 Apartments for the deposit of sacrificial wine and oil. 13 Rooms for the ceremony of cleansing lepers. 14 Galleried cloister. 15 Treasure chests. 16 Room for the ceremony of release from a Nazarite vow. 17 Chambers for the deposit of wood. 18 Beautiful Gate. 19 Porch. 20 Marble table for fresh show bread. 21 Golden table for stale show bread. *Steps. Near the northern wall stood the Tower of ANTONIA, overtopping the temple, in which the Roman garrison was placed to maintain order. It was a square building, with a side of three hundred feet. A subterranean passage led from the tower to the court of the Gentiles, so that the Roman soldiery could enter at any time to suppress tumult. Besides this, the Jews had a small body of men, under a captain, to keep order about the temple grounds.

The walls of the temple were built of hard white stone, of stupendous size. From Mount Olivet the spectacle was truly magnificent. But the Jews held that these five ancient endowments were wanting to the second temple, namely, the Ark, the Urim and Thummim, the Fire from Heaven, the Shekinah, and the spirit of Prophecy. Yet in glorious fulfilment of the prophecy of Haggai, (ii, 9,) by the presence of Jesus the glory of the latter house has surpassed all the endowments of the temple of Solomon. Jesus entered the Court of the Gentiles, for there it was that these abuses existed. As if to show their contempt of the Gentiles, the Jews had allowed this part to be filled with all the tumult of traffic. This was in direct contradiction to the prophecy quoted by our Lord, that God’s house should be “a house of prayer for all people.” Isaiah 56:7. Our Lord hereby indicates that under his dispensation the privileges of the Gentiles would be amply maintained.

Sold… bought — Animals for temple sacrifice and other commodities. Money changers — The Jewish money being alone accepted for the sacred treasure, brokers were always at hand to furnish it in exchange for the foreign coin. Doves — Used in sacrifice by the poor.

Verse 12. Went into the temple. — Eiv to ieron, which comprehends the whole building with its courts, as distinguished from the naov or temple strictly so called, which included the sanctuary and the holy of holies, into which our Lord did not enter. From St. Mark we learn that when our Lord on this day entered the temple, he merely “looked round upon all things; and eventide being come, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.” It was on the day following that he cast out the traders; which distinction of time St. Matthew, whose object was merely to relate the fact, does not notice; but he says nothing inconsistent with it. It was in the court of the Gentiles that frankincense, oil, wine, doves, lambs, and oxen were sold, after the victims had been examined and approved by the priests.

Money changers. — The kollubistai were persons who exchanged foreign for the current coin of Judea, or the contrary, to meet the convenience of those who came up to the feasts from distant countries. Hence they had their tables in this court, and, as the passover was now at hand, would be in the height of their unhallowed business, which ought to have been transacted in a less sacred place.

Them that sold doves. — Which, being the offerings of the poor, would, at so great a feast as that of the passover, be in considerable demand, from the concourse of those who reserved their offerings to this season. The practice of making the courts of the temple a place of traffic was probably introduced from the Greeks and Romans. It was evidently regarded by our Lord as a great abuse, under whatever pretence of affording facility to the performance of the appointed services of the temple it might be defended. The noise would disturb the more serious worshippers; and various cheats and impositions were practised, as we may gather from our Lord charging them with having made his house “a den of thieves.” It would seem remarkable that this profanation was suffered by the priests, who were so scrupulous and exact in whatever appertained to the honour of their temple; but there has been, in all ages, great inconsistency among ceremonious formalists, and superstition and irreverence are often found together.

V. 13. A den of thieves-A proverbial expression, for a harbour of wicked men. Isaiah 56:7; Jeremiah 7:11.

Verse 13. My house shall be called the house of prayer] This is taken from Isaiah 56:7.

But ye have made it a den of thieves.] This is taken from Jeremiah 7:11.

Our Lord alludes here to those dens and caves in Judea, in which the public robbers either hid or kept themselves fortified.

They who are placed in the Church of Christ to serve souls, and do it not, and they who enjoy the revenues of the Church, and neglect the service of it, are thieves and robbers in more senses than one.

Our Lord is represented here as purifying his temple; and this we may judge he did in reference to his true temple, the Church, to show that nothing that was worldly or unholy should have any place among his followers, or in that heart in which he should condescend to dwell. It is marvellous that these interested, vile men did not raise a mob against him: but it is probable they were overawed by the Divine power, or, seeing the multitudes on the side of Christ, they were afraid to molest him. I knew a case something similar to this, which did not succeed so well. A very pious clergyman of my acquaintance, observing a woman keeping a public standing to sell nuts, gingerbread, &c., at the very porch of his Church, on the Lord’s day, “desired her to remove thence, and not defile the house of God, while she profaned the Sabbath of the Lord.” She paid no attention to him. He warned her the next Sabbath, but still to no purpose. Going in one Lord’s day to preach, and finding her still in the very entrance, with her stall, he overthrew the stall, and scattered the stuff into the street. He was shortly after summoned to appear before the royal court, which, to its eternal reproach, condemned the action, and fined the man of God in a considerable sum of money!

Verses 12-14. And Jesus went into the temple — He did not go up to the court, or to the palace, though he came in as a king; but to the temple; for his kingdom is spiritual, and not of this world. It is in holy things that he rules, and in the temple of God that he exercises authority. And cast out them that sold and bought — Namely, doves and oxen for sacrifice. He had cast them out three years before, (John 2:14,) bidding them not make that house a house of merchandise: upon the repetition of the offence, he uses sharper words; In the temple — That is, in the outer court of it, where the Gentiles used to worship. The money-changers — The exchangers of foreign money into current coin, which those who came from distant parts might want to offer for the service of the temple. And said unto them — As he turned them out, It is written — Namely, Isaiah 56:7, My house shall be called a house of prayer — To all nations, Mark 11:17. That is, a place to which they shall resort for the performance of religious worship: but ye have made it a den of thieves — A harbour of wicked men; a place where traffic is carried on by persons of the most infamous character, who live by deceit and oppression, and practise the vilest extortion, even in the house of the most righteous and blessed God. “Let it be observed, that the word rendered temple here, is ieron, not naov. By the latter word was meant properly the house, including only the vestibule, the holy place or sanctuary, and the most holy. Whereas the former comprehended all the courts. It was in the outermost court that this sort of traffic was exercised. For want of a name, in European languages, peculiar to each, these two are confounded in most modern translations. To the naov, or temple, strictly so called, none of those people had access, not even our Lord himself, because not of the posterity of Aaron.” — Campbell. And the blind and lame — Having heard of his arrival in the city, and requested their friends to lead them to the place where he was; came to him in the temple, and he healed them — In the presence of all the people. “Many such afflicted persons would, no doubt, be waiting in the several avenues of the temple to ask alms, at a time when there would be such a vast concourse of people: and there seems a peculiar propriety in our Lord’s multiplying these astonishing miracles, both to vindicate the extraordinary act of authority he had just been performing, and to make this his last visit to Jerusalem as convincing as possible, that those who would not submit to him might be left so much the more inexcusable.” — Doddridge.

Ver. 13. My house shall be called the house of prayer, where men go to address the supreme Being, and join the breathings of their souls in the cloud of incense ever ascending before the throne. The law of the jews was therefore good, that no man might pass through the temple with his staff and shoes, to make it a thoroughfare, nor carry either wallet or bundle of merchandise. The Turks still observe the same sanctity with regard to their mosques.

13. Den of thieves — Jeremiah 7:11: “Is this house which is called by my name become a den of robbers in thine eyes?” Den of thieves is a terrible antithesis to the house of God. The word den probably is an allusion to the caves and recesses of rocks in Judea in which robbers and bandits found shelter.

Verse 13. It is written, My house, &c. — This is quoted from Isaiah 56:7, “For mine house shall be called a house of prayer for all people.” In referring to this prophecy our Lord not only reproves the profanity and wicked avarice which had made the house of prayer a bazaar or market house, but the contempt poured upon the pious Gentiles, or heathen proselytes, who had a right to worship there, and whose court they had invaded so as not only to occupy it with stalls for cattle, seats for them that sold doves, and the tables of money changers, but as to fill it with distracting noise and confusion, wholly subversive of its original and gracious intention. Instead of a place for offering up prayer by the pious “stranger,” whom God had promised to make “joyful in his house of prayer,” they had made it a den of thieves; an expression used probably in allusion to the rocky caves or dens in the mountainous parts of Judea, which were often the receptacles of robbers. Something of miraculous power must have attended this act of our Lord, to overawe the numerous and bold intruders into the court of the temple, and especially as he overthrew their tables and seats. Yet there was nothing in this act but what was consistent with the views which the Jews entertained of the Messiah, who, as they believed, would reform many abuses, and bring in many new laws with great authority. Hence, when on a former occasion he vindicated the honour of God’s house, his disciples were reminded of the prophetic words, “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.”

Verse 14. The blind and the lame came] Having condemned the profane use of the temple, he now shows the proper use of it. It is a house of prayer, where God is to manifest his goodness and power in giving sight to the spiritually blind, and feet to the lame. The Church or chapel in which the blind and the lame are not healed has no Christ in it, and is not worthy of attendance.

Verses 12-14. And Jesus went into the temple — He did not go up to the court, or to the palace, though he came in as a king; but to the temple; for his kingdom is spiritual, and not of this world. It is in holy things that he rules, and in the temple of God that he exercises authority. And cast out them that sold and bought — Namely, doves and oxen for sacrifice. He had cast them out three years before, (John 2:14,) bidding them not make that house a house of merchandise: upon the repetition of the offence, he uses sharper words; In the temple — That is, in the outer court of it, where the Gentiles used to worship. The money-changers — The exchangers of foreign money into current coin, which those who came from distant parts might want to offer for the service of the temple. And said unto them — As he turned them out, It is written — Namely, Isaiah 56:7, My house shall be called a house of prayer — To all nations, Mark 11:17. That is, a place to which they shall resort for the performance of religious worship: but ye have made it a den of thieves — A harbour of wicked men; a place where traffic is carried on by persons of the most infamous character, who live by deceit and oppression, and practise the vilest extortion, even in the house of the most righteous and blessed God. “Let it be observed, that the word rendered temple here, is ieron, not naov. By the latter word was meant properly the house, including only the vestibule, the holy place or sanctuary, and the most holy. Whereas the former comprehended all the courts. It was in the outermost court that this sort of traffic was exercised. For want of a name, in European languages, peculiar to each, these two are confounded in most modern translations. To the naov, or temple, strictly so called, none of those people had access, not even our Lord himself, because not of the posterity of Aaron.” — Campbell. And the blind and lame — Having heard of his arrival in the city, and requested their friends to lead them to the place where he was; came to him in the temple, and he healed them — In the presence of all the people. “Many such afflicted persons would, no doubt, be waiting in the several avenues of the temple to ask alms, at a time when there would be such a vast concourse of people: and there seems a peculiar propriety in our Lord’s multiplying these astonishing miracles, both to vindicate the extraordinary act of authority he had just been performing, and to make this his last visit to Jerusalem as convincing as possible, that those who would not submit to him might be left so much the more inexcusable.” — Doddridge.

14. Blind… came to him in the temple — Neander thinks it so strange that miracles should take place at this moment, that he pronounces the verses unhistorical! Verily, our Lord did not think the temple of God too sacred a place for deeds of mercy, nor the moment too valuable to put forth his power for poor humanity.

Verse 15. The chief priests-were sore displeased] Or, were incensed. Incensed at what! At the purification of the profaned temple! This was a work they should have done themselves, but for which they had neither grace nor influence; and their pride and jealousy will not suffer them to permit others to do it. Strange as it may appear, the priesthood itself, in all corrupt times, has been ever the most forward to prevent a reform in the Church. Was it because they were conscious that a reformer would find them no better than money-changers in, and profaners of, the house of God, and that they and their system must be overturned, if the true worship of God were restored! Let him who is concerned answer this to his conscience.

Verses 15-17. When the chief priests, &c., saw the wonderful things he did — The undeniable and astonishing miracles which he performed, and the children crying in the temple, and continuing the song which the multitude had begun, Hosanna to the son of David, they were sore displeased — Inwardly vexed and filled with indignation. The works that Christ did recommended themselves to every man’s conscience: if they had any sense, they could not but own the miracle of them; and if any good-nature, they could not but be in love with the mercy of them; yet, because they were resolved to oppose him, even for these works they envied and hated him. And said, Hearest thou what these (the children) say? — Insinuating that it was his duty to stop their mouths, by refusing the praises which they offered without understanding what they said. Jesus saith, Yea; have ye never read — Are you unacquainted with the Scriptures? You, that want the people to regard you as the great teachers of God’s law? Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise — These words are quoted out of the eighth Psalm, and imply that, “though all men should be silent, God has no need of other heralds to proclaim his praise than infants, who hang at their mothers’ breasts; because, notwithstanding they be dumb, the admirable providence of God, conspicuous in their preservation, is equal to the loudest and sublimest eloquence. And, by applying these words to the case in hand, Jesus signified that the meanest of God’s works are so formed as to declare the greatness of his perfections; that as the Father does not refuse the praise which arises from the least of his creatures, so the Son did not disdain the praise which was offered him by children. In the present instance their praise was peculiarly acceptable, because it implied that his miracles were exceedingly illustrious, inasmuch as they led minds wherein there was nothing but the dawnings of reason, to acknowledge his mission. The Messiah’s praise, therefore, might, with remarkable propriety, be said, on this occasion, to have been perfected out of the mouths of babes and sucklings.” — Macknight. But see the note on Psalm 8:2; where the psalmist’s words, here referred to, are explained at large. And he left them — Namely, when the evening was come, both in prudence, lest they should have seized him before his hour was come, and in justice, because they had forfeited the favour of his presence: he left them as incorrigible. And went out of the city — Privately, with none to attend him but the twelve; to Bethany — Where the resurrection of Lazarus had procured him friends, among whom he was always in safety.

Ver. 15, 16. When the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and heard the children singing Hosannas to the Son of David, they were enraged beyond description, ira est furor; and said to him, hearest thou what these say? Our Lord, from the plenitude of divine wisdom, quoted against them the eighth psalm, which others had overlooked. “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise;” a prophecy that men of all ages, and of all nations should praise and glorify the Son of man. Other prophecies are of similar import. Psalm 35:18. 45:1. 98:1. These contain burning words, which we, as well as the scribes, too much overlook.

15. Children crying in the temple — How fitting that childlike voices should shout the praises of Him who allowed not children to be forbidden to come to him! Children in the temple above will forever chant his praises; nor can there be a doubt that these children were moved by a divine impulse to utter these praises, which were so truly emblematic of the place of the child in the merciful dispensation of Christianity.

Verse 15. The wonderful things that he did. — Not referring so much to his healing the blind and the lame in the temple, for they could scarcely adapt their question, “By what authority doest thou these things?” to the working such cures; but what they wondered at was his public entry; his allowing the people to acclaim their hosannas to him as the Messiah; his acting in the temple as though it were his own house, which his words implied; and his expelling the traders with severity and authority. To this was added a scene which especially appears to have excited their malignant envy: the very children, allured probably by his mild dignity, or rather under the special influence of God, to make them witnesses of the truth, and thus to accomplish a prophecy, were surrounding him in the temple, and crying, “Hosanna to the Son of David.” And they were sore displeased, filled with indignation.

V. 16. Psalm 8:2.

Verse 16. Out of the mouth of babes] The eighth Psalm, out of which these words are quoted, is applied to Jesus Christ in three other places in the new covenant, 1 Corinthians 15:27; Ephesians 1:22; Hebrews 2:6. Which proves it to be merely a prophetic psalm, relating to the Messiah.

It was a common thing among the Jews for the children to be employed in public acclamations; and thus they were accustomed to hail their celebrated rabbins. This shouting of the children was therefore no strange thing in the land: only they were exasperated, because a person was celebrated against whom they had a rooted hatred. As to the prophecy that foretold this, they regarded it not. Some imagine that babes and sucklings in the prophecy have a much more extensive meaning, and refer also to the first preachers of the Gospel of Christ.

Verses 15-17. When the chief priests, &c., saw the wonderful things he did — The undeniable and astonishing miracles which he performed, and the children crying in the temple, and continuing the song which the multitude had begun, Hosanna to the son of David, they were sore displeased — Inwardly vexed and filled with indignation. The works that Christ did recommended themselves to every man’s conscience: if they had any sense, they could not but own the miracle of them; and if any good-nature, they could not but be in love with the mercy of them; yet, because they were resolved to oppose him, even for these works they envied and hated him. And said, Hearest thou what these (the children) say? — Insinuating that it was his duty to stop their mouths, by refusing the praises which they offered without understanding what they said. Jesus saith, Yea; have ye never read — Are you unacquainted with the Scriptures? You, that want the people to regard you as the great teachers of God’s law? Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise — These words are quoted out of the eighth Psalm, and imply that, “though all men should be silent, God has no need of other heralds to proclaim his praise than infants, who hang at their mothers’ breasts; because, notwithstanding they be dumb, the admirable providence of God, conspicuous in their preservation, is equal to the loudest and sublimest eloquence. And, by applying these words to the case in hand, Jesus signified that the meanest of God’s works are so formed as to declare the greatness of his perfections; that as the Father does not refuse the praise which arises from the least of his creatures, so the Son did not disdain the praise which was offered him by children. In the present instance their praise was peculiarly acceptable, because it implied that his miracles were exceedingly illustrious, inasmuch as they led minds wherein there was nothing but the dawnings of reason, to acknowledge his mission. The Messiah’s praise, therefore, might, with remarkable propriety, be said, on this occasion, to have been perfected out of the mouths of babes and sucklings.” — Macknight. But see the note on Psalm 8:2; where the psalmist’s words, here referred to, are explained at large. And he left them — Namely, when the evening was come, both in prudence, lest they should have seized him before his hour was come, and in justice, because they had forfeited the favour of his presence: he left them as incorrigible. And went out of the city — Privately, with none to attend him but the twelve; to Bethany — Where the resurrection of Lazarus had procured him friends, among whom he was always in safety.

Ver. 15, 16. When the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and heard the children singing Hosannas to the Son of David, they were enraged beyond description, ira est furor; and said to him, hearest thou what these say? Our Lord, from the plenitude of divine wisdom, quoted against them the eighth psalm, which others had overlooked. “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise;” a prophecy that men of all ages, and of all nations should praise and glorify the Son of man. Other prophecies are of similar import. Psalm 35:18. 45:1. 98:1. These contain burning words, which we, as well as the scribes, too much overlook.

16. Hearest thou — Dost thou hear how they call thee Son of David — the king by descent — the Messiah by title? Dost thou note that they are mere children that do this? Jesus shows them that even of old, the praises of children were the subject of his own father David’s psalms, and so no fit subject for present contempt and prohibition. Psalm 8:2.

