Chapter 20
Lu 20:1-19. The Authority of Jesus Questioned, and His Reply--Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen
(See on [Mt 21:23].)
2. these things--particularly the clearing of the temple.
4. baptism of John--his whole ministry and mission, of which baptism was the seal.
5. Why then believed ye him not?--that is, in his testimony to Jesus, the sum of his whole witness.
7. could not tell--crooked, cringing hypocrites! No wonder Jesus gave you no answer ([Mt 7:6]). But what dignity and composure does our Lord display as He turns their question upon themselves!
9-13. vineyard--(See on [Lu 13:6]). In [Mt 21:33] additional points are given, taken literally from [Is 5:2], to fix down the application and sustain it by Old Testament authority.
husbandmen--the ordinary spiritual guides of the people, under whose care and culture the fruits of righteousness might be yielded.
went, &c.--leaving it to the laws of the spiritual husbandry during the whole length of the Jewish economy. (See on [Mr 4:26].)
14. reasoned among themselves--(Compare [Ge 37:18-20]; [Joh 11:47-53]).
the heir--sublime expression of the great truth, that God's inheritance was destined for, and in due time to come into the possession of, His Son in our nature ([He 1:2]).
inheritance ... ours--and so from mere servants we may become lords; the deep aim of the depraved heart, and literally "the root of all evil."
15. cast him out of the vineyard--(Compare [He 13:11-13]; [1Ki 21:13]; [Joh 19:17]).
16. He shall come, &c.--This answer was given by the Pharisees themselves ([Mt 21:41]), thus pronouncing their own righteous doom. Matthew alone ([Mt 21:43]) gives the naked application, that "the kingdom of God should be taken from them, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof"--the great evangelical community of the faithful, chiefly Gentiles.
God forbid--His whole meaning now bursting upon them.
17-19. written--(in [Psa 118:22], . See on [Lu 19:38]). The Kingdom of God is here a Temple, in the erection of which a certain stone, rejected as unsuitable by the spiritual builders, is, by the great Lord of the House, made the keystone of the whole. On that Stone the builders were now "falling" and being "broken" ([Is 8:15]), "sustaining great spiritual hurt; but soon that Stone should fall upon them and grind them to powder" ([Da 2:34], 35; [Zec 12:3])--in their corporate capacity in the tremendous destruction of Jerusalem, but personally, as unbelievers, in a more awful sense still.
Lu 20:20-40. Entangling Questions about Tribute and the Resurrection--The Replies
20-26. sent forth--after consulting ([Mt 22:15]) on the best plan.
spies--"of the Pharisees and Herodians" ([Mr 12:13]). See [Mr 3:6].
27-34. no resurrection--"nor angel nor spirit" ([Ac 23:8]); the materialists of the day.
36. neither ... die any more--Marriage is ordained to perpetuate the human family; but as there will be no breaches by death in the future state, this ordinance will cease.
equal--or "like."
unto the angels--that is, in the immortality of their nature.
children of God--not in respect of character but nature; "being the children of the resurrection" to an undecaying existence ([Ro 8:21], ). And thus the children of their Father's immortality ([1Ti 6:16]).
37-38. even Moses--whom they had just quoted to entangle Him.
39. scribes ... well said--enjoying His victory over the Sadducees.
they durst not--neither party, both for the time utterly foiled.
Lu 20:41-47. Christ Baffles the Pharisees by a Question about David and Messiah, and Denounces the Scribes
41. said, &c.--"What think ye of Christ [the promised and expected Messiah]? Whose son is He [to be]? They say unto Him, The son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit [by the Holy Ghost, Mr 12:36] call Him Lord?" ([Mt 22:42], ). The difficulty can only be solved by the higher and lower--the divine and human natures of our Lord ([Mt 1:23]). Mark the testimony here given to the inspiration of the Old Testament (compare [Lu 24:44]).
46-47. Beware, &c.--(See on [Mt 23:5]; and [Lu 14:7]).
Chapter 21
Lu 21:1-4. The Widow's Two Mites
1. looked up--He had "sat down over against the treasury" ([Mr 12:41]), probably to rest, for He had continued long standing as he taught in the temple court ([Mr 11:27]), and "looking up He saw"--as in Zaccheus' case, not quite casually.
the rich, &c.--"the people," says [Mr 12:41] "cast money into the treasury, and many rich east in much"; that is, into chests deposited in one of the courts of the temple to receive the offerings of the people towards its maintenance ([2Ki 12:9]; [Joh 8:20]).
2. two mites--"which make a farthing" ([Mr 12:42]), the smallest Jewish coin. "She might have kept one" [Bengel].
3. And he said--"to His disciples," whom He "called to Him" ([Mr 12:43]), to teach from it a great future lesson.
more than ... all--in proportion to her means, which is God's standard ([2Co 8:12]).
4. of their abundance--their superfluity; what they had to spare," or beyond what they needed.
of her penury--or "want" ([Mr 12:44])--her deficiency, of what was less than her own wants required, "all the living she had." Mark ([Mr 12:44]) still more emphatically, "all that she had--her whole subsistence." Note: (1) As temple offerings are needed still for the service of Christ at home and abroad, so "looking down" now, as then "up," Me "sees" who "cast in," and how much. (2) Christ's standard of commendable offering is not our superfluity, but our deficiency--not what will never be missed, but what costs us some real sacrifice, and just in proportion to the relative amount of that sacrifice. (See [2Co 8:1-3].)
Lu 21:5-38. Christ's Prophecy of the Destruction of Jerusalem and Warnings to Prepare for His Second Coming, Suggested by It--His Days and Nights during His Last Week
5-7. (See on [Mt 24:1-3].)
8. the time--of the Kingdom, in its full glory.
go ... not ... after them--"I come not so very soon" ([2Th 2:1], ) [Stier].
9-11. not terrified--(See [Lu 21:19]; [Is 8:11-14]).