XXII. (1) AND JESUS ANSWERED. — The word implies a connection of some kind with what has gone before. The parable was an answer, if not to spoken words, to the thoughts that were stirring in the minds of those who listened.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH MADE A MARRIAGE FOR HIS SON. — The germ of the thought which forms the groundwork of the parable is found, in a passing allusion, in Luke 12:36 — “When he shall return from the wedding.” Here, for the first time, it appears in a fully developed form. The parable of Luke 14:15 is not specially... [ Continue Reading ]
SENT FORTH HIS SERVANTS. — As in the parable of the Vineyard (Matthew 21:33), the servants represent the aggregate work of the prophets up to the time of the Baptist. The refusal of guests invited to what seems to us so great an honour may seem, at first sight, so contrary to human nature as to be w... [ Continue Reading ]
MY DINNER. — The Greek word points to a morning meal, as contrasted with the “supper,” or evening meal; but, like all such words, (as, _e.g.,_ our own dinner), was applied, as time passed on, to meals at very different hours. In Homer it is used of food taken at sunrise; in later authors, of the rep... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY MADE LIGHT OF IT. — The words point to the temper of neglect which slights the offer of the kingdom of God, and prefers the interest of this world. This was one form of neglect. Another ran parallel with it, and passed on into open antagonism.... [ Continue Reading ]
ENTREATED THEM SPITEFULLY. — The Greek word implies the wanton infliction of outrage. The parable at this stage looks forward as well as backward, and seems to include the sufferings of Christian preachers and martyrs as well as those of the prophets who were sent to Israel.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SENT FORTH HIS ARMIES. — As in other parables that shadow forth the judgment of the Son of Man, the words find an approximate fulfilment, first, in the destruction of Jerusalem, and afterwards, in all times of trouble that fall upon nations and churches as the punishment of unbelief and its conse... [ Continue Reading ]
INTO THE HIGHWAYS. — Literally, _the openings of the ways,_ the places where two or more roads met, and where, therefore, there was a greater probability of meeting way-farers. In the interpretation of the parable, we may see in this feature of it a prophecy of the calling of the Gentiles, and find... [ Continue Reading ]
BOTH BAD AND GOOD. — The words imply, as in the parable of the Drag-net (Matthew 13:47), (1) the universality of the offer of the gospel, so that none were shut out through any previous sins; (2) that the assembly of the guests so gathered answers to the visible Church of Christ in which the evil ar... [ Continue Reading ]
TO SEE THE GUESTS. — The verb conveys the idea of inspecting. The king came to see whether all the guests had fulfilled the implied condition of coming in suitable apparel. The framework of the parable probably pre-supposes the Oriental custom of providing garments for the guests who were invited to... [ Continue Reading ]
FRIEND. — (See Note on Matthew 20:13.) The question implies that the act was strange, unlooked-for, inexcusable. HE WAS SPEECHLESS. — The verb is the same as the “put to silence” of Matthew 22:34, and points literally to the silence of one who has been gagged.... [ Continue Reading ]
TAKE HIM AWAY. — The words are wanting in many of the best MSS., and may have been inserted to meet the supposed difficulty of the man being simply “thrust out” after he had been bound hand and foot. INTO OUTER DARKNESS. — The description is reproduced from Matthew 8:12, and, in part also, from Mat... [ Continue Reading ]
MANY ARE CALLED. — (See Note on Matthew 20:16.) The “calling” answers, both verbally and in substance, to the “bidding” or invitation of the parable. The “chosen” are those who both accept the invitation and comply with its condition; those who, in the one parable, work in the vineyard, and in the o... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW THEY MIGHT ENTANGLE HIM. — Literally, _ensnare._ The phrase is identical in meaning with our colloquial “set a trap.” The plot implies that they did not dare to take measures openly against Him as long as popular feeling was at the same level.... [ Continue Reading ]
WITH THE HERODIANS. — The party thus described are known to us only through the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark; and their precise relation to the other sects or schools among the Jews are consequently matters of conjecture. The form of the name (like _Mariani, Pompeiani,_ and, we may add, _Chri... [ Continue Reading ]
IS IT LAWFUL TO GIVE TRIBUTE...? — The question was obviously framed as a dilemma. If answered in the affirmative, the Pharisees would be able to denounce Him to the people as a traitor to His country, courting the favour of their heathen oppressors. If in the negative, the Herodians (on the assumpt... [ Continue Reading ]
YE HYPOCRITES. — The special form of the hypocrisy was that the questioners had come, not avowedly as disputants, but as “just men” (Luke 20:20) perplexed in conscience and seeking guidance as from One whom they really honoured.... [ Continue Reading ]
SHEW ME THE TRIBUTE MONEY. — The parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:2) indicates that the _denarius_ was in common circulation. It was probably part of the fiscal regulation of the Roman government that the poll-tax should be paid in that coin only. In any case, wherever it passed... [ Continue Reading ]