Verse 16. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, &c. — This is from Psalm 8:2. The Hebrew is, “Thou hast founded or constituted strength;” but the evangelist follows the Septuagint, thou hast perfected or ordained praise; the sense being equivalent. Their praises strongly and irresistibly declared the majesty and fame of God. These words are not introduced with the usual formula, “Now this was done that it might be fulfilled,” or, “Thus was fulfilled,” and therefore we are not obliged to consider them adduced as a prophecy accomplished by the event; and the argument of Christ with the Pharisees will be sufficiently conclusive without regarding them in this light. Still, even this passage is not an instance of accommodation, properly so called, which supposes no relation but that of a verbal similarity to the subject illustrated. The psalm from which they are taken celebrates the praises of God for our redemption, by Him who was made “a little,” or for a little while, “lower than the angels,” and then “crowned with glory and honour,” having all things “put under his feet.” This the Apostle Paul applies directly to Christ, and includes in it the wonderful exaltation of fallen human nature in, him. The psalm is thus introduced, “O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth; who hast set thy glory above the heavens.” But who acknowledges this glory of God in human redemption? Not the “enemies” mentioned in the next verse, but the “babes and sucklings” “out of whose mouth” God is said to have ordained “strength, because of his enemies, and to still the enemy and the avenger.” Now, since this strength was ordained out of the mouth, it must be understood of the strength of speech, strength of doctrine, and strength of praise; which most fitly applies to the apostles and disciples of our Lord, who were, in the estimation of the world, weak and inefficient as babes and sucklings, and yet by their asserting the claims of Christ, and proclaiming his praises, they silenced his most potent enemies, making the glory of God in the redemption of mankind by his Son to fill the civilized world, and to be almost universally acknowledged. Thus by these weak instruments were those mighty results accomplished which brought so much glory to God, and so mightily confounded his “enemies.” Now of this the praises of the little children in the temple were a beautiful type: Christ was first publicly acknowledged and publicly praised in his temple by children, and that to the confusion of his enemies, who were struck dumb themselves, but could not silence them; and there is nothing improbable in supposing that, as a fine emblem was thus exhibited of the manner in which the enemies of Christ would be “stilled” or silenced by that “strength” which God was about to ordain out of the mouths of the apostles, so this emblematical representation of a most interesting truth and important fact was not the result of accident, but of the overruling providence of God. For that there was something remarkable in the case, appears from the children not being mentioned as taking a part in the hosannas of the procession on the way to and through Jerusalem, but only in the temple, and that in the very presence of “the enemies,” the chief priests and scribes; and also that then only their acclamations are mentioned, not those of any others. It would seem as if these children were collected there and moved upon by a supernatural impulse, to repeat the joyful songs and hosannas which had been sung by the multitude in the streets, and along the way to Jerusalem. And if so, we may conclude that this singular event, arranged by God to be an emblem of one much higher, even of that which should fully, and in the highest sense, accomplish the prophecy, was also referred to in this prophetic psalm itself, and was in its degree a direct accomplishment of it. It is no small confirmation of this view, — that the children in the temple publishing the claims and honours of Christ, were emblems of the apostles and the other disciples, — that Christ himself calls them “babes,” in contrast to the learned and influential of the world. “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.”

V. 17. Mark 11:11, 12.

Verse 17. And he left them (katalipwn, finally leaving them) and went-into Bethany; and he lodged there.] Bethany was a village about two miles distant from Jerusalem, by Mount Olivet, John 11:18; and it is remarkable that from this day till his death, which happened about six days after, he spent not one night in Jerusalem, but went every evening to Bethany, and returned to the city each morning. See Luke 21:37; 22:39; John 8:1, 2. They were about to murder the Lord of glory; and the true light, which they had rejected, is now departing from them. Lodged there.] Not merely to avoid the snares laid for him by those bad men, but to take away all suspicion of his affecting the regal power. To the end of this verse is added by the Saxon, [Anglo-Saxon]. And taught them of the kingdom of God. This same reading is found in some MSS., Missals, and one copy of the Itala. It appears also in Wickliff, and my old folio English MS. Bible, and taugt hem of the kyngdom of God; and in two MS. copies of the Vulgate, in my possession: one, duodecimo, very fairly written, in 1300; the other a large folio, probably written in the 11th or 12th century, in which the words are, IBIQUE docebat eos de regno Dei. AND THERE he taught them concerning the kingdom of God.

Verses 15-17. When the chief priests, &c., saw the wonderful things he did — The undeniable and astonishing miracles which he performed, and the children crying in the temple, and continuing the song which the multitude had begun, Hosanna to the son of David, they were sore displeased — Inwardly vexed and filled with indignation. The works that Christ did recommended themselves to every man’s conscience: if they had any sense, they could not but own the miracle of them; and if any good-nature, they could not but be in love with the mercy of them; yet, because they were resolved to oppose him, even for these works they envied and hated him. And said, Hearest thou what these (the children) say? — Insinuating that it was his duty to stop their mouths, by refusing the praises which they offered without understanding what they said. Jesus saith, Yea; have ye never read — Are you unacquainted with the Scriptures? You, that want the people to regard you as the great teachers of God’s law? Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise — These words are quoted out of the eighth Psalm, and imply that, “though all men should be silent, God has no need of other heralds to proclaim his praise than infants, who hang at their mothers’ breasts; because, notwithstanding they be dumb, the admirable providence of God, conspicuous in their preservation, is equal to the loudest and sublimest eloquence. And, by applying these words to the case in hand, Jesus signified that the meanest of God’s works are so formed as to declare the greatness of his perfections; that as the Father does not refuse the praise which arises from the least of his creatures, so the Son did not disdain the praise which was offered him by children. In the present instance their praise was peculiarly acceptable, because it implied that his miracles were exceedingly illustrious, inasmuch as they led minds wherein there was nothing but the dawnings of reason, to acknowledge his mission. The Messiah’s praise, therefore, might, with remarkable propriety, be said, on this occasion, to have been perfected out of the mouths of babes and sucklings.” — Macknight. But see the note on Psalm 8:2; where the psalmist’s words, here referred to, are explained at large. And he left them — Namely, when the evening was come, both in prudence, lest they should have seized him before his hour was come, and in justice, because they had forfeited the favour of his presence: he left them as incorrigible. And went out of the city — Privately, with none to attend him but the twelve; to Bethany — Where the resurrection of Lazarus had procured him friends, among whom he was always in safety.

17. Out of the city into Bethany — The labors of this Sunday (the first day of the Passion Week) were now closed, and Jesus (as we are also told in Mark 11:11) left the city of his treacherous enemies for the night, and lodged with his friends at Bethany. Thus did Jesus by boldly defying the rulers, under popular favour, by day, and retreating from their jurisdiction by night, evade their machinations, and perform his ministry until his hour had come. On the morrow he returned to Jerusalem; and on the way the transaction of the following paragraph took place.

Monday of Passion Week.

Verse 17. And lodged there. — Hulisqh, he passed the night, not in the village at the house of Lazarus, but probably sub dio, in the open air, among the olive trees, with which the district abounded; for it is added, “in the morning when he returned to the city he was hungry,” which he could scarcely be in coming so short a distance as two miles from the house of Lazarus, had he been entertained there. Our blessed Lord chose this for the sake of solitude and prayer, knowing that “his hour” was approaching; and also no doubt to avoid suspicion, that it was plotting by night with his followers and the populace to seize the government. It was this circumstance, probably, which prevented the Roman governor from taking any alarm. All that Christ did was in the day and at night he departed from the city.

Verse 18. Now in the morning, as he returned into the city] Which was his custom from the time he wholly left Jerusalem, spending only the day time teaching in the temple; see Matthew 21:17. This was probably on Thursday, the 12th day of the month Nisan.

He hungered-Probably neither he, nor his disciples, had any thing but what they got from public charity; and the hand of that seems to have been cold at this time.

Verses 18-22. In the morning, as he returned, he hungered — For, being a man, he was subject to all the innocent infirmities of our nature, and he had come out from Bethany early without eating any thing: And when he saw a fig-tree (Gr. sukhn mian, a single fig-tree) in the way — Having a fine spread of leaves upon it, and therefore appearing to be one of the earlier kind; he came to it — In expectation of finding figs thereon, for the season of gathering them was not yet come, Mark 11:12; and found nothing but leaves only — By which it plainly appeared that, though it looked so beautiful, it was a barren tree. Thus Christ’s just expectations from flourishing professors are often disappointed; he comes to many seeking fruit, and finds leaves only: they have a name to live, but are dead. And he said, Let no fruit grow on thee for ever — As thou art now fruitless, continue always so. Thus the sin of hypocrites and unfruitful professors is made their punishment; they would not bring forth the fruits of righteousness, and therefore they shall not bring them forth. And presently the fig-tree withered away — That is, began to wither away. This, like many other of our Lord’s actions, was emblematical. It signified that the curse of God would thus wither and destroy the Jewish nation, which he had before compared to a barren fig-tree; Luke 13:6-9. And when the disciples saw it — As they went by the next day, Mark 11:20, they marvelled, saying, How soon, &c. — They were astonished to see it withered down to the roots in the space of one day. Jesus answered, If ye have faith, and doubt not — So the same word diakrinomai is rendered James 1:6, and so it doubtless frequently signifies; but Dr. Whitby proposes rendering it here, do not discriminate, or put a difference: as if our Lord had said, “If you have such a faith as puts no difference between things you can, and things you cannot do, but makes you fully persuaded you can do any thing which tends to the glory of God, and is requisite for the promotion of the Christian faith, you shall be able to perform the most difficult things; which is the meaning of the phrase, to remove mountains.” Thus we learn that one great end of our Lord in this miracle was, to confirm and increase the faith of his disciples: another was, to warn them against unfruitfulness. And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer — All things that God in his word authorizes you to ask, as being for your real profit, or that of others, and for God’s glory, and therefore according to his will, 1 John 5:14; ye shall receive — “Nothing shall be too hard which God hath promised, and ye by faith and prayer are fit to receive.” So Baxter. “Faith is the soul, prayer is the body; both together make a complete man for any service. Faith, if it be right, will excite prayer, and prayer is not right if it do not spring from faith. This is the condition of our receiving; we must ask in prayer, believing: the requests of prayer shall not be denied: the expectations of faith shall not be frustrated. We have many promises to this purpose from the mouth of our Lord Jesus, and all to encourage faith, the principal grace, and prayer, the principal duty of a Christian. It is but, ask and have; believe and receive; and what would we more?” So Henry.

§§ 112, 113. — THE FIG TREE WITHERED, AND ITS LESSON OF FAITH, 18-22. The triumphal entry, the cleansing of the temple, and the withering of the fig tree, are a series of miracles in the order of climax. But it is a climax of judgment. The first indicated a Messiah of peace to the Gentiles; the second a terrible reformation in God’s Church; and the third, the entire blasting of the Jewish pride and power. If the fig tree with its fair promise of leaves and its barrenness of fruit was the Jewish nation, its withering under his malediction was the perdition of the Jewish state and system.

18. In the morning — Of Monday the second day of the Passion Week. He hungered — He probably left Bethlehem before his breakfast, that he might attend the morning service at the temple.

Verse 19. He saw a fig tree in the way] epi thv odou, By the road side. As this fig tree was by the way side, it was no private property; and on this account our Lord, or any other traveller, had a right to take of its fruit. For a full explanation of this difficult passage, relative to this emblematic fig tree, see on Mark 11:13, &c.

Let no fruit grow on thee] Can a professor, who affords Christ nothing but barren words and wishes, expect any thing but his malediction? When the soul continues in unfruitfulness, the influences of grace are removed, and then the tree speedily withers from the very root.

Verses 18-22. In the morning, as he returned, he hungered — For, being a man, he was subject to all the innocent infirmities of our nature, and he had come out from Bethany early without eating any thing: And when he saw a fig-tree (Gr. sukhn mian, a single fig-tree) in the way — Having a fine spread of leaves upon it, and therefore appearing to be one of the earlier kind; he came to it — In expectation of finding figs thereon, for the season of gathering them was not yet come, Mark 11:12; and found nothing but leaves only — By which it plainly appeared that, though it looked so beautiful, it was a barren tree. Thus Christ’s just expectations from flourishing professors are often disappointed; he comes to many seeking fruit, and finds leaves only: they have a name to live, but are dead. And he said, Let no fruit grow on thee for ever — As thou art now fruitless, continue always so. Thus the sin of hypocrites and unfruitful professors is made their punishment; they would not bring forth the fruits of righteousness, and therefore they shall not bring them forth. And presently the fig-tree withered away — That is, began to wither away. This, like many other of our Lord’s actions, was emblematical. It signified that the curse of God would thus wither and destroy the Jewish nation, which he had before compared to a barren fig-tree; Luke 13:6-9. And when the disciples saw it — As they went by the next day, Mark 11:20, they marvelled, saying, How soon, &c. — They were astonished to see it withered down to the roots in the space of one day. Jesus answered, If ye have faith, and doubt not — So the same word diakrinomai is rendered James 1:6, and so it doubtless frequently signifies; but Dr. Whitby proposes rendering it here, do not discriminate, or put a difference: as if our Lord had said, “If you have such a faith as puts no difference between things you can, and things you cannot do, but makes you fully persuaded you can do any thing which tends to the glory of God, and is requisite for the promotion of the Christian faith, you shall be able to perform the most difficult things; which is the meaning of the phrase, to remove mountains.” Thus we learn that one great end of our Lord in this miracle was, to confirm and increase the faith of his disciples: another was, to warn them against unfruitfulness. And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer — All things that God in his word authorizes you to ask, as being for your real profit, or that of others, and for God’s glory, and therefore according to his will, 1 John 5:14; ye shall receive — “Nothing shall be too hard which God hath promised, and ye by faith and prayer are fit to receive.” So Baxter. “Faith is the soul, prayer is the body; both together make a complete man for any service. Faith, if it be right, will excite prayer, and prayer is not right if it do not spring from faith. This is the condition of our receiving; we must ask in prayer, believing: the requests of prayer shall not be denied: the expectations of faith shall not be frustrated. We have many promises to this purpose from the mouth of our Lord Jesus, and all to encourage faith, the principal grace, and prayer, the principal duty of a Christian. It is but, ask and have; believe and receive; and what would we more?” So Henry.

Ver. 19. He found nothing thereon but leaves. This happened in the month of Nisan, previous to the barley harvest. Mark observes accordingly, that it was not yet the time of [ripe] figs. Probably our Saviour in his hunger meant to eat green figs, or sought some old fruit, which might have hung over the winter. He approached this tree to show his disciples, previous to his sufferings, what the power of faith could do. He knew that the tree was destitute of fruit, and naturally barren. Hence his sentence against this tree did not injure the poor to whom fruits by the wayside were common; it was a figure, that God would soon wither away the barren nation of the jews. What then would infidels say against this sovereign and most significant action of our Lord’s. It wronged no man, and it greatly comforted the disciples against the troubles that were just at hand.

19. Leaves only — Like a hypocrite with a fair show of profession. No fruit. Mark says that “it was not yet the time of figs.” But the fig tree usually puts forth fruit before its leaves, and if this tree was able to put forth leaves, what defence had it for being fruitless? Or what business had it to be putting forth leaves, and so pretending fruit, if it were barren just like the rest? The Jewish nation had the leaves of a fair profession above all the nations; or, we may say, alone of the nations. But it was, like them, barren of fruit. No fruit… henceforward — He that is wilfully barren may find himself given over to impotence. And after that he shall, like the fig tree, wither away.

Some have cavilled at this act of our Lord as being destructive and malignant in its character. But it was one of a series of symbolical acts, from which no one suffered. The fig tree was by the road side; and so, probably, the property of no one but the Creator; and doubtless He consented to be at that much expense to supply material for the symbol. Matthew now omits all notice of the farther events of Monday, in order to pursue the sequel of the fig tree. Mark and Luke inform us that the Lord spent the day in quiet teaching in the temple, while the hierarchy were plotting to destroy him.

Tuesday of Passion Week.

Verse 19. A fig tree in the way. — Sukhn mian, one fig tree; so spoken of, either because it stood alone, which is scarcely probable, as Bethphage, which lay in the way, had its name from the abundance of fig trees in its neighbourhood; or as one more branchy and verdant than the rest. and which therefore gave greater promise of fruit; and was on that account the better emblem of the Jewish nation, to whose rejection the miracle had a direct reference. But he found nothing thereon but leaves only. St. Mark adds, “for the time of figs was not yet;” that is, the time of gathering them had not arrived, and therefore the absence of figs arose from nothing but the barrenness of the tree. This is the plain sense of ou gar hn kairov sukwn, as appears from Matthew 21:34, o kairov twn karpwn, “and when the time of the fruit drew near.” So unnecessarily have commentators often puzzled themselves and their readers about a plain matter.

In causing this fig tree to wither away, our Lord invaded no private property, as it stood by the wayside, and belonged to no one; and besides, being hopelessly barren, it had no value. See note on Mark 11:13.

V. 20. The disciples seeing it-As they went by, the next day.

Verse 20. How soon is the fig tree withered away!] We often say to our neighbours, “How suddenly this man died! Who could have expected it so soon?” But who takes warning by these examples? What we say to-day of OTHERS, may be said to-morrow of OURSELVES. Be ye also ready! Lord, increase our faith!

Verses 18-22. In the morning, as he returned, he hungered — For, being a man, he was subject to all the innocent infirmities of our nature, and he had come out from Bethany early without eating any thing: And when he saw a fig-tree (Gr. sukhn mian, a single fig-tree) in the way — Having a fine spread of leaves upon it, and therefore appearing to be one of the earlier kind; he came to it — In expectation of finding figs thereon, for the season of gathering them was not yet come, Mark 11:12; and found nothing but leaves only — By which it plainly appeared that, though it looked so beautiful, it was a barren tree. Thus Christ’s just expectations from flourishing professors are often disappointed; he comes to many seeking fruit, and finds leaves only: they have a name to live, but are dead. And he said, Let no fruit grow on thee for ever — As thou art now fruitless, continue always so. Thus the sin of hypocrites and unfruitful professors is made their punishment; they would not bring forth the fruits of righteousness, and therefore they shall not bring them forth. And presently the fig-tree withered away — That is, began to wither away. This, like many other of our Lord’s actions, was emblematical. It signified that the curse of God would thus wither and destroy the Jewish nation, which he had before compared to a barren fig-tree; Luke 13:6-9. And when the disciples saw it — As they went by the next day, Mark 11:20, they marvelled, saying, How soon, &c. — They were astonished to see it withered down to the roots in the space of one day. Jesus answered, If ye have faith, and doubt not — So the same word diakrinomai is rendered James 1:6, and so it doubtless frequently signifies; but Dr. Whitby proposes rendering it here, do not discriminate, or put a difference: as if our Lord had said, “If you have such a faith as puts no difference between things you can, and things you cannot do, but makes you fully persuaded you can do any thing which tends to the glory of God, and is requisite for the promotion of the Christian faith, you shall be able to perform the most difficult things; which is the meaning of the phrase, to remove mountains.” Thus we learn that one great end of our Lord in this miracle was, to confirm and increase the faith of his disciples: another was, to warn them against unfruitfulness. And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer — All things that God in his word authorizes you to ask, as being for your real profit, or that of others, and for God’s glory, and therefore according to his will, 1 John 5:14; ye shall receive — “Nothing shall be too hard which God hath promised, and ye by faith and prayer are fit to receive.” So Baxter. “Faith is the soul, prayer is the body; both together make a complete man for any service. Faith, if it be right, will excite prayer, and prayer is not right if it do not spring from faith. This is the condition of our receiving; we must ask in prayer, believing: the requests of prayer shall not be denied: the expectations of faith shall not be frustrated. We have many promises to this purpose from the mouth of our Lord Jesus, and all to encourage faith, the principal grace, and prayer, the principal duty of a Christian. It is but, ask and have; believe and receive; and what would we more?” So Henry.

