St Mark Chapter XII : Verses 1-12
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| And laying hold on him, they killed him... J-J Tissot |
[2] And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant to receive of the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard.
[3] Who having laid hands on him, beat him, and sent him away empty.
[4] And again he sent to them another servant; and him they wounded in the head, and used him reproachfully.
[5] And again he sent another, and him they killed: and many others, of whom some they beat, and others they killed.
[6] Therefore having yet one son, most dear to him; he also sent him unto them last of all, saying: They will reverence my son.
[7] But the husbandmen said one to another: This is the heir; come let us kill him; and the inheritance shall be ours.
[8] And laying hold on him, they killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.
[9] What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy those husbandmen; and will give the vineyard to others.
[10] And have you not read this scripture, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is made the head of the corner:
[11] By the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes.
[12] 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.
[1] Et coepit illis in parabolis loqui : Vineam pastinavit homo, et circumdedit sepem, et fodit lacum, et aedificavit turrim, et locavit eam agricolis, et peregre profectus est. [2] Et misit ad agricolas in tempore servum ut ab agricolis acciperet de fructu vineae. [3] Qui apprehensum eum ceciderunt, et dimiserunt vacuum. [4] Et iterum misit ad illos alium servum : et illum in capite vulneraverunt, et contumeliis affecerunt. [5] Et rursum alium misit, et illum occiderunt : et plures alios : quosdam caedentes, alios vero occidentes. [6] Adhuc ergo unum habens filium carissimum, et illum misit ad eos novissimum, dicens : Quia reverebuntur filium meum. [7] Coloni autem dixerunt ad invicem : Hic est haeres : venite, occidamus eum : et nostra erit haereditas. [8] Et apprehendentes eum, occiderunt : et ejecerunt extra vineam. [9] Quid ergo faciet dominus vineae? Veniet, et perdet colonos, et dabit vineam aliis. [10] Nec scripturam hanc legistis : Lapidem quem reprobaverunt aedificantes, hic factus est in caput anguli : [11] a Domino factum est istud, et est mirabile in oculis nostris? [12] Et quaerebant eum tenere : et timuerunt turbam : cognoverunt enim quoniam ad eos parabolam hanc dixerit. Et relicto eo abierunt.
Notes
1. to speak to them : to the deputation from the Sanhedrin. St Luke has “ to the people” This is not a contradiction ; Jesus spoke to the Pharisees in the hearing of the crowd. This parable sets forth —
(а) The nature of the guilt of the Sanhedrin, they will kill the heir.
(b) The just retribution that awaits them, since Christ “ the Corner-stone ” will crush them to powder.
in parables. St Mark only gives one parable, while St Matthew gives this one and two others, the Two Sons and the Marriage Supper (xxi. ).
A certain man. God the Father.
Note. — Our Lord almost quotes the words of Isaias, as will be seen by comparing the two parables. My beloved had a vineyard on a hill in a fruitful place. And he fenced it in, and picked the stones out of it, and planted it with the choicest vines, and built a tower in the midst thereof, and set up a wine-press therein ; and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. . . . And now I will shew you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be wasted : I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down. And I will make it desolate: it shall not be pruned , and it shall not be digged ; but briers and thorns shall come up : and I will command the clouds to rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel : and, the man of Judah, his pleasant plant : and I looked that he should do judgment, and behold iniquity : and do justice, and behold a cry (Isaias v. 1, 2, 5-7). Our Lord also used an Old Testament similitude when He spoke of Himself as the Good Shepherd, and of His flock.
planted. Not only He possessed it, but He caused it to exist.
vineyard. The Jewish nation with its exclusive privileges. The vine was extensively cultivated in Palestine, and wine was the national drink, as it is still. Under the Maccabean dynasty, the vine was on their coin as the national emblem.
a hedge = the Law of God. The hedges were either made of thorn bushes or of stones.
