a far country:

34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.

35 And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.

36 Again he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.

37 But last of all, he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.

38 But when the husband

been sent to them, and, at last, when the proprietor's son was sent to them, abused him and put him to death. Against such husbandmen the indig nation of the proprietor would justly be excited; and he might be expected to bring them to signal punishment, and to take into his service other laborers. Householder; master of a family. Hedged. Vineyards were usually enclosed with a thorn-hedge, or with a wall. || Digged a winepress. The wine-presses consisted of two receptacles, an upper and a lower; they were sometimes built of stones and plastered over, or they were hewn out of a large rock. Into the upper receptacle the grapes were thrown and trodden out by several men. The juice flowed out through a grated aperture near the bottom of the upper receptacle into the lower receptacle. Built a tower. Towers were erected in vineyards, of a very considerable height, and were intended for the accommodation of keepers, who defended the vineyards from thieves and from troublesome animals. The elevation of such towers in Eastern countries, at the present time, is sometimes eighty feet. Let it out. The sequel shows that the vineyard was not rented out for

among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inher itance.

39 And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.

40 When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?

41 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.

money; but the husbandmen were hired to cultivate it, and were to send the fruits to the owner.

37. They will reverence my son. This they might naturally be expected to do, however shamefully they had treated the servants.

40. Lord of the vineyard; the owner, called, in v. 33, the householder.

41. He will miserably destroy, &c. This is represented by Matthew, as a reply made by the persons to whom Jesus was speaking. Mark (12: 9), and Luke (20: 16), in relating the parable, omit the circumstance of this sentiment being expressed by the chief priests and scribes, and represent Jesus as making the declaration. Perhaps, in accordance with the representation of Mark and Luke, Jesus did actually repeat the declaration which his hearers had made; and the solemn repetition of it by himself made them distinctly perceive the application of the parable. Similar diversities in stating the circumstances of an event are common among all men, while yet they may agree in their testimony respecting the event. The sentiment was uttered; and it accorded with the honest convictions and judgment of all present. Luke adds (20: 16), that some persons,

hearing the sentiment expressed, exclaimed God forbid! Being struck with the alarming nature of the sentiment, and filled with fear in view of its application to themselves, or to those whom they had been accustomed to regard with reverence, they involuntarily deprecated such a visitation of wrath. The parable may properly be regarded as terminating here; for the subsequent remarks are manifestly a plain, unembellished application of the sentiment to the chief priests and scribes. The householder represented God; the husbandmen, the chief men of the Jewish nation, to whom a great trust was committed, with all the necessary advantages for rightly discharging their duties. The servants represented the prophets and religious teachers sent from time to time, for securing to God the returns of praise and grateful obedience, but who were often abused in various ways. The son represented the Messiah, Jesus Christ, whom the authorities of the nation had determined to slay. After having thus consummated their guilt, signal vengeance would be taken of these chief men; and others would be called into the service of God, to conduct the affairs of his kingdom, or to manage his administration on earth.

42. As peculiarly applicable to the case of the heads of the Jewish nation, Jesus quoted a passage from Ps 118: 22, 23, in which God is represented as raising to signal honor an individual whom the chief men had endeavored to set aside as unsuitable for the dignity. The stone. This language is metaphorical. The Hebrew state was likened to an edifice. In edifices, the corner-stone was a

44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone, shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

very conspicuous and very important object; the whole building, so to speak, resting on it. | Head of the corner; chief corner-stone. A certain stone disregarded, rejected, indeed, by the builders of this edifice, was yet, by God's appointment, selected as the principal stone, the cornerstone. This language, which probably pointed out David, who had been disesteemed by Saul and other ehief men, yet who was selected by God to be the highest officer in the nation, was remarkably applicable to Jesus, who was disesteemed and rejected by the highest authorities of the nation, but who yet was the one whom God had appointed to the highest dignity, that of the Messiah, the anointed king, in the new dispensation, the reign of heaven. God's hand must be acknowledged in this issue of events.

43. I say unto you; you, chief men, and your nation. The kingdom of heaven; the blessings of the Messiah's administration. Given to a nation; given to others, to another community, namely, that which is now called the Christian church.

Bringing forth the fruits thereof; living in a manner adapted to this new dispensation; serving God acceptably presenting him such returns of love and obedience as the nature of the Messiah's dispensation requires.

44. Whosoever shall fall, &c. The mention, in the 42d verse, of a stone, suggested to the mind of Jesus another method of figuratively representing the destruction which was ere long to overtake the Jews. person rashly or carelessly stumbling against a stone, will receive injury;

A

45 And when the chief priests and Pharisees had, heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.

46 But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared

and the stone hurled against a person will bring on him far greater injury. So, the Messiah, represented here by a stone, was to prove an occasion of sore calamity and ruin to the Jewish nation. Compare Luke 2: 34. 1 Pet. 2:7, 8. There may here be expressed different degrees of danger, corresponding to different degrees of guilt. Multitudes, through the prejudices of education, and in various ways, might stumble at the Messiah's appearance, and fail to receive him; others might reject him, not through lack of evidence that he was the Messiah, or through their confidence in the teachings of others, but through a settled hostility to his character and doctrines; and they would consequently experience severest judgments in their being finally overthrown. The destruction, in each case, may be a final and remediless one; yet that which is represented by being crushed through the falling of a stone, will be a far more aggravated one than the other. A distinction may thus have been made between the mass of the Jewish people, and the heads of the nation, who had exposed themselves, by their determined opposition, to the most signal vengeance of God. For parallel passages, see Mark 12: 1-12. Luke 20: 9-19.

the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.

CHAPTER XXII.

AND Jesus answered and spake unto them again

a teacher acting by special divine authority.

CHAPTER XXII.

1. Spake unto them again. In immediate connection with what has just been related, Jesus spoke another parable, which was applicable to the state and prospects of the Jewish nation. He described a king as making a splendid entertainment in honor of his son, and as having, in view of this, sent abroad invitations to the entertainment. At the proper time, notice was given to those who were invited, that their presence was requested. They neglected the message, abused and killed the servants who bore it. In consequence, the king condemned them and their city to destruction. So God had been preparing a rich variety of blessings for men, and first for the Jewish nation, in connection with the entrance of his Son, the Messiah, upon his royal dignity, as the spiritual king and lord. To the Jews were made known the intentions of God; and in due time, his servants were sent forth to announce the joyful tidings of God's love being manifested, and to call the people to a participation of the blessings of the new dispensation. But already, since the coming of John the Baptist, had the servants of God who were announcing the new dispensation been neglected and badly treated, and ere long would the Jews put to death some of those who were laboring for their spiritual benefit; and as a consequence of their guilt, ruin was destined to overtake the nation.

Thus far the parable had respect to the Jews. But the Saviour made an addition. The entertainment being prepared, the king procured a large number of guests from every quarter; among the guests, however, was one,