20. And when — On Tuesday, the next morning after the cursing of the fig tree. They spent the night at Bethany, and were on their return to the city. They are struck with the suddenness of the fig tree’s withering, and Peter (Mark 11:21) calls our Lord’s attention to it.

Verse 20. And when the disciples saw it, &c. — St. Matthew does not mark the order of time, but merely relates the fact: from St. Mark we learn that it was on the next morning, in coming to Jerusalem on the same road, that the disciples noticed that the fig tree was wholly withered. At this they “marvelled,” and Christ designed that it should arrest their attention. It was not an act of passionate disappointment in him to curse the fig tree because he found no fruit thereon, as infidels have profanely asserted, which is refuted by his whole character, on which a calm dignity was constantly impressed; he knew that there was no fruit on it, and he might have gone to other trees, where his wants might have been supplied; but he intended to teach his disciples an awful lesson by an emblem which not only pointed out the doom of a degenerate nation, of whose hypocritical and delusive pretensions the barren fig tree was a sign, but also that of hypocrites and apostates from his religion; for to this event St. Jude appears strikingly to allude when he marks the character and fate of such persons, as “trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots.”

V. 21. Jesus answering, said, If ye have faith-Whence we may learn, that one great end of our Lord in this miracle was to confirm and increase their faith: another was, to warn them against unfruitfulness. Matthew 17:20.

Verse 21. If ye have faith, and doubt not] See on Matthew 17:20. Removing mountains, and rooting up of mountains, are phrases very generally used to signify the removing or conquering great difficulties-getting through perplexities. So, many of the rabbins are termed rooters up of mountains, because they were dexterous in removing difficulties, solving cases of conscience, &c. In this sense our Lord’s words are to be understood. He that has faith will get through every difficulty and perplexity; mountains shall become molehills or plains before him. The saying is neither to be taken in its literal sense, nor is it hyperbolical: it is a proverbial form of speech, which no Jew could misunderstand, and with which no Christian ought to be puzzled.

Verses 18-22. In the morning, as he returned, he hungered — For, being a man, he was subject to all the innocent infirmities of our nature, and he had come out from Bethany early without eating any thing: And when he saw a fig-tree (Gr. sukhn mian, a single fig-tree) in the way — Having a fine spread of leaves upon it, and therefore appearing to be one of the earlier kind; he came to it — In expectation of finding figs thereon, for the season of gathering them was not yet come, Mark 11:12; and found nothing but leaves only — By which it plainly appeared that, though it looked so beautiful, it was a barren tree. Thus Christ’s just expectations from flourishing professors are often disappointed; he comes to many seeking fruit, and finds leaves only: they have a name to live, but are dead. And he said, Let no fruit grow on thee for ever — As thou art now fruitless, continue always so. Thus the sin of hypocrites and unfruitful professors is made their punishment; they would not bring forth the fruits of righteousness, and therefore they shall not bring them forth. And presently the fig-tree withered away — That is, began to wither away. This, like many other of our Lord’s actions, was emblematical. It signified that the curse of God would thus wither and destroy the Jewish nation, which he had before compared to a barren fig-tree; Luke 13:6-9. And when the disciples saw it — As they went by the next day, Mark 11:20, they marvelled, saying, How soon, &c. — They were astonished to see it withered down to the roots in the space of one day. Jesus answered, If ye have faith, and doubt not — So the same word diakrinomai is rendered James 1:6, and so it doubtless frequently signifies; but Dr. Whitby proposes rendering it here, do not discriminate, or put a difference: as if our Lord had said, “If you have such a faith as puts no difference between things you can, and things you cannot do, but makes you fully persuaded you can do any thing which tends to the glory of God, and is requisite for the promotion of the Christian faith, you shall be able to perform the most difficult things; which is the meaning of the phrase, to remove mountains.” Thus we learn that one great end of our Lord in this miracle was, to confirm and increase the faith of his disciples: another was, to warn them against unfruitfulness. And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer — All things that God in his word authorizes you to ask, as being for your real profit, or that of others, and for God’s glory, and therefore according to his will, 1 John 5:14; ye shall receive — “Nothing shall be too hard which God hath promised, and ye by faith and prayer are fit to receive.” So Baxter. “Faith is the soul, prayer is the body; both together make a complete man for any service. Faith, if it be right, will excite prayer, and prayer is not right if it do not spring from faith. This is the condition of our receiving; we must ask in prayer, believing: the requests of prayer shall not be denied: the expectations of faith shall not be frustrated. We have many promises to this purpose from the mouth of our Lord Jesus, and all to encourage faith, the principal grace, and prayer, the principal duty of a Christian. It is but, ask and have; believe and receive; and what would we more?” So Henry.

Ver. 21. If ye shall say to this mountain, be thou removed. This was a Hebrew proverb. When a man illustrated any science, or surmounted great difficulties, he was said to remove mountains. The sense is similar to that of Zechariah 4:7, of the mountain becoming a plain before Zerubbabel.

21. If ye have faith, and doubt not — Jesus does not explain the symbolical import of either the triumphal entry, the cleansing of the temple, or the withering of the fig tree. Their symbolism appears from the intrinsic character of the transactions. This lesson of faith is here drawn from the miracle, because Jesus is soon to leave them to their own moral strength, amid the state of surrounding ruin prefigured by the withered tree. This mountain — Referring, perhaps, to Mount Olivet, over which they were passing.

Verse 21. If ye have faith, and doubt not, &c. — The lesson just mentioned Christ leaves the disciples to infer; but he teaches them, from the sudden withering of the fig tree at his word, the efficiency of faith. The addition, “and doubt not,” mh diakriqhte, is added, not in the sense of discriminate, but as equivalent to distazw; and thus to believe and doubt not, signifies the highest degree of faith in God. In all such cases of working miracles through faith, a special revelation or impression as to the will of God is, however, supposed; for the confidence of man has no warrant beyond God’s promise. The sense is well expressed by Mr. Baxter, “Nothing shall be too hard which God hath promised, and ye by faith and prayer are fit to receive.” Hence the apostles wrought their miracles in the most solemn manner, as men in immediate communication with God and acting under intimations from him; and to show that this power was not one so residing in them as to be wielded at pleasure, our Lords adds, “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer believing, ye shall receive;” which, however, supposes, that we ask, as St. John says, “according to the will of God;” which applies to the receiving of the power to work miracles, as well as more generally to blessings, ordinarily and more specially promised not only to the apostles, but to all believers in all future ages. For this encouragement to believing prayer is not, like the working of miracles, to be confined to the apostles, but is a general promise. Whatever is asked in faith, agreeably to the will of God, and which we are authorized to make the subject of our supplications, as being contained in his covenant promises, shall be given, though apparently impossible to attain, and though really so, independent of the immediate exertion of the power of God. To remove a mountain, is a proverbial phrase for performing things the most difficult or impossible. Hence the Jews say of an acute doctor, one who is able to solve the most intricate questions, “He is a rooter up of mountains.”

Verse 22. All things-ye shall ask in prayer, believing] In order to get salvation, there must be, 1. a conviction of the want of it: this begets, 2. prayer, or warm desires, in the heart: then 3. the person asks, i.e. makes use of words expressive of his wants and wishes: 4. believes the word of promise, relative to the fulfilment of his wants: and 5. receives, according to the merciful promise of God, the salvation which his soul requires.

Verses 18-22. In the morning, as he returned, he hungered — For, being a man, he was subject to all the innocent infirmities of our nature, and he had come out from Bethany early without eating any thing: And when he saw a fig-tree (Gr. sukhn mian, a single fig-tree) in the way — Having a fine spread of leaves upon it, and therefore appearing to be one of the earlier kind; he came to it — In expectation of finding figs thereon, for the season of gathering them was not yet come, Mark 11:12; and found nothing but leaves only — By which it plainly appeared that, though it looked so beautiful, it was a barren tree. Thus Christ’s just expectations from flourishing professors are often disappointed; he comes to many seeking fruit, and finds leaves only: they have a name to live, but are dead. And he said, Let no fruit grow on thee for ever — As thou art now fruitless, continue always so. Thus the sin of hypocrites and unfruitful professors is made their punishment; they would not bring forth the fruits of righteousness, and therefore they shall not bring them forth. And presently the fig-tree withered away — That is, began to wither away. This, like many other of our Lord’s actions, was emblematical. It signified that the curse of God would thus wither and destroy the Jewish nation, which he had before compared to a barren fig-tree; Luke 13:6-9. And when the disciples saw it — As they went by the next day, Mark 11:20, they marvelled, saying, How soon, &c. — They were astonished to see it withered down to the roots in the space of one day. Jesus answered, If ye have faith, and doubt not — So the same word diakrinomai is rendered James 1:6, and so it doubtless frequently signifies; but Dr. Whitby proposes rendering it here, do not discriminate, or put a difference: as if our Lord had said, “If you have such a faith as puts no difference between things you can, and things you cannot do, but makes you fully persuaded you can do any thing which tends to the glory of God, and is requisite for the promotion of the Christian faith, you shall be able to perform the most difficult things; which is the meaning of the phrase, to remove mountains.” Thus we learn that one great end of our Lord in this miracle was, to confirm and increase the faith of his disciples: another was, to warn them against unfruitfulness. And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer — All things that God in his word authorizes you to ask, as being for your real profit, or that of others, and for God’s glory, and therefore according to his will, 1 John 5:14; ye shall receive — “Nothing shall be too hard which God hath promised, and ye by faith and prayer are fit to receive.” So Baxter. “Faith is the soul, prayer is the body; both together make a complete man for any service. Faith, if it be right, will excite prayer, and prayer is not right if it do not spring from faith. This is the condition of our receiving; we must ask in prayer, believing: the requests of prayer shall not be denied: the expectations of faith shall not be frustrated. We have many promises to this purpose from the mouth of our Lord Jesus, and all to encourage faith, the principal grace, and prayer, the principal duty of a Christian. It is but, ask and have; believe and receive; and what would we more?” So Henry.

22. Believing — With a faith that God inspires and you exercise. God will not give pure faith for a prayer or a work which he will not fulfil, nor yet will he promise the fulfilment, unless you exercise the faith he empowers. Ye shall receive — For God will not grant the power of faith for a gift; he will not grant either in kind or in equivalent.

§ 114. — JESUS’S DISCOURSE WITH THE CHIEF PRIESTS IN THE TEMPLE, 23-22:1-14.

V. 23. When he was come into the temple, the chief priests came-Who thought he violated their right:

and the elders of the people-Probably, members of the sanhedrim, to whom that title most properly belonged: which is the more probable, as they were the persons under whose cognizance the late action of Christ, in purging the temple, would naturally fall. These, with the chief priests, seem purposely to have appeared in a considerable company, to give the more weight to what they said, and if need were, to bear a united testimony against him.

As he was teaching-Which also they supposed he had no authority to do, being neither priest, nor Levite, nor scribe. Some of the priests (though not as priests) and all the scribes were authorized teachers. By what authority dost thou these things-Publicly teach the people! And drive out those who had our commission to traffic in the outer court? Luke 20:1; Mark 11:27.

Verse 23. By what authority doest thou these things?] The things which the chief priests allude to, were his receiving the acclamations of the people as the promised Messiah, his casting the traders out of the temple, and his teaching the people publicly in it.

Who gave thee this authority?] Not them: for, like many of their successors, they were neither teachers nor cleansers; though they had the name and the profits of the place.

Verses 23-27. When he was come into the temple, the chief priests came — Who thought he violated their right: And the elders of the people — Probably, members of the sanhedrim, to whom that title most properly belonged: which is the more probable, as they were the persons under whose cognizance the late action of Christ, in purging the temple, would naturally fall. These, with the chief priests, seem purposely to have appeared in a considerable company, to give the more weight to what they said, and, if need were, to bear a united testimony against him. As he was teaching — Which also they supposed he had no authority to do, being neither priest, nor Levite, nor scribe. Some of the priests, (though not as priests,) and all the scribes, were authorized teachers. By what authority doest thou these things — Publicly teach the people? And drive out those who had our commission to traffic in the outer court? Jesus answered, I also will ask you one thing — Who have asked me many: The baptism — That is, the whole ministry; of John, whence was it? — Whence had he his commission? from heaven, or of men? — Did God or man give him his authority to act and teach? This question reduced the priests and elders to an inextricable dilemma: and they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven, &c. — They considered, on the one hand, that if they should acknowledge John’s mission to be from God, it would oblige them to acknowledge Christ’s authority; John having more than once borne testimony to him as the Messiah. On the other hand, if they denied John’s divine mission, they did not know but the people, who stood listening to Jesus, would stone them; for they generally believed John to have been a prophet, many of them had submitted to his baptism, and at present not a few held him in high esteem on Christ’s account. Wherefore, as matters stood, they judged it safest to answer that they could not tell whence John’s baptism was. And he said, Neither tell I you — That is, not again in express terms: he had often told them before, and they would not believe him. Thus, by the question which he put to them, he obliged them to confess that they had not been able to pass any judgment upon John the Baptist, notwithstanding he claimed the character of a messenger from God, and they had sent to examine his pretensions. This in effect was to acknowledge themselves incapable of judging of any prophet whatsoever. “Ye are come,” said he, “to inquire into the proofs of my mission. I agree to submit myself to your examination, on condition that you tell me what your determination was concerning John. Was he a true or a false prophet? You say you do not know. But if you were not able to form a judgment concerning John, how can you take upon you to judge me?” In this light our Lord’s question, in answer to theirs, appears to have been formed with the greatest wisdom; because, whether the priests replied in the affirmative or in the negative, or gave no reply at all, they absolutely condemned themselves. See Macknight.

Ver. 23. By what authority doest thou these things? To ask this question, after the blind and the lame had just been healed, and after the buyers and sellers had fled before him, was an insult to the Majesty of heaven. If those priests would not acknowledge the mission of John, they would not acknowledge the authority of Christ. The Saviour having now assumed the regal character, spake and acted like himself. He passed sentence on their polluted temple: “Behold, your house is left” a desecrated ruin, and you shall not see me henceforth till you shall all in a future age join the choral multitude, and sing, “Blessed is the king that cometh in the name of the Lord.”

CHRIST’S ANSWER TO THE QUESTION OF HIS AUTHORITY, 23-27.

23. Into the temple — Our Lord persists calmly in the work of teaching, while he knows that danger besets him, and that death is close at hand. By what authority doest thou these things? — They ask this question, not because they do not know, but because they will not acknowledge. Jesus therefore proceeds to show them that they knew, and so compel them to the necessity of exposing their unwillingness to confess. It was the province of the Sanhedrim to give authority to teachers in the temple, an authority which Jesus had never received.

Verse 23. The chief priests and elders of the people. — These were the members of the great council, or sanhedrim, and they came to him in their official capacity; for it belonged to them to inquire into the pretensions of all who assumed the office of prophet, and to punish any whom they might determine had taken that character falsely. Hence in a rabbinical tract entitled “Sanhedrim,” it is said, “A tribe, a false prophet, or a high priest, is only amenable to the council of seventy-one judges.” These members of the council, therefore, demanded his authority for making a public entry into Jerusalem, for casting out the traders from their accustomed place of permitted traffic, and for teaching in the temple; so that, should he allege the authority of God, and explicitly profess the prophetic office, they might immediately call him before the council, and sit in judgment upon his claims. They probably also chose to seek a confession from his own mouth that he was a prophet, and to take advantage of any thing on which they might found a charge of blasphemy, rather than apprehend him without some new charge which the popular excitement in his favour might, as they supposed, render somewhat dangerous. Our Lord baffles this plot with the highest wisdom, because his “hour was not yet come,” and he had yet to deliver many weighty discourses, and for the public benefit to bear a severer testimony against the hypocrisy and wickedness of this cunning and corrupt race of men.

V. 24. I will ask you one thing-Who have asked me many: The baptism, that is, the whole ministry of John, was it from heaven or from men?-By what authority did he act and teach? Did man or God give him that authority? Was it not God? But if so, the consequence was clear. For John testified that Jesus was the Christ.

Verse 24. I also will ask you one thing] Our Lord was certainly under no obligation to answer their question: he had already given them such proofs of his Divine mission as could not possibly be exceeded, in the miracles which he wrought before their eyes, and before all Judea; and, as they would not credit him on this evidence, it would have been in vain to have expected their acknowledgment of him on any profession he would make.

Verses 23-27. When he was come into the temple, the chief priests came — Who thought he violated their right: And the elders of the people — Probably, members of the sanhedrim, to whom that title most properly belonged: which is the more probable, as they were the persons under whose cognizance the late action of Christ, in purging the temple, would naturally fall. These, with the chief priests, seem purposely to have appeared in a considerable company, to give the more weight to what they said, and, if need were, to bear a united testimony against him. As he was teaching — Which also they supposed he had no authority to do, being neither priest, nor Levite, nor scribe. Some of the priests, (though not as priests,) and all the scribes, were authorized teachers. By what authority doest thou these things — Publicly teach the people? And drive out those who had our commission to traffic in the outer court? Jesus answered, I also will ask you one thing — Who have asked me many: The baptism — That is, the whole ministry; of John, whence was it? — Whence had he his commission? from heaven, or of men? — Did God or man give him his authority to act and teach? This question reduced the priests and elders to an inextricable dilemma: and they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven, &c. — They considered, on the one hand, that if they should acknowledge John’s mission to be from God, it would oblige them to acknowledge Christ’s authority; John having more than once borne testimony to him as the Messiah. On the other hand, if they denied John’s divine mission, they did not know but the people, who stood listening to Jesus, would stone them; for they generally believed John to have been a prophet, many of them had submitted to his baptism, and at present not a few held him in high esteem on Christ’s account. Wherefore, as matters stood, they judged it safest to answer that they could not tell whence John’s baptism was. And he said, Neither tell I you — That is, not again in express terms: he had often told them before, and they would not believe him. Thus, by the question which he put to them, he obliged them to confess that they had not been able to pass any judgment upon John the Baptist, notwithstanding he claimed the character of a messenger from God, and they had sent to examine his pretensions. This in effect was to acknowledge themselves incapable of judging of any prophet whatsoever. “Ye are come,” said he, “to inquire into the proofs of my mission. I agree to submit myself to your examination, on condition that you tell me what your determination was concerning John. Was he a true or a false prophet? You say you do not know. But if you were not able to form a judgment concerning John, how can you take upon you to judge me?” In this light our Lord’s question, in answer to theirs, appears to have been formed with the greatest wisdom; because, whether the priests replied in the affirmative or in the negative, or gave no reply at all, they absolutely condemned themselves. See Macknight.