IMAGE AND SUPERSCRIPTION. — Better, _inscription._ The coin brought would probably be a silver _denarius_ of Tiberius, bearing on the face the head of the emperor, with the inscription running round it containing his name and titles.... [ Continue Reading ]
RENDER THEREFORE UNTO CÆSAR. — As far as the immediate question was concerned, this was of course an answer in the affirmative. It recognised the principle that the acceptance of the emperor’s coinage was an admission of his _de facto_ sovereignty. But the words that followed raised the discussion i... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY MARVELLED. — We can picture to ourselves the surprise which the conspirators felt at thus finding themselves baffled where they thought success so certain. The Herodians could not charge the Teacher with forbidding to give tribute to Cæsar. The Pharisees found the duty of giving to God what bel... [ Continue Reading ]
(23-28) THE SADDUCEES. — (See Note on Matthew 3:7.) These, we must remember, consisted largely of the upper class of the priesthood (Acts 5:17). The form of their attack implies that they looked on our Lord as teaching the doctrine of the resurrection. They rested their denial on the ground that the... [ Continue Reading ]
YE DO ERR. — This is, it may be noted, the one occasion in the Gospel history in which our Lord comes into direct collision with the Sadducees. On the whole, while distinctly condemning and refuting their characteristic error, the tone in which He speaks is less stern than that in which He addresses... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY NEITHER MARRY, NOR ARE GIVEN IN MARRIAGE. — In St. Luke’s report (Luke 20:34) our Lord emphasises the contrast in this respect between the children of this world and the children of the resurrection. His words teach absolutely the absence from the resurrection life of the definite relations on... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT WHICH WAS SPOKEN UNTO YOU BY GOD. — In St. Mark and St. Luke we find the addition “at the bush,” the words probably being a reference to the section of the Law containing Exodus 3, and known by that title. There are, it need scarcely be said, many passages scattered here and there through the O... [ Continue Reading ]
They were astonished at his doctrine. — Better, _teaching._ The wonder was apparently caused by the way in which the truth of the popular creed had been proved from words which seemed to the careless reader to be altogether remote from it. It was the mode of teaching rather than the doctrine taught... [ Continue Reading ]
HAD PUT THE SADDUCEES TO SILENCE. — The primary meaning of the Greek verb is to stop a man’s power of speaking with a gag, and even in its wider use it retains the sense of putting men to a coerced and unwilling silence. (Comp. 1 Peter 2:15.)... [ Continue Reading ]
A LAWYER. — The precise distinction between the “lawyer” and the other scribes rested, probably, on technicalities that have left little or no trace behind them. The word suggests the thought of a section of the scribes who confined their attention to the Law, while the others included in their stud... [ Continue Reading ]
WHICH IS THE GREAT COMMANDMENT...? — Literally, _of what kind._ The questioner asked as if it belonged to a class. Our Lord’s answer is definite, “_This_ is the first and great commandment.”... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD. — In St. Mark’s report (Mark 12:29) our Lord’s answer begins with the Creed of Israel (“Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord”), and so the truth is in its right position as the foundation of the duty. It is significant (1) that the answer comes from the same... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR. — The words were found, strangely enough, in the book which is, for the most part, pre-eminently ceremonial (Leviticus 19:18), and it is to the credit of the Pharisees, as ethical teachers, that they, too, had drawn the law, as our Lord now drew it, from its comparativ... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS. — The words are coupled, as in Matthew 5:17; Matthew 7:12, to indicate the whole of the revelation of the divine will in the Old Testament. The two great commandments lay at the root of all. The rest did but expand and apply them; or, as in the ceremonial, set them fort... [ Continue Reading ]
WHILE THE PHARISEES WERE GATHERED TOGETHER. — St. Mark and St. Luke add here, as St. Matthew does in Matthew 22:46, that “no man dared ask Him any more questions.” They have recourse from this time forth to measures of another kind, and fall back upon treachery and false witness. It was now His turn... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SON OF DAVID. — Both question and answer gain a fresh significance from the fact that the name had been so recently uttered in the Hosannas of the multitude (Matthew 21:9; Matthew 21:15). The Pharisees are ready at once with the traditional answer; but they have never asked themselves whether it... [ Continue Reading ]
DOTH DAVID IN SPIRIT CALL HIM LORD? — The words assume (1) that David was the writer of Psalms 110; (2) that in writing it, he was guided by a Spirit higher than his own; (3) that the subject of it was no earthly king of the house of David, but the far off Christ. On this point there was an undistur... [ Continue Reading ]