*H And he began to speak to them in parables: A certain man planted a vineyard and made a hedge about it and dug a place for the winefat and built a tower and let it to husbandmen: and went into a far country.
Ver. 1. Under these figurative modes of speech, or parables, Jesus Christ began to trace out for their reflection a true portraiture of their ingratitude, and of the divine vengeance. By this man we are to understand God the Father, whose vineyard was the house of Israel, which he guarded by angels; the place dug for the wine-vat is the law; the tower, the temple; and Moses, the prophets and the priests, whom the Jews afflicted and persecuted are the husbandmen or servants. S. Jerom. — This same parable was employed by Isaias, (v. 1.) where speaking of Christ, he says: My beloved had a vineyard, and he fenced it in. Tirinus. — He went into a far country, not by change of place, for he is every where, but by leaving the workmen the power of free-will, either to work or not to work; in the same manner as a man in a far country cannot oversee his husbandmen at home, but leaves them to themselves. Ven. Bede. -- This parable is thus morally explained: Jesus Christ planted a Church with his own blood, surrounded it with evangelical doctrine, as with a hedge; dug a place for the wine-vat, by the abundance of spiritual graces which he has prepared for his Church; built a tower, by appointing his angels to guard each individual Christian, who are the husbandmen to whom he has let it out. Nic. de Lyra.
* Footnote * Isaias 5 : 1
I will sing to my beloved the canticle of my cousin concerning his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a hill in a fruitful place.* Footnote * Jeremias 2 : 21
Yet, I planted thee a chosen vineyard, all true seed: how then art thou turned unto me into that which is good for nothing, O strange vineyard?* Footnote * Matthew 21 : 33
Hear ye another parable. There was a man, an householder, who planted a vineyard and made a hedge round about it and dug in it a press and built a tower and let it out to husbandmen and went into a strange country.* Footnote * Luke 20 : 9
And he began to speak to the people this parable: A certain man planted a vineyard and let it out to husbandmen: and he was abroad for a long time.*H And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant to receive of the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard.
Ver. 2. The first servant whom the Almighty sent, was Moses; but they sent him away empty; for, says the Psalmist, they provoked him to anger in the camp. Ps. cv. The second servant sent was David, whom they used reproachfully, saying: What have we to do with David? 3 Kings xii. 16. The third was the school of the prophets; and which of the prophets did they not kill? Mat. xxiii. Ven. Bede.
*H But the husbandmen said one to another: This is the heir. Come let us kill him and the inheritance shall be ours.
Ver. 7. From this it appears, that the chief priests and lawyers were not ignorant that Christ was the Messias promised in the law and the prophets, but their knowledge was afterwards blinded by their envy: for otherwise, had they known him to be true God, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory, says S. Paul. For a further explanation, see S. Mat. xxi. Ven. Bede.
*H And laying hold on him, they killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.
Ver. 8. They cast the heir, Jesus Christ, out of the vineyard, by leading him out of Jerusalem to be crucified. Theophy. — They had before cast him out by calling him a Samaritan and demoniac; (S. John, C. viii.) and again by refusing to receive him, and turning him over to the Gentiles. S. Jerom.
*H What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy those husbandmen and will give the vineyard to others.
Ver. 9. The vineyard is given to others; as it is said, they shall come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God. S. Jerom.
*H And have you not read this scripture, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is made the head of the corner:
Ver. 10. By this question, Christ shows that they were about to fulfil this prophecy, by casting him off, planning his death, and delivering him up to the Gentiles, by which he became the corner-stone, joining the two people of the Jews and Gentiles together, and forming out of them the one city and one temple of the faithful. Ven. Bede. — The Church is the corner, joining together Jews and Gentiles; the head of it is Christ. By the Lord hath this been done in our days, and it is wonderful in our eyes, seeing the prodigies which God has performed through him whom men reject as an impostor. Theophy. and V.