CHRIST’S ANSWER TO THE QUESTION OF HIS AUTHORITY, 23-27.

23. Into the temple — Our Lord persists calmly in the work of teaching, while he knows that danger besets him, and that death is close at hand. By what authority doest thou these things? — They ask this question, not because they do not know, but because they will not acknowledge. Jesus therefore proceeds to show them that they knew, and so compel them to the necessity of exposing their unwillingness to confess. It was the province of the Sanhedrim to give authority to teachers in the temple, an authority which Jesus had never received.

V. 25. Why did ye not believe him-Testifying this.

Verse 25. The baptism of John] Had John a Divine commission or not, for his baptism and preaching? Our Lord here takes the wise in their own cunning. He knew the estimation John was in among the people; and he plainly saw that, if they gave any answer at all, they must convict themselves: and so they saw, when they came to examine the question. See Matthew 21:25, 26.

Verses 23-27. When he was come into the temple, the chief priests came — Who thought he violated their right: And the elders of the people — Probably, members of the sanhedrim, to whom that title most properly belonged: which is the more probable, as they were the persons under whose cognizance the late action of Christ, in purging the temple, would naturally fall. These, with the chief priests, seem purposely to have appeared in a considerable company, to give the more weight to what they said, and, if need were, to bear a united testimony against him. As he was teaching — Which also they supposed he had no authority to do, being neither priest, nor Levite, nor scribe. Some of the priests, (though not as priests,) and all the scribes, were authorized teachers. By what authority doest thou these things — Publicly teach the people? And drive out those who had our commission to traffic in the outer court? Jesus answered, I also will ask you one thing — Who have asked me many: The baptism — That is, the whole ministry; of John, whence was it? — Whence had he his commission? from heaven, or of men? — Did God or man give him his authority to act and teach? This question reduced the priests and elders to an inextricable dilemma: and they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven, &c. — They considered, on the one hand, that if they should acknowledge John’s mission to be from God, it would oblige them to acknowledge Christ’s authority; John having more than once borne testimony to him as the Messiah. On the other hand, if they denied John’s divine mission, they did not know but the people, who stood listening to Jesus, would stone them; for they generally believed John to have been a prophet, many of them had submitted to his baptism, and at present not a few held him in high esteem on Christ’s account. Wherefore, as matters stood, they judged it safest to answer that they could not tell whence John’s baptism was. And he said, Neither tell I you — That is, not again in express terms: he had often told them before, and they would not believe him. Thus, by the question which he put to them, he obliged them to confess that they had not been able to pass any judgment upon John the Baptist, notwithstanding he claimed the character of a messenger from God, and they had sent to examine his pretensions. This in effect was to acknowledge themselves incapable of judging of any prophet whatsoever. “Ye are come,” said he, “to inquire into the proofs of my mission. I agree to submit myself to your examination, on condition that you tell me what your determination was concerning John. Was he a true or a false prophet? You say you do not know. But if you were not able to form a judgment concerning John, how can you take upon you to judge me?” In this light our Lord’s question, in answer to theirs, appears to have been formed with the greatest wisdom; because, whether the priests replied in the affirmative or in the negative, or gave no reply at all, they absolutely condemned themselves. See Macknight.

Ver. 25. The baptism of John, whence was it; from heaven, or of men? The Saviour was aware that the rulers had despised John, even more than they despised himself, and had, in fact, rejoiced at his martyrdom. He therefore placed the adversaries in a complete dilemma; they must either confess that John’s mission to baptize the contrite, and reform the nation was divine, or else expose at once their own malice against the truth.

25. The baptism of John — And of course John’s mission. This mission and testimony they had once received. And having received it, they had acknowledged whence was the authority of Jesus for his miracles, his teachings, and his claims to the Messiahship. Why did ye not then believe him? — Why did ye apostatize? and why do ye not even now receive the testimony of John, which explains the source of my authority, and answers your question?

Verse 25. The baptism of John, &c. — That is, the ministry of John, of which baptism upon repentance, and faith in the immediate advent of Messiah, was so prominent a part; which ministry John fulfilled under the profession of Divine authority. The way in which our Lord put the case was, as though he said, “You affect to determine who are true and who are false prophets. Now John professed to be a prophet: was his authority from heaven, or of men? was he a real or only a pretended messenger from God?” The dilemma into which they were thrown is confessed among themselves, and was no doubt revealed to the evangelist, who records their “reasoning among themselves,” by inspiration, as they were not likely to make it publicly known; unless, indeed, we may suppose some one of the council, more favourable to the claims of Christ, as Nicodemus, might report it. They said, “If we shall say, From Heaven,” that is, from God, because used in that sense by the Jews, as sometimes by us, “He will say, Why did ye not then believe him,” and become his disciples, instead of slighting and persecuting him? “But if we shall say, Of men,” a merely human and self-instituted ministry, “we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet;” which, indeed, was so strong a persuasion among them, that they considered the defeat of Herod’s army, in his war with Aretas, king of Arabia, to be a signal judgment of God upon him on account of the murder of the Baptist. Between a decision which would have condemned themselves, and one which would have exasperated the people, and lessened their credit with them, they were held so firmly, that their only way of escape was to confess their ignorance of the matter; which only brought them into a difficulty more seriously fatal to their pretensions, because it was a confession that they were unable to judge between true and false prophets, Divine and self-constituted messengers, the power of which they arrogated to the sanhedrim. Hence, when they replied, We cannot tell, our Lord rejoins, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things; that is, “Since you have confessed your inability to discriminate the marks of a true and false prophet in the case of John, it follows that you are unfit to decide every similar case; and I refuse to put myself upon your judgment.”

Verses 23-27. When he was come into the temple, the chief priests came — Who thought he violated their right: And the elders of the people — Probably, members of the sanhedrim, to whom that title most properly belonged: which is the more probable, as they were the persons under whose cognizance the late action of Christ, in purging the temple, would naturally fall. These, with the chief priests, seem purposely to have appeared in a considerable company, to give the more weight to what they said, and, if need were, to bear a united testimony against him. As he was teaching — Which also they supposed he had no authority to do, being neither priest, nor Levite, nor scribe. Some of the priests, (though not as priests,) and all the scribes, were authorized teachers. By what authority doest thou these things — Publicly teach the people? And drive out those who had our commission to traffic in the outer court? Jesus answered, I also will ask you one thing — Who have asked me many: The baptism — That is, the whole ministry; of John, whence was it? — Whence had he his commission? from heaven, or of men? — Did God or man give him his authority to act and teach? This question reduced the priests and elders to an inextricable dilemma: and they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven, &c. — They considered, on the one hand, that if they should acknowledge John’s mission to be from God, it would oblige them to acknowledge Christ’s authority; John having more than once borne testimony to him as the Messiah. On the other hand, if they denied John’s divine mission, they did not know but the people, who stood listening to Jesus, would stone them; for they generally believed John to have been a prophet, many of them had submitted to his baptism, and at present not a few held him in high esteem on Christ’s account. Wherefore, as matters stood, they judged it safest to answer that they could not tell whence John’s baptism was. And he said, Neither tell I you — That is, not again in express terms: he had often told them before, and they would not believe him. Thus, by the question which he put to them, he obliged them to confess that they had not been able to pass any judgment upon John the Baptist, notwithstanding he claimed the character of a messenger from God, and they had sent to examine his pretensions. This in effect was to acknowledge themselves incapable of judging of any prophet whatsoever. “Ye are come,” said he, “to inquire into the proofs of my mission. I agree to submit myself to your examination, on condition that you tell me what your determination was concerning John. Was he a true or a false prophet? You say you do not know. But if you were not able to form a judgment concerning John, how can you take upon you to judge me?” In this light our Lord’s question, in answer to theirs, appears to have been formed with the greatest wisdom; because, whether the priests replied in the affirmative or in the negative, or gave no reply at all, they absolutely condemned themselves. See Macknight.

26. All hold John as a prophet — Even Herod, who slew him, trembled at his name as of a holy and God-sent man. The rulers, from political motives, have deserted John; but with all the ranks of the common people, even to the publicans and harlots, there is a deep feeling that John was a messenger of God. These feared the people, as Herod did before them, and, as Luke (Luke 20:6) informs us, they also feared a shower of stones.

V. 27. Neither tell I you-Not again, in express terms: he had often told them before, and they would not believe him.

Verse 27. We cannot tell.] Simplicity gives a wonderful confidence and peace of mind; but double dealing causes a thousand inquietudes and troubles. Let a man do his utmost to conceal in his own heart the evidence he has of truth and innocence, to countenance his not yielding to it; God, who sees the heart, will, in the light of the last day, produce it as a witness against him, and make it his judge.

We cannot tell, said they; which, in the words of truth, should have been, We will not tell, for we will not have this man for the Messiah: because, if we acknowledge John as his forerunner, we must, of necessity, receive Jesus as the Christ.

They who are engaged against the truth are abandoned to the spirit of falsity, and scruple not at a lie. Pharisaical pride, according to its different interests, either pretends to know every thing, or affects to know nothing. Among such, we may meet with numerous instances of arrogance and affected humility. God often hides from the wise and prudent what he reveals unto babes; for, when they use their wisdom only to invent the most plausible excuses for rejecting the truth when it comes to them, it is but just that they should be punished with that ignorance to which, in their own defence, they are obliged to have recourse.

Verses 23-27. When he was come into the temple, the chief priests came — Who thought he violated their right: And the elders of the people — Probably, members of the sanhedrim, to whom that title most properly belonged: which is the more probable, as they were the persons under whose cognizance the late action of Christ, in purging the temple, would naturally fall. These, with the chief priests, seem purposely to have appeared in a considerable company, to give the more weight to what they said, and, if need were, to bear a united testimony against him. As he was teaching — Which also they supposed he had no authority to do, being neither priest, nor Levite, nor scribe. Some of the priests, (though not as priests,) and all the scribes, were authorized teachers. By what authority doest thou these things — Publicly teach the people? And drive out those who had our commission to traffic in the outer court? Jesus answered, I also will ask you one thing — Who have asked me many: The baptism — That is, the whole ministry; of John, whence was it? — Whence had he his commission? from heaven, or of men? — Did God or man give him his authority to act and teach? This question reduced the priests and elders to an inextricable dilemma: and they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven, &c. — They considered, on the one hand, that if they should acknowledge John’s mission to be from God, it would oblige them to acknowledge Christ’s authority; John having more than once borne testimony to him as the Messiah. On the other hand, if they denied John’s divine mission, they did not know but the people, who stood listening to Jesus, would stone them; for they generally believed John to have been a prophet, many of them had submitted to his baptism, and at present not a few held him in high esteem on Christ’s account. Wherefore, as matters stood, they judged it safest to answer that they could not tell whence John’s baptism was. And he said, Neither tell I you — That is, not again in express terms: he had often told them before, and they would not believe him. Thus, by the question which he put to them, he obliged them to confess that they had not been able to pass any judgment upon John the Baptist, notwithstanding he claimed the character of a messenger from God, and they had sent to examine his pretensions. This in effect was to acknowledge themselves incapable of judging of any prophet whatsoever. “Ye are come,” said he, “to inquire into the proofs of my mission. I agree to submit myself to your examination, on condition that you tell me what your determination was concerning John. Was he a true or a false prophet? You say you do not know. But if you were not able to form a judgment concerning John, how can you take upon you to judge me?” In this light our Lord’s question, in answer to theirs, appears to have been formed with the greatest wisdom; because, whether the priests replied in the affirmative or in the negative, or gave no reply at all, they absolutely condemned themselves. See Macknight.

27. We cannot tell — That is, in the Greek, We know not. They would more truly have said, We know, but we do not like to confess. These teachers, who are the professed guides of the people, prepared to decide upon all questions, are now reduced to a “know not.” Neither tell I you — If they had really not known, and had inquired in order to know, how readily would our Lord have answered them. But he now simply exposes their obstinacy to themselves and leaves them to reflect upon it. And to aid them in these reflections he gives them the following parable, which comes in close application.

Verse 28. A certain man had two sons] Under the emblem of these two sons, one of whom was a libertine, disobedient, and insolent, but who afterwards thought on his ways, and returned to his duty; and the second, a hypocrite, who promised all, and did nothing; our Lord points out, on the one hand, the tax-gatherers and sinners of all descriptions, who, convicted by the preaching of John and that of Christ, turned away from their iniquities and embraced the Gospel; and, on the other hand, the scribes, Pharisees, and self-righteous people, who, pretending a zeal for the law, would not receive the salvation of the Gospel.

Verses 28-32. But what think ye — As if he had said, You have evaded a direct answer to my question concerning the baptism of John, and have acknowledged your ignorance whence it was; but what think you of your own conduct in these circumstances? and of all the high professions you make of an extraordinary reverence for God, and zeal in his service? I will plainly tell you my judgment of it, which is very naturally connected with the present subject. This our Lord does in two parables, in the former of which, by a question which he puts to them, he makes them condemn themselves. A certain man had two sons — Signifying two sorts of persons: some that prove better than they promise, represented by the former of these sons; others that promise better than they prove, represented by the latter. And he came to the first — Exhibiting the disobedient, profligate, and wicked Jews, and open sinners of all descriptions, who, though they neither professed nor promised to do the will of God, nor gave any reason to hope well concerning them, yet afterward being convinced of sin, and brought to repentance by the preaching of John the Baptist and Christ, turned from their sins, and sincerely embraced the gospel. The spirit and conduct of the second son was an exact picture of the temper and behaviour of the Pharisees; for in their prayers and praises they gave God the most honourable titles, and professed the greatest readiness and zeal in his service: but it was a bare profession, contradicted by all their actions. They said, I go, sir, to work in thy vineyard, but went not. Jesus having finished his parable, asked, Whether of them twain did the will of his Father? — Without hesitation, they replied, The first — Not perceiving that by this answer they condemned themselves, till Jesus, making a direct application of the parable, gave them that sharp but just rebuke; Verily I say unto you — Even the most abandoned sinners of the age, such as the publicans and harlots, go into the kingdom of God before you — Are much more open to conviction, and more readily obey the gospel than you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness — Walking in it as well as teaching it, and gave evident proofs of his mission from God; and ye believed him not — Gave no credit to the testimony which he bare to me, nor received his doctrine, and consequently would not enter the vineyard: but the publicans and harlots — The most notorious sinners; believed him — Were reformed, and obeyed the gospel, though at first they said, I will not. And ye, when ye had seen it — And could not deny that an amazing change had been wrought in them, and that persons of the most abandoned characters had been reformed by his sermons, which doubtless was a strong proof of his mission from God; yet repented not afterward — Of your opposition to that holy man, nor of your disobedience to his instructions; That ye might believe him — And therefore I solemnly warn you, (for so his words imply,) that your condition will hereafter be worse than theirs; and that you shall see those whom you now despise and abhor, entering into the glory from which you shall be excluded.

Ver. 28. A certain man had two sons. The scribes having evaded the confession of truth with regard to John, the Lord by a simple parable caught them by surprise, and forced them to acknowledge it. Feeble is the craft of man, opposed to the wisdom of God. The first of those sons, as the Lord illustrates, represents profligate characters who reject the gospel for a time, but afterwards repent, and become illustrious for piety. The second son, who at once promised fair, but never performed, designated the scribes, who with all their professions and sanctity of manners, remained in all their pride and enmity against the gospel, and a change of heart. They worshipped with a vain parade of words, saying, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are we; while harlots, publicans, and thieves wept under the ministry of John, and became his disciples, walking in the truth.

§ 114. — PARABLE OF TWO SONS, 28-32.

It was by the conscience of the common people (who were so deeply by them despised as a mass of sinners) that the hierarchy were held in check; and our Lord now in this parable shows his questioners how much superior that unsophisticated common people is in comparison with themselves. The people, having no mock piety to sustain as a substitute for the true, are far more ready to feel their sins and repent than their leaders.

28. What think ye? — Inasmuch as ye cannot tell what ye think of my last question, what think ye of the following case? Two sons — The former representing common people, the latter representing the hierarchy.

Verse 28. A certain man had two sons, &c. — This parable was designed to reprove the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees, for professing to pay a ready obedience to the commands of God, and yet rejecting the ministry of John. Although they declined to say whether John’s ministry was from God or not, our Lord determines the case, and charges them with a sinful opposition to his authorized mission.

Verse 29. I will not] This is the general reply of every sinner to the invitations of God; and, in it, the Most High is treated without ceremony or respect. They only are safe who persist not in the denial.

Verses 28-32. But what think ye — As if he had said, You have evaded a direct answer to my question concerning the baptism of John, and have acknowledged your ignorance whence it was; but what think you of your own conduct in these circumstances? and of all the high professions you make of an extraordinary reverence for God, and zeal in his service? I will plainly tell you my judgment of it, which is very naturally connected with the present subject. This our Lord does in two parables, in the former of which, by a question which he puts to them, he makes them condemn themselves. A certain man had two sons — Signifying two sorts of persons: some that prove better than they promise, represented by the former of these sons; others that promise better than they prove, represented by the latter. And he came to the first — Exhibiting the disobedient, profligate, and wicked Jews, and open sinners of all descriptions, who, though they neither professed nor promised to do the will of God, nor gave any reason to hope well concerning them, yet afterward being convinced of sin, and brought to repentance by the preaching of John the Baptist and Christ, turned from their sins, and sincerely embraced the gospel. The spirit and conduct of the second son was an exact picture of the temper and behaviour of the Pharisees; for in their prayers and praises they gave God the most honourable titles, and professed the greatest readiness and zeal in his service: but it was a bare profession, contradicted by all their actions. They said, I go, sir, to work in thy vineyard, but went not. Jesus having finished his parable, asked, Whether of them twain did the will of his Father? — Without hesitation, they replied, The first — Not perceiving that by this answer they condemned themselves, till Jesus, making a direct application of the parable, gave them that sharp but just rebuke; Verily I say unto you — Even the most abandoned sinners of the age, such as the publicans and harlots, go into the kingdom of God before you — Are much more open to conviction, and more readily obey the gospel than you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness — Walking in it as well as teaching it, and gave evident proofs of his mission from God; and ye believed him not — Gave no credit to the testimony which he bare to me, nor received his doctrine, and consequently would not enter the vineyard: but the publicans and harlots — The most notorious sinners; believed him — Were reformed, and obeyed the gospel, though at first they said, I will not. And ye, when ye had seen it — And could not deny that an amazing change had been wrought in them, and that persons of the most abandoned characters had been reformed by his sermons, which doubtless was a strong proof of his mission from God; yet repented not afterward — Of your opposition to that holy man, nor of your disobedience to his instructions; That ye might believe him — And therefore I solemnly warn you, (for so his words imply,) that your condition will hereafter be worse than theirs; and that you shall see those whom you now despise and abhor, entering into the glory from which you shall be excluded.

