ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet. And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things."

"The chief priests and the elders,"-accompanied, as Mark and Luke tell us, by the "scribes." They came as a deputation from the Sanhedrin.

"These things," His public entry, miracles, teachings, and especially His cleansing the Temple.

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By what authority"?—They had a right to ask this, for they had the supreme regulation of religious affairs, including the power of inquiry into a prophet's pretensions, and of permitting preaching in the Temple.

"I also," &c.-Christ, (not through fear, but from deliberation), answered by another question,-a common form in Greek and Hebrew disputation.

Christ wished to shew, (and did so indirectly), that it was as the Messiah He did these things;" but had He declared so directly, His interrogators would have been able to charge Him with blasphemy.

"The baptism of John,"-i.e., the ministry of John, of which baptism, upon repentance and faith in the coming of the Messiah, was so marked a feature.

"Whence," &c.-i.e., "Was his authority to teach and baptize from God or man"?

This was a complete answer to the question put to Christ. The Jews generally, including the Sanhedrin, had accepted John as a prophet sent from God. But he had testified that Jesus was the Messiah. Therefore His questioners were driven, if they were consistent, to acknowledge Him as such, and therefore to own His supreme authority in doing these "things."

"We fear the people."-Luke makes them say "All the people will stone us." The priests frequently induced the people to stone those opposed to them, and so great was the popular veneration for John, that the mob would not have hesitated to apply to the priests their own favourite recipe.

The Parable of the Father and His Two Sons, delivered to Christ's interrogators.

(IN THE TEMPLE.)

(c. xxi. 28-32.)

"But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not but the publicans and the harlots believed him : and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him."

This Parable is peculiar to Matthew. "What think ye"?

"What is your opinion of what I am about to say, as applied to yourselves"? "A certain man,"—God.

"Two sons,”-two classes of Jews :

1. The profane and irreligious generally, who openly refused to work in God's "vineyard" until John came, when they repented, and believed in Christ. 2. The Pharisees and scribes, who professed to be eminently righteous, (earnest workers in the "vineyard"); but who, in reality, were utterly rebellious and irreligious, since they rejected the teachings of John, (and Christ).

The Parable of the Vineyard let out to
Husbandmen.

(c. xxi. 33-46.)

"Hear another parable: There was a certain householder. which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and

digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: and when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?

They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.

Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet."

Matthew, Mark, and Luke give this Parable, agreeing in the main. There is, however, some apparent difficulty as to their statements concerning the persons to whom it was spoken:

Matt. and Mark represent it as being spoken to Christ's late questioners.

Luke prefaces his version of the Parable thus,-" Then began he to speak to the people this parable.”

It would then seem that Christ spoke it to all who were within hearing,—the people and His interrogators, but directing His attention mainly to the people.

This Parable is taken from a similar one in Is. v. 1-7,—

"Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: and he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: and I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry."

This Parable directly explains in some respects the meaning of Christ's Parable:

The General Scope,

1. God's care of the Jews, His peculiar people.
2. Their rebellion against Him.

3. His judgment that should fall upon them. Particular Interpretation,—

"Householder," God.

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Vineyard," His Church.

"Hedged it,"-separated, and peculiarly protected, it. This was done under the Jews specially by Circumcision and the Law.

"A winepress,”—probably the Brazen Altar.

The winepress of a vineyard was a pit dug in the earth, and lined with masonry, in which the grapes were trodden. So, from the Altar was constantly flowing the blood of victims.

"A tower,"-probably the Temple.

(Towers were built in vineyards that the approach of thieves and wild animals might be seen.)

"Let it out," refers to the covenant between God and His people.

"Husbandmen," the Jews.

"Went into," &c.-(rather, "went abroad.") After God had put Israel into possession of the ample means He had provided He withdrew that visible personal presence that had hitherto been shewn, and left them in a measure to act as should seem good to them.

"The time of the fruit,”—indicates such special demands by God upon the Church for repentance and good works, as He made in sending the prophets, John the Baptist, and Christ.

(The rents of vineyards were often, as is represented in this parable, paid in produce; and "the time for gathering the fruits" was that usually adopted by the landlords for exacting them.)

"More than the first,"-i.e., more honourable than the first. As the Advent of Christ approached, each succeeding prophet pointed it out more fully than his predecessor, and may, therefore, be fairly regarded as greater than he.

Mark and Luke are more particular than Matthew regarding the circumstance of sending the prophets,-representing three as being sent in succession. This corresponds with the fact that there were prophets sent to

1. Israel before the Captivity.

2. Judah 99

3. The remnant that returned from the Captivity. "His son,"-Christ.

"Said among themselves,”—alludes to the councils the Sanhedrin held to conspire against Christ.

"Cast him out of the vineyard.”—The Jews refused Christ's authority over the Church.

"Other husbandmen,”—the Gentiles.

Matthew alone makes the answer (as to what the lord would do to the husbandmen) come from Christ's hearers. Mark and Luke merely give the answer, without recording who made it.