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 μη γενοιτο, God forbid! The Codex Leicestrensis omits οι λεγουσιν, they say; so that the following words appear to be spoken by our Lord. Michaelis supposes that in the Hebrew original the word was ויאמר waiomer, he said; for which the Greek translator might have read ויאמרו waiomeru, they said.
Verse 42
The stone - R. Solom. Jarchi, on [Mic 5:1-15], says, this stone means the Messiah, אכן משיח: 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 [Psa 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, [1Cor 3:16]; [Heb 3:6]; [1Pet 2:5]; so Jesus Christ is represented as the foundation on which this edifice is laid, [1Cor 3:11]; [Eph 2:20], [Eph 2:21].
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.
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 [Mat 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.
Verse 44
The 44th verse should certainly come before [Mat 21:43], otherwise the narration is not consecutive. [Mat 21:42]. The stone which the builders rejected, is become the head of the corner, etc. [Mat 21:44]. Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, etc. 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 [Joh 8:7] (note).
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, λικμησει αυτον - 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 Bezae, one other, five copies of the Itala, and Origen; but it is found in the parallel place, [Luk 20:18], and seems to have been quoted from [Isa 8:14], [Isa 8:15]. 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.
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.
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 favor 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 honor 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 fulfill 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 [Isa 62:11]; [Zac 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, etc., 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, [Luk 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 offense, 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 honors, 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.
Introduction
The parable of the marriage of a king's son, [Mat 22:1-14]. The Pharisees and Herodians question him concerning the lawfulness of paying tribute to Caesar, [Mat 22:15-22]. The Sadducees question him concerning the resurrection, [Mat 22:23-33]. A lawyer questions him concerning the greatest commandment in the law, [Mat 22:34-40]. He asks them their opinion of the Christ, and confounds them, [Mat 22:41-46].
Verse 2
The kingdom of heaven - In Bereshith Rabba, sect. 62. fol. 60, there is a parable very similar to this, and another still more so in Sohar. Levit. fol. 40. But these rabbinical parables are vastly ennobled by passing through the hands of our Lord. It appears from Luke, [Luk 14:15]; etc., that it was at an entertainment that this parable was originally spoken. It was a constant practice of our Lord to take the subjects of his discourses from the persons present, or from the circumstances of times, persons, and places. See [Mat 16:6]; [Joh 4:7-10]; [Joh 6:26], [Joh 6:27]; [Joh 7:37]. A preacher that can do so can never be at a loss for text or sermon.
A marriage for his son - A marriage feast, so the word γαμους properly means. Or a feast of inauguration, when his son was put in possession of the government, and thus he and his new subjects became married together. See [1Kgs 1:5-9], [1Kgs 1:19], [1Kgs 1:25], etc., where such a feast is mentioned.
From this parable it appears plain,
1. That the King means the great God.
2. His Son, the Lord Jesus.
3. The Marriage, his incarnation, or espousing human nature, by taking it into union with himself.
4. The Marriage Feast, the economy of the Gospel, during which men are invited to partake of the blessings purchased by, and consequent on, the incarnation and death of our blessed Lord.
5. By those who Had Been bidden, or invited, [Mat 22:3], are meant the Jews in general, who had this union of Christ with human nature, and his sacrifice for sin, pointed out by various rites, ceremonies, and sacrifices under the law; and who, by all the prophets, had been constantly invited to believe in and receive the promised Messiah.
6. By the Servants, we are to understand the first preachers of the Gospel, proclaiming salvation to the Jews. John the Baptist and the seventy disciples ([Luk 10:1]), may be here particularly intended.
7. By the Other Servants, [Mat 22:4], the apostles seem to be meant, who, though they were to preach the Gospel to the whole world, yet were to begin at Jerusalem ([Luk 24:47]) with the first offers of mercy.