Enclosures of loose stones, like the walls of fields in Derbyshire or Westmoreland, everywhere catch the eye on the bare slopes of Hebron, of Bethlehem, and of Olivet ; and at the corner of each may be seen a square grey tower” (Stanley, Sinai and Palestine , p. 421).
dug a place for the wine-vat. St Matthew has dug in it a press. The whole apparatus was called a wine-press. It consisted of two parts : the press (gath), or upper trough in which the grapes were trodden, and a smaller trough which received the expressed juice through a spout or a hole bored in the upper press. Sometimes, in order to keep the wine cool, the lower trough was dug in the earth or lined with cement. The lower one was the “ wine-vat.” “ Vat ” comes from an obsolete word meaning “ vessel.” The wine- vat represents the Altar of Sacrifice or the Temple.
a tower = the Jewish priesthood, or God’s protection. Either a stone building or a wooden structure erected on a high platform.
Such buildings were used by the watchmen who guarded the vineyard. From these elevations they could command a full view of the vineyard, and they were accustomed to use their slings against wild animals and marauders. Some towers were large enough to afford a permanent home for the wine-dressers and watchers, and served to store the fruit. Feasts were also held in the tower at the time of vintage.
let it to husbandmen. Evidently on the métayer system, [French métayage (1840; compare Middle French moitoiage agreement to share in halves (1396)) OED] by which arrangement the owner of the land received as rent a certain proportion of the vintage. This system existed in England in the fourteenth century, and still exists in parts of Europe. “ At the time of our Lord’s ministry it was customary for the Romans to restore conquered lands on condition of receiving one-half of the produce.” The word let shews that God reserved the possession of the Jewish nation, His vineyard, while He gave it into the charge of the husbandmen, i.e. of its spiritual rulers, to cultivate.
went into afar country. As applied to God, this means that He withdrew the visible signs of His presence and action when the Israelites were established in the Holy Land.
2. the season. The time for gathering the fruit. God waited patiently for His people to bring forth fruits of virtue.
a servant. St Matthew gives “ his servants ” without mention of their being sent in succession. St Luke agrees exactly with St Mark in referring to three servants being sent on three different occasions.
of the fruit. The share due to him by contract.
3. having laid hands, etc. Notice, the husbandmen increase in audacity —
1. The first servant they laid hands on him, beat, and sent away empty.2. The second they stoned, wounded in the head, and used reproachfully.3. The third they killed.
Lastly, many others, of whom some they beat, others they killed. St Matthew’s account runs, other servants more than the former, which may mean of higher rank, or in greater number, or both.
The treatment of the prophets by the Jewish nation is illustrated by the following examples —
(a) Elias was persecuted by Jezabel, who also killed the prophets of the Lord (3 Kings
xviii. 4).
(b) Micheas was imprisoned by Achab (3 Kings xxii. 27).
(c) Hanani was imprisoned by Asa (2 Paralip. xvi. 10).
(d) Jeremias was put in the stocks (Jer. xx. 2).
(e) Isaias was cut asunder (a tradition). See also Heb. xi. 34-40.
4. wounded in the head. This detail is peculiar to St Mark. This man was not stoned to death as a culprit who had been legally condemned. He was assaulted by the husbandmen, who injured, but did not kill him.
6. Therefore having, etc. These words bring out the love of the father for his son, and his persevering efforts to win over the husbandmen to fulfil their duty.
They will reverence my son. The owner of the vineyard represents God Himself, who is omniscient. The language of doubt and deliberation is here used. What shall I do ? It may be when they see him they will reverence him (St Luke xx. 13). This, of course, does not imply that God did not foresee the ill-treatment that His prophets and His Son would alike receive ; but as God is understood here by the owner, the latter is represented as acting like a wise, prudent man, and not as God. “ They may be merely an ornamental part of the parable, or rather they convey the excessive love of God for man when, desirous of leaving nothing undone for their reparation, He thinks of the last expedient, viz., of sending His Son ” ( MacEvilly ).
7. This is the heir. As the “ Son of man ” God has appointed Him heir of all things (Heb. i. 2). And Christ is as the Son in his own house, which house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and glory of hope unto the end (Heb. iii. 6). As the Son of God all things were necessarily His. Possibly some of the Sanhedrin recognised Jesus as the Messiah, since they confessed this man doth many miracles (St John xi. 47) ; but as they saw it would ruin all their ambitious designs and earthly prospects to accept His doctrines, they deliberately chose to reject Him and to keep the vineyard for themselves.
come, let us kill him. This prophecy was fulfilled when the Pharisees plotted against Christ and devised to put him to death (St John xi. 53).
the inheritance shall be ours. Not legally, but by usurpation. The application of the parable cannot be pressed here, since men cannot ultimately defeat God, though for a time He may allow their crimes to go unpunished.