29. I will not — He made no pretence of sanctity. He was a plain, defenceless sinner. He repented, and went — Having no false righteousness to trust in, when the time of visitation came, he felt his sins, and was ready to feel his guilt and repent.

Verse 29. I will not, but afterward he repented, &c. — These represented, according to our Lord’s own explanation, verse 32, “the publicans and the harlots,” that is, notorious sinners, who had openly and rebelliously contemned the Divine authority; but afterward believed John’s doctrine, listened to his warnings, and turned with a penitent mind to God; to which class of persons it would appear that considerable numbers were recovered by John’s ministry.

V. 30. He answered, I go, sir: but went not-Just so did the scribes and Pharisees: they professed the greatest readiness and zeal in the service of God: but it was bare profession, contradicted by all their actions.

Verse 30. I go, sir] This is all respect, complaisance, and professed, obedience; but he went not: he promised well, but did not perform. What a multitude of such are in the world, professing to know God, but denying him in their works! Alas! what will such professions avail, when God comes to take away the soul?

Verses 28-32. But what think ye — As if he had said, You have evaded a direct answer to my question concerning the baptism of John, and have acknowledged your ignorance whence it was; but what think you of your own conduct in these circumstances? and of all the high professions you make of an extraordinary reverence for God, and zeal in his service? I will plainly tell you my judgment of it, which is very naturally connected with the present subject. This our Lord does in two parables, in the former of which, by a question which he puts to them, he makes them condemn themselves. A certain man had two sons — Signifying two sorts of persons: some that prove better than they promise, represented by the former of these sons; others that promise better than they prove, represented by the latter. And he came to the first — Exhibiting the disobedient, profligate, and wicked Jews, and open sinners of all descriptions, who, though they neither professed nor promised to do the will of God, nor gave any reason to hope well concerning them, yet afterward being convinced of sin, and brought to repentance by the preaching of John the Baptist and Christ, turned from their sins, and sincerely embraced the gospel. The spirit and conduct of the second son was an exact picture of the temper and behaviour of the Pharisees; for in their prayers and praises they gave God the most honourable titles, and professed the greatest readiness and zeal in his service: but it was a bare profession, contradicted by all their actions. They said, I go, sir, to work in thy vineyard, but went not. Jesus having finished his parable, asked, Whether of them twain did the will of his Father? — Without hesitation, they replied, The first — Not perceiving that by this answer they condemned themselves, till Jesus, making a direct application of the parable, gave them that sharp but just rebuke; Verily I say unto you — Even the most abandoned sinners of the age, such as the publicans and harlots, go into the kingdom of God before you — Are much more open to conviction, and more readily obey the gospel than you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness — Walking in it as well as teaching it, and gave evident proofs of his mission from God; and ye believed him not — Gave no credit to the testimony which he bare to me, nor received his doctrine, and consequently would not enter the vineyard: but the publicans and harlots — The most notorious sinners; believed him — Were reformed, and obeyed the gospel, though at first they said, I will not. And ye, when ye had seen it — And could not deny that an amazing change had been wrought in them, and that persons of the most abandoned characters had been reformed by his sermons, which doubtless was a strong proof of his mission from God; yet repented not afterward — Of your opposition to that holy man, nor of your disobedience to his instructions; That ye might believe him — And therefore I solemnly warn you, (for so his words imply,) that your condition will hereafter be worse than theirs; and that you shall see those whom you now despise and abhor, entering into the glory from which you shall be excluded.

30. I go, sir — He gives a polite answer with a sir to it. He professes obedience; but he substitutes the profession for the practice.

Verse 30. I go, sir, and went not. — Egw kurie, the ellipsis being supplied by apercomai. This prompt but hypocritical assent, followed by disobedience, represented the criminal dissimulation of the Pharisees, who, pretending to pay the most perfect regard to every injunction of God, held the publicans and other common sinners in the utmost contempt, and yet neither received the testimony of John at first, nor, even after they had seen the mighty effects produced in the reformation of the greatest sinners, afterward repented, and acknowledged his mission.

Verse 31. The publicans and the harlots] In all their former conduct they had said NO. Now they yield to the voice of truth when they hear it, and enter into the kingdom, embracing the salvation brought to them in the Gospel. The others, who had been always professing the most ready and willing obedience, and who pretended to be waiting for the kingdom of God, did not receive it when it came, but rather chose, while making the best professions, to continue members of the synagogue of Satan.

Verses 28-32. But what think ye — As if he had said, You have evaded a direct answer to my question concerning the baptism of John, and have acknowledged your ignorance whence it was; but what think you of your own conduct in these circumstances? and of all the high professions you make of an extraordinary reverence for God, and zeal in his service? I will plainly tell you my judgment of it, which is very naturally connected with the present subject. This our Lord does in two parables, in the former of which, by a question which he puts to them, he makes them condemn themselves. A certain man had two sons — Signifying two sorts of persons: some that prove better than they promise, represented by the former of these sons; others that promise better than they prove, represented by the latter. And he came to the first — Exhibiting the disobedient, profligate, and wicked Jews, and open sinners of all descriptions, who, though they neither professed nor promised to do the will of God, nor gave any reason to hope well concerning them, yet afterward being convinced of sin, and brought to repentance by the preaching of John the Baptist and Christ, turned from their sins, and sincerely embraced the gospel. The spirit and conduct of the second son was an exact picture of the temper and behaviour of the Pharisees; for in their prayers and praises they gave God the most honourable titles, and professed the greatest readiness and zeal in his service: but it was a bare profession, contradicted by all their actions. They said, I go, sir, to work in thy vineyard, but went not. Jesus having finished his parable, asked, Whether of them twain did the will of his Father? — Without hesitation, they replied, The first — Not perceiving that by this answer they condemned themselves, till Jesus, making a direct application of the parable, gave them that sharp but just rebuke; Verily I say unto you — Even the most abandoned sinners of the age, such as the publicans and harlots, go into the kingdom of God before you — Are much more open to conviction, and more readily obey the gospel than you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness — Walking in it as well as teaching it, and gave evident proofs of his mission from God; and ye believed him not — Gave no credit to the testimony which he bare to me, nor received his doctrine, and consequently would not enter the vineyard: but the publicans and harlots — The most notorious sinners; believed him — Were reformed, and obeyed the gospel, though at first they said, I will not. And ye, when ye had seen it — And could not deny that an amazing change had been wrought in them, and that persons of the most abandoned characters had been reformed by his sermons, which doubtless was a strong proof of his mission from God; yet repented not afterward — Of your opposition to that holy man, nor of your disobedience to his instructions; That ye might believe him — And therefore I solemnly warn you, (for so his words imply,) that your condition will hereafter be worse than theirs; and that you shall see those whom you now despise and abhor, entering into the glory from which you shall be excluded.

31. Whether of them twain — Which of the two. The first — The first did the will of his father, not in his first refusal, but in his subsequent repentance and obedience. The publicans and the harlots — Not only the common people, but the worst of them. Go into the kingdom of God before you — They have no false piety to trust to. They have no false conscience produced by a false system. They are open sinners, and feeling themselves such, they repent and believe.

Verse 31. They say unto him, The first. — In this kind of interlocutory argument he to whom the question was proposed was bound to answer, although he might see that his reply would only give occasion to his antagonist to turn the conclusion against himself. The debate was in public; and silence on the part of the Pharisees, who had introduced it, would have been a confession that they were refuted: they were impelled, therefore, to make answer to our Lord’s questions, although at every step his remarks pressed with heavier weight upon them.

The publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. — The telwnai, and the pornai, stand for openly careless, or immoral persons in general; and as these were most powerfully and speedily brought to repentance by John, so our Lord declares that the same effect would follow under his dispensation of religion: they would enter the kingdom of God before the self-righteous and deluded formalists.

V. 32. John came in a way of righteousness-Walking in it, as well as teaching it.

The publicans and harlots-The most notorious sinners were reformed, though at first they said, I will not.

And ye seeing the amazing change which was wrought in them, though at first ye said, I go, sir, repented not afterward-Were no more convinced than before. O how is this scripture fulfilled at this day!

Verse 32. John came unto you in the way of righteousness] Proclaiming the truth, and living agreeably to it. Or, John came unto you, who are in the way of righteousness. This seems rather to be the true meaning and construction of this passage. The Jews are here distinguished from the Gentiles. The former were in the way of righteousness, had the revelation of God, and the ordinances of justice established among them; the latter were in the way of unrighteousness, without the Divine revelation, and iniquitous in all their conduct: John came to both, preaching the doctrine of repentance, and proclaiming Jesus the Christ. To say that it was John who came in the way of righteousness, and that to him the words refer, is, in my opinion, saying nothing; for this was necessarily implied: as he professed to come from God, he must not only preach righteousness, but walk in it. It is very difficult to get a worldly minded and self-righteous man brought to Christ. Examples signify little to him. Urge the example of an eminent saint, he is discouraged at it. Show him a profligate sinner converted to God, him he is ashamed to own and follow; and, as to the conduct of the generality of the followers of Christ, it is not striking enough to impress him. John, and Christ, and the apostles preach; but, to multitudes, all is in vain.

Verses 28-32. But what think ye — As if he had said, You have evaded a direct answer to my question concerning the baptism of John, and have acknowledged your ignorance whence it was; but what think you of your own conduct in these circumstances? and of all the high professions you make of an extraordinary reverence for God, and zeal in his service? I will plainly tell you my judgment of it, which is very naturally connected with the present subject. This our Lord does in two parables, in the former of which, by a question which he puts to them, he makes them condemn themselves. A certain man had two sons — Signifying two sorts of persons: some that prove better than they promise, represented by the former of these sons; others that promise better than they prove, represented by the latter. And he came to the first — Exhibiting the disobedient, profligate, and wicked Jews, and open sinners of all descriptions, who, though they neither professed nor promised to do the will of God, nor gave any reason to hope well concerning them, yet afterward being convinced of sin, and brought to repentance by the preaching of John the Baptist and Christ, turned from their sins, and sincerely embraced the gospel. The spirit and conduct of the second son was an exact picture of the temper and behaviour of the Pharisees; for in their prayers and praises they gave God the most honourable titles, and professed the greatest readiness and zeal in his service: but it was a bare profession, contradicted by all their actions. They said, I go, sir, to work in thy vineyard, but went not. Jesus having finished his parable, asked, Whether of them twain did the will of his Father? — Without hesitation, they replied, The first — Not perceiving that by this answer they condemned themselves, till Jesus, making a direct application of the parable, gave them that sharp but just rebuke; Verily I say unto you — Even the most abandoned sinners of the age, such as the publicans and harlots, go into the kingdom of God before you — Are much more open to conviction, and more readily obey the gospel than you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness — Walking in it as well as teaching it, and gave evident proofs of his mission from God; and ye believed him not — Gave no credit to the testimony which he bare to me, nor received his doctrine, and consequently would not enter the vineyard: but the publicans and harlots — The most notorious sinners; believed him — Were reformed, and obeyed the gospel, though at first they said, I will not. And ye, when ye had seen it — And could not deny that an amazing change had been wrought in them, and that persons of the most abandoned characters had been reformed by his sermons, which doubtless was a strong proof of his mission from God; yet repented not afterward — Of your opposition to that holy man, nor of your disobedience to his instructions; That ye might believe him — And therefore I solemnly warn you, (for so his words imply,) that your condition will hereafter be worse than theirs; and that you shall see those whom you now despise and abhor, entering into the glory from which you shall be excluded.

32. For — He now proceeds to make a close and unflinching application.

Verse 32. In the way of righteousness. — Enjoining it even to severity, and strictly practising it himself; and ye who make great professions of sanctity, and self-denial, and respect to them, wherever found, did not receive him as a prophet. This is the point of the reproof: they boasted of strict righteousness, conformity to all the institutions of God; and in this way John came to them, this was the character of his ministry, which they, however, proudly spurned, and thereby declared their hypocrisy. Some apply this parable of the two sons to the Gentiles and Jews; the former of whom, though for ages openly disobedient to the commands of God, to the law written upon their hearts, or handed down by tradition, promptly embraced the Gospel; while the Jews, who, at least ever since the return from the captivity, had paid all outward respect to the worship and revelations of God, yet wholly rejected the Gospel, which stood upon the same kind of evidence as their law and prophets. Still this application is only inferential and secondary; for our Lord himself explains the parable of the two classes of men among the Jews who are mentioned. It, however, frequently happens, in Christian communities, that they who are the most complaisant as to truth, are the farthest from the kingdom of God; and that the openly rebellious wills of the wicked are suddenly and effectually turned to God by the power of his grace, and that they deal more honestly with their spiritual dangers, and accept with greater readiness the free salvation of Christ.

V. 33. A certain householder planted a vineyard-God planted the Church in Canaan; and hedged it round about-First with the law, then with his peculiar providence: and digged a wine press-Perhaps it may mean Jerusalem:

and built a tower-The temple:

and went into a far country-That is, left the keepers of his vineyard, in some measure, to behave as they should see good. Mark 12:1; Luke 20:9.

Verse 33. There was a certain householder] Let us endeavour to find out a general and practical meaning for this parable. A householder-the Supreme Being. The family-the Jewish nation. The vineyard-the city of Jerusalem. The fence-the Divine protection. The wine-press-the law and sacrificial rites. The tower-the temple, in which the Divine presence was manifested. The husbandmen-the priests and doctors of the law. Went from home-entrusted the cultivation of the vineyard to the priests, &c., with the utmost confidence; as a man would do who had the most trusty servants, and was obliged to absent himself from home for a certain time. Our Lord takes this parable from Isaiah 5:1, &c.; but whether our blessed Redeemer quote from the law, the prophets, or the rabbins, he reserves the liberty to himself to beautify the whole, and render it more pertinent.

Some apply this parable also to Christianity, thus:-The master or father-our blessed Lord. The family-professing Christians in general. The vineyard-the true Church, or assembly of the faithful. The hedge-the true faith, which keeps the sacred assembly enclosed and defended from the errors of heathenism and false Christianity. The wine-press-the atonement made by the sacrifice of Christ, typified by the sacrifices under the law. The tower-the promises of the Divine presence and protection. The husbandmen-the apostles and all their successors in the ministry. The going from home-the ascension to heaven. But this parable cannot go on all fours in the Christian cause, as any one may see. In the case of the husbandmen, especially it is applicable; unless we suppose our Lord intended such as those inquisitorial Bonners, who always persecuted the true ministers of Christ, and consequently Christ himself in his members; and to these may be added the whole train of St. Bartholomew EJECTORS, and all the fire and faggot men of a certain Church, who think they do God service by murdering his saints. But let the persecuted take courage: Jesus Christ will come back shortly; and then he will miserably destroy those wicked men: indeed, he has done so already to several, and let out his vineyard to more faithful husbandmen.

Digged a wine-press] wruxe lhnon. St. Mark has upolhnion, the pit under the press, into which the liquor ran, when squeezed out of the fruit by the press.

Verse 33. Hear another parable — In which you are very nearly concerned, as your own consciences must quickly tell you. In the preceding parable of the two sons, our Lord convicted the Pharisees, the chief priests, and elders, of absolute disobedience to God, their heavenly Father, notwithstanding all their fair speeches and smooth promises: here he rises upon them, and shows them, as in a glass, the high privileges they enjoyed; and their exceeding great ingratitude, that, if possible, he might awaken their souls, and disarm them of the horrid purpose they had already conceived of murdering him, the true heir of the vineyard whereof they were such unfaithful husbandmen. And indeed they must have proceeded to great lengths in iniquity, and have hardened their hearts above measure, who could go on in their black design of destroying Jesus, after he had thus plainly shown them his knowledge of their design, and laid open their devices, and the dreadful consequences thereof to themselves, to the justice of which they had subscribed with their own lips. There was a certain householder — Or, master of a family, representing God, the proprietor of all; which planted a vineyard — The Jewish Church planted in Canaan, represented also as a vineyard, Isaiah 5:1-4, in a parable on which this of our Lord seems to be founded; see the notes there. There could not be a more natural emblem of the church, or one more familiar and obvious for the prophets and our Lord to use in Judea, than that of a vineyard; as that country abounded with vineyards, and so gave the people constant occasion, by having them always before their eyes, to recollect and apply the spiritual instructions drawn from them. And the comparison was not only obvious, but natural: and the particulars, whereof our Lord and the prophets speak, as they are essential to a vineyard, so do they beautifully correspond to the essential blessings vouchsafed of God to the Jewish Church. 1st, It is necessary that a vineyard should be planted, for vines are not anywhere the natural produce of the soil. Our Lord, therefore, mentions this particular first. 2d, Vines being tender plants, and vineyards subject to the incursions of beasts and enemies, it is necessary they should be enclosed. Therefore it is here observed that this vineyard was hedged round about; namely, by the divine protection, which was as a wall of fire round the Jewish Church and people, whereby he enclosed and defended them from all their enemies. But a hedge is not only for defence, but for the distinction and separation of property; and so God distinguished and separated his church by the fence of circumcision, and the ceremonial law, which were what St. Paul calls the partition wall, which was broken down and taken away in Christ, who yet has appointed a gospel order and discipline to be the hedge round about his church. 3d, A vineyard, being thus planted and fenced, must be provided with a place for the cultivator’s reception and dwelling; and for the gathering in and receiving of the fruit. Accordingly this householder built a tower for the former purpose, and prepared a wine-press for the latter. So God provided for his ancient church a tabernacle first, and then a temple, wherein the cultivators of his vineyard might dwell and watch continually, (for the priests are the Lord’s watchmen,) where also he himself promised to dwell, and give them the tokens of his presence among them, and pleasure in them: and in this temple he set up his holy altar, which, as the wine-press flowed with the blood of the grape, was to flow continually with the blood of the sacrifices, the fruits of their obedience, the testimonies of their faith, and then truly acceptable when offered up in faith of the great Sacrifice, whose blood all the blood shed in sacrifices prefigured, and who was himself trodden in the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. The next clause, And let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country, signifies no more than that God, having established and provided his vineyard with all things necessary to render it fruitful to his praise, committed the care and cultivation of it to the priests and elders, the ecclesiastical and civil rulers, by whose ministry the people were to be instructed and governed, without expecting such extraordinary marks of God’s constant presence and immediate direction as appeared at his forming them into a church.

Ver. 33. A certain householder planted a vineyard. This parable was a full sentence passed on those who had conspired to take away the life of the Lord of glory. The characters are well defined, and the developement is a luminous prophecy of the judaical resistance to the gospel, and of their national ruin. The vineyard is the house of Israel, comprising the law and all the worship of the synagogue. The tower is the temple, established for glory and for a sanctuary. The hedge is the shekinah, surrounded with cherubim and seraphim, “for upon all the glory there shall be a defence.” Isaiah 4:5. The husbandmen were the levitical priesthood, who, for the most part, opposed all prophets that rebuked them for their sins, and beat and stoned them to death. Finally, when they saw the heir, they took counsel together and crucified him, that they might peacefully enjoy the inheritance in their sins.