* Footnote * Psalms 117 : 22
The stone which the builders rejected; the same is become the head of the corner.* Footnote * Isaias 28 : 16
Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold I will lay a stone in the foundations of Sion, a tried stone, a corner stone, a precious stone, founded in the foundation. He that believeth, let him not hasten.* Footnote * Matthew 21 : 42
Jesus saith to them: Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? By the Lord this has been done; and it is wonderful in our eyes.* Footnote * Acts 4 : 11
This is the stone which was rejected by you the builders, which is become the head of the corner.* Footnote * Romans 9 : 33
As it is written: Behold I lay in Sion a stumbling-stone and a rock of scandal. And whosoever believeth in him shall not be confounded.* Footnote * 1_Peter 2 : 7
To you therefore that believe, he is honour: but to them that believe not, the stone which the builders rejected, the same is made the head of the corner:*H And they sought to lay hands on him: but they feared the people. For they knew that he spoke this parable to them. And leaving him, they went their way.
Ver. 12. The chief priests thus shew, that what our Saviour had just said was true, by thus seeking to lay their hands on him. Ven. Bede.
* Footnote * Matthew 22 : 15
Then the Pharisees going, consulted among themselves how to insnare him in his speech.* Footnote * Luke 20 : 20
And being upon the watch, they sent spies, who should feign themselves just, that they might take hold of him in his words, that they might deliver him up to the authority and power of the governor.*H Who coming, say to him: Master, we know that thou art a true speaker and carest not for any man; for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar? Or shall we not give it?
Ver. 14. The disciples of the Pharisees said this in order to induce our Saviour to answer them, "that they were not to pay tribute to Cæsar, being the people of God; an answer they confidently anticipated, and which the Herodians hearing, might immediately apprehend him, and thus remove the odium from themselves to Herod. Ven. Bede.
*H Who knowing their wiliness, saith to them: Why tempt you me? Bring me a penny that I may see it.
Ver. 15. Knowing their hypocrisy. [1] The Latin word commonly signifies, cunning, but by the Greek is here meant their dissimulation, or hypocrisy. Wi.
*H And Jesus answering, said to them: Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's. And they marvelled at him.
Ver. 17. Although Christ clearly establishes here the strict obligation of paying to Cæsar what belongs to Cæsar, to the confusion of his very enemies, we shall still find them bringing forward against him the charge of disloyalty, as if he forbade tribute to be paid to Cæsar. Luke xxiii. 2. After the example of her divine Model, the Catholic Church has uniformly taught with S. Paul, the necessity of obeying the powers in being; and this not for fear of their wrath, but for conscience sake. Render to Cæsar the money on which his image is stamped, but render yourselves cheerfully to God; for the light of thy countenance, O Lord, is stamped upon us, (Ps. iv.) and not the image of Cæsar. S. Jerom. — With reason were they astonished at the wisdom of this answer, which eluded all their artifices, and taught them at the same time what they owed to their prince, and what they owed to God: and whoever hopes for the favour of heaven, must conscientiously observe this double duty to God and to the magistrate.
* Footnote * Romans 13 : 7
Render therefore to all men their dues. Tribute, to whom tribute is due: custom, to whom custom: fear, to whom fear: honour, to whom honour.* Footnote * Matthew 22 : 23
That day there came to him the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection; and asked him,* Footnote * Luke 20 : 27
And there came to him some of the Sadducees, who deny that there is any resurrection: and they asked him,* Footnote * Deuteronomy 25 : 5
When brethren dwell together, and one of them dieth without children, the wife of the deceased shall not marry to another: but his brother shall take her, and raise up seed for his brother:*H And as concerning the dead that they rise again have you not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spoke to him, saying: I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob?
Ver. 26. The doctrine of the resurrection from the dead is clearly given in the book of Moses, where mention is made of the burning bush, from the midst of which God appeared to Moses: have you not read, I say, what God there said to him? As God is the God of the living, you must be in an egregious error in imagining, that such as die in the eyes of the world not to return thither any more, die in the same manner in the eyes of God, to live no more. V.
* Footnote * Exodus 3 : 6
And he said: I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Moses hid his face: for he durst not look at God.* Footnote * Matthew 22 : 32
I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.* Footnote * Matthew 22 : 35
And one of them, a doctor of the law, asked him, tempting him:*H And Jesus answered him: The first commandment of all is, Hear, O Israel: the Lord thy God is one God.