8. killed him, and cast him out. St Luke has, casting him out of the vineyard , they killed him (xx. 15). These words refer to our Lord’s excommunication by the Sanhedrin, and His Crucifixion.
9. What therefore will the lord, etc. Christ asks the question which His hearers are asking mentally.
He will come and destroy, etc. St Matthew puts these words on the lips of Christ’s listeners, either the Pharisees or the crowd that stood around. This prophecy was partly fulfilled when Jerusalem was destroyed, and will be fully accomplished at the last day. The Jews here, either consciously or unconsciously, pronounce their own condemnation. Jesus probably repeated the words after them, and added, Therefore I say to you, that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and shall be given to a nation yielding the fruits thereof (St Matthew xxi. 43). It seems that at these words, either in daring hypocrisy or in real horror, they exclaimed God forbid (St Luke xx. 16).
will give the vineyard to others. The kingdom of God was to pass from the Jews to the Gentiles, of whom it is here prophesied they shall render him the fruit in due season (St Matt. xxi. 41). Then, looking at them with divine penetration, Jesus said, Have you not read, etc.
10. The stone, etc. Jesus here drops the parable of the vineyard and takes up the simile of a builder. The quotation is from Ps. cxvii. 22, which was sung at the Feast of Tabernacles, and “ was probably composed for the first celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles after the completion of the second Temple.” (See 2 Esdras viii. 13-17.) Some verses, if not all of it, were sung by the multitude on Palm Sunday, when Christ entered Jerusalem in triumph. It was regarded as a Messianic psalm in its secondary signification, though its primary application was to Israel, the corner-stone having been rejected by God during the captivity, and afterwards restored by Him when the Israelites were freed and returned to Jerusalem.
which the builders rejected. The figure is taken from a stone quarried and cut by order of the architect, for a corner-stone of the second Temple. This stone the builders, ignoring the architect’s design, had rejected.
the head of the corner. The cornice stone, binding the two walls and supporting the roof. This stone is a type of Christ and of His Church, and those who resist Him and His Church shall be bruised, and ultimately will be ground to powder when He comes to judge mankind (St Luke xx. 18).
Note the results produced by this parable —
(a) They are more eager than ever to seize Him.(b) They knew that he spoke this parable unto them.(c) They left Him and went their way.
Our Lord himself interpreted the parable in one short sentence of denunciation : Therefore I say to you , that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and shall be given to a nation yielding the fruits thereof (St Matt. xxi. 43).
Additional Notes
Note. — This parable fits in admirably after the request of the Sanhedrin, “ By what authority dost thou these things ? ” It answers their question and shews that Jesus was the Son of God, and therefore invested with divine authority. At the same time, Christ pointed out their contempt of authority whenever it opposed their interests, by comparing them to the wicked husbandmen, who had rejected first the servants and then the son of the owner, though they knew well that both had been lawfully sent. Jesus had refused to answer their captious question directly, but He replied to it indirectly.
Fuller interpretation of the Parable
A certain man. = God.
The planting. = The establishment of the Jewish Theocracy in Palestine under Josue and the Judges. “ Thou hast brought a vineyard out of Egypt. Thou hast cast out the Gentiles and planted it ” ( Ps . lxxix. 9).
The vineyard. = (1) The Jewish Church. (2) The Christian Church.
The hedge. = (Various interpretations are found.) (1) The Law of God, which was “the middle wall of partition” between Jew and Gentile. (2) The special protection of God (cf. Isaias v. 5). (3) The political or geographical isolation of the Jews.
The wine. = (1) The altar of holocausts. (2) The inspired prophets.
The Tower. = (1) Jerusalem with its Temple. (2) The protection of God, our “ Tower of Strength.” (3) The Jewish rulers, especially the priests.
The purpose of retaining the vineyard. = The Jews’ determination to keep their exclusive privileges and to kill Christ, lest the Romans should take away their “ place and nation.”
The murder of the heir. = The Crucifixion of Christ.
The return of the owner and the
destruction of the husbandmen. = (1) The destruction of Jerusalem. (2) The day of judgment.