The glory of the vineyard is now transferred to the christian church, a vineyard full of labour; and oh that the wine might richly flow, in sacraments and ordinances. The Redeemer is our strong tower and rock of defence. He is the faithful and the true witness, who boldly declares the whole counsel of God. The husbandmen are now the evangelical labourers, under the direction of their glorious head. Oh may they work and labour as in his sight, and deliver up at last their charge without rebuke.

§ 114. — PARABLE OF THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN, 33-46.

33. Hear another parable — You have felt the effect of one, now hear another. Householder — The head of a family. A vineyard — A symbol of the field of duty and service of God, customarily used in both the Old Testament and the New. See Deuteronomy 22:32, Isaiah 5:1-7, and Matthew 20:1. Hedged it round about — A hedge is a row of perfectly dense thorn bushes, (often in Judea the prickly pear,) planted around a field, to fence it in and exclude all intruders. A winepress — Including the wine vat, which was a square or round vat or pit excavated in the earth, mortared and plastered so as to make it tight like a modern cistern. Over this vat was the wine-press, into which the grapes were heaped, and when the juice was trodden out it flowed into the vat.

Built a tower — A tower or observatory in the garden, having a view in all directions, in which a watchman is stationed to guard against robbers. The vineyard represents the Church or fold of God’s service. This must be girt as with a hedge; it must have its ordinances for receiving the flow of the divine nourishment; it must have its towers and watchmen against the assaults of the profane or the incursions of hypocrites. Let it out — Leased or rented it, with rent to be paid from the produce. Went into a far country — God leaves men in their state of probation to work out their destiny.

Verse 33. A vineyard. — The Jewish Church.

A wine press. — Or wine vat, into which the grapes were cast, and then trodden by men. It was often hewed out of a rock, and had a grated opening near the bottom to convey the expressed juice into a lower vat. And built a tower. — The towers in vineyards were principally watch houses, where servants were placed to observe the approach of robbers. To husbandmen. — Gewrgoiv, to those who cultivate the ground by their own labour, as distinguished from the oikodespothv, or proprietor.

V. 34. He sent his servants-His extraordinary messengers, the prophets: to the husbandmen-The ordinary preachers or ministers of the Jews.

Verse 34. He sent his servants] Prophets, which, from time to time, he sent to the Jewish nation to call both priests and people back to the purity of his holy religion.

Receive the fruits of it.] Alluding to the ancient custom of paying the rent of a farm in kind; that is, by a part of the produce of the farm. This custom anciently prevailed in most nations; and still prevails in the highlands of Scotland, and in some other places. The Boldon book, a survey made of the state of the bishopric of Durham in 1183, shows how much of the rents was paid in cows, sheep, pigs, fowls, eggs, &c., the remaining part being made up chiefly by manual labour.

Verses 34-39. And when the time of fruit drew near — And a return was to be made to the proprietor from the profits of the vineyard, which was only let out to these husbandmen, that they might render to him duly the fruits agreed on, namely, those of gratitude, love, and obedience; he sent his servants — His extraordinary messengers, the prophets, to demand and receive those fruits; to instruct, exhort, and, when necessary, to reprove these occupiers of the vineyard. And the husbandmen — Far from rendering their Lord his due, took his servants, beat one, killed another, &c. — See notes on Mark 12:3-5, where this branch of the parable is given more fully. The meaning is, that the Jewish priests and rulers, extremely irritated at the prophets for the freedom which they used in reproving their sins and exhorting them to a holy life, persecuted and slew them with unrelenting fury. Again he sent other servants — Though his servants were thus indignantly treated, the good lord of the vineyard being very long-suffering toward these husbandmen, and desirous of bringing them to a sense of their duty, instead of immediately punishing them for their ungrateful and rebellious proceedings, he sent other extraordinary messengers, more in number than the first. This seems to refer to the latter prophets and John the Baptist. But these met with no better treatment than the former from these ungrateful husbandmen. They did unto them likewise — Beat, stoned, and killed them. Who would wonder now if his patience and forbearance had been utterly wearied out, and if he had sent to destroy and remove these wicked husbandmen? But more abundant kindness still remained to be shown on his part, to aggravate their ingratitude, and to render this perverseness and cruelty utterly without excuse. Having yet therefore one son, his well-beloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son — Surely they must needs have some respect for him, and will not presume to offer him any injury. This is spoken after the manner of men: it does not mean that God supposed they would reverence him, but was mistaken. For numberless predictions in the Old and New Testaments plainly show that God foresaw, and therefore foretold how they would use him. But it implies that it might have been reasonably expected they would have reverenced him. considering the benevolent design on which he came, and the undeniable proofs which he gave of his divine mission, by his astonishing miracles, his heavenly doctrine, and most holy life. But alas! far from reverencing him, so inveterate in guilt and hardened in their crimes were they, that when they saw him, they said, This is the heir, let us kill him — And their impious combinations were attended with immediate resolves, and a speedy execution: They caught him — Gr. labontev auton, having seized him, they cast him out of the vineyard — Utterly rejected his claim of being either the Messiah, or even a divine messenger, and slew him — In a most ignominious and cruel manner; thus filling up the measure of their transgressions, and declaring themselves very monsters of iniquity. Thus, as in a glass, our Lord set forth the great ingratitude of the Jewish nation, and especially of the chief priests and rulers, and the long-suffering of God toward them, with whom he had intrusted his vineyard, and from whom he expected the fruits thereof. It is justly observed by Dr. Doddridge here, that if their saying, This is the heir, come, let us kill him, &c., “would have been the height of folly, as well as wickedness in these husbandmen, it was so much the more proper to represent the part the Jewish rulers acted in the murder of Christ, which they were now projecting, and which they accomplished within three days. The admonition was most graciously given; but served only in an astonishing manner to illustrate that degree of hardness to which a sinful heart is capable of arriving.” But some of these circumstances, like that of seizing on the inheritance, may have been added for the sake of completing the parable, without any design of expressing by them any particular part of the conduct of the Jews toward Christ.

34. Time of the fruit drew near — The harvest time. In the vineyard of our probation all the time of our responsible years is harvest time; in which we are expected to bring forth fruit to Him who hath planted and let to us the vineyard. But, as applied to Israel, it refers to the period of her history when, Canaan being fully possessed, God sent his prophets to remind his people of their duty. Sent his servants — His prophets, with all the means of warning and grace. The servants were sent, as Mark expresses it, to receive of the fruits of the vineyard. Both according to Scripture and Jewish tradition, the prophets whom God sent were persecuted and martyred by ancient Israel. Jeremiah was stoned, and it is said Isaiah was sawn asunder. Hebrews 11:36.

In the present parable three sets of servants are said to be successively sent. In Mark and Luke single servants in succession are specified; but words are so used as to imply that other servants are with them. In the reports of our Lord’s discourses given by the evangelists, the substance is given with more or less verbal sameness as inspiration suggested to the minds. Each is to be viewed as a substantial representation, divinely sanctioned, of our Lord’s essential meaning.

Verse 34. When the time of the fruit. — The season for gathering the fruits; so that it appears that the rent of the vineyard was paid in produce, which was an ancient custom.

Verse 35. Beat one] edeiran, took his skin off, flayed him: probably alluding to some who had been excessively scourged.

Killed another, &c.] Rid themselves of the true witnesses of God by a variety of persecutions.

Verses 34-39. And when the time of fruit drew near — And a return was to be made to the proprietor from the profits of the vineyard, which was only let out to these husbandmen, that they might render to him duly the fruits agreed on, namely, those of gratitude, love, and obedience; he sent his servants — His extraordinary messengers, the prophets, to demand and receive those fruits; to instruct, exhort, and, when necessary, to reprove these occupiers of the vineyard. And the husbandmen — Far from rendering their Lord his due, took his servants, beat one, killed another, &c. — See notes on Mark 12:3-5, where this branch of the parable is given more fully. The meaning is, that the Jewish priests and rulers, extremely irritated at the prophets for the freedom which they used in reproving their sins and exhorting them to a holy life, persecuted and slew them with unrelenting fury. Again he sent other servants — Though his servants were thus indignantly treated, the good lord of the vineyard being very long-suffering toward these husbandmen, and desirous of bringing them to a sense of their duty, instead of immediately punishing them for their ungrateful and rebellious proceedings, he sent other extraordinary messengers, more in number than the first. This seems to refer to the latter prophets and John the Baptist. But these met with no better treatment than the former from these ungrateful husbandmen. They did unto them likewise — Beat, stoned, and killed them. Who would wonder now if his patience and forbearance had been utterly wearied out, and if he had sent to destroy and remove these wicked husbandmen? But more abundant kindness still remained to be shown on his part, to aggravate their ingratitude, and to render this perverseness and cruelty utterly without excuse. Having yet therefore one son, his well-beloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son — Surely they must needs have some respect for him, and will not presume to offer him any injury. This is spoken after the manner of men: it does not mean that God supposed they would reverence him, but was mistaken. For numberless predictions in the Old and New Testaments plainly show that God foresaw, and therefore foretold how they would use him. But it implies that it might have been reasonably expected they would have reverenced him. considering the benevolent design on which he came, and the undeniable proofs which he gave of his divine mission, by his astonishing miracles, his heavenly doctrine, and most holy life. But alas! far from reverencing him, so inveterate in guilt and hardened in their crimes were they, that when they saw him, they said, This is the heir, let us kill him — And their impious combinations were attended with immediate resolves, and a speedy execution: They caught him — Gr. labontev auton, having seized him, they cast him out of the vineyard — Utterly rejected his claim of being either the Messiah, or even a divine messenger, and slew him — In a most ignominious and cruel manner; thus filling up the measure of their transgressions, and declaring themselves very monsters of iniquity. Thus, as in a glass, our Lord set forth the great ingratitude of the Jewish nation, and especially of the chief priests and rulers, and the long-suffering of God toward them, with whom he had intrusted his vineyard, and from whom he expected the fruits thereof. It is justly observed by Dr. Doddridge here, that if their saying, This is the heir, come, let us kill him, &c., “would have been the height of folly, as well as wickedness in these husbandmen, it was so much the more proper to represent the part the Jewish rulers acted in the murder of Christ, which they were now projecting, and which they accomplished within three days. The admonition was most graciously given; but served only in an astonishing manner to illustrate that degree of hardness to which a sinful heart is capable of arriving.” But some of these circumstances, like that of seizing on the inheritance, may have been added for the sake of completing the parable, without any design of expressing by them any particular part of the conduct of the Jews toward Christ.

35. Beat… killed… stoned — The word beat signifies literally, in the Greek, to flay or skin, which in this case is supposed to be done by beating. To stone signifies to stone to death, the Jewish mode of death for idolatry and blasphemy. Leviticus 22:22; 24:16. We have then this climax: that the Jews abused, slew, and executed as enemies of God, the prophets whom God had sent.

Verse 36. Other servants] There is not a moment in which God does not shower down his gifts upon men, and require the fruit of them. Various instruments are used to bring sinners to God. There are prophets, apostles, pastors, teachers: some with his gift after this manner, and some after that. The true disciples of Christ have been persecuted in all ages, and the greatest share of the persecution has fallen upon the ministers of his religion; for there have always been good and bad husbandmen, and the latter have persecuted the former.

More than the first] Or, more honourable, so I think pleionav should be translated; for, as the fulness of the time approached, each prophet more clearly and fully pointed out the coming of Christ.

Our translation, which says, more than the first, conveys no meaning at all. pleiov is the meaning I have given it above, in Matthew 6:25. pleion thv trofhv, of MORE VALUE than food; and in Numbers 22:15 pleiouv kai entimoterouv, persons higher in dignity and office.

Verses 34-39. And when the time of fruit drew near — And a return was to be made to the proprietor from the profits of the vineyard, which was only let out to these husbandmen, that they might render to him duly the fruits agreed on, namely, those of gratitude, love, and obedience; he sent his servants — His extraordinary messengers, the prophets, to demand and receive those fruits; to instruct, exhort, and, when necessary, to reprove these occupiers of the vineyard. And the husbandmen — Far from rendering their Lord his due, took his servants, beat one, killed another, &c. — See notes on Mark 12:3-5, where this branch of the parable is given more fully. The meaning is, that the Jewish priests and rulers, extremely irritated at the prophets for the freedom which they used in reproving their sins and exhorting them to a holy life, persecuted and slew them with unrelenting fury. Again he sent other servants — Though his servants were thus indignantly treated, the good lord of the vineyard being very long-suffering toward these husbandmen, and desirous of bringing them to a sense of their duty, instead of immediately punishing them for their ungrateful and rebellious proceedings, he sent other extraordinary messengers, more in number than the first. This seems to refer to the latter prophets and John the Baptist. But these met with no better treatment than the former from these ungrateful husbandmen. They did unto them likewise — Beat, stoned, and killed them. Who would wonder now if his patience and forbearance had been utterly wearied out, and if he had sent to destroy and remove these wicked husbandmen? But more abundant kindness still remained to be shown on his part, to aggravate their ingratitude, and to render this perverseness and cruelty utterly without excuse. Having yet therefore one son, his well-beloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son — Surely they must needs have some respect for him, and will not presume to offer him any injury. This is spoken after the manner of men: it does not mean that God supposed they would reverence him, but was mistaken. For numberless predictions in the Old and New Testaments plainly show that God foresaw, and therefore foretold how they would use him. But it implies that it might have been reasonably expected they would have reverenced him. considering the benevolent design on which he came, and the undeniable proofs which he gave of his divine mission, by his astonishing miracles, his heavenly doctrine, and most holy life. But alas! far from reverencing him, so inveterate in guilt and hardened in their crimes were they, that when they saw him, they said, This is the heir, let us kill him — And their impious combinations were attended with immediate resolves, and a speedy execution: They caught him — Gr. labontev auton, having seized him, they cast him out of the vineyard — Utterly rejected his claim of being either the Messiah, or even a divine messenger, and slew him — In a most ignominious and cruel manner; thus filling up the measure of their transgressions, and declaring themselves very monsters of iniquity. Thus, as in a glass, our Lord set forth the great ingratitude of the Jewish nation, and especially of the chief priests and rulers, and the long-suffering of God toward them, with whom he had intrusted his vineyard, and from whom he expected the fruits thereof. It is justly observed by Dr. Doddridge here, that if their saying, This is the heir, come, let us kill him, &c., “would have been the height of folly, as well as wickedness in these husbandmen, it was so much the more proper to represent the part the Jewish rulers acted in the murder of Christ, which they were now projecting, and which they accomplished within three days. The admonition was most graciously given; but served only in an astonishing manner to illustrate that degree of hardness to which a sinful heart is capable of arriving.” But some of these circumstances, like that of seizing on the inheritance, may have been added for the sake of completing the parable, without any design of expressing by them any particular part of the conduct of the Jews toward Christ.

§ 114. — PARABLE OF THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN, 33-46.

33. Hear another parable — You have felt the effect of one, now hear another. Householder — The head of a family. A vineyard — A symbol of the field of duty and service of God, customarily used in both the Old Testament and the New. See Deuteronomy 22:32, Isaiah 5:1-7, and Matthew 20:1. Hedged it round about — A hedge is a row of perfectly dense thorn bushes, (often in Judea the prickly pear,) planted around a field, to fence it in and exclude all intruders. A winepress — Including the wine vat, which was a square or round vat or pit excavated in the earth, mortared and plastered so as to make it tight like a modern cistern. Over this vat was the wine-press, into which the grapes were heaped, and when the juice was trodden out it flowed into the vat.

Built a tower — A tower or observatory in the garden, having a view in all directions, in which a watchman is stationed to guard against robbers. The vineyard represents the Church or fold of God’s service. This must be girt as with a hedge; it must have its ordinances for receiving the flow of the divine nourishment; it must have its towers and watchmen against the assaults of the profane or the incursions of hypocrites. Let it out — Leased or rented it, with rent to be paid from the produce. Went into a far country — God leaves men in their state of probation to work out their destiny.

Verse 37. Last of all he sent-his son] This requires no comment. Our Lord plainly means himself.

They will reverence] entraphsontai, they will reflect upon their conduct and blush for shame because of it, when they see my son. So the Syric and Persic.

Verses 34-39. And when the time of fruit drew near — And a return was to be made to the proprietor from the profits of the vineyard, which was only let out to these husbandmen, that they might render to him duly the fruits agreed on, namely, those of gratitude, love, and obedience; he sent his servants — His extraordinary messengers, the prophets, to demand and receive those fruits; to instruct, exhort, and, when necessary, to reprove these occupiers of the vineyard. And the husbandmen — Far from rendering their Lord his due, took his servants, beat one, killed another, &c. — See notes on Mark 12:3-5, where this branch of the parable is given more fully. The meaning is, that the Jewish priests and rulers, extremely irritated at the prophets for the freedom which they used in reproving their sins and exhorting them to a holy life, persecuted and slew them with unrelenting fury. Again he sent other servants — Though his servants were thus indignantly treated, the good lord of the vineyard being very long-suffering toward these husbandmen, and desirous of bringing them to a sense of their duty, instead of immediately punishing them for their ungrateful and rebellious proceedings, he sent other extraordinary messengers, more in number than the first. This seems to refer to the latter prophets and John the Baptist. But these met with no better treatment than the former from these ungrateful husbandmen. They did unto them likewise — Beat, stoned, and killed them. Who would wonder now if his patience and forbearance had been utterly wearied out, and if he had sent to destroy and remove these wicked husbandmen? But more abundant kindness still remained to be shown on his part, to aggravate their ingratitude, and to render this perverseness and cruelty utterly without excuse. Having yet therefore one son, his well-beloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son — Surely they must needs have some respect for him, and will not presume to offer him any injury. This is spoken after the manner of men: it does not mean that God supposed they would reverence him, but was mistaken. For numberless predictions in the Old and New Testaments plainly show that God foresaw, and therefore foretold how they would use him. But it implies that it might have been reasonably expected they would have reverenced him. considering the benevolent design on which he came, and the undeniable proofs which he gave of his divine mission, by his astonishing miracles, his heavenly doctrine, and most holy life. But alas! far from reverencing him, so inveterate in guilt and hardened in their crimes were they, that when they saw him, they said, This is the heir, let us kill him — And their impious combinations were attended with immediate resolves, and a speedy execution: They caught him — Gr. labontev auton, having seized him, they cast him out of the vineyard — Utterly rejected his claim of being either the Messiah, or even a divine messenger, and slew him — In a most ignominious and cruel manner; thus filling up the measure of their transgressions, and declaring themselves very monsters of iniquity. Thus, as in a glass, our Lord set forth the great ingratitude of the Jewish nation, and especially of the chief priests and rulers, and the long-suffering of God toward them, with whom he had intrusted his vineyard, and from whom he expected the fruits thereof. It is justly observed by Dr. Doddridge here, that if their saying, This is the heir, come, let us kill him, &c., “would have been the height of folly, as well as wickedness in these husbandmen, it was so much the more proper to represent the part the Jewish rulers acted in the murder of Christ, which they were now projecting, and which they accomplished within three days. The admonition was most graciously given; but served only in an astonishing manner to illustrate that degree of hardness to which a sinful heart is capable of arriving.” But some of these circumstances, like that of seizing on the inheritance, may have been added for the sake of completing the parable, without any design of expressing by them any particular part of the conduct of the Jews toward Christ.