Ver. 29. Literally the Lord our God is the only Lord: and this is the sense of the text in Deuteronomy vi. 4. The word in the original text, rendered by the term Lord, is the grand name JEHOVA, which signifies properly God, considered as the supreme Being, or the author of all existence.
* Footnote * Deuteronomy 6 : 4
Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.* Footnote * Leviticus 19 : 18
Seek not revenge, nor be mindful of the injury of thy citizens. Thou shalt love thy friend as thyself. I am the Lord.* Footnote * Matthew 22 : 39
And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.* Footnote * Romans 13 : 9
For: Thou shalt not commit adultery: Thou shalt not kill: Thou shalt not steal: Thou shalt not bear false witness: Thou shalt not covet. And if there be any other commandment, it is comprised in this word: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.* Footnote * Galatians 5 : 14
For all the law is fulfilled in one word: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.* Footnote * James 2 : 8
If then you fulfil the royal law, according to the scriptures: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself; you do well.*H And that he should be loved with the whole heart and with the whole understanding and with the whole soul and with the whole strength. And to love one's neighbour as one's self is a greater thing than all holocausts and sacrifices.
Ver. 33. Venerable Bede gathers from this answer of the Scribes, that it had been long disputed among the Scribes and Pharisees, which was the greatest commandment in the law; some preferring the acts of faith and love, because many of the fathers, before the law was instituted, were pleasing to God on account of their faith and piety, and not on account of their sacrifices; yet none were agreeable to God who had not faith and charity. This Scribe seems to have been of the opinion of those who preferred the love of God. Ven. Bede. — This excellence of charity teacheth us that faith only is not sufficient. B.
*H And Jesus seeing that he had answered wisely, said to him: Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.
Ver. 34. Being now refuted in their discourse, they no longer interrogate him, but deliver him up to the Roman power. Thus envy may be vanquished, but with great difficulty silenced. Ven. Bede.
*H And Jesus answering, said, teaching in the temple: How do the scribes say that Christ is the son of David?
Ver. 35. According to S. Mat. it was principally to the Pharisees that Christ proposed this question. See Mat. 22, 41.
* Footnote * Psalms 109 : 1
A psalm for David. The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou at my right hand: Until I make thy enemies thy footstool.* Footnote * Matthew 22 : 44
The Lord said to my Lord: Sit on my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool?* Footnote * Luke 20 : 42
And David himself saith in the book of Psalms: The Lord said to my Lord, sit thou on my right hand,*H David therefore himself calleth him Lord. And whence is he then his son? And a great multitude heard him gladly.
Ver. 37. This interrogation of Jesus instructs us how to refute the adversaries of truth; for if any assert that Christ was but a simple and holy man, a mere descendant of the race of David, we will ask them, after the example of Jesus: If Christ be man only, and the Son of David, how does David, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, call him Lord? The Jews were not blamed for calling him the Son of David, but for denying him to be the Son of God. Ven. Bede.
* Footnote * Matthew 23 : 6
And they love the first places at feasts and the first chairs in the synagogues,* Footnote * Luke 11 : 43
Woe to you, Pharisees, because you love the uppermost seats in the synagogues and salutations in the marketplace.* Footnote * Luke 20 : 46
Beware of the scribes, who desire to walk in long robes and love salutations in the market place and the first chairs in the synagogues and the chief rooms at feasts:* Footnote * Luke 21 : 1
And looking on, he saw the rich men cast their gifts into the treasury.*H And calling his disciples together, he saith to them: Amen I say to you, this poor widow hath cast in more than all they who have cast into the treasury.
Ver. 43. God accepts alms, if they are corresponding to each one's abilities; and the more able a man is, the more must he bestow in charities. The widow's mite was very acceptable to God, and very meritorious to herself; because though small the offering considered in itself, it was great considering her extreme indigence.
*H For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want cast in all she had, even her whole living.
Ver. 44. But she, of her want, [2] or indigence, out of what she wanted to subsist by, as appeareth by the Greek. Wi.