The “other” husbandmen. = (1) The Gentiles in general. (2) The Apostles, who were to be the foundation of the Catholic Church.
The fruit in due season. = The virtues of those who should profess Christianity.
Note.— It is not necessary in a parable to see a meaning for each detail ; some cannot be pressed too far. The broad lines here are sufficiently clear, and the minor points come in to complete the narrative. Thus the hedge, wine-vat and tower have been variously interpreted ; while the owner, vineyard, messengers and heir point clearly to God, the Jewish nation, the rulers, the prophets and Christ. Therefore, in the foregoing interpretation of the parable, where several meanings are given, the most important or direct is given first.
7. This is the heir ; come , let us kill him. It may be asked how we are to reconcile these words, by which the husbandmen clearly recognize the son of the owner of the vineyard, with the words of St Peter and of St Paul. “ But the Author of life you killed, whom God hath raised from the dead . . . . I know that you did it through ignorance, as did also your rulers” ( Acts iii. 15-17). “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery .... which God ordained before the world, unto our glory, which none of the princes of this world knew : .... for if they had known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory ” (1 Cor. ii. 7-8). It may be said in a sense that they knew Him, since the prophecies, the testimony of St John the Baptist, and the miracles of Christ were sufficient proofs to convince them that He was the promised Messias, but they were too proud to accept Him in his lowliness, so they wilfully shut their eyes to the truth. They preferred subjecting Him to death, who preached the truth, rather than embrace the truth which He preached. The celebrated passage from the Book of Wisdom (ii. 12-21) throws great light on this subject. “ Let us therefore lie in wait for the just, because he is not for our turn, and he is contrary to our doings, and upbraideth us with transgressions of the law, and divulgeth against us the sins of our way of life. He boasteth that he hath the knowledge of God, and calleth himself the Son of God. He is become a censurer of our thoughts. He is grievous unto us, even to behold : for his life is not like other men’s, and his ways are very different. We are esteemed by him as triflers, and he abstaineth from our ways as from filthiness, and he preferred the latter end of the just, and glorieth that he hath God for his Father. Let us see then if his words be true, and let us prove what shall happen to him, and we shall know what his end shall be. For if he be the true Son of God, he will defend him, and will deliver him from the hands of his enemies. Let us examine him by outrages and tortures, that we may know his meekness and try his patience. Let us condemn him to a most shameful death, for there shall be respect had unto him by his words. These things they thought, and were deceived, for their own malice blinded them.”
10. have you not read ? etc. In this verse, Jesus passes from the comparison of a vineyard to that of a building, and this, because the parable of the vineyard could not express the punishment of the wicked husbandmen by the heir, since he was slain, and in the natural order of events could not punish his murderers ; therefore the owner is represented as taking away the vineyard and giving it to “ others. ” In the second similitude the punishment of those who rejected Christ is clearly prophesied.
The punishment of the wicked husbandmen.
(1) The kingdom of God was to be taken from them and was to pass to a nation yielding fruit in due season.
(2) Those who fall on “ the Stone,” that is, those who were scandalized at Christ’s lowliness and rejected Him, shall be “ bruised ” and “ broken.”
(3) The divine vengeance shall overtake those who thus rejected “ the Corner Stone, for it shall fall on them and grind them to powder.” This was partially realized when Titus dispersed the Jews and burnt Jerusalem, and its final realization will take place at the general judgment.
Parallel Passages on the Punishment of those who reject Christ.
10. the head of the corner. “ Christ is ‘ the Rock.’ St Peter, because he is Christ’s Vicar, is also the rock against which neither waves, nor winds, nor all the powers of hell can prevail. All St Peter’s strength and stability come from our Lord. Anyone who assails Him shall be broken and dashed to pieces, and when, in the end, the anger of our meek and patient Lord must come down on the reprobate, it will indeed grind them to powder” ( Gallwey , S.J.).
11. By the Lord this hath been done. “ Requiring His omnipotent power. ‘ This ’ does not refer to ‘ corner ’ or to ‘ the head of the corner,’ but to the whole preceding event, since it must be so understood in the Hebrew text of the psalm. To men, indeed, it seems strange, ‘ wonderful in our eyes,’ that when the long-expected Messias finally came, He was rejected and maltreated by those very persons whom He came to save and exalt ” (Maas, S.J.).
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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