37. Last of all… his son — Let it be remembered that this parable is uttered on occasion of their demanding by what authority he did these things, (verse 23.) Jesus first confounds them by asking a question they could not answer, (24-27.) He then propounds a parable, (28-32,) portraying their spirit in asking the question. In the present parable he is obliging them to perceive the answer he could give to their demand for his authority. The same authority that sent God’s messengers of old to your fathers, has in these last days sent to you his Son. They will reverence my son — These words represent God’s rightful expectation; that is, the expectation he has a right to have. If a human householder would have such an expectation, much more God has a reason and a right to expect reverence for his Son.

Verse 37. They will reverence my son. — This is another proof that the minor circumstances of parables are not to be interpreted strictly. God foreknew that the Jews would reject the Son, which is made the subject of prophecy; but it was their duty to receive him with reverence, and so the words are used to express what it was fitting and reasonable to expect.

Verse 38. Said among themselves] Alluding to the conspiracies which were then forming against the life of our blessed Lord, in the councils of the Jewish elders and chief priests. See Matthew 27:1.

Verses 34-39. And when the time of fruit drew near — And a return was to be made to the proprietor from the profits of the vineyard, which was only let out to these husbandmen, that they might render to him duly the fruits agreed on, namely, those of gratitude, love, and obedience; he sent his servants — His extraordinary messengers, the prophets, to demand and receive those fruits; to instruct, exhort, and, when necessary, to reprove these occupiers of the vineyard. And the husbandmen — Far from rendering their Lord his due, took his servants, beat one, killed another, &c. — See notes on Mark 12:3-5, where this branch of the parable is given more fully. The meaning is, that the Jewish priests and rulers, extremely irritated at the prophets for the freedom which they used in reproving their sins and exhorting them to a holy life, persecuted and slew them with unrelenting fury. Again he sent other servants — Though his servants were thus indignantly treated, the good lord of the vineyard being very long-suffering toward these husbandmen, and desirous of bringing them to a sense of their duty, instead of immediately punishing them for their ungrateful and rebellious proceedings, he sent other extraordinary messengers, more in number than the first. This seems to refer to the latter prophets and John the Baptist. But these met with no better treatment than the former from these ungrateful husbandmen. They did unto them likewise — Beat, stoned, and killed them. Who would wonder now if his patience and forbearance had been utterly wearied out, and if he had sent to destroy and remove these wicked husbandmen? But more abundant kindness still remained to be shown on his part, to aggravate their ingratitude, and to render this perverseness and cruelty utterly without excuse. Having yet therefore one son, his well-beloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son — Surely they must needs have some respect for him, and will not presume to offer him any injury. This is spoken after the manner of men: it does not mean that God supposed they would reverence him, but was mistaken. For numberless predictions in the Old and New Testaments plainly show that God foresaw, and therefore foretold how they would use him. But it implies that it might have been reasonably expected they would have reverenced him. considering the benevolent design on which he came, and the undeniable proofs which he gave of his divine mission, by his astonishing miracles, his heavenly doctrine, and most holy life. But alas! far from reverencing him, so inveterate in guilt and hardened in their crimes were they, that when they saw him, they said, This is the heir, let us kill him — And their impious combinations were attended with immediate resolves, and a speedy execution: They caught him — Gr. labontev auton, having seized him, they cast him out of the vineyard — Utterly rejected his claim of being either the Messiah, or even a divine messenger, and slew him — In a most ignominious and cruel manner; thus filling up the measure of their transgressions, and declaring themselves very monsters of iniquity. Thus, as in a glass, our Lord set forth the great ingratitude of the Jewish nation, and especially of the chief priests and rulers, and the long-suffering of God toward them, with whom he had intrusted his vineyard, and from whom he expected the fruits thereof. It is justly observed by Dr. Doddridge here, that if their saying, This is the heir, come, let us kill him, &c., “would have been the height of folly, as well as wickedness in these husbandmen, it was so much the more proper to represent the part the Jewish rulers acted in the murder of Christ, which they were now projecting, and which they accomplished within three days. The admonition was most graciously given; but served only in an astonishing manner to illustrate that degree of hardness to which a sinful heart is capable of arriving.” But some of these circumstances, like that of seizing on the inheritance, may have been added for the sake of completing the parable, without any design of expressing by them any particular part of the conduct of the Jews toward Christ.

38. This is the heir — They confess his being the heir, among themselves; but they utter no such confession to him. Externally they hold him as an intruder, and treat him as a burglar and a robber. Thus with a masterly pencil does our Lord paint these rulers to themselves. In their own hearts they confess this is the heir; in their language and dealing with him they deny his authority, and crucify him as a blasphemer and traitor. By this we are not to understand that God does not foreknow the future wickedness of probationary men; but that he permits yet punishes their withholding what he has a right to expect. Seize on his inheritance — These rulers determined to retain the power over Israel. They rejected our Lord as a false claimant of authority, because he would remove the old dispensation and establish the kingdom of God. This would overthrow their own hierarchy. The words expressing the violence of the husbandmen are numerous and graphic: kill, seize, caught, cast, slew. They might nearly all occur in the narrative of Christ’s own apprehension and crucifixion.

Verse 39. Cast him out of the vineyard] Utterly rejected the counsel of God against themselves; and would neither acknowledge the authority of Christ, nor submit to his teaching. What a strange and unaccountable case is this!-a sinner, to enjoy a little longer his false peace, and the gratification of his sinful appetites, rejects Jesus, and persecutes that Gospel which troubles his sinful repose.

Verses 34-39. And when the time of fruit drew near — And a return was to be made to the proprietor from the profits of the vineyard, which was only let out to these husbandmen, that they might render to him duly the fruits agreed on, namely, those of gratitude, love, and obedience; he sent his servants — His extraordinary messengers, the prophets, to demand and receive those fruits; to instruct, exhort, and, when necessary, to reprove these occupiers of the vineyard. And the husbandmen — Far from rendering their Lord his due, took his servants, beat one, killed another, &c. — See notes on Mark 12:3-5, where this branch of the parable is given more fully. The meaning is, that the Jewish priests and rulers, extremely irritated at the prophets for the freedom which they used in reproving their sins and exhorting them to a holy life, persecuted and slew them with unrelenting fury. Again he sent other servants — Though his servants were thus indignantly treated, the good lord of the vineyard being very long-suffering toward these husbandmen, and desirous of bringing them to a sense of their duty, instead of immediately punishing them for their ungrateful and rebellious proceedings, he sent other extraordinary messengers, more in number than the first. This seems to refer to the latter prophets and John the Baptist. But these met with no better treatment than the former from these ungrateful husbandmen. They did unto them likewise — Beat, stoned, and killed them. Who would wonder now if his patience and forbearance had been utterly wearied out, and if he had sent to destroy and remove these wicked husbandmen? But more abundant kindness still remained to be shown on his part, to aggravate their ingratitude, and to render this perverseness and cruelty utterly without excuse. Having yet therefore one son, his well-beloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son — Surely they must needs have some respect for him, and will not presume to offer him any injury. This is spoken after the manner of men: it does not mean that God supposed they would reverence him, but was mistaken. For numberless predictions in the Old and New Testaments plainly show that God foresaw, and therefore foretold how they would use him. But it implies that it might have been reasonably expected they would have reverenced him. considering the benevolent design on which he came, and the undeniable proofs which he gave of his divine mission, by his astonishing miracles, his heavenly doctrine, and most holy life. But alas! far from reverencing him, so inveterate in guilt and hardened in their crimes were they, that when they saw him, they said, This is the heir, let us kill him — And their impious combinations were attended with immediate resolves, and a speedy execution: They caught him — Gr. labontev auton, having seized him, they cast him out of the vineyard — Utterly rejected his claim of being either the Messiah, or even a divine messenger, and slew him — In a most ignominious and cruel manner; thus filling up the measure of their transgressions, and declaring themselves very monsters of iniquity. Thus, as in a glass, our Lord set forth the great ingratitude of the Jewish nation, and especially of the chief priests and rulers, and the long-suffering of God toward them, with whom he had intrusted his vineyard, and from whom he expected the fruits thereof. It is justly observed by Dr. Doddridge here, that if their saying, This is the heir, come, let us kill him, &c., “would have been the height of folly, as well as wickedness in these husbandmen, it was so much the more proper to represent the part the Jewish rulers acted in the murder of Christ, which they were now projecting, and which they accomplished within three days. The admonition was most graciously given; but served only in an astonishing manner to illustrate that degree of hardness to which a sinful heart is capable of arriving.” But some of these circumstances, like that of seizing on the inheritance, may have been added for the sake of completing the parable, without any design of expressing by them any particular part of the conduct of the Jews toward Christ.

§ 114. — PARABLE OF THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN, 33-46.

33. Hear another parable — You have felt the effect of one, now hear another. Householder — The head of a family. A vineyard — A symbol of the field of duty and service of God, customarily used in both the Old Testament and the New. See Deuteronomy 22:32, Isaiah 5:1-7, and Matthew 20:1. Hedged it round about — A hedge is a row of perfectly dense thorn bushes, (often in Judea the prickly pear,) planted around a field, to fence it in and exclude all intruders. A winepress — Including the wine vat, which was a square or round vat or pit excavated in the earth, mortared and plastered so as to make it tight like a modern cistern. Over this vat was the wine-press, into which the grapes were heaped, and when the juice was trodden out it flowed into the vat.

Built a tower — A tower or observatory in the garden, having a view in all directions, in which a watchman is stationed to guard against robbers. The vineyard represents the Church or fold of God’s service. This must be girt as with a hedge; it must have its ordinances for receiving the flow of the divine nourishment; it must have its towers and watchmen against the assaults of the profane or the incursions of hypocrites. Let it out — Leased or rented it, with rent to be paid from the produce. Went into a far country — God leaves men in their state of probation to work out their destiny.

Verses 40, 41. When the Lord cometh — Armed with a power which they will be utterly unable to resist, What will he do unto these husbandmen — Who had been so treacherous and cruel? With a view to their stronger conviction, he refers it to themselves to judge in this case. For God’s proceedings are so unexceptionable, there needs only an appeal to sinners themselves concerning the equity of them. They say, (for how could they with any decency say otherwise?) He will miserably destroy these wicked men — Kakouv kakwv apolesei autouv, he will put those wretches to a wretched death: (So Campbell:) and will let out his vineyard to other husbandmen. Thus, before they were aware, they condemned themselves, and signified that their privileges and blessings would be taken from them, the governors of their church and commonwealth destroyed, and the Gentiles taken to be God’s people in their stead: an interpretation of the parable which our Lord immediately confirmed, Luke 20:16; when they replied with apparent seriousness, God forbid.

40. When the Lord… of the vineyard cometh — Alford quotes this phrase as a decisive instance in which the destruction of Jerusalem is called the coming of the Lord. But we reply that the Lord who comes is not the Son, nor the Son of man; but God the Father Almighty. The coming is no way identical with the phrase by which Christ’s comings are expressed; inasmuch as this coming is only a part of the parabolic action by which God’s general providential visitation is typified.

V. 41. They say-Perhaps some of the by-standers, not the chief priests or Pharisees; who, as St. Luke relates, said, God forbid, Luke 20:16.

Verse 41. He will miserably destroy those wicked men] So, according to this evangelist, our Lord caused them to pass that sentence of destruction upon themselves which was literally executed about forty years after. But Luke relates it differently: according to him, they said mh genoito, God forbid! The Codex Leicestrensis omits oi legousin, they say; so that the following words appear to be spoken by our Lord. Michaelis supposes that in the Hebrew original the word was rmayw waiomer, he said; for which the Greek translator might have read wrmayw waiomeru, they said.

Verses 40, 41. When the Lord cometh — Armed with a power which they will be utterly unable to resist, What will he do unto these husbandmen — Who had been so treacherous and cruel? With a view to their stronger conviction, he refers it to themselves to judge in this case. For God’s proceedings are so unexceptionable, there needs only an appeal to sinners themselves concerning the equity of them. They say, (for how could they with any decency say otherwise?) He will miserably destroy these wicked men — Kakouv kakwv apolesei autouv, he will put those wretches to a wretched death: (So Campbell:) and will let out his vineyard to other husbandmen. Thus, before they were aware, they condemned themselves, and signified that their privileges and blessings would be taken from them, the governors of their church and commonwealth destroyed, and the Gentiles taken to be God’s people in their stead: an interpretation of the parable which our Lord immediately confirmed, Luke 20:16; when they replied with apparent seriousness, God forbid.

41. They say — He compels them to utter their own condemnation. He — God. Destroy those wicked men — Destroy the Jewish state and nation. His vineyard — The Churchdom. Other husbandmen — The Gentile Church. According to Luke, the people who stood by when they heard this terrible result exclaimed, God forbid! The fact seems to be that the rulers made their terrible reply in order to seem not to see that the parable was a picture of their own character and destiny. But the people, by their sudden ejaculation, God forbid! showed that they fully understood its awful application. The rulers have now a thorough reply to their question: By what authority doest thou these things?

Verse 41. He will miserably destroy those wicked men. — Thus were the scribes fund Pharisees made to pass sentence upon themselves. They were the descendants of a race who had persecuted God’s servants, the prophets, beating one, and stoning another; and now they themselves were conspiring against the life of the son, the heir of the vineyard. Their Church privileges were therefore to be abolished, their nation destroyed, and the vineyard let out to others, who should render the fruits in their seasons. This was a plain allusion to the calling of the Gentiles.

V. 42. The builders-The scribes and priests, whose office it was to build up the Church.

Is become the head of the corner-Or the chief corner stone: he is become the foundation of the Church, on which the whole building rests, and is the principal corner stone, for uniting the Gentiles to it, as the chief corner stone of a house supports and links its two sides together. Psalm 118:22.

Verse 42. The stone] R. Solom. Jarchi, on Micah 5., says, this stone means the Messiah, משיח אכנ: Abarbanel is of the same opinion. This seems to have been originally spoken of David who was at first rejected by the Jewish rulers, but was afterwards chosen by the Lord to be the great ruler of his people Israel. The quotation is taken from Psalm 118:22. As the Church is represented in Scripture under the name of the temple and house of God, in allusion to the temple of Jerusalem, which was a type of it, 1 Corinthians 3:16; Hebrews 3:6; 1 Peter 2:5; so Jesus Christ is represented as the foundation on which this edifice is laid, 1 Corinthians 3:11; Ephesians 2:20, 21.

The builders] The chief priests and elders of the people, with the doctors of the law.

Rejected] An expression borrowed from masons, who, finding a stone, which being tried in a particular place, and appearing improper for it, is thrown aside, and another taken; however, at last, it may happen that the very stone which had been before rejected, may be found the most suitable as the head stone of the corner.

This passage, as applied by our Lord to himself, contains an abridgment of the whole doctrine of the Gospel.

1. The Lord’s peculiar work is astonishingly manifested in the mission of Jesus Christ.

2. He, being rejected and crucified by the Jews, became an atonement for the sin of the world.

3. He was raised again from the dead, a proof of his conquest over death and sin, and a pledge of immortality to his followers.

4. He was constituted the foundation on which the salvation of mankind rests, and the corner stone which unites Jews and Gentiles, beautifies, strengthens, and completes the whole building, as the head stone, or uppermost stone in the corner does the whole edifice.

5. He is hereby rendered the object of the joy and admiration of all his followers and the glory of man. This was done by the Lord, and is marvellous in our eyes.

Verses 42, 43. Jesus saith unto them — Luke says, embleyav autoiv, eipe, having looked on them, namely, with great compassion and solemnity in his countenance, he said, Did ye never read, or never reflect upon this remarkable passage in the Scriptures, The stone which the builders refused, &c.? — As if he had said, If the vineyard is not to be taken from you and given to others, what is the meaning of these words? Do they not plainly foretel that the Messiah shall be rejected by the Jewish great men, their teachers and rulers, the builders of their church and commonwealth, and that, though they put him to death, he shall become the head of the corner, or the head of the church? Now, what else is this but that he shall be believed on by the Gentiles, and unite them to the Church of God, as a head cornerstone unites the two sides of a building? This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous, &c. — The rejection of the Messiah by the Jews, his reception among the Gentiles, and their admission into the church, are all very wonderful events, brought to pass by the singular providence of God. Therefore, because God himself has long ago expressly foretold that this judgment will happen to you; and because it is a most righteous and equitable judgment, I tell you plainly, the kingdom of God — Which you have thus vilely and ungratefully contemned and abused, shall be taken from you, and given to a nation, &c. — That is, the gospel of Christ shall be taken from you, and carried to the Gentiles, who will have more regard to the favour shown them, and improve it much better than you have done. It is justly observed by Dr. Campbell, “that this is one of the clearest predictions of the rejection of the Jews and of the call of the Gentiles, which we have in this history.”

Ver. 42. The stone which the builders rejected. The jews tell a pleasant story, that during the building of the second temple a stone lay on the ground, which was often proposed for different situations in the building, but always rejected: at length it was made the head of the corner. This being David’s case, a figure of the Messiah, gave the story the more interest. Our Saviour, in citing the words of David, gave the rulers to understand, that though they rejected him, yet God would make him head over all things to the church.

42. Jesus saith unto them — Our Lord now proceeds to hint to them that their first question, with which they opened this debate, was, as has just been said, completely answered. Still under a figure that of a stone rejected, he indicates how he, though by them rejected, would ultimately prove to be Lord of all, whose judgment would grind them to powder. The stone which the builders rejected — Psalm 118:22. Note the rapid yet harmonious changes of our Lord’s illustration of the stone. The same stone is first a rejected stone; then, second, a head corner-stone; then, third, a stumbling-stone; and lastly, a stone hurled from a balista. The stone which the builders reject is one which the architect or workman thinks too unshapely to be worked into the structure, and so casts it off; and this pictures Christ rejected by the Jewish rulers. The head stone of the corner is the large stone placed in the corner of a stone edifice, for the purpose of binding the two walls firmly together. And this describes Christ in his exaltation in the kingdom of God. Our Lord here interrupts the transition of the figure to declare, from Psalm cxviii, that this exaltation of himself was from God; and thus their question as to his authority is completely answered.

Verse 42. Did ye never read in the Scriptures? &c. — The passage quoted by our Lord is from Psalm 118:22, 23. It was first spoken of David, who, after having been persecuted by Saul, and rejected by the chiefs of Israel, at last triumphed over all his enemies, and raised the state to unexampled prosperity and strength. He might therefore be well compared to a stone rejected by the builders, which had become the head stone of the corner, giving grace and strength to the whole building. Our Lord applies this passage to himself, for to him it ultimately referred; and thus, as he had predicted his own death at the murderous hands of the scribes and Pharisees, he predicts also his future glory, as at once the foundation and the chief corner stone of that vast spiritual temple which God was about to set up in the earth. The princes and chiefs of a people were called twnp, rendered in the Septuagint, gwniai, corner stones: so, 1 Samuel 14:38, pasav tav gwniav tou Israhl, “all the chief of Israel.” Christ has this eminence, that he is both the foundation stone and the chief stone of the corner. Thus he supports and completes the fabric of his Church, sustains the whole weight, unites the various parts, and crowns the whole with strength and beauty.

V. 43. Therefore-Because ye reject this corner stone. The kingdom of God-That is, the Gospel.

Verse 43. Therefore say I] Thus showing them, that to them alone the parable belonged. The kingdom of God shall be taken from you-the Gospel shall be taken from you, and given to the Gentiles, who will receive it, and bring forth fruit to the glory of God.

Bringing forth the fruits] As in Matthew 21:34 an allusion is made to paying the landlord in kind, so here the Gentiles are represented as paying God thus. The returns which He expects for his grace are the fruits of grace; nothing can ever be acceptable in the sight of God that does not spring from himself.

Verses 42, 43. Jesus saith unto them — Luke says, embleyav autoiv, eipe, having looked on them, namely, with great compassion and solemnity in his countenance, he said, Did ye never read, or never reflect upon this remarkable passage in the Scriptures, The stone which the builders refused, &c.? — As if he had said, If the vineyard is not to be taken from you and given to others, what is the meaning of these words? Do they not plainly foretel that the Messiah shall be rejected by the Jewish great men, their teachers and rulers, the builders of their church and commonwealth, and that, though they put him to death, he shall become the head of the corner, or the head of the church? Now, what else is this but that he shall be believed on by the Gentiles, and unite them to the Church of God, as a head cornerstone unites the two sides of a building? This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous, &c. — The rejection of the Messiah by the Jews, his reception among the Gentiles, and their admission into the church, are all very wonderful events, brought to pass by the singular providence of God. Therefore, because God himself has long ago expressly foretold that this judgment will happen to you; and because it is a most righteous and equitable judgment, I tell you plainly, the kingdom of God — Which you have thus vilely and ungratefully contemned and abused, shall be taken from you, and given to a nation, &c. — That is, the gospel of Christ shall be taken from you, and carried to the Gentiles, who will have more regard to the favour shown them, and improve it much better than you have done. It is justly observed by Dr. Campbell, “that this is one of the clearest predictions of the rejection of the Jews and of the call of the Gentiles, which we have in this history.”

43. From you — And by this emphatic you he directly implies that they are, in solemn verity, the condemned husbandmen of the parable, and will be subjected to the terrible sentence they have themselves pronounced. Given to a nation — A race of people. Our Lord here predicts again the rejection of the Jews and the call of the Gentiles.

Verse 43. Therefore say I unto you, &c. — The connection of this verse, which some have thought out of its place, is marked by the words, dia touto, “on this account I say unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you,” &c.; because you builders have rejected the stone chosen of God, elect and precious, his Church shall be built up among another people, even the Gentile nations whom ye despise and hate. One of the Jewish commentators, Jarchi, has a singular note upon the words in Jeremiah 13:17, “My soul shall weep in secret places for your pride.” “Because of your grandeur, which shall cease; because of the excellency of the kingdom of heaven, which shall be given to the profane.”

V. 44. Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken-Stumblers at Christ shall even then receive much hurt. He is said to fall on this stone, who hears the Gospel and does not believe.

But on whomsoever it shall fall-In vengeance, it will utterly destroy him. It will fall on every unbeliever, when Christ cometh in the clouds of heaven. Luke 20:18.

Verse 44. The 44th verse should certainly come before ver. 43, otherwise the narration is not consecutive.

-Verse 42. The stone which the builders rejected, is become the head of the corner, &c.

-Verse 44. Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, &c. This is an allusion to the punishment of stoning among the Jews. The place of stoning was twice as high as a man; while standing on this, one of the witnesses struck the culprit on the loins, so that he fell over this scaffold; if he died by the stroke and fall, well; if not, the other witness threw a stone upon his heart, and despatched him. That stone thrown on the culprit was, in some cases, as much as two men could lift up. Tract Sanhed. and Bab. Gemara, and Lightfoot. See also the note on John 8:7.

He, whether Jew or Gentile, who shall not believe in the Son of God, shall suffer grievously in consequence; but on whomsoever the stone (Jesus Christ) falls in the way of judgment, he shall be ground to powder, likmhsei auton-it shall make him so small as to render him capable of being dispersed as chaff by the wind. This seems to allude, not only to the dreadful crushing of the Jewish state by the Romans, but also to that general dispersion of the Jews through all the nations of the world, which continues to the present day. This whole verse is wanting in the Codex Bezæ, one other, five copies of the Itala, and Origen; but it is found in the parallel place, Luke 20:18, and seems to have been quoted from Isaiah 8:14, 15. He shall be for a STONE of STUMBLING, and for a ROCK OF OFFENCE to both the houses of Israel-and many among them shall STUMBLE and FALL, and be BROKEN.

Verses 44-46. Whosoever shall fall on this stone — Which the builders have rejected, but which God will make the head of the corner; that is, whosoever shall stumble at me and my doctrine, while I am here on earth in this humble form; shall be broken — Shall receive much damage. This is spoken in allusion to a person stumbling on a stone, thrown aside as useless; but on whomsoever it shall fall — When raised up to the head of the corner; it will grind him to powder — Like a brittle potsherd, crushed by the weight of some huge stone falling upon it from on high. So whosoever shall oppose me, after my exaltation to glory, and the outpouring of my Spirit, for the full revelation of my gospel, and proof of my mission, he will bring upon himself aggravated guilt, and dreadful, unavoidable destruction. Dr. Whitby thinks, that there is an allusion in these words to the two different ways of stoning among the Jews; the former by throwing a person down upon a great stone, and the other by letting a stone fall upon him. But it seems more probable that the allusion is to Daniel 2:34; where the destruction of all the opposers of the Messiah’s kingdom is described in terms partly similar. See the notes there. “The chief priests, perceiving the drift of our Lord’s parables, were highly incensed, and would gladly have apprehended him to punish him that moment, but they durst not. It is true, they were not afraid of God, who is the avenger of such crimes, but they were afraid of the people, who constantly crowded around Jesus in the temple, and had openly acknowledged him as their Messiah.” — Macknight.

Ver. 44. Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, as when a stone falls from the top of a building on another. So they who persecuted the Saviour, brought shame and trouble on themselves; and the day soon came, when he, the living stone, fell upon them, and crushed them under the ruins of their city and temple.

44. Fall on this stone — He is now a stumbling-stone; such stones as are found abundantly in the stony region around Jerusalem. A man falls over such a stone and gets bruised, or has a limb broken, perhaps; but he may recover himself, and place himself upon the corner-stone. It shall fall — In the siege of Jerusalem the stones hurled from the military engines, falling upon the Jews, did terrible execution. Mr. Milman says that the Roman army “threw stones, the weight of a talent, a distance of two furlongs upon the walls. The Jews set men to watch the huge rocks which came thundering down upon their heads. They were easily visible from their extreme whiteness, (this it seems must have been by night;) the watchmen shouted aloud in their native tongue, “The bolt is coming!” on which they all bowed their heads and avoided the blow. The Romans found out this, and blackened the stones, which now taking them unawares, struck down and crushed not merely single men, but whole ranks.”

If our Lord’s words are not sufficiently precise to limit the allusion to the balista, still they receive a forcible illustration from the engine. Grind him to powder — A very unsuitable translation, as there is nothing in the original Greek that signifies either grind or powder. The precise phrase is, shall winnow him. That is, shall scatter him as a winnowing fan scatters the chaff. There is probably an allusion to Daniel 2:34, 35, where the great stone scatters the other kingdoms “like the chaff of the summer threshing-floor.”

Thus has our Lord answered the demands of these men for his authority. He is God’s Son, who has come for the fruits of the kingdom. If they reject him, they will yet find that he is Lord of all.

Verse 44. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, &c. — The allusion here does not appear to be to one method of stoning, which Maimonides says was practised among the Jews, that is, first casting down from a precipice upon the rock below, which, if not fatal, was followed by rolling a large stone down upon the criminal; which is somewhat far-fetched, and indeed was not the common method of inflicting that punishment. It rather arises out of the metaphor of the stone rejected by the builders, whether considered as a foundation or the top stone of the corner. As the one represented our Lord’s humiliation and sufferings, the only foundation of saving trust, the other was an emblem of the glory and majesty of his exaltation to the right hand of God. In the former, he was “a stone of stumbling, and rock of offence;” first, to all the Jews who rejected a suffering Messiah, and by consequence, his sacrificial death; and then to all others who equally spurned Christ crucified as the only ground of their hope of salvation. Thus they were broken, so wounded as to sustain great injury, yet not but that they might repent and find mercy; for their case is not represented as absolutely fatal, until the stone at the head of the corner should fall upon them. This signifies a judicial wielding of Christ’s power and supreme authority against all such as rejected him, though after much long suffering and delay. With respect to the Jews as a nation, this took place after the Gospel, in its perfected form, with all the additional attestations of Christ’s resurrection and ascension, and the effusion of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, had been for many years proclaimed among them, and pressed upon their acceptance. But they continued to fall upon or stumble at the foundation, and still more grievously to wound and injure themselves; until at last Christ turned against them the weight of his power as the Judge, and utterly destroyed their city and nation. Thus also it shall be with every individual who rejects Christ as a Saviour: he too must meet him in his glory as Judge, and in “the hour of death, and in the day of judgment,” shall awfully realize the truth of the words, “On whomsoever this stone shall fall, it will grind him to powder.” Sunqcasqai, and likman, are of different degrees of force: the former signifies to bruise; the latter, to disperse, as chaff, from likmov, a winnowing van; and hence is used figuratively for utter destruction, or a dashing in pieces.

Verse 45. The chief priests-perceived that he spoke of them.] The most wholesome advice passes for an affront with those who have shut their hearts against the truth. When that which should lead to repentance only kindles the flame of malice and revenge, there is but little hope of the salvation of such persons.

Verses 44-46. Whosoever shall fall on this stone — Which the builders have rejected, but which God will make the head of the corner; that is, whosoever shall stumble at me and my doctrine, while I am here on earth in this humble form; shall be broken — Shall receive much damage. This is spoken in allusion to a person stumbling on a stone, thrown aside as useless; but on whomsoever it shall fall — When raised up to the head of the corner; it will grind him to powder — Like a brittle potsherd, crushed by the weight of some huge stone falling upon it from on high. So whosoever shall oppose me, after my exaltation to glory, and the outpouring of my Spirit, for the full revelation of my gospel, and proof of my mission, he will bring upon himself aggravated guilt, and dreadful, unavoidable destruction. Dr. Whitby thinks, that there is an allusion in these words to the two different ways of stoning among the Jews; the former by throwing a person down upon a great stone, and the other by letting a stone fall upon him. But it seems more probable that the allusion is to Daniel 2:34; where the destruction of all the opposers of the Messiah’s kingdom is described in terms partly similar. See the notes there. “The chief priests, perceiving the drift of our Lord’s parables, were highly incensed, and would gladly have apprehended him to punish him that moment, but they durst not. It is true, they were not afraid of God, who is the avenger of such crimes, but they were afraid of the people, who constantly crowded around Jesus in the temple, and had openly acknowledged him as their Messiah.” — Macknight.

§ 114. — PARABLE OF THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN, 33-46.

33. Hear another parable — You have felt the effect of one, now hear another. Householder — The head of a family. A vineyard — A symbol of the field of duty and service of God, customarily used in both the Old Testament and the New. See Deuteronomy 22:32, Isaiah 5:1-7, and Matthew 20:1. Hedged it round about — A hedge is a row of perfectly dense thorn bushes, (often in Judea the prickly pear,) planted around a field, to fence it in and exclude all intruders. A winepress — Including the wine vat, which was a square or round vat or pit excavated in the earth, mortared and plastered so as to make it tight like a modern cistern. Over this vat was the wine-press, into which the grapes were heaped, and when the juice was trodden out it flowed into the vat.

Built a tower — A tower or observatory in the garden, having a view in all directions, in which a watchman is stationed to guard against robbers. The vineyard represents the Church or fold of God’s service. This must be girt as with a hedge; it must have its ordinances for receiving the flow of the divine nourishment; it must have its towers and watchmen against the assaults of the profane or the incursions of hypocrites. Let it out — Leased or rented it, with rent to be paid from the produce. Went into a far country — God leaves men in their state of probation to work out their destiny.

Verse 46. They sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude] Restraining and preventing grace is an excellent blessing, particularly where it leads to repentance and salvation; but he who abstains from certain evils, only through fear of scandal or punishment, has already committed them in his heart, and is guilty before God. The intrepidity of our Lord is worthy of admiration and imitation; in the very face of his most inveterate enemies, he bears a noble testimony to the truth, reproves their iniquities, denounces the Divine judgments, and, in the very teeth of destruction, braves danger and death! A true minister of Christ fears nothing but God, when his glory is concerned: a hireling fears every thing, except Him whom he ought to fear.

This last journey of our Lord to Jerusalem is a subject of great importance; it is mentioned by all the four evangelists, and has been a subject of criticism and cavil to some unsanctified minds. He has been accused of “attempting, by this method, to feel how far the populace were disposed to favour his pretensions in establishing himself as a king in the land; or, at least, by his conduct in this business, he gave much cause for popular seditions.” Every circumstance in the case refutes this calumny.

1. His whole conduct had proved that his kingdom was not of this world, and that he sought not the honour that cometh from man.

2. He had in a very explicit manner foretold his own premature death, and particularly at this time.

3. It is evident, from what he had said to his disciples, that he went up to Jerusalem at this time for the express purpose of being sacrificed, and not of erecting a secular kingdom.

4. What he did at this time was to fulfil a declaration of God delivered by two prophets, upwards of 700 years before, relative to his lowliness, poverty, and total deadness to all secular rule and pomp. See Isaiah 62:11; Zechariah 9:9.

5. All the time he spent now in Jerusalem, which was about five days, he spent in teaching, precisely in the same way he had done for three years past; nor do we find that he uttered one maxim dissimilar to what he formerly taught, or said a word calculated to produce any sensation on the hearts of the populace, but that of piety towards God; and in the parable of the man and his two sons, the husbandmen and the vineyard, he spoke in such a way to the rulers of the people as to show that he knew they were plotting his destruction; and that, far from fleeing from the face of danger, or strengthening his party against his enemies, he was come to wait at the foot of the altar till his blood should be poured out for the sin of the world!

6. Had he affected any thing of a secular kind, he had now the fairest opportunity to accomplish his designs. The people had already received him as Jesus the prophet; now they acknowledge him as the Christ or MESSIAH, and sing the hosannah to him, as immediately appointed by Heaven to be their deliverer.

7. Though, with the character of the Messiah, the Jews had connected that of secular royalty, and they now, by spreading their clothes in the way, strewing branches, &c., treat him as a royal person, and one appointed to govern the kingdom; yet of this he appears to take no notice, farther than to show that an important prophecy was thus fulfilled: he went as usual into the temple, taught the people pure and spiritual truths, withdrew at night from the city, lodged in private at Mount Olivet; and thus most studiously and unequivocally showed that his sole aim was to call the people back to purity and holiness, and prepare them for that kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, which he was about, by his passion, death, resurrection, ascension, and the mission of the Holy Spirit, to set up in the earth.

8. Could a person who worked such miracles as he was in the daily habit of working-miracles which proved he possessed unlimited power and unerring wisdom, need subterfuges, or a colouring for any design he wished to accomplish? He had only to put forth that power essentially resident in himself, and all resistance to his will must be annihilated. In short, every circumstance of the case shows at once the calumny and absurdity of the charge. But, instead of lessening, or tendering suspicious this or any other part of our Lord’s conduct, it shows the whole in a more luminous and glorious point of view; and thus the wrath of man praises him.

9. That he was a king, that he was born of a woman and came into the world for this very purpose, he took every occasion to declare; but all these declarations showed that his kingdom was spiritual: he would not even interfere with the duty of the civil magistrate to induce an avaricious brother to do justice to the rest of the family, Luke 12:13, when probably a few words from such an authority would have been sufficient to have settled the business; yet to prevent all suspicion, and to remove every cause for offence, he absolutely refused to interfere, and took occasion from the very circumstance to declaim against secular views, covetousness, and worldly ambition! O how groundless does every part of his conduct prove this charge of secular ambition to be!

Such was the spirit of the Master: such must be the spirit of the disciple. He that will reign with Christ, must be humbled and suffer with him. This is the royal road. The love of the world, in its power and honours, is as inconsistent with the spirit of the Gospel as the love of the grossest vice. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Reader, take occasion from this refuted calumny, to imitate thy Lord in the spirituality of his life, to pass through things temporal so as not to lose those that are eternal, that thou mayest reign with him in the glory of his kingdom. Amen. ST. MATTHEW

Verses 44-46. Whosoever shall fall on this stone — Which the builders have rejected, but which God will make the head of the corner; that is, whosoever shall stumble at me and my doctrine, while I am here on earth in this humble form; shall be broken — Shall receive much damage. This is spoken in allusion to a person stumbling on a stone, thrown aside as useless; but on whomsoever it shall fall — When raised up to the head of the corner; it will grind him to powder — Like a brittle potsherd, crushed by the weight of some huge stone falling upon it from on high. So whosoever shall oppose me, after my exaltation to glory, and the outpouring of my Spirit, for the full revelation of my gospel, and proof of my mission, he will bring upon himself aggravated guilt, and dreadful, unavoidable destruction. Dr. Whitby thinks, that there is an allusion in these words to the two different ways of stoning among the Jews; the former by throwing a person down upon a great stone, and the other by letting a stone fall upon him. But it seems more probable that the allusion is to Daniel 2:34; where the destruction of all the opposers of the Messiah’s kingdom is described in terms partly similar. See the notes there. “The chief priests, perceiving the drift of our Lord’s parables, were highly incensed, and would gladly have apprehended him to punish him that moment, but they durst not. It is true, they were not afraid of God, who is the avenger of such crimes, but they were afraid of the people, who constantly crowded around Jesus in the temple, and had openly acknowledged him as their Messiah.” — Macknight.

46. They feared the multitude — During all his quiet teachings in the temple during the Passion Week, and under his most terrible rebukes, they are, as it were, spell-bound, and unable to lift a hand against him until his work is done. They took him for a prophet — As the conscience of the common people was in favour of John the Baptist, so now was it so far on the side of Christ as to receive him, not indeed as the Son, but as a messenger to the vineyard.

Verse 46. They feared the multitude. — This shows that not only the people who came up with our Lord from Jericho, but vast numbers who were now collecting from all parts to celebrate the passover at Jerusalem, admitted his claims as a prophet, and would have been excited to tumult by any open attempt to apprehend him. This rendered it necessary for his enemies to proceed with circumspection and subtlety; and therefore St. Luke adds, “They watